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Congratulations on a fine deer, and with a trad muzzleloader even better!!!!!!!!!

I belive every animal I take regardless of weapon is a trophy. I dont agree with point restrictions, I place no more value on a 10 point buck than I do a spike.
 
Here, Here!! Many of those big pointed fellas stink so much during the rut that it's even hard to eat them in sausage. Give me a young, legal antlered or antlerless deer any day. Besides, shooting nothing but trophies is hard on the good gene pool.
 
Never had a big buck that tasted bad, but I hear that all the time. Maybe because I live in farm country and they are all fed pretty well anyway. I think taste comes more from the way they are handled than age.

Having the same respect and admiration for a spike as a big mature buck is unrelated to taking on the extra hunting challenge of trying to exclusively hunt and kill mature deer vs yearlings. I too have the same respect for every deer, big or small, buck or doe, but I have found that I much prefer letting those younger, less wary deer walk by while I watch and learn about deer behavior and try to pit my skills against older, mature deer.

The gene pool isn't depleted by shooting older bucks....their offspring of all ages already carry their genes. Research shows that the boss buck of the area probably only breeds about 6 to 8 does annually anyway. Over 70% of does are bred by younger bucks while the bigger boys are busy with the few does they can hook up with during the short rut period.

I respect every deer and I respect the right of any hunter to take whatever legal deer they want. "Trophy" hunting isn't disrespect for smaller deer or the people that choose to take them, it's just a choice to pursue and match wits with larger, mature deer...that taste just as good and provide much more meat as well, when successful...which may not be every year.
 
Good comments, and you may likely be right about gene pools etc. I live on a farm and have been hunting white tales for over 30 years. During that time I've shot big guys and little guys and one spectacular 10 pointer. I have, without a word of lie, smelled a buck coming at me on more than one occasion during the rut and I have had the poor eating experience.
On another matter, I was very sorry to learn of your experience with Sitting Fox. I,too, had some problems, and it is true that he farms stuff out to builders. My gun eventually went to a guy in Ohio by the name of James Frost, who, in the end,did a spectacular job. Any on e who's seen the gun says so too. I know that Ray had big trouble with some of his builders and fired the lot sending stuff to his most reliable guys..I guess Frost is one. Ray was always pleasant to get along with, and I confess that I kinda hounded him, also talked to the builder, etc. Perhaps I have been lucky, but Ray seems to be the sort of person that would try to make things right. I know that he will no longer be saying that he can get your project out in 3 and 4-5 months.
PS I did pop a youngster with my new gun on the opener..got 26 lbs. of deboned meat. We got a nice doe and a 6 pointer over the next 10 days. All at my place. I wish you the best of luck with your gun.
 
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