>>2766363Eat what you kill. I personally am not super strict about utilizing every organ or anything but I know guys who experiment with every bit they can get. They shut down all the butcher shops around that used to process deer because of Chronic Wasting Disease so we butcher the carcass ourselves. A lot of guys have moved to the “gutless method” which is instead of pulling out the guts out of the front and taking the whole carcass home you just zip down the spine, quarter out the legs at the hips and shoulders, back straps, neck meat, and head.
Only shoot bucks if we can but we will cull an obviously sick or injured doe without a second thought. No point in letting an animal suffer through winter. On my property we use trail cameras and are super selective about our “hit list” and often name the deer. Picrel is a prime buck who is a shooter in our book. Behind him is a young basket buck with some more growing to do. It would be poor form to shoot the buck in the back as he is just now hitting the age where he’s really going to start making an impact on the herds genetics whereas the guy in front has almost certainly bred does in the past. Overall I really enjoy watching these guys grow up from fawn to yearling to basket buck to bruiser and occasionally full on grandpa bucks.
Our system isn’t uncommon. Everyone wants a bigger buck. You get bigger bucks by keeping the herd as healthy as possible to produce more big bucks and potentially a true freak. It’s pretty rewarding.
You want an interesting hunting ethics question? Two identical bucks are fighting and you’ve got a shot on one. Do you shoot the winner or the loser? Almost everyone says the loser. How does your answer change if one buck is bigger than the other? Thats where it gets interesting to me and I have had this happen. It’s an interesting philosophical dilemma with no right or wrong answer imo.
