Antler Illness

[schmidtd]

The October issue of D&DH included a feature by Les Davneport called, "Antler Illness: How Bad Do You Have It?"

After reading the article, please check back with your thoughts!

[schmidtd]

Dan:

Ya'll published one of my letters a few months back commending you on the tv show (which i don't get anymore and miss), but now I'm writing becuase I really appreciate this magazine. Your magazine is the only one I've come across that consistently has more good information in it than it does little stories trying to sell broadheads and book trips for outfitters. Its really well-done and much appreciated in an evinronment dominated by a hunting industry that constitutionally can't be trusted.

I have been impressed with this magazine since my first issue but actually got around to writing this email today becuase of Les Davenport's article on ethics this month. Kudos to Les for the single best article I've ever read in a hunting magazine. I was going to suggest an article on ethics to you...not only do you already have one here but it just couldn't be more spot on! I'd love to see more articles in this vein, especially on what aspects of "the Industry" are really necessary. For example, yall ran something recently suggesting UV sprays might acutally be useful - but something this month suggests I might as well just pee in a scrape myself (something that i've heard elsewhere is true). A brief literature review on some of the gimmicks and their usefulness would be nice - I'd love to know how many of these sprays and stuff I really need. Anyway, good magazine, keep it up. I've already subscribed again for next year, and I'm only about six months into my first year's subscription. (I won't be subscribing anymore to a handful of other magazines, who demonstrate less ethics and publish less useful stuff than you do).

Finally, please tell Les that his Federation idea is a very very good one, such an institution would do a world of good. I'm a fairly young guy, almost done working on a doctorate in political theory, and have somewhat extensive knowledge of first, ethics, but also interests groups and public policy which might be useful if you guys got something going as far as this federation is concerned. That is something I'd be eager to help out with if I could, so maybe you can put my email address aside just in case.

Good luck this fall (yes, it will get here sooner or later),

Scott Robinson
Houston, TX

[ranwin33]

[font=calibri]I enjoyed the article, particularly the willingness of the author to name celebrities who stepped outside ethical bounds.  We need more of that.  [/font]
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[font=calibri]I am not sure a federation is the answer, we have QDMA with over 50,000 members – and based upon the article it would appear we still have problems.  Ethical hunters may join, but those without ethics will not, and those are the hunters whom the federation would hope to change.[/font]
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[font=calibri]A better solution to "antler illness" is to hold the magazines, television shows, and the companies that advertise in/on them accountable.  We are a society that follows celebrity, and until magazines, television shows, and hunting product companies choose to celebrate something other than huge antlers, "antler illness" will always be a problem.  But I don't expect that to change anytime soon, these publications and businesses know their audience.[/font]
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[font=calibri]As for the quiz at the end of the article, I was a little saddened to see that 2-3 of the questions dealt with lying to one's spouse.  What does it say about hunters that: 1.)  we might consider lying to our spouses acceptable; and 2.)  we consider such a question on a quiz to be acceptable.  Maybe the quiz was suppose to be tongue-in-cheek, but given the tone of the article associated with it, I didn't take it as such.[/font]
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[font=calibri]Oh, I scored just over 30 – darn that question about $1 million dollars for a year of my life.[/font]

[hunter480]

The thing that jumped right out at me, and never let go, was the tale of Louis. How sad that his addiction cost him his marriage.
 
I love deer hunting as much as anyone, maybe more than some-I`ve spent many, many hunts out in winter weather well below zero, with white-out conditions. Sat in treestands in 40 mph howling winds, face raw from windburn, eyes blinking tears. I have the bug for sure-but I could never imagine letting white-tail hunting cost me the realtionship I have with my beautiful fiance`.
 
I believe deer hunting is a noble endeaver, and that the men, women, and children who participate are the salt of the earth. But, it just can`t be held to the same importance as relationships with friends and family. Most likely, none of us will ever have to choose between deer hunting, and close relationships, but if it ever did come down to that, there`s no question which I would choose to give up.

[Woods Walker]

I have a farmer friend who owns several farms in a prime Illinois big buck area. He has paying hunters, and where you really see the "illness" strike is when some hunters are hunting out of state, and are paying some $$ to be able to hunt for a big one. I've seen normally sane, rational guys, do some downright STUPID stuff to get a chance at a big buck, like deliberately leaving the property that they are hunting, and trespassing on another's lease, right after they were told and SHOWN where the boundaries of the farm they were allowed to hunt ended.
 
My farmer buddy has absolutely NO patience for this type of behavior, and they are immediately told to "pack their s*** and GIT!"....and forfeiting what they paid for the hunt.  It's not common behavior by any means, but it has happened more than a few times.
 
Get some perspective...it's only a deer!  It's not like they're SCARCE or anything.
 
Besides, what really matters isn't the size of the calcium deposits on it's head, but HOW you hunted it, and the difficulty of the chase.
 
I'd rather kill a smaller buck or doe that I hunted on the ground or stalked on ground that I spent years learning their movement on, than a big "shooter" deer that I potshot from a treestand that some "guide" placed me on, on ground that I'd never seen before.
 
I guess I'm a dinosaur, but I have this quaint idea that the best kills are the ones you EARN.  Paying 3K to 5K to be placed on a stand that you had no input on and waiting for a "shooter" to show up cheapens the whole experience IMO.

[msbadger]

Amen

[howhill1]

i agree 100%. mr davenports closing statements say it all. i know or know of indivdiuals just like this. just to collect somthing you cant eat. i remember when noel feather got busted. i cut my teeth watchin his videos they were some of the first ones out. makes you wonder if any of em were legit. i had videos with noel and several other pros of the time some of whom are still producing shows today. makes you wonder about them as well.  who was the country singer that got busted shooting the caged balck bear a few years back? does anyone remeber the periodical d&dh put out in the mid 90's about whitetail industry and buisness? it was intended for buisness's.it was something like a 10 million $ industry then. there is a place here in illinois (im sure there all over the country) called samsons ridge. it is a private deer preserve. goto their site at samsonsridge.com. their rates read like a menu you pay according to the size of the deer you want to kill. saw em on the od channel once and noticed they were hunting with a 7mm rem mag. in il?hmmmm. then i checked their site and realized they were a fenced preserve so the stae game laws dont apply. im much happier as are we all to earn my deer as well. i find an unexplainable pride in eating a nice backstrap knowing that i earned this animal, i hunted it ,i killed it, i butchered it, and i cooked it.  

[danesdad]

The only question on the quiz that I scored higher than a three was the one about giving up a year of my life to get a world record deer.  At the time, I scored myself a 6 but, thinking about it more, I'd probably put that at 10.  If I die at 77 rather than 78, but I parlay that record into enough money so my family never had to struggle again, that would be well worth a year of my life.  Hell, how many years have I already given up working my current job, one that just keeps our heads above water?  That particular question doesn't have the same ethical ramifications as the others, IMO.
 
BTW, I scored 19.

[JPH]

I scored 26. Always room for improvement.
 
I hate to think of what I would have scored 10 years ago.
 
It's kind of funny. Hunting is becoming less and less vital to my existance as I grow.

[schlupis]

I took the question about the world record differently and thought what if they got to pick the year I lost. What if the year you lost was when one of you kids were born NOT worth it to me... I gave myself a 1 on that question.
 
BTW I scored a 49