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Stocking deer for trophy genetics

6K views 26 replies 24 participants last post by  mus42tang 
#1 ·
#8 ·
Interesting approach but I suspect it will be a big waste of money.

I'm familiar with some of the other "similar" projects stated at the end and the ones I know of really have not been that successful for producing trophy fisheries or animals.

I think the bucks will be shot or poached long before they have a chance to put their genes into the next generation. If they were wild bucks they may have a little better chance of surviving but farm raised deer, just like farm raised quail or pheasant don't typically do too well when released into the wild.

Of course what can you expect from Alabama? They are doing everything possible to try to turn their state into a trophy destination for hunting and fishing as are most other states. I've seen presentations at meetings about how AL and GA are trying to produce the next world record largemouth bass at their public fishing ponds which are just glorified hatchery ponds.
 
#12 ·
Again it seems that they want to mess with nature... sure... who wouldnt want to take a big buck, but at what cost ?? I bet that if this does take off the hunting licenses will increase, OR if you take a trophy deer you will have to pay a premium for it.. I wish there were more big bucks out there, but with the antler restrictions here, and the lack of deer, the first "legal" buck becomes a target for most hunters. But that is only my opinion.....
 
#16 ·
Confused said:
The continued obsession with trophy deer is unsettling to some in both the hunting and non hunting communities alike. It seems to me that we all had more fun, respected each other as well as the deer, when we could only tag one a year. Every deer was a trophy then.
Very well said. It is sad how some look down on others for shooting a small(legal) buck these days.
 
#18 ·
why you cant eat the horns, if everybody had 200 inch bucks in the woods,then it would get boring,its about the adventure, part of the chase hunting is going deep in the woods chasing big deer for the mystery that there could be a big native never seen before buck,im no trophy hunter,maybe it will be like cows they cant have regular ones they have to have ones with the best traits and biggest weight,every deer i shoot is a trophy in my book
 
#19 ·
My favorite memories of hunting are not even killing deer! Getting a buck or doe is just an extra reward. I'm introducing 2 first time hunters this year and trying to make it a fun experience for them, not just looking for monster bucks.
 
#22 ·
It was only better for the outlaws back when it was one and done.

For us honest hunters it was horrible. If it was one and done my season would have been over on the first day of archery. That would not have been good for me at all even though it would undoubtedly work out better for the ones who don’t tag their deer so they could keep hunting. That is the way it was done for a high percentage of the hunters back when it was SUPPOSED to be one and done.

But, to stay on topic we don’t need deer brought in to have good genetics in our herd. The genetics programming and tinkering only makes sense with fenced and farmed deer herds.

Dick Bodenhorn
 
#23 ·
Dick,

I've read many of your posts and feel that the majority of them are right on target. I can't agree in this case.
Understand this isn't a defensive response; rather, I want to illustrate something. Neither I, nor any one that I associate with, is an "outlaw" now, nor was one then. I stand by the assertion that in some ways we respected both the deer, and ourselves, more when it was "one and done."
Consider your sentence again regarding your season being over "on the first day". I can't agree. Now, as back in the "one and done" days, you have the <span style="font-style: italic">choice</span> whether to shoot or not. Many of us waited to shoot a buck in archery season (and, again, made a choice whether or not to shoot or wait). By waiting, hunters sometimes looked at the two day "doe" season, and harvesting a doe then, a little differently. You still got to hunt the whole season and appreciated "your" doe a little differently. That one deer "meant", perhaps, more than being one of four doe tags used to "tag out", where individual deer lose their identity as we accumulate them like rabbits.
I'm sure there are biological arguments that you've very capably presented here that sway away from a "one and done" format. From a sociological perspective, however, it seems that we were more respectful of the deer (as your one deer of the year was soemthing to remember, not a number or antler score or something to cross off a "hit list"). We were also more respectful of each other, and didn't malign each other for choosing to harvest a legal deer. Rather, we all stood around and shared stories, and they were timeless; the sort shared around hunters' campfires since some caveman hurled a spear at some big hairy critter. They weren't about "booners" and "genetics" or "hit lists".

As it is, as I said before, the continued trend towards obsession with trophy deer, coupled with the commercialization of hunting in the proliferation of thinly veiled commercials in the guise of hunting shows, is unsettling.
 
#24 ·
What's wrong with the bucks we have? I seen some nice pics.on HPA. I totally agree with R.S.B.statement.
If you want a buck better then what Pa.offers,Hunt behind a fence or go to some other state were people make tons of money off trophy hunts,If that's your cup of tea.That's fine,For me Meat first! Why hunt? Also,Why take a chance on some type of disease that could effect the rest of our deer herds. No thanks.
 
#26 ·
Hmm...seems to me I remember reading that Pa about wiped out it's deer herd in the early 1900s. The cure was to live capture and transport deer from New York and West Va to replenish the herd? I dont think we can comnplain about that policy decision.

Maybe I'm wrong. Seems to me that program was a success. I guess they should have gotten thier stock from Iowa or Ohio at the very least.....lol
 
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