Like others, I hunt primarily for meat, but I try to get the biggest piece of meat I can. I love hunting whitetail deer and I often let small deer pass, but I make sure I get some venison in the freezer before season is over.

Have to agree with you Gelandangan. Getting out of the city 1st priority meat for the freezer comes a close 2nd a trophy be it a good skin,photo or antlers are just a bonus.

I hunt for meat first. I hunt at my own camp and own my own land cost me water,elec. and food about $1000 a year.

Getting ready for hunt then "the Hunt". I like the meat but I do want that one big monster of a buck with a up rooted tree stump on his head.
I normally fill my freezer with does then wait on the one big one that never shows up

hmmm, tough question...I like to hunt, so i'll wait for a buck. Dont get me wrong, I will shoot a spike or doe but usually if I've already paid my dues in the stand and it's not lookin' like I'll get anything bigger - or if my time is limited... I'm a 'state land' hunter and employed.. Kinda hard to wait out and scout out a trophy here in Michigan and work 40 hours at the same time.. SO, I'm a meat hunter that give deer a fair chance I suppose. Sometimes too fair!!

With the new statewide baiting ban, I gotta belive that it helps my trophy chances though!! What are all these tame does gonna do when the 'fridge goes away!??! It may take a couple of years to breed the baiting out of the Michigan deer, but I'm all for lettin' nature take over and lettin' the deer come to me. Not that they always do... sometimes sleep is important too and they probably walk right by me anyway.

The state wide ban on baiting has had no affect in my part of Michigan. People are still putting out corn, carrots and apples. heck just a week ago my neihber was filling his feeder with corn and setting the timer. When I told him of the ban he said,"BullSh%^&" They can kiss my A$$"! His theory is, " I have shot ALOT of deer on my property and have seen nor harvested NO sick deer."
This sick deer scare is not helping the hunters at all, I have found perfectly good deer carcasses laying in the woods with there heads removed because people wont eat the meat anymore because of thius sick deer scare.

well, everyone has their own way of hunting. If you call that hunting...

obviously there is a problem in your neck of the city because we 'ain't got no deer season yet', so there shouldnt be any dead deer carcases laying round the woods yet. The CWD scare just occured, so I wonder what sickness your neighbor was referring to? Maybe your neighbor has some other condition he's not telling you about. Maybe the corn was treated with some PCB or something and it's finally made it into his bloodstream!

leak the name and address here and I'll see that you aint got no baitin' problem no more. I suppose it's his property, but he sure ain't no sportsman.

Crackshot wrote:

The state wide ban on baiting has had no affect in my part of Michigan. People are still putting out corn, carrots and apples. heck just a week ago my neihber was filling his feeder with corn and setting the timer. When I told him of the ban he said,"BullSh%^&" They can kiss my A$$"! His theory is, " I have shot ALOT of deer on my property and have seen nor harvested NO sick deer." This sick deer scare is not helping the hunters at all, I have found perfectly good deer carcasses laying in the woods with there heads removed because people wont eat the meat anymore because of thius sick deer scare.