A recent study by Responsive Management asked people, “Why do you hunt?” Of those polled, 35 percent said “for the meat.” That’s up 13 percent from a similar 2006 survey, when 22 percent of hunters said their primary motivation was for meat to eat.
The people who conducted the survey said the ongoing slow economy is the primary reason for the uptick in meat hunting: “As households…started to feel the effects of significant financial pressures several years ago (including frozen or reduced salaries and/or prolonged unemployment) more Americans likely turned to hunting as a way of obtaining relatively inexpensive venison…to put food on the family table.”
Another school of thought believes the recent increase in meat hunters (and hunting license sales) can also be traced to the “locavore” movement, which has been around since 2007. These are 21st century hippies and/or bohemians (not the usual hunter demographic) that eat only locally produced food that is not loaded with preservatives and not moved long distances to market. These people garden and eat healthy off the land, and the killing of a deer for the venison has become part of that.
While I do not put the Big Deer bloggers in the “locavore” category (you guys are hard-core, and kill and cut and eat your deer like you always have) there is evidence that more hippies and hipsters are hunting for venison than ever before.
Curious, would you have answered the survey “for the meat?” Or for the rack?
The meat comes first when the freezer runs low on ground meat. When my son Zach shot his buck this year, first criteria was huge body = full freezer. We try to shoot mature deer, but when a younger one gets shot, makes for more cut meat then ground. After his went down in the 80 degree weather, my hunt ended and the chilling, caping and haul to the meat market took priority. Funny, when he puts one down, I change my focus to trophy hunting. So of course, the answer is it depends.
Both, big bucks and back straps! but you cant beat the taste of a nice doe.
I think the majority of people on here are “both”. We love the thrill and chase of going after big bucks but also enjoy the fruits of our labor. For some reason there is this thought that your one or the other (not really sure where that came from). Up here in MN some of the deer hunting groups are trying to move forward with a “Protect Yearling Bucks” concept to help some of these young deer make it past their first (90% of the bucks killed in MN during gun season are 1 1/2 years or younger). A majority are for it but some of the feedback is that we are just Big Buck Hunters! I won’t go into a ton of detail here because I am hoping Mike will do a story on it later to help us get our point across. So basically I am a big deer hunter that loves venison.
I think these numbers may be a little skewed due to people not wanting to seem shallow saying they are trophy hunters. Like many of the above members I fall into the “both” category as well. I personally feel that a fat doe tastes better than an old rutted up buck and I shoot those for my meat. Although what drives me as a hunter and has made me more passionate about hunting whitetails is the challenge of harvesting a “trophy” buck.
We butchered 9 deer in the first 3 weeks of our archery season in September. So…I guess I’d fall on the meat side of the fence. But I gear my hunting toward bucks, and I’ve passed up hundreds of bucks over the past 15 years.
To the victor go the spoils! I love venison, but only shoot does for the meat. I am out there as often as possible looking for the big horns!
I hunt as a part of the overall experience- sheer enjoyment as part of being outside. I will go after a big buck, but will kill doe for meat and in GA I give most away to friends who like venison, but do not hunt. I am outside as much as possible- hunting season or not.
Last year we took big bucks and does, so both. The way this country is being run, the meat side may become more important soon.
I’m in the “both” category as well. 90-95% of my family’s red meat is from deer. However, I also enjoy the challenge of waiting for the right rack. I actually passed on 2 good bodied 6 pointers yesterday afternoon, knowing there are a couple of giants in the area. Could I have harvested and enjoyed the hunt? Of course, but I also have already taken a doe for the meat two weeks ago.
perfectly fine to be both, I am!
Simple one word answer… “yes”.
I’ll go with an ambiguous “both”. No chance that I’ll shoot the first little buck that walks by with antlers, we like to let them grow up so that we can get a buck with a large rack. But I also am quick to punch my doe tag for the extra meat to fill the freezer.
Can we say both? I have no problem admitting I like big bucks…but I also have no problem admitting I like venison, regardless of what size antlers it had (or didn’t have).
But, for the survey I probably would have answered for the rack. I know it’s shallow or whatever, but I have trouble believing hunting would be as captivating and exciting if not for the prospect of a big buck walking by. I mean, there’s a reason big bucks fuel and run the hunting industry. With that being said, it doesn’t discredit the smaller bucks, does, and fawns. As a photographer and lover of the species, some of my favorite moments in the woods have been with said young bucks, does, and fawns.
“more Americans likely turned to hunting as a way of obtaining relatively inexpensive venison…to put food on the family table.”. In what world is it cheaper to hunt than go to the store? Over the years I’ve seen hunting costs go through the roof.
If you have access to ground for free (or hunt public ground) and are after any deer, then it’s not going to cost much and it likely won’t prove to be too difficult.
that is a good point R. I’d say people (including the hippies) that hunt close to home with very simple bows and guns and don’t care about racks, just collecting meat, are the ones doing it the affordable way