I'm a meat hunter

[Snapset]

This is a tangential reply to your great horn-hunter post, BOE. I am a meat hunter, always have been, always will be, and it is the only way I can justify to myself killing an animal. (I can't even feel good about catch-and-release fishing).

That being said, I have to clarify a few items with regards to the type of meat I like to eat. I have read several letters claiming that a doe is better eating than a big old buck. I have shot more than 30 deer in the last 25 years, and had the opportunity to compare the meat from bucks and does. There is no comparison. A properly dressed buck will taste better than a doe in any circumstance, hands down. Next time you are skinning your doe, look for fat.Unless your doe is a yearling or barren doe, there will be no fat. Why? Because the doe has spent the last year gestating and suckling a fawn. That is where all her energy goes. A healthy buck on the other hand will have a thick layer of fat over his saddle, and in his guts, because he spends all his time eating, except for during the rut, and most of the Blacktails are shot before the rut is even in full swing. I have shot Bucks with big old bull necks, regresses, forks, and one year I shot an old gummer that had no fat on him at all, and he was better than the doe I shot from the same drainage.

So yeah, I am a meat hunter, but you will find the best meat on a deer is right between his horns and his 'nads. (Elk are a different story) I used to shoot does, but as my family needs less meat and elk makes up a larger portion of our diet, I don't expect to bring home many more does. Besides, in November it is just as easy to shoot a buck as a doe, and if you see a doe, just keep still. The old boy will be along shortly. I think I will write someting in my next post about the controlled hunt process.