Why is deer hunting so popular?

birddude said:
There are some deer hunters who are excellent outdoorsmen. But sadly, most are not. 25 years ago, my wife and I bought 20 acers of bare field. Farmed for a few years then started managing for wildlife. Neighbors to the south have 50 acers. They have some woods, but keep the rest mowed and manicured. The neighbors to the west have thousands of acers. They buy a farm a year. Then bring in the dozers and farm everything possible. Neighbors to the north have 20 acers mowed down like a golf course. It took them a few years to figure out that the deer were coming to our place to bed, breed and have their young. After a couple big boys were killed near the property lines, I started seeing trail cams pointed at the runs on our place!. Now the neighbor to the south has a stand at one corner, west neighbors have a condo stand 75 yards from the south neighbors stand. And now another condo at the corner of the north neighbor. North guy is a untrained kid sitting there with a 30-06 within 200 yard in plain sight of my house. He has about 20-yard safe shooting lane. Every other shot is at our house, down our lane, or his own house!!Last year a nieghbor a mile down the road asked if he could hunt the east field!! I can't safely walk around my own place during gun season! I've had it. Started clearing last week. I'm taking everything I can with the tractor, then the dozer's coming in for the rest. I hate it but I can't take it any longer. So, you can probably guess what I think of most deer hunters.
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Wow that is a shame, but the normal for most deer hunters these days.
 
birddude said:
There are some deer hunters who are excellent outdoorsmen. But sadly, most are not. 25 years ago, my wife and I bought 20 acers of bare field. Farmed for a few years then started managing for wildlife. Neighbors to the south have 50 acers. They have some woods, but keep the rest mowed and manicured. The neighbors to the west have thousands of acers. They buy a farm a year. Then bring in the dozers and farm everything possible. Neighbors to the north have 20 acers mowed down like a golf course. It took them a few years to figure out that the deer were coming to our place to bed, breed and have their young. After a couple big boys were killed near the property lines, I started seeing trail cams pointed at the runs on our place!. Now the neighbor to the south has a stand at one corner, west neighbors have a condo stand 75 yards from the south neighbors stand. And now another condo at the corner of the north neighbor. North guy is a untrained kid sitting there with a 30-06 within 200 yard in plain sight of my house. He has about 20-yard safe shooting lane. Every other shot is at our house, down our lane, or his own house!!Last year a nieghbor a mile down the road asked if he could hunt the east field!! I can't safely walk around my own place during gun season! I've had it. Started clearing last week. I'm taking everything I can with the tractor, then the dozer's coming in for the rest. I hate it but I can't take it any longer. So, you can probably guess what I think of most deer hunters.
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I often think about how my grandpa or even my dad and the distant neighbors they had would have handled the crap that goes on these days with the city folk, deer hunters, and investors taking over our communities. I know my grandpa and his buddies would have never stood for it and probably not my dad's bunch either. My generation is either too blind/dumb to realize what's going on or too soft to put a stop to it.
 
birddude said:
There are some deer hunters who are excellent outdoorsmen. But sadly, most are not. 25 years ago, my wife and I bought 20 acers of bare field. Farmed for a few years then started managing for wildlife. Neighbors to the south have 50 acers. They have some woods, but keep the rest mowed and manicured. The neighbors to the west have thousands of acers. They buy a farm a year. Then bring in the dozers and farm everything possible. Neighbors to the north have 20 acers mowed down like a golf course. It took them a few years to figure out that the deer were coming to our place to bed, breed and have their young. After a couple big boys were killed near the property lines, I started seeing trail cams pointed at the runs on our place!. Now the neighbor to the south has a stand at one corner, west neighbors have a condo stand 75 yards from the south neighbors stand. And now another condo at the corner of the north neighbor. North guy is a untrained kid sitting there with a 30-06 within 200 yard in plain sight of my house. He has about 20-yard safe shooting lane. Every other shot is at our house, down our lane, or his own house!!Last year a nieghbor a mile down the road asked if he could hunt the east field!! I can't safely walk around my own place during gun season! I've had it. Started clearing last week. I'm taking everything I can with the tractor, then the dozer's coming in for the rest. I hate it but I can't take it any longer. So, you can probably guess what I think of most deer hunters.
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I'm sorry for you, BD. Sadly, no discussion with the "neighbors" would have any impact on the exploitation of your property.

It's not right; but there is it.

Best wishes.
 
No fitness required. Anyone with enough physical wherewithal to walk into some trees can do it. Upland? As the old saying goes, "You don't get pheasants with your gun; you get 'em with your legs."
 
I think deer hunting changed everything. Grew up in east central IL. Never saw a deer until the early 80s. My dad and I were strictly bird hunters. All of a sudden, deer are everywhere and there is a stand or multiple stands in every piece of woods. We used to be able to hunt almost anywhere. Once the deer hunters took over, everyone got so territorial. Access got denied and every piece of habitat ground that went up for sale got gobbled up by someone from the suburbs.

I hunted them for a few years when I was young, but I can’t take the boredom of just sitting there.

Also, the deer population has boomed due to to modern farming practices while upland numbers have plummeted.

To each his own. It’s not for me. I don’t even bother bird hunting in IL during the fun season.
 
I shot a doe last night. Purely because I want lean meat for jerky/sausage/pastrami. I enjoy making it. I enjoy eating it. I enjoy giving those away to others who act like you just have them a shiny new car. My boy got one a month ago. I hope to get 1 or 2 more before end of January. I’m lucky to have family ground access and some friends that met me hunt deer. I have a legitimate monster on the wall (>26” inside spread) I shot in high school. I’d love to shoot another monster, but don’t put enough time in to do that other than on a whim.

All that said, I’d give all deer hunting up if I could get a guarantee for somewhat decent “bird” hunting. (Ducks aren’t a bird in my world….but I’ll still throw some decoys out a few times a year…)
 
I am not anti-deer hunting. As I said before, I know some very good deer hunters. All are from the old school, most of them have never used a trail cam. They learned from being there observing, reading and thinking. Or from other old timers. Some are trophy hunters, some or meat hunters. To target and kill a specific buck is quite an accomplishment. There are many reasons people deer hunt. Tradition, peer pressure, sustenance, to name a few. But I think the main reason people hunt at all is it fills a void that they don't even realize they have. There is something wrong with anybody who doesn't like the solemness of the woods. It's like a one-man church service only better. With the price of beef, I'm thinking about putting one in the freezer myself. But here's what I hate about it. Leasing, trail cams, high powered rifles, 4 wheelers, road hunters, commercialization of it and the constant bickering between them and of course an untrained 16-year-old with a 30-06 150 yards from my house!!
 
I don’t know deer hunting is a 12 month a year deal now Kind of like kids sports.

Guys are hunting sheds and tending food plots and feeders, and checking cameras. And a 4 month season. I see guys taking their kids to game farms as a right of passage and a lot of times their only introduction to upland bird hunting. I’m afraid that may be where it’s all headed
 
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These kids, mine included, will never know how to hunt, really hunt. And I'm afraid it makes the accomplishments not as grand in the scheme of things.

My own experience, and it might be my daughter was just never going to be a hunter but I may have failed her. It took me 2 yrs to kill my first deer and it was a button buck I thought was a doe. It took me a couple yrs and lots of screw ups and ticks to kill my first turkey. I learned a lot from my failures on both game. My daughter at 12 shot her first buck on her second hunt that scored 168. Her first turkey was a nice tom 45 minutes in to her first hunt. Year 2 on both animals she couldn't care less to even go despite the thrilling moments in the field. Did I ruin it for her because Dad made it too easy by using my years of experience and not letting her figure it out and fail making that first kill something she had to work hard at other than getting up early that day? Would that have hooked her? Who knows.
 
GetTothePoint said:
Did I ruin it for her because Dad made it too easy by using my years of experience and not letting her figure it out and fail making that first kill something she had to work hard at other than getting up early that day? Would that have hooked her? Who knows.
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Interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing it.
 
It's like my 2 snl's go "hunting" every year. Preserve hunting, kill 30 or more Roosters. Their darling wives say they deserve to get birds. They work hard, lol. They do it because it is EASY.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
In 54 years, I've never hunted deer. Never considered having an animal/fish stuffed. Never seen a good buck & thought I'd like to shoot it. Once I had a bow & all the associated paraphernalia all picked out, thinking I might try archery hunting, but before I could pull the trigger, another shotgun tickled my fancy instead. I love seeing deer, & I like eating deer, but I have absolutely no interest in killing one. I don't get it. Much as most deer hunters look at me as though I have a 3rd eye in my forehead, when they learn that I'll trudge long distances through 18" of snow, when it's -10F & blowing 25 mph, to HOPEFULLY get a shot or 2 at a little bird with a big tail. And that I love it more than anything else & would do it every day of my life if I could.
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I agree.In yhe 1600s,only the aristocracy was allowed to bird hunt.Servants and commoners hunted big game.Food for thought.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
In 54 years, I've never hunted deer. Never considered having an animal/fish stuffed. Never seen a good buck & thought I'd like to shoot it. Once I had a bow & all the associated paraphernalia all picked out, thinking I might try archery hunting, but before I could pull the trigger, another shotgun tickled my fancy instead. I love seeing deer, & I like eating deer, but I have absolutely no interest in killing one. I don't get it. Much as most deer hunters look at me as though I have a 3rd eye in my forehead, when they learn that I'll trudge long distances through 18" of snow, when it's -10F & blowing 25 mph, to HOPEFULLY get a shot or 2 at a little bird with a big tail. And that I love it more than anything else & would do it every day of my life if I could.
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It takes way more skill to bird hunt.Deer hunters are a bunch of rubes.
 
birddude said:
There are some deer hunters who are excellent outdoorsmen. But sadly, most are not. 25 years ago, my wife and I bought 20 acers of bare field. Farmed for a few years then started managing for wildlife. Neighbors to the south have 50 acers. They have some woods, but keep the rest mowed and manicured. The neighbors to the west have thousands of acers. They buy a farm a year. Then bring in the dozers and farm everything possible. Neighbors to the north have 20 acers mowed down like a golf course. It took them a few years to figure out that the deer were coming to our place to bed, breed and have their young. After a couple big boys were killed near the property lines, I started seeing trail cams pointed at the runs on our place!. Now the neighbor to the south has a stand at one corner, west neighbors have a condo stand 75 yards from the south neighbors stand. And now another condo at the corner of the north neighbor. North guy is a untrained kid sitting there with a 30-06 within 200 yard in plain sight of my house. He has about 20-yard safe shooting lane. Every other shot is at our house, down our lane, or his own house!!Last year a nieghbor a mile down the road asked if he could hunt the east field!! I can't safely walk around my own place during gun season! I've had it. Started clearing last week. I'm taking everything I can with the tractor, then the dozer's coming in for the rest. I hate it but I can't take it any longer. So, you can probably guess what I think of most deer hunters.
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Sounds like a hick. Those deer hunters are not hunters. Sitting in a deer thing is redneck crap.
 
Its obvious in this thread that there aren't many deer hunters. Bitching and complaining about something you've never put some time and effort into is low and pathetic to be honest. If you've never done it with any kind of seriousness, shut up. I've never hunted bear, you don't see me barking about that, do you? While you definitely don't have to do much walking, patience is the name of the game here. I learned that at a very young age. Sitting still, being quiet, and being patient for hours or maybe even days on end taught me that nothing comes easy or quick. It takes a lot of mental fortitude to sit there and wait during a limited window of opportunity.

Pretty sure you don't do any walking when you turkey hunt either. I sit in my portable blind, comfy lounger camo chair, drink coffee, and wait for a turkey come spring. No fitness required. And I know there's a lot of turkey hunters on this forum.

The reality is that deer hunting is by far more popular and its not going to change anytime soon. Land is managed to hunt deer. People put up cameras to monitor them. They look for sheds in the spring. They plant food plots. That's certainly a lot more time and devotion than walking through a piece of upland cover a few times in the fall. I would personally rather upland hunt myself, but deer hunting has its place, and its a much bigger following than us measly bird hunters.

I guess the one thing that does turn me off from it is the popularity of it though. There are a number of idiots that partake. I know some. Since there are a lot more people doing it, there's a lot more dummies too. 90% of all hunting accidents occur during deer firearms season. Even if I didn't deer hunt, you couldn't pay me to upland hunt during the 9 day open gun deer season. Not worth it with everyone out there slinging around long range rifles and slug chuckers. Especially with a dog. There are legitimate concerns about my dog getting shot. No bird is worth risking that. Not to mention the added blaze orange requirements.
 
I do a yearly trip with my dad and buddy to western South Dakota to hunt deer. I don't particularly care for it, but I respect that I don't have unlimited time to get outdoors with my dad and I do love the meat, so I typically shoot the first deer I see. I've shot some big deer and I've shot a lot of little bucks and does. I just don't get overly excited about getting out of bed that early.

I respect any hunter who puts in the time to learn his quarry. Trail cams, especially cellular cameras, should be illegal. Seriously, if some of these guys pursued a woman like they do a deer, they'd get slapped with a restraining order so fast it would make your head spin. It's creepy, IMO. On the hunting programs, they even name the deer like strains of weed.

Deer hunting has changed dramatically over the past 20 years in my neck of the woods. Used to be huge parties, chasing deer with trucks, using CB's, etc. Any more, it's heated tower blinds and one or two people. Which is better than chasing the deer around, but it just doesn't present much of a challenge.
 
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