It's starting......AGAIN!


Guest SRA

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the neighbors are starting to shoot "my" deer smirk.gif......every year i can expect the phone calls....."Hey, i shot a dandy buck last night"....or "Well.....i stuck one and couldn't find it"

it just gets frustrating, you know.....i put my time in passing up countless bucks, have been for approx. 8 yrs. now, and all the neighbors reap the benefits smirk.gif

oh well.........such is life.....thanks for letting me cry on your shoulder....boooooohoooooo blush.giftongue.gifgrin.gif

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

Since technically, they are not "your" deer, unfortunately, you have no control over it.

I feel your pain though. I let A LOT of bucks walk every year. I've let several 120 class bucks walk this year alone. I keep my chin up and just tell myself that if someone else elects to shoot those deer, then they have a nice trophy. Just maybe a few of them will make it another year.

All you can do is politely educate those who hunt on the neigboring property. If everyone that hunts close would elect to pass on deer the way you do, then within a couple years, you all will be shooting mature bucks. It is a pretty simple concept, but some people just struggle with this. It took several years of it around where I hunt, but we finally have most everyone in the area convinced. About the only ones that shoot the small ones anymore are the kids, which is absolutely fine with me.

Do your best to educate people on herd management and be proud of your decisions on passing up bucks. Be happy for those who legally shoot a deer, regardless of whether you would have shot that deer or not. Keep your chin up and have fun. Hunting is supposed to be fun. Life is too short to stress out about others shooting bucks you let walk.

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

You'd be crying all the time if you hunted my area. Landlocked property...surrounded on all sides with hunters. Let a deer walk and 15-20 minutes later you'll likely hear a shot.

I respect the choice of those that practice QDM...but my group does NOT practice it for more reasons than just neighbors that don't.

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

I know exactly how you feel. I have let countless small bucks walk and only later to have a someone else shoot them. My 62acres butts up against a 450acre hunting camp. Those city guys come up in their Hummers and Escalades decked out in orange from head to toe, all carrying .300 weatherbys.

FOR DEER! .300 weatherby's??? PUHLEESE!!!

They shoot anything in sight...so much for QDM.

I'm gonna put a sign on my truck this gun season that says "let the spikes walk".

I'm hoping to get the message out a bit.

The brown its down concept has to go...

Practice QDM grin.gif

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

I respect the choice of those that practice QDM...but my group does NOT practice it for more reasons than just neighbors that don't.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe your neighbors don't because they know ya'll will shoot anything that walks....ever think of it that way??? wink.gif It's a 2-way street...

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh boy, here we go. I shouldn't have commented at all. wink.gif

I've just recently been through a fairly heated debate on another forum over this and really don't want to do it again.

All I will say is to repeat part of what I previously said...with an added bottom line. smirk.gif

My group does NOT practice QDM for more reasons than just neighbors that don't.

Emphasis on "MORE REASONS".

Bottom line:

I believe in a person's right to choose and the right to not be badgered over their choice.

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

There is absolutely nothing wrong with not practicing QDM or making the effort to educate people on QDM (as difficult as that educational process is at times).

Shoot any deer that is legal and is what YOU want to shoot.

Just never complain that someone else is shooting "your" deer or that you never see larger deer.

Taking any deer is a personal choice and no one should be condemed for any legally taken deer. Part of that personal choice on weather to shoot or pass on a deer comes with the price that that deer may be taken by another hunter. This is a fact of hunting. People need to accept this fact and move on.

Keep this in mind. If I pass on a 120" 8 pointer, then he is one step closer to making it to a 140" deer. He might get shot 10 minutes later or 10 days later, but if I had pulled the trigger, he would have had NO chance at making it to a 140" deer. And, with a little luck, he just might make it through the season, because I chose to pass on him.

Back to the original post. No hunter owns the deer, until his legal tag is on the deer. So, please do not whine that someone else is shooting your deer. Do your best to educate the other hunters on QDM (if you so choose). And be happy for the guy that shot what you consider "your" deer. IMO, be even happier if that guy elected to also pass on that deer giving him one more chance at a 140" or 150" dream.

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

I don't practice it here on the land I hunt here by the house because the others that hunt there shoot whatever walks. One shot a fawn and a spike this year. The other shot a 3 point. The last guy hit a spike and lost it. What is the point if the people you hunt with are not gonna participate.

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

You may not be able to get all your neighbors to practice QDM, but if YOU wish to, you can still make a difference, and this is how. What is your buck limit in the area you hunt? Most places its 1. (not MD, I know.)

So, if YOU let that 3 pt walk, and it gets shot by the next farmer over, then he is done for the year, and between the two of you, only 1 young deer is dead.

If you decide cause they'll kill it anyway, that you might as well, you'll shoot that 3 pt. You now took your buck. And the next spike that walks over the kill gets blasted by the neighbor. Now 2 young deer are dead.

You'll never convince everyone, but you do have some say in it by controling your own actions.

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

I'm going to chime in on this one, I QDM 800 acres here in pa. Every one of us that hunts this property has a different opinion on what a trophy is. I can only shoot what I want, and let the other guys shoot what they want. If I decide to wait on a nice buck, I wait. If Harold decides to shoot the first buck that walks up, his choice. He doesn't see it my way and I don't see it his way. But who cares, If he's happy, shouldn't I be happy for him. I don't own the deer, I just own the land. If I want to own the deer I'll have to Invest in a high fence, won't that open up a can of worms.

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Re: It\'s starting......AGAIN!

[ QUOTE ]

You hunt?

Thought you were in front of your computer all day. cool.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

ha ha.........funny little man......

muggs there yet????? grin.gif

btw....keep your wife away from him........ tongue.gifgrin.gif

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