Been hunting 50 years now and never seen anything close to those
If that’s what I’m holding out for I’d have never killed a deer in my life
And life is shorter then you think
In the early 1980’s Utah was running around 3 to 5 buck per hundred doe, “most” of the bucks like those where dead before you started hunting, 50 years ago. “Most” not all, of these pictures are of the remnants, that still show up every now and again, somewhere in the west.
Why?
Because hunters don’t want them. They’d rather have yearlings, if it means less hunting opportunity. With the hope, that maybe, just maybe, if they get back in far enough, if they get lucky, if they draw a LE tag someday, maybe, just maybe, one like these will show up. Leaving it for next year probably isn’t going to help though, unless it’s on 50,000 acres of private and you have first chance at it every year.
According to surveys and the interpretation of survey answers provided by the hunters, who take the survey, the age class of the bucks we hunt on most units, on public land, we want to shot yearlings and that’s what is being managed for. 70-75% of our hunters demand it and are perfectly happy with it. And…… so am I, and so is elkassassin, I think, because we don’t care anymore, the future belongs to the next generation.
Cameras are good enough for me now days.
Yer happy, I’m happy.
Happy New Year cm. Love your photos.