Meat hunters....

Bookhead

Very Active Member
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Who here is an actual strictly meat hunter and why? The draw results for certain types of licences indicate there arent nearly as many "meat hunters" as its made out to be so im just curious.
 
Strictly? Nope. But about 85% is for the freezer. Can't eat horns and typically don't hunt bucks/bulls unless I have a decent tag for a better than average animal. Not much for eating a little buck or bull. Prefer something with teets if it's for table fare.
 
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Well i enjoy the chase of searching for that big bull or buck... but extra doe tags i enjoy for meat in the freezer. So trophy and meat is my answer.
 
I consistently kill trophy animals that have meat??? So what does that make me? About the only animals we kill strictly for meat are doe lopes, because we love lope meat. But most years we have 2-3 elk as well and a couple deer sprinkled in etc.
 
As said before...depends on the tag. I won't NOT fill a tag with a small buck on the second to last day. I want the meat for my freezer. But, I will hold out for a mature buck until it gets later in the hunt. We don't eat all the meat the same year I kill an animal so I don't buy doe tags unless we can draw antelope doe/fawn tags every other year....which is not the case where we hunt in WY.
 
The reason i ask is i think it's kind of funny our game and fish department says they manage for opportunity not trophy quality, well seems to me the majority of hunters want the opportunity to hunt trophies, but then when they cant get a tag they flip the script and say they are meat hunters and just want tags, well which is it? Cant have trophies when every fork horn on public lang gets shot every year. So ill ask again who's a trophy hunter and who are the meat hunters that pretend to be trophy hunters for the first 3 hours of opening day?
 
Guilty! But you won't hear me "complain" about the lack of not getting drawn. I think we all see the demise of tag allocation to the drawing public...especially with the new breed of greenies in the mix wanting to now kill their own meat. I wish the media would go back to reporting that only bad people hunt and kill wild animals. Deer and elk have feelings....
 
The othe question i have is, i see a lot of guys every year that put in for a type 1 elk tag just so they can shoot the first elk they see and they do, i wonder if having bull only and cow only licenses in the more premier areas would curb those types of hunters for putting in for a type 1 since they know they can get a cow tag easier?
 
The othe question i have is, i see a lot of guys every year that put in for a type 1 elk tag just so they can shoot the first elk they see and they do, i wonder if having bull only and cow only licenses in the more premier areas would curb those types of hunters for putting in for a type 1 since they know they can get a cow tag easier?
Legitimate question. I think if type-1's were bull only, application numbers wouldn't change much. Could be wrong.
 
Legitimate question. I think if type-1's were bull only, application numbers wouldn't change much. Could be wrong.
I wouldnt think so either unless people saw a benefit in applying for a cow only licence that otherwise dont care what they kill
 
The reason i ask is i think it's kind of funny our game and fish department says they manage for opportunity not trophy quality, well seems to me the majority of hunters want the opportunity to hunt trophies, but then when they cant get a tag they flip the script and say they are meat hunters and just want tags, well which is it? Cant have trophies when every fork horn on public lang gets shot every year. So ill ask again who's a trophy hunter and who are the meat hunters that pretend to be trophy hunters for the first 3 hours of opening day?
For MD I am only looking for antlers. Consequently I have only killed one MD in the last decade or so. I am a shitty MD hunter. I have not and will not ever shoot doe MD.

For elk, if I ever drew a Type 1 tag I would strictly hold out for 320 or better. I have only drawn 1 Type 1 elk tag since 1998. Even though where I hunt under my Gen tag is any elk, I hold out for 300 class 6 points. My definition of trophy is probably smaller than most peoples. I fill this tag most years. I use my Type 4 and 6 tags to get meat. Have not shot anything less than a 6 point under my Gen tag since 2003 or so.

For antelope I am looking for what I consider a trophy. That is any buck that really trips my trigger. May be size or look of his horns. Would not and have not shot a doe antelope.

Whitetails are made for eating. Love nothing more than shooting any and all WT's I can. Antlers are fine but I am more looking for a fun action filled hunt than I am antlers.

Now my wifes family are strictly meat hunters. Have no interest in horns or antlers. Will specifically target does and cows even if tag allows bucks and bulls. They want easy retrieval of as much meat as possible.
 
The othe question i have is, i see a lot of guys every year that put in for a type 1 elk tag just so they can shoot the first elk they see and they do, i wonder if having bull only and cow only licenses in the more premier areas would curb those types of hunters for putting in for a type 1 since they know they can get a cow tag easier?
I personally have not seen or known anyone that has filled a Type 1 elk tag with a cow. I do see alot of people that will shoot the first bull they see under a Type 1 tag. I see way more people shoot 5 points in the units around RS than I do 320+ class bulls.

I would be curious to know the percentages of Type 1 tags filled with cows.
 
For MD I am only looking for antlers. Consequently I have only killed one MD in the last decade or so. I am a shitty MD hunter. I have not and will not ever shoot doe MD.

For elk, if I ever drew a Type 1 tag I would strictly hold out for 320 or better. I have only drawn 1 Type 1 elk tag since 1998. Even though where I hunt under my Gen tag is any elk, I hold out for 300 class 6 points. My definition of trophy is probably smaller than most peoples. I fill this tag most years. I use my Type 4 and 6 tags to get meat. Have not shot anything less than a 6 point under my Gen tag since 2003 or so.

For antelope I am looking for what I consider a trophy. That is any buck that really trips my trigger. May be size or look of his horns. Would not and have not shot a doe antelope.

Whitetails are made for eating. Love nothing more than shooting any and all WT's I can. Antlers are fine but I am more looking for a fun action filled hunt than I am antlers.

Now my wifes family are strictly meat hunters. Have no interest in horns or antlers. Will specifically target does and cows even if tag allows bucks and bulls. They want easy retrieval of as much meat as possible.
Im much the same i love hunting whitetail i never feel bad for harvesting them as the population seems much stronger where they live and are not declining
 
I personally have not seen or known anyone that has filled a Type 1 elk tag with a cow. I do see alot of people that will shoot the first bull they see under a Type 1 tag. I see way more people shoot 5 points in the units around RS than I do 320+ class bulls.

I would be curious to know the percentages of Type 1 tags filled with cows.
Maybe this is something we will find out if harvest surveys become mandatory
 
I personally have not seen or known anyone that has filled a Type 1 elk tag with a cow. I do see alot of people that will shoot the first bull they see under a Type 1 tag. I see way more people shoot 5 points in the units around RS than I do 320+ class bulls.

I would be curious to know the percentages of Type 1 tags filled with cows.
Yes you do...that guy from Casper we hang out with at the task force meetings has filled type-1 any elk with cows at least once.
 
Well I'll be damned. Call me a liar. Don't know as I have ever seen him with anything that didn't make B&C. Same goes for his grandkids.
HAHA! I know, they take some awesome animals.

I also shot a cow on LQ type-1 tag once and have shot 3-4 cows on a general tag (that really doesn't count though).
 
Most areas the type 1 licences roll over into the extended cow seasons too maybe bull only with no roll over would curb some of it ? Idk just thinking out loud
 
Im much the same i love hunting whitetail i never feel bad for harvesting them as the population seems much stronger where they live and are not declining
Plus they are tasty, I think they are every bit as tasty as elk
 
I find all this very interesting. Just shows me that there is no one correct way to fill these tags. This is, IMO, what makes Wyo hunting so great. We have so many options on what to hunt, how to hunt, time to hunt, where to hunt, etc. A lot of the stuff getting thrown around at the TF public comment meetings are ideas that limit this. I can see peoples points but so many of them seem to end up limiting the options we currently have. Whether its choose your weapon, Res Gen regions, waiting periods, etc. All these ideas have some good points but they also limit options. Options that I think have more positives than negatives.
 
I know some guys and met many others who are strictly meat hunters. Those same guys would likely never be on a hunting forum though. I think most of them use the same gun they got as a kid (or their daddies gun). They don't reload. Honestly, I think for many purely meat hunters, it's more chore than sport. I'm not saying a "bad" chore- just part of their cycle. Salt of the earth. Anyway- just the ones I know or have met...
 
The reason i ask is i think it's kind of funny our game and fish department says they manage for opportunity not trophy quality, well seems to me the majority of hunters want the opportunity to hunt trophies, but then when they cant get a tag they flip the script and say they are meat hunters and just want tags, well which is it? Cant have trophies when every fork horn on public lang gets shot every year. So ill ask again who's a trophy hunter and who are the meat hunters that pretend to be trophy hunters for the first 3 hours of opening day?
I think asking these questions on a hunting forum will give you more of a lean towards trophy hunting. If you’re visiting hunting forums etc likely you’re more passionate about hunting etc and likely a trophy hunter by some definition. I would say the majority of the resident hunters I know are meat hunters and completely fine with smoking any legal buck. Yes they still put in for the hard to draw tags too. One year in deer unit 102 I saw at least 8 2pts in the back of trucks on opening weekend…
 
I know some guys and met many others who are strictly meat hunters. Those same guys would likely never be on a hunting forum though. I think most of them use the same gun they got as a kid (or their daddies gun). They don't reload. Honestly, I think for many purely meat hunters, it's more chore than sport. I'm not saying a "bad" chore- just part of their cycle. Salt of the earth. Anyway- just the ones I know or have met...
Yeah there’s people out there that don’t think of hunting 365 days a year and I’m thankful for that haha
 
Yes you do...that guy from Casper we hang out with at the task force meetings has filled type-1 any elk with cows at least once.
You know why right? If I can't find the right bull, just any bull won't do. Late cow seasons are made for that!

@Bookhead I don't think an antlered/antlerless season compared to a any/ antlerless structured season would change many folks to applying for the cow tag. In many areas it's easier to kill a bull than a cow on a regular basis.

Harvest reports show how many cows are taken with type 1 tags.
 

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