meat hunter or trophy hunter

[bckev]

I am curious about how many people here see themselves as primarily a meat hunter vs a trophy hunter. How much does that effect the limited entries you apply for. When you look at the price of gas does that effect your decisions about where to hunt more if you are a meat hunter or a trophy hunter. I guess in part I am asking who will spend more to hunt.

[mark]

Im proud to say both! I take the first legal moose and elk i see, then i am very selective about the deer i shoot! No matter how full my freezer is i make sure everything i kill gets eaten!!! The only thing that cotradicts my morals is that my GF and i are going grizz hunting next week. Its going to be very hard for me to skin an animal and walk away from a huge carcass. Just doesnt sit right with me, but it will be a once in a lifetime thing only.

[416]

Depends on the species, we don't have the moose or elk #'s locally that the areas further north have, so an leh or even an organized hunt with a few other hunters is usually worth it. Deer are abundant on the local scene, so they aren't a big issue. As far as trophy hunting.....l l have the same inspirations as most, would like a trophy sized animal, but reality is, l won't go with an empty freezer holding out for a largest rack possible.

[LeverActionJunkie]

Id rather fill my stomach than a space on my wall, But if my plate of steaks is wearing nice headgear that doesn't hurt any. I also don't mind travelling to hunt, it would be a sin not to try and explore all this great province has to offer.

[Islandeer]

I am a caveman at heart,primarily love the end tablefare result. But like the old cavemen,I like to show off the big tusks and paint pictures of the hunt.:wink:

[3kills]

food first then antler size next...u cant eat the rack...i admit i like a big rack like the next guy :D but i rather have the food in the freezer...in fact last years little 3x2 buck i got was the first rack i kept...

[bsa30-06]

I agree with 3kills but if that meat happens to have some big head gear attached to it i wouldn't pass it up.

[Fred]

Meat, and that starts with ditch chickens and goes upward. I am quite lazy too so the conditions must be near perfect or I don't go for anything larger. Fred

[huntwriter]

I would say both, but when it comes to whitetail deer and turkey I lean more toward trophy. But first and foremost I am just a haunter doing what man has done from the begining of times. There have been times in the past where I shot more animals and fished more fish than my freezer could hold, but there are always people around that are so poor that they can not afford to put meat on the table and are happy to get good nutritious meat for free.

It's been a long standing tradition of mien to give some of the meat to the less fortunate in society. It's also good for pro-hunting public relations. ;)

[Ronforca]

Meat hunter but as said before if my winter meat supply happers to have some nice head gear so much the better.Most of the meat that we have consumed for the last 40 yrs. has been wild game.Ruger # 1 has helped out a lot in my lean years.That is the years that I came up blank.

[Brambles]

Depends on how the freezer looks. Plus if I saw 2 animals standing together and one was larger than the other antler wise then I'd shoot the one with the larger antlers. If it was a either sex season and there was a bull/cow or doe/buck standing together then I would shoot the male.

[bigwhiteys]

Primarily a Trophy Hunter...

I've said it many times before... If I need meat I'll shoot a Buffalo off the ranch in FSJ. If I DO shoot a trophy animal it gets eaten but by no means is filling my freezer the object of my hunting trips.

Not when I can get a yearling buffalo for $500 and have enough meat for the whole year.

Happy Hunting!
Carl

[BOOMSTICK]

That's good thinking Carl. Nothing wrong with a good buffalo. I like to have a little bit of everything in my freezer. Mountain sheep is my favorite.:D

I always make sure my freezer is full. Usually try to get a young bull moose early, and an elk. With deer I am a little more picky and usually don't hunt them until late season. When it comes to caribou, purely a trophy hunt. I've shot some caribou that even the dogs wouldn't eat!

[Barracuda]

I have asked a similer question and for me any animal a person takes can be a trophy. What i mean by that is, If an individual sets goals or hunts within a specific set of paremeters then that animal taken in the perscribed manner is what would be considered a trophy.
Any specific method of hunting or any particular method of dispatching the game, be it Bow hunting ,Rifle ,spear etc or any criteriea that requires you to discriminate within a species would be indicative of trophy hunting .

So by that defintition I would say i am a conditional hunter I set very specific guidlines as to the manner of the hunt as a whole , Even if i see an animal and it is a keeper if it was not in the perscribed manner or intention of the hunt i will not take.
We could have filled our bear tags several times allready but we have not had all of our specific criteria met so they were not harvested. I know it is different to alot of folks but that is how we do it.

[bigwhiteys]

Boomstick,

I like mountain sheep too... Being raised into hunting by an outfitting family kind of ruined me as a meat hunter. But the extra patience I've learned to have in the field sure pays off.

At the ranch game meat was readily available including Sheep which I've eaten plenty of. Yes it's good :) Obviously hunters wouldn't want to pack ALL of their meat home (on a plane) so there was always plenty of meat to go around at the base camp.

I would get the hunters sheep skulls after the guide had skinned it and I would cut off all the excess fat and meat to use as bait in my Grandpas lake. BIIIIG bull trout in there. I have a 13lbr on my wall.

Good Ol'e sheep meat... live chipmunks worked well too :) Now I am just rambling...

Happy Hunting!
Carl

[endtimerwithabow]

I would have to say that im a meat hunter, if its either sex and buck/doe, bull/cow (elk or moose) I would take that female. the meat tastes better and is more tender. I would like to harvest a moose calf as well in the next couple years, 200 lbs of super tender meat would be nice mmmm. But hey thats me. But in the same breath I wouldnt pass on a nice head gear if its buck/bull only.

[mainland hunter]

im the same as most here. i take what i can get to fill the freezer but will chose the more impressive rack if given the choice

[moose hunter]

im lookin for meat, ill take the first legal animal i see usualy,accept for bear

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Im proud to say both! I take the first legal moose and elk i see, then i am very selective about the deer i shoot! No matter how full my freezer is i make sure everything i kill gets eaten!!! The only thing that cotradicts my morals is that my GF and i are going grizz hunting next week. Its going to be very hard for me to skin an animal and walk away from a huge carcass. Just doesnt sit right with me, but it will be a once in a lifetime thing only.
Mark
Why not pack out some grizz meat??
A friend and I helped another friend get a grizz a few years ago and we had hoped to try some of the meat. It was raining and getting dark when we finished skinning and our friend told us to get moving. It just didn't feel right as we had grown up as meat hunters. We never knew anybody that had tried the meat and with the regs the way they are we figured there must be a reason. When we got back to town we talked to one couple that said a SPRING grizzly is every bit as good as a spring blackie. We were a little dejected but vowed to at least try some of the better cuts if we were ever in on another spring grizz.
This was an interior bear but I'm not sure if the coastal bears are the same in the spring as I'm not all familiar with their diets. They may be a little fishy if they're routing around eating mussels and clams:confused: . I don't know.
At least give the best cuts a try and find out for yourself.
Fall bears are another issue.
SSS

[todbartell]

I'll pass on some deer, just so I can hunt longer into the season.

First legal moose goes down, the meat is the prize for me.

Bears...I like to hold out for a big one.


I go through phases where my priorities change, sometimes I want meat, sometimes I just want to stay out hunting, holding out for something *might* be out there 8-)

[Caveman]

:cool: As long as the freezer is full I will be more intent on a trophy but if the freezer is low meat always comes first. Pretty easy to say meat hunter if you can't seem to get a Bull Moose or Elk draw though:sad: Although my immature luck has been incredible so I can't b*tch too much.:D

[Gateholio]

I enjoy the meat, but it is not my priority, the reason I hunt.

I dont' need the meat, and evenif I did, as someone said- A $500 bison or buying a cow, a coupel of lambs and some chickens from farmers is actually alot less money than most hunting trips.

Cost of the trip is one factor to me, but rarely the most imortant. Most important is usually time management.

I don't consider myself a trophy hunter, either. I pass up alot of animals because I am 'holding out' but my standards arent' ridiculously high, either.

I'm in it for the adventure and the experieces, and visitng new places. Big racks are awesome, meat is great, but more than anything, I want to have fun and experience something new.8-)

[Kirby]

I enjoy the meat, but it is not my priority, the reason I hunt.

I dont' need the meat, and evenif I did, as someone said- A $500 bison or buying a cow, a coupel of lambs and some chickens from farmers is actually alot less money than most hunting trips.

Cost of the trip is one factor to me, but rarely the most imortant. Most important is usually time management.

I don't consider myself a trophy hunter, either. I pass up alot of animals because I am 'holding out' but my standards arent' ridiculously high, either.

I'm in it for the adventure and the experieces, and visitng new places. Big racks are awesome, meat is great, but more than anything, I want to have fun and experience something new.8-)
X2
Well said.

Mark, I've had Griz pepperoni and sausage, its good. I'd say pack some out if you can.

Kirby

[mainland hunter]

gatehouse's post is bang on

[Ian F.]

Want a feathery perspective?

Since I've gone to the birds most would not think the idea of trophies holds true but it does, often in different ways. the obvious one is condition or band which makes it a trophy to remember. Say a fully prime Blue winged teal, now that'd be a trophy! Of course there is rarity too, like say a Eurasian widgeon or a King eider, man I'd love to add those to my life list!

But for me, my bird trophies come from the experience. I've been known to carve some birds, or even a whole rig just to hunt a certain spot with some friends, getting or not getting birds becomes secondary. Putting the emphasis on the experience always produces payoffs, even if it just ends up being a big breakfast out with some friends..

Very best,

Ian

[oldtimer]

Meat first when it comes to moose and deer. especially with my bow. When it comes to bear - anything over 5' for my first one with a bow then maybe selective. Mike

[bckev]

Lots of interesting responses. I know I am a meat hunter first as well. I keep all the racks. The best meat seems to come from a dry cow or doe. I do think that a lot of what is happening in game management benefits the trophy hunter more than the meat hunter. What is everyone else's thoughts on this.

[mtnmax]

When I first started hunting anything leagal was taken. As the number of years I have been hunting grow and the skills I learn from others I find myself seeing way more and bigger animals. My confidence is growing so I am not afraid to pass on a two point buck. Although in saying that I never shot my mulie last year but dad's taisted great!! I do apply for leh for moose and yes will take the first leagal one I see. This year I will be triing my first bow hunt for deer so will probly be more excited about just getting a deer that the size of him. I agree with some other members that a trophy is not always the size of your animal but rather the hunt you were on. I usually hunt with freinds and for years never shot a buck by myself, always someone beside me. My "trophy" was a few years ago hunting in the crunchiest of conditions, by myself, and cold when I ended up with a tall and wide 4x3 mulie.
And yes, I eat it all!!mmmmmmmmmmmm

[Mulie_Hunter]

Im proud to say both! I take the first legal moose and elk i see, then i am very selective about the deer i shoot!


I second this :lol:

[bruno]

If you hunt Moose in the area around Prince George without an LEH draw
your biggest trophy bull will be a 2x3. I just measured my biggest rack in the shed and it comes in at 25 inches wide ( a monster ).:lol: :lol:
It fills a good chunk of the freezer and tastes great though.

[johnes50]

I'm with Gatehouse too.

I've never been a meat or a trophy hunter. Since I was a kid I just wanted to be in the bush and look and poke around. It's like that old song, "I like spiders and snakes..." For me, it's more about getting out into the bush and having fun with friends, seeing new country, seeing all kinds of animals and sign, and generally relaxing and goofing off, sitting around a campfire like blazing saddles and telling stories that even we don't believe.

When we are hunting we look pretty hard for game and when the right animal comes along we take it, but we pass up more animals then we shoot unless it's a LEH then it gets more serious. I've had forks and better in my scope and just walked away and felt that I had a successful hunt. Of course, nowadays on the Island just seeing a buck is a good hunt. John

[rrfred]

i hunt for the table; game meat is the trophy; skulls and racks are a bonus

[Bow Walker]

I'm with rrfred and johnes50 - I hunt for the meat mainly - being out in the bush at dawn and watching the sun come up and the morning fog dissapate is THE bonus. Communing with nature is the most natural high that I can think of. Racks happen. Enjoying the outing and eating the spoils are what it is all about for me.

[abbyfireguy]

I'm happy to be out hunting....Big deer are ok , but I only take smaller bull moose...No big more moose racks for me....The family doesn't like the tough, strong tasting meat of a 10 year old swamp donkey...........
A nice 3 or 4 yr old bull does just fine.....:D

[Elkhound]

I am a caveman at heart,primarily love the end tablefare result. But like the old cavemen,I like to show off the big tusks and paint pictures of the hunt.:wink:

Ummmmm, me caveman too.:biggrin: However, the most enjoyment I get is the time I can hang out with my hunting partners.

[PGKris]

Im proud to say both! I take the first legal moose and elk i see, then i am very selective about the deer i shoot! No matter how full my freezer is i make sure everything i kill gets eaten!!! The only thing that cotradicts my morals is that my GF and i are going grizz hunting next week. Its going to be very hard for me to skin an animal and walk away from a huge carcass. Just doesnt sit right with me, but it will be a once in a lifetime thing only.

I am a meat hunter but I want to make something clear in your mind and maybe help you sleep a little better Mark:
Whether you shoot that bear or not, he is still going to die and he will rot and be fed on by every trophic level. The carcass of the bear is not wasted just because you won't eat it. The bear will end up where he would have eventually, back into the cycle of growth and death.
That said, I personally see no reason to hunt a grizzly. They are a threatened species and are susceptible to over-harvest. I also view grizzly hunts as somewhat of a powertrip for some hunters.
But hey, if you get one, I will be in line to congratulate you. The are tough to hunt and tough to kill. Good Luck
Kris

[PGKris]

Oh and a really smart guy I know always says: "You can't eat antler" :biggrin:

[CHilko21]

Oh and a really smart guy I know always says: "You can't eat antler" :biggrin:

Although, apparently there's a recipe to make stew out of antlers in velvet...can't remember where I saw it, and I'd have to be pretty damned desperate before I'd eat it, but I have seen it...can't remember the name of the cookbook it was in, but it really was there..just the idea makes my mouth go dry....:lol: ....but hey, for you brave souls out there.....

As for the hunting thing, I'm primarily a meat hunter, though if something walks out of the bush with a piano bench tied to its head I definately wouldn't turn it down. I'm kinda choosy with mule deer, but they're all over the damned place here so I can afford to take my pick sometimes.

[Tank]

Origonaly posted by PGKris:

"That said, I personally see no reason to hunt a grizzly. They are a threatened species and are susceptible to over-harvest. "

Not to split hairs, or hijacak thread for that matter:lol: , but are grizzly's "threatend"? I was under the impression that their populations were quite good:confused:

[Stone Sheep Steve]

That said, I personally see no reason to hunt a grizzly. They are a threatened species and are susceptible to over-harvest.
Kris
I'm biting my tongue so hard it's bleeding!!
Where did you get your facts??
Yes, they are a blue-listed species which pretty much means they need lots of good habitat. Protect their habitat and you'll have bears.
There was a general open fall season up north until 1985 when they went LEH. Their #'s have increased dramatically since then.
Have you hunted much up north lately or maybe over in the Elk Valley or know someone that has????? If they can survive overhunting like they did up until the 1985 and rebound to their #'s that we currently have then they are not quite as susceptible to over-hunting as biologists once thought. Protect their habitat and you will have bears. At our current provicial harvest rate of 250-300 grizzlies annually we are not even close to threatening their population. Bears are moving into new areas in increasing #'s where they have not historically(eg. Okanagan) been seen because they are getting forced out by other bears which occupy the best habitat.

Don't hunt them if you don't want but don't spew out some rhetoric that you heard on a TV show that was trying to get you to donate some of your hard earned $$$.
I could go on and on but I'm sure I've said enough;-) .

SSS

[Mr. Dean]

I'm in it for the meat and will spend whatever it takes to get the freezer filled up.

[PGKris]

I'm biting my tongue so hard it's bleeding!!
Where did you get your facts??
Yes, they are a blue-listed species which pretty much means they need lots of good habitat. Protect their habitat and you'll have bears.
There was a general open fall season up north until 1985 when they went LEH. Their #'s have increased dramatically since then.
Have you hunted much up north lately or maybe over in the Elk Valley or know someone that has????? If they can survive overhunting like they did up until the 1985 and rebound to their #'s that we currently have then they are not quite as susceptible to over-hunting as biologists once thought. Protect their habitat and you will have bears. At our current provicial harvest rate of 250-300 grizzlies annually we are not even close to threatening their population. Bears are moving into new areas in increasing #'s where they have not historically(eg. Okanagan) been seen because they are getting forced out by other bears which occupy the best habitat.

Don't hunt them if you don't want but don't spew out some rhetoric that you heard on a TV show that was trying to get you to donate some of your hard earned $$$.
I could go on and on but I'm sure I've said enough;-) .

SSS

You pretty much just said the same thing I did but in a different context. Their numbers were low in the 1980s because of the GOS on them and over-harvest. I'm not demonizing grizzly hunters.
Grizzlies are blue listed. Which means they are susceptible. I am quite happy with the grizzly draws as they are now. There is not really a point to increasing the allowable harvest too much more becuase you dont want to have the population crash you did in the 80s.
I am not spewing rhetoric I heard on a TV show. I find that generally, I am a lot more educated than the news reporters. I am spewing my own opinions based on scientific fact obtained from MoE (Which I beleive I am allowed to do).
Grizzly numbers are quite good. Let's keep it that way. And grizzlies ARE native to the okanagan its just that the urban sprawl kicked them out during heavy population in, guess when, the 80s.
I might be a young gun but I'm not stupid.
Kris

{This thread has officially been hi-jacked now}

[Bigbuckadams]

I hunt primarily for the meat, however, most of my hunting is done on private land and that comes with rules. " House rules " are quite simple, as we pretty much have only deer to hunt, it has to be at least 4 points above the brow tine on at least one side to be "legal". I spend at least 40 days/season hunting, and am fortunate to see a lot of game daily. We normally spend the season seeing who will pass up the biggest deer ( and kick self-in-butt at season's end ). The experience and just being out there is why I hunt. So the bottom line is, I guess I am a meat hunter who has been transformed into a trophy hunter...but, if I come home empty at season's end, it was still worth every minute;)

[steveo32]

I am a trophy mule deer hunter, everything else will fall if it is legal!!

steve

[Stone Sheep Steve]

You pretty much just said the same thing I did but in a different context. Their numbers were low in the 1980s because of the GOS on them and over-harvest. I'm not demonizing grizzly hunters.
Grizzlies are blue listed. Which means they are susceptible. I am quite happy with the grizzly draws as they are now. There is not really a point to increasing the allowable harvest too much more becuase you dont want to have the population crash you did in the 80s.
I am not spewing rhetoric I heard on a TV show. I find that generally, I am a lot more educated than the news reporters. I am spewing my own opinions based on scientific fact obtained from MoE (Which I beleive I am allowed to do).
Grizzly numbers are quite good. Let's keep it that way. And grizzlies ARE native to the okanagan its just that the urban sprawl kicked them out during heavy population in, guess when, the 80s.
I might be a young gun but I'm not stupid.
Kris

{This thread has officially been hi-jacked now}
I wouldn't consider this a hijack as it has to do with the Trophy/meat hunting debate.
Yes, grizzlies have been in the OK for many years (in LOW #'s) but urban sprawl had nothing to do with "kicking them out". Christ,there are more bears than ever in the Ok and you should see how much urban sprawl has occurred in the last 5 years. Just look at the Big White area (as well as many other areas).
At least you agreed in the last post that G-bear #'s are good. I didn't get that impression from your first post.

A grizzly hunt can mean many different things to many different people.
To me, it's an incredible adventure in spectacular country. One that you'll never forget!!

I'm definitely a mix of both meat and trophy hunter but mostly I'm hunting for the adventure whether I'm successful or not.

SSS

[rock]

meat hunting is with a rifle,
trophy hunting is with a bow.

[Marc]

I'm a meat hunter but wouldn't turn down a monster because he was going to be tough eating. I've also passed up on a few aniimals that I considered to be to small and decided to let them live another day. So I guess I'm a selective meat hunter :D

[The 'Hummer']

I'm basically a 'deep freeze' hunter. Lived in Wells, started hunting and Moose there and the objective was to put meat in the freezer. My choice is about a two year old bull, early in the season. On Deer I do sort of set a minimum standard, especially with archery.

[ramcam]

I have allways used every bit of wild game I have taken BUT I do like horn soup the best. I will hang tags on the Christmas tree and eat beef if I have to. Just my opinion.

[Walksalot]

As far as hunting for Grizzly Bears, i have never had an urge to shoot one other than in a defencive situation. I have no problem with the LEH draw system on them now but I do think once a guy gets drawn then his/her odds of getting drawn for one again should go way down and let the rest of the residents get and crack at one.

Grizzly numbers have been debated for years. The fact they are showing up in the Okanagan could be younger bears establishing their own territory. That would tell me they are going huther afiels to find a territory so the numbers are on the rise.

[Gilmore]

I guess I'm both, but I tell ya, I sure had to eat alot of meat to finally find a trophy!