I wouldn't call it antler obsession. Take this property here, you don't need to feed them anything to get a trophy quality animal, if that is what you are after that is. If simply killing a buck is all you after, then that is fine as well. The deer out there are living in a smorgasbord of corn, beans and acorns and some amazing cover.
The midwest offers some of the best whitetail habitat known to man.... And whitetail.
Since I've been hunting out there, I've had the pleasure of witnessing and experiencing first hand some of the most exciting and unusual hunts I've ever been a part of. How many people have seen the rut in it's true form and have been left scared and mesmerized from the excitement and the reality of the sheer mayhem they've witnessed? I've seen deer knock over small trees, three or four big rack bucks chasing one big doe in heat, watch and hear deer fight, see deer trails that would leave most hunters speechless, and deer that looked like horses running through the woods. The fact you might be able to score on a mature 150+ animal is just the icing on the cake. Those midwest shows seem unreal to most PA hunters simply because they might not have ever seen some of the action they catch on tape out there, on a regular basis, before in their life.
Let's face it, if you are after an above average animal and their are none in your particular area and may never be any because of any number of factors, then trophy hunting is clearly a waste of time. And if you are hunting an area that breeds 1.5 yo 8 points with 100+ inches of bone with regularity then trophy hunting may actually only be a by-product of the circumstances in which you find yourself and the experience you intended to obtain is only seen as trophy hunting simply because the trophies are plentiful there.
I've still not killed a "trophy" animal yet, but have scored on some pretty decent bucks. It's the possibility combined with the reality that at any moment your chances of seeing and getting the opportunity to harvest a trophy animal could become reality at any minute. I've seen more 150+ deer in the past two years then ever seen in PA during all my years hunting combined.
Everyone has different goals each season, and that is fine. If someone is happy killing a spike or a whatever and other hunters are after something mature with a huge rack, then that is fine as well. Each hunter has his definition as what might be considered a quality hunt, and we ought to respect each other for those goals even though they might no mirror our own. Someone might not want to end his hunt on the first day with a small racked buck, they might want to spend as much timne hunting as possible and that might mean passing up many bucks others would be very happy to harvest.... That is his choice. Maybe he killed many smaller bucks and his personal goals have changed over time. And as his life progresses maybe his goals will change again and his main goal will be to get others, small kids for example, in front of deer.
And this property is a bargain if you consider some would be happy to spend the same amount for five days of hunting if you split up the cost of what 8 hunters could enjoy here all season long. You get a house, storage, ponds and the opportunity to manage this property for long term enjoyment.
We need to both talk about apples here if we want to come to some agreement as to the relationship between the two opportunities here.... One being PA big woods deer and a midwest farm feed and superior woodlot habitat deer.
You owe it to yourself to step one foot into the woods of the midwest or upper midwest to see this subject is two very different "animals" and is easy to see with a close up inspection and only takes about 10 minutes off the road to come clearly into focus. Actually, with a keen eye it can literally be seen from the road.
To each his own I suspect.... I respect whatever hunters might choose as the "perfect" hunt and experience.
