JeremiahJohnson
Master
Would like 2 deer a yr.
But only take 1 antlerless on my current spot.
I hear folks at work talk about "needing the meat" and they drive $45K trucks, go on vacations and blow $ like there's no tomorrow.
Yeah right they "need" the meat.
I like venison, have one roast left from last yrs deer. And I'm toting a friggin' recurve.
Sport. It seems as if greed and other have clouded many a Nimrod's vision.
I'm with you to a point Hook, but there's something else going on. I don't need the meat, I want the meat - true. But, there's more to it than that and I don't call is sport. To my understanding sport is about competition where there is a winner and a loser and there's usually a score to determine both. Hunting has been part of the human race since long before it became unnecessary to do so. Why? Not because it's sport, at least not for me. It's not what I do so much as who I am. I "need" to pursue even though I restrain myself by choosing more primitive weapons - like a recurve at times - and limit myself on what I take. Back to the OP, in this case I would not take a fawn and only a doe that's pretty big because I'm going to process as much as possible, and not even a doe if I believe my numbers are down. So, personal restrain on what I kill and how I kill it are my choice, but not for sport...I am fed in a different way by the pursuit. I am human so there's a mixed bag of emotions - satisfaction in doing the hunt the right way, the kill the right way, - remorse for having taken a life - independence for taking my own food - responsibility for managing a species I love...all that rolled into one. AND, I'm fed whether I kill or not. I experience the pursuit whether the game shows or not. RE-living something primal still resident in my DNA is fulfilling on a different level and it's difficult to put into words.