Meat Hunter

Muley

Muley

Active Member
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536
Are there any here or is everybody after antlers? I don't mean if you eat the meat. That's a given. I mean you only hunt for the meat.
 
I wouldn't have shot that pronghorn doe two weeks ago if I was horn hunting. I had a mentor tag for my son and was just going to follow up on a miss. After missing on his first try we got back on them a couple hours later. He missed again so I shot it.

That's the best eating pronghorn I've had. Alfalfa fed and can cut it with a fork. I'm making the rest into jerky today for this weekends archery hunt with a couple of my boys.

I like to hunt for big animals but I also like meat enough to occasionally cut my hunt short for some tender steaks, roasts and jerky.
 
Love to hunt for mature big animals, with horns and antlers. But I also really enjoy eating those tasty whitetail does that I get to harvest as a bonus!!!
 
We need to define a meat hunter. Here's a couple of questions that will help you decide what you are.

(1) Do you put in for doe/cow tags when you know you can also easily get the buck/bull tags?

(2) When you have no option but to hunt for a buck/bull because you can't get a doe/cow tag. Do you leave the antlers at the kill? Even if it's a trophy? Not counting if you have to show point count to be legal. Then leave them after inspection.

Saying you hunt for a buck/bull because it has more meat is ok, but you can't keep the antlers. If you did it shows your true motive.


With the above in mind. Who's a meat hunter?
 
Mix of both I guess, I like to hold out for bigger animals, mostly for the experience then collecting big antlers. I’m generally stoked to harvest any animal, but I enjoy the experience enough I like to hold out for something big until the final few days. I try and pull at least a few tags every year in one way or another so I have enough meat to make anything I want. I do a lot of cured and fresh sausages, burger, roasts, steaks, stew meat, jerky, and I bottle a bunch. I’m not against taking a smaller animal if I need the meat that year. I don’t buy much protein from the store anymore. We eat wild game every meal pretty much.
 
ruger1022 said:
Mix of both I guess, I like to hold out for bigger animals, mostly for the experience then collecting big antlers. I’m generally stoked to harvest any animal, but I enjoy the experience enough I like to hold out for something big until the final few days. I try and pull at least a few tags every year in one way or another so I have enough meat to make anything I want. I do a lot of cured and fresh sausages, burger, roasts, steaks, stew meat, jerky, and I bottle a bunch. I’m not against taking a smaller animal if I need the meat that year. I don’t buy much protein from the store anymore. We eat wild game every meal pretty much.
Click to expand...

I agree with hunting for mature males for the challenge. It's what I do a lot. I try to make my hunt as hard as possible. I find it more rewarding. However, i'm one of those guys who leave the antlers on the ground. I'm sure someone else will find them.
 
In Arizona, tag is attached to the antlers, so you need to take the antlers with the meat. Most of my hunting is in Arizona. Put Bull first choice, cow second. Usually pull a cow tag. Deer here in Az. is antlered only. I was taught that any time you're hunting, the animals are gifts from God, and to take the biggest one of the first group you see. So I'll say I'm a meat hunter that identifies as a trophy hunter.
 
SlowElk said:
In Arizona, tag is attached to the antlers, so you need to take the antlers with the meat. Most of my hunting is in Arizona. Put Bull first choice, cow second. Usually pull a cow tag. Deer here in Az. is antlered only. I was taught that any time you're hunting, the animals are gifts from God, and to take the biggest one of the first group you see. So I'll say I'm a meat hunter that identifies as a trophy hunter.
Click to expand...


That's funny. In Colorado, we can't attach the tag to the antlers. Go figure.
 
I like a nice rack just like the next guy!

But when it comes to hunting general season elk here in Utah, i shoot the first branch antlered bull that dares step into my crosshairs!

Because of this, I kill every year on that tag and always have a freezer full of tasty elk meat!
 
The end goal every year is to be successful and have meat in the freezer. I hunt to find the most mature animal I can, but if time is running out I will shoot a legal buck so my end goal, to have meat for my family.
 
I consider myself trophy/meat/mangement hunter.I like the the thrill of trying to outsmart a big bull or buck. If we got a whitey breeding does that shouldnt be then he has to go. Which means harvesting something i dont want to but i know in the long run the reward is better. I apply for extra doe tags to balance out the buck to doe ratio which means more meat in the freezer.

I will travel 140 miles to go hunt a place with unlimited doe/fawn tags. I usually just get 2. Plenty of meat for jerky. A family favorite.

Off season we rabbit hunt. Teaches the kids ethics. They have fun. Gun saftey is taught and applied. This last year rabbit hunting came to a hault when we got fleas for dressing out the rabbits.

My true trophy hunting comes to sheds. I enjoy finding the big boys. Those days are slowly going away. Taking my 9 year old and seeing him find antlers is the trophy. Which also means finding a big set but holding back so my boy gets the thrill of finding it and rubbing it in my face. But lately his game has stepped up. Last year on his own he found a double brow tine whitey with an extra main beam. This last april he found a buck with triple brows on one side .
 
My primary goal each year is to fill the freezer with big game. I shoot more with titz than with antlers. Antlers are a bonus hunt around here. Tough year here with only one cow tag. Usually we get some Wyoming antelope tags and a couple of cows but Covid has increased tag demand. I'll keep watching for a tag to pop up on the left over list or just end up with half a steer instead.
 
The BS Excuse of:

"I NEEDED THE MEAT"!

So I Invested Who Knows How GAWD-DAMNED much Money in to 35 lbs of Meat in the Finished Product!

JFP!
 
I like to saw the antlers off and nail them up in the shop....then put the meat in the freezer for 5 or 6 years till it is severely freezer burnt....then throw it in the dumpster.....

...is that wanton waste??
 
I was raised a meat hunter, when I was young you could shoot either sex so when you had an opportunity to get meat you did.
In those days though there were a lot of mature bucks around so taking the first buck you say sometimes had rewards. My family shot some big Muley's over the years.
But I really love the meat.
 
I like deer meat.

And antelope and elk and bighorn sheep (ewe my daughter killed last year).

And chicken and duck and geese and pigs we raise.

I don't hunt or raise my own food because its cheaper.

I like it. I like the feeling of self sustainability.

I have sworn off killing mule deer does here in NV several years ago for a few reasons. That old doe was nasty and I will take a young buck any day over that. I have also reached a conclusion in my mind we don't need to kill mule deer does.

There are buck tags in my local areas, and I try to get one as often as I can. I have killed a nice buck and a lot of small ones, and I like eating them.

Deer Jerky has to be hidden from my daughters.


I remember when I was young in Wyoming. Antelope and deer tags were dirt cheap. We didn't have much and my dad was on the volunteer fire department. He would get a fuel stipend for every call. He would save his fuel and take it during hunting season.

I ate a lot of game as a very young child, and the "brown is down" mentality is hard to shake.

I also lion hunt all winter because I just like hunting.
 
muley you needed to word your questions like this. If you had to make a choice of taking the meat or the antlers,.that most likely would make a very small group of trophy hunters, If any
 
wildfin said:
muley you needed to word your questions like this. If you had to make a choice of taking the meat or the antlers,.that most likely would make a very small group of trophy hunters, If any
Click to expand...

That wouldn't have answered what I was after. I think most want the meat and wouldn't give it up. I was trying to weed out the real meat hunters who do it by choice.
This forum seems to lean heavily towards trophies. Just look at the titles of the threads. There's nothing wrong with that and i'm not saying that hunting for a good rack is not ok. It is.

I was brought up to be a meat hunter. I was just wondering if there were any like-minded hunters here.

I shouldn't say I was brought up as a meat hunter. That's not fair to my dad. I true meat hunter will do the easiest hunt there is to get meat. Mostly does.

Dad taught me and my brother to hunt. He told us an easy hunt shouldn't be done. He taught us to still hunt 100% of the time. We only hunted for bucks, bulls, and boars (bear). He knew the mature males were smarter and harder to fool and get close to. However, he would knock us out if we were caught bragging about a kill. No pictures were ever taken. Kills were never talked about. The hunt was always giving a fair chance to beat us. We lived by his rules or faced him in the ring in our cellar. He was a pro boxer and facing him in the ring was out punishment. Of course, he held back when we were young. Not so much as we got older. We learned our lesson fast. A side benefit was he taught us to fight well too.

I got to like his way so much that i've stayed hunting dad's way all my life. This coming hunt will make it 67 years hunting. I have no regrets about how I did them.
 
In my 20's and 30's it was all about being successful. I wanted big horns but it was more about no tag left unfilled. Once in my 40's it was more about the adventure, seeing new places and the quality of the hunt. Now that I am in my mid 50's it is more about enjoying the outdoors, and I can do that with a buck or doe tag. With my age has come the ability to better prepare my meat. My game meals now taste better than ever so I see more cow tags in my future.
 
I consider myself a one-time archery trophy hunter. I would love to have ONE of each Utah species in the Pope & Young Record Book just to prove to myself I could do it. But, I don't have the money, time, health or desire to do what most of you trophy hunters do to trophy hunt every year. However, I do love the experience, I enjoy the meat and the people I hunt with, so I'll hunt as long as I can, even the "easy" hunts.
 
Muley said:
We need to define a meat hunter. Here's a couple of questions that will help you decide what you are.

(1) Do you put in for doe/cow tags when you know you can also easily get the buck/bull tags?

(2) When you have no option but to hunt for a buck/bull because you can't get a doe/cow tag. Do you leave the antlers at the kill? Even if it's a trophy? Not counting if you have to show point count to be legal. Then leave them after inspection.

Saying you hunt for a buck/bull because it has more meat is ok, but you can't keep the antlers. If you did it shows your true motive.


With the above in mind. Who's a meat hunter?
Click to expand...
I thought I knew a lot of meat hunters until I read your definition. To me a meat hunter is one whose primary intention is to fill the freezer - even if they keep the antlers or stretch out a hunt to shoot something bigger.
 
Well I will say I almost always start out as a trophy hunter but mostly end as a meat hunter. I think the one thing that could qualify me as a meat hunter is that I will drive by my local store and go 1500 miles for my meat, I wont just have a saw I will have a half dozen butcher knives,meat hooks and storage for the meat and the saw is all I need for the antler . I leave for alaska next week for moose and I will take the 1st legal bull, and go through major work butchering , logistics and money to get it home. I have never learned to get it the easy way , at 62 I am afraid of having to get it the easy way.If I don't qualify as a meat hunter I still will enjoy bringing it home and the antlers will go to the garden with all the others. I know what you mean about the forums trophy dominance with score as the main measure , and the old school measure was by weight of the animal, it all changed except for the meat
 
Here's one definition. I don't think many would qualify. I know I don't. I guess i'm a trophy hunter who doesn't take the trophy. :)

Urban Dictionary: meat hunter

A hunter who hunts for meat primarily and not for sport,tends to hunt for the easiest or most plentiful game so that he can bring home meat to eat.
www.urbandictionary.com www.urbandictionary.com
 
Hey Muley,
now that you've opened up a little more. I get what your saying.
I'll share a story with you that I'm sure you'll get a smile out of hearing.
I was raised by a meat hunter but as I got older, I didn't go that route. I like the challenge of hunting bigger bucks and I like the antlers too.
Anyway, one year I was was hunting with my dad and we came apon a little 2 point.
He asked me if I want to shot it and I told him to go ahead and take it. So as he was setting up for the shot, I quickly got out my camcorder and started filming him and the buck. My dad was having a hard time finding it in his scope, then as he's starting to look in my direction and at the same time telling me to try and kill the buck myself. The moment he saw me holding that camera and filming him and the buck. My dad completely lost it, He starts screaming.... "what the F--k are you doing, put the F---ing camera away and kill that F--ing buck, why did you even bring your F---ing rifle with you, if your not going shoot at anything. I just smiled and responded " not big enough" Now that was the wrong thing to say, He starting screaming even louder(completely red faced) "you can't eat the damn horns" . At that point I decided to calm him down and changed the subject.
Even with him felling that way, every time I've killed a big buck and showed him a picture of it, he always wanted a copy to show all his buddies.
 
That sounds familiar. I was never brave enough to bring a camera on a hunt. I know it would mean getting in the ring and getting knocked out. :)
 
LOL Ridge!

Now We Know who taught You Your Vocabulary!:D

(((RAZZIN Ya!:D:D:D)))


ridgetops said:
Hey Muley,
now that you've opened up a little more. I get what your saying.
I'll share a story with you that I'm sure you'll get a smile out of hearing.
I was raised by a meat hunter but as I got older, I didn't go that route. I like the challenge of hunting bigger bucks and I like the antlers too.
Anyway, one year I was was hunting with my dad and we came apon a little 2 point.
He asked me if I want to shot it and I told him to go ahead and take it. So as he was setting up for the shot, I quickly got out my camcorder and started filming him and the buck. My dad was having a hard time finding it in his scope, then as he's starting to look in my direction and at the same time telling me to try and kill the buck myself. The moment he saw me holding that camera and filming him and the buck. My dad completely lost it, He starts screaming.... "what the F--k are you doing, put the F---ing camera away and kill that F--ing buck, why did you even bring your F---ing rifle with you, if your not going shoot at anything. I just smiled and responded " not big enough" Now that was the wrong thing to say, He starting screaming even louder(completely red faced) "you can't eat the damn horns" . At that point I decided to calm him down and changed the subject.
Even with him felling that way, every time I've killed a big buck and showed him a picture of it, he always wanted a copy to show all his buddies.
Click to expand...
 
While You Guys are Getting the TRUE Definitions from Urban Dictionary:


5
Pisscutter
A very small sub standard Bull Elk or Mule Deer buck commonly found and harvested by Utah sportsmen.
Say Bob Im going over to see Bessy's buck, care to put down that Mountain Dew and LDS bible and join me? NO thanks if I know ole Bessy it's just another pisscutter.
by Team_UNC January 28, 2011



Muley said:
Here's one definition. I don't think many would qualify. I know I don't. I guess i'm a trophy hunter who doesn't take the trophy. :)

Urban Dictionary: meat hunter

A hunter who hunts for meat primarily and not for sport,tends to hunt for the easiest or most plentiful game so that he can bring home meat to eat.
www.urbandictionary.com www.urbandictionary.com
Click to expand...
 
elkassassin said:
While You Guys are Getting the TRUE Definitions from Urban Dictionary:

5
Pisscutter
A very small sub standard Bull Elk or Mule Deer buck commonly found and harvested by Utah sportsmen.
Say Bob Im going over to see Bessy's buck, care to put down that Mountain Dew and LDS bible and join me? NO thanks if I know ole Bessy it's just another pisscutter.
by Team_UNC January 28, 2011
Click to expand...


Haha bess you can open up your own outfitting service, Pisscutter pros. You seem to know them the best.
 
Bess pay no attention to them. When they are eating tag soup, you will be eating tender backstrap.
RELH
 

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