"Or worse, that another hunter had killed him."

I happened to be spinning the TV channels this weekend when I happened across a hunting show where that comment was made. The guy on the show who made the comment was referring to his inability to see a certain buck that he had been watching for some time. I can think of at least a half dozen discussion angles to take with such a comment. Did the guy really see it as a bad thing if another hunter kills the deer? Did he somehow feel he's entitled to the deer? Is this guy really going to be very disappointed if another hunter kills the deer? Have deer really become that important to some people?

Dan you've seen that said on here way too many times so think you know how a good many on here feel about that one buck they've laid eyes on. To me, it's a simple crapshoot, nothing more, nothing less.

If I'm after a certain deer, yes, it's important to me. And, yes, I'm disappointed if another hunter kills him. It's not because I begrudge the other hunter, it's because I was after him.

The operative word in the quote is "killed". Your whole post makes a wrong turn by assuming the comment is directed with ire at the other hunter. It is almost certainly directed at the fact that the deer is dead. I'm sure he would feel the same way if he died of old age, disease, or car collision.

I was more drawn to his choice of words "or worse" which eludes to his belief that another hunter killing the deer would be the worst outcome.

I agree, anyone would be disappointed to miss the chance at taking a big buck. Still, should it really make the outcome worse if the opportunity to take the deer fell on someone else?

NP I bet you are a good attorney because you certainly have the art of spin. I get what you're saying but sure seems that it's still disappointment that deer was killed dead by someone else and not said hunter, agree?

Hunters hunt with guns and bows and ultimately will kill and harvest animals. A bit of lottery luck and good fortune involved if you think about it.

I believe I said that in the second sentence. No "spin".

What's the context of the quote, Dan? I didn't see the show.

I assumed the "or worse" was most likely a reference back to other non-lethal options (discussed or not)- such as the buck having left the area or gone nocturnal.

I'm sure many of us have also seen cases where someone was more disappointed that a certain individual had killed a deer that they had wanted for themself or someone else, such as a wife or child.

I would bet one or two of you might even recall a time when such a thing came close to creating a physical altercation.

It was the words "or worse" that had been doing a double take because I really wasn't really listening as close before he made the comment. But I suspect you're correct concerning what he viewed as other possible outcomes.

But does the fact that other outcomes were possible negate the hunters belief that another hunter killing the deer was his least preferred outcome? If that wasn't the case, he wouldn't have added the words "or worse".

On the flip side, I've often told neighboring hunters about a nice buck that I've caught on camera. I always ask them to let me know if they kill him, not so that I can be more disappointed, but so that I can share in their success.

Well ,if you're after a certain buck, him being dead kinda stops you down completely. Him going nocturnal or leaving the area does not. It has zero to do with feeling bad/ill will about another hunter's success. It's about the buck being dead.

Groundhog day.

No, I can't relate to that. Only an idiot or mentally defective person would feel actual anger or ill will towards another hunter for legally killing a buck simply because he/she was hoping to kill it also.

That would be the case only if the hunter had not indicated his belief in a hierarchy of outcomes when he included those two little words. Otherwise, he would have ended the list of reasons by saying "Or, that another hunter had killed him."

I suspect we'll read at least one comment from someone who has seen it happen, maybe even more than once. The primal instinct deep within some guys to get meat for family survival can be strong.

I always did sense a bit of a left leaning defense attorney in you NP.

I'm just to the right of Genghis Khan, and I don't see any politics in the counselor's response. I have no idea where you're coming from with the physical altercation stuff. I've fed out several bucks that I know neighbors have killed. That's life with a small place.

Another recent thread on here opened my eyes as to how a lot of "experts" on here have been hunting a very few years and have killed a relatively small number of deer.

You guys are taking this WAY too serious, hunting is a hobby not a life or death matter . If you are out in the woods hunting, you are NOT at work, no one in your immediate FAMILY is in hospital or you wouldn't be in the woods, you are fortunate enough to healthy enough to hunt. Lighten up.

I think the current popularity of trail cameras over summer feeding stations has greatly contributed to some hunters referring to deer they had baited to their feeding stations as "their deer". It is a fairly recent development that i believe is becoming more common. I don't like it either. I have even had them complain to me about their neighbor baiting the deer away from their bait. My reply is always the same. If you don't like the challenge of hunting wild free range deer you should buy a piece of ground and high fence it, and then feed and hunt your deer. I think it speaks more about the times and some people's attitude of entitlement.

If men have been known to fight over a traffic lane which neither person "owns", I have no problem believing some are capable of fighting over a trophy buck that one of them has been watching for months on end.

I’ve knocked a mans teeth out over a $2 pool game bet when honesty was called into question. However there’s no way I’d ever get upset because someone killed a deer I wanted to shoot.

"I've been watching a cute girl over at the bar but haven't seen her in awhile. Maybe she went home, or worse, went home with a guy"

We can all relate to the above scenario. Why would it be different with a deer?

What the he77 are you guys arguing about now?

Anyone that says they feel 'no disappointment' when a buck they really want is killed by someone else is FOS. I LOVE to put others on nice deer, but if I'm attempting to kill a specific buck and, he gets smoked at an adjacent stand, I'll guarantee you I'll feel a bit defeated.

That said, I'm assuming the deer is in his prime. Someone (hopefully family or friend) killing him is better than possibly never seeing him again. Still hurts a little, though.

An imagined slight.

Yes sir.

The jist of it is Nog is a hippy lawyer

I object!

Of course you wouldn't.

The focus of the discussion is what you've seen or experienced around other deer hunters.

Disappointed, yes; worst case scenario, no.

Tangled in a fence, killed by a predator, hit by a car, other natural death?

Ive killed 6 deer in my life, didnt get my first until I was 18 years old. 9th season in Texas and Ive killed 1 deer in the last 9 years.

My son is 12 and has killed 1 each of the past 3 years. 2 of his 3 are bigger than anything Ive killed. As long as he notches a tag, I dont care if I pull the trigger or not.

It has happened and will happen. In the instance that I saw, there was no physical altercation but it wouldn’t have surprised me. It also wasn’t directly because of the deer that was killed, it was how it was killed.

Short version: one hunter gets a deer on camera, hunts the deer, sees the deer, doesn’t get a shot, shows someone else the deer and tells him he is going to give the area a rest...other hunter goes down and shoots the deer in the same location that the other guy had been hunting

The only time I have ever gotten mad that someone else killed a deer that I was about to get was 14 years ago when I was bowhunting from a climbing Treestand in MA during gun season on a weekend. First of all that is really taking a chance of getting shot no matter how high you get off the ground there because most hunters are new to hunting and make horrible decisions! So most hunters stick to hunting the weekdays before or after work, but that year I was working 6 days a week to help the company out that I worked for and in return, I would be able to take off as much time as I wanted to the following season as a thank you. Anyways, I was on the typical WMA property hunting where there is no limit to how many people can hunt on it and basically the only areas to hunt in the state. So I started rattling in this buck that I spotted coming out of the thick brush and making it’s way in to the dead grass field since they return through the swamps on the other side to the little island where they like to bed down to get away from all the hunting pressure at times. So he turns around and starts coming in to my position and as soon as he hit the path that was 30 yards from my stand, two morons dressed in plain clothes with a 12 gauge pump action shotgun, start sprinting right at the buck while unloading every round in to the buck, and what really pissed me off is that they made contact with me right before that from waving to each other and me holding my hand up to them telling them to stop out of courtesy and raising my bow arm. It is pretty easy to spot me since I was wearing blaze orange camo and had two wraps of orange trail tape wrapped around the tree above my head. The area has some 5ft pines and brush and a 20yd shot is a normal distance up in those woods, so you always wait to take a shot when you can be sure that it isn’t going to wound an animal or worse, hurt another hunter. So I was waiting for him to cross the trail, go through the small pines and walk on out to my clearing so I could take a clean shot at him. After they wounded the buck and chased him down while pumping shell after shell of buck shot in to him, they grabbed it and ran while dragging it out. Most likely because they didn’t have a hunting license and were poaching since that is big up there since the Game Warden’s are so stretched out. I was on the deer and had it coming in and people are considerate towards each other normally, but these guys were idiots and will probably end up on the news sooner or later. The following year I had some moron start using the bottom of the tree I was in for target practice with his slug gun and I was tempted to put an arrow in the ground near him (or closer) but called the cops on him instead. After that I found some free land after putting up a post under the farm and garden section of Craigslist. Ended up getting to hunt on a nice plot of land that used to be a farm for a disabled man and his family and I would split each deer with them. They were really nice people and he would drag my deer out with his Gator.

Which is why box stands with padlocked doors are not unheard of in the deer hunting community.

I agree 100%. Bunch of guys around here are regularly full of it.

I missed a chance at a nice big 12 point buck my first year hunting here and heard from my buddy that the neighbors wife ended up getting him the following week. She had him mounted and it hangs in their living room now from what I was told. I was actually glad to hear that she got him and not the neighbor down the street who was finally caught poaching deer that year. I came from a state where the deer are small and they don’t get the chance to even mature. So when ever I see a nice looking buck on my cameras or even on the side of the road somewhere, I always think that it’s going to make a great memory for some lucky person out there someday. I am glad that someone in their family harvested that buck. These days I have been physically down a lot and basically have a lot of memories that I think about often till I can get my corrective surgery over with and fully recover. So I am just greatful to have made a lot of great memories to reflect on from the past. If we always got the deer we were after each year, then what the heck would keep us looking forward to next years season lol. I missed my chance at a buck with a really flat wide spread that we nick named Longhorn. I am really looking forward to seeing what he looks like next year and continuing the chase.

I can't control anything other than what I see in front of my stand, but I really get butt hurt when I see a buck run over lying off the side of the road where the FM road runs alongside my lease.

Wild animals? Dont belong to anybody. If your a deer watcher and not a killer then watch them and watch them get killed. Some deer guides or hunting show people probably think they own all the deer where they are at and 5 miles around them. I've witnessed it and it is disgusting. Land barron wanta bes. They're everywhere. Crazy people.
If I'm hunting a deer and see it and dont kill it, well that's my fault. I will get up and run it down, but it's not a 100% tactic. They run faster. Like the big wild cats, failure is only up to them.

Being mad at a hunter for simply taking a deer you were after and being mad at someone for being underhanded and/or an idiot are two completely different things.

Truth...but it is still over a deer

I don't give it much thought either way. If I don't kill the deer and one of my hunting buddies does or my son, I am genuinely happy for them and more so if my son does. If none of us kill the deer and we never see him again, I chalk that up to hunting and move on. I do agree there are far worse things than another hunter on another property shooting a deer you had been targeting.

Had a really impressive deer on camera last year. After hunting him all season, just wondering I come to find out the people who own the property across the road shot him opening morning. Bummer for us, but good for them. No doubt I was a little disappointed we didn't get him, but I cant blame them for shooting him we would have done the same. And we ended up making contact with them where we otherwise didn't.

I guess it's how you interpret it. I see it like this.... if someone else got the deer. The hunt for that deer is over. As with most deer I've hunted I've seen them in the years past and didn't shoot.. you watch them grow and when they are finally ready or sometimes not even ready...mature someone shoots them. The game is over for that deer. 1 you won't get him 2 he won't grow to his full potential 3 he won't be around to breed his genetics.

I can relate. I understand where your coming from also. I always just hope the guy who shoots him will at least mount the deer. There is a weird Albanian guy down the street from me who shoots any deer with horns and hangs the heads in the car port. He killed a young piebald 8pt we had running around and didn't mount that deer. I had this dream of shooting that deer when he was mature. How cool would that be. I wish someone else could've shot that deer and gave him glory.

If mom does'nt get that one I'll be sad because it is a true free range lifer. Reality is that it's a wild free range buck. He owns himself.

NP, you've thrown me for a loop on this discussion. Are you not the one that always had a disdain for HF yet would be fairly disappointed should someone else kill a deer you had your sights set on? Seems a little ironic to me.

I don't see why that throws you for a loop.
Two entirely different subjects, and there's nothing inconsistent in those positions.

I like sex too, but I don't hire prostitutes.

Think about it.

What about escorts?

Only one. She's had the job almost 30 years now (or is it the other way around?).

Isn't escort just a fancy name for prostitute?

IDK, is it?
Not to me, I’m too old I guess.

its a name for a fancy prostitute


Prostitue = Golden Corral Buffet


Escort = Ruth's Chris or Morton's

Well, I didn’t take it that way, obviously.

Lol

Escort is usually followed by service....Escort Service

I once took a buck to the processor and a man ran over to me, very alarmed, to ask if I had shot his deer. He produced a printed picture of the deer and wanted to compare it to mine. We sort of ignored him and the employee came to get my buck, and on the way out he tried to get me to come talk to him again about "if it was his deer he had been watching all season." This makes him sound more aggressive than he was, he wasn't... just really weird.
So yes, people do get that way.

I definitely get wishing you'd been the person to get that deer, but some people get overboard.

Had it happen with a good buddy of mine. He missed the deer earlier in the week, while I was in the blind with him. He hunted that deer for 3 straight days in the stand where the wind wasn’t right. I told him over and over to brush in on the other side of the draw. He never did and hunted the blind with no luck. Opening of mule deer rifle season arrives so he hunts the wheat field in hopes of a good mule deer. I go to where whitetail was missed and brush in on the opposite side of blind so my wind is good. First hunt, after he hunted there for 3-4 days straight, I shoot the buck. Deer went 161in with 40in of mass and was figured to be 7-8yrs old. He was sick to his stomach and wanted to kick my butt that night but he’ll tell you to this day that he had his shot and missed. He’s still a good hunting buddy to this day.

Escort, prostitute, hooker, wife, girlfriend, mistress, it don't matter how you do it, everyone pays for poon.

I've noticed that you have mentioned, several times, your favorite tactic of running down deer.

Do you, by chance, have a video of this?

I enjoy hunting a particular buck on any lease I am hunting. If someone else happens to take the buck I am after, I am disappointed, but not devastated to the point of not wanting to hunt. There is a certain amount of competition between a buck and myself and myself and others that hunt around me and I don't see anything wrong with that. If someone takes issue after a buck is harvested and claims that that was his buck is where the problems crop up. Deer are wild animals and there is no way to determine for sure where they will or will not present themselves. Deer hunting is a crap shoot and all you can do is try to put all of the things in your favor and then go about your business and what happens happens.

To some it is a Hobby, to others like me it is part their DNA or life style I for one take it as serious pleasure with Mother Nature