Yeah, I didn't take the bigger buck last year. I took a smaller buck that was maybe a year and a half old. This year, I left the younger bucks and took an older one. A new buck will replace him soon. Depending on his age and size, I'll likely let him rut with the does for a couple of years.
I don't just kill a buck. I manage the herd by selectively harvesting my buck of choice. I want a well managed herd that will be sustainable, that way I can comfortably take a buck each year for as long as I'm alive. That section of the property is closed to hunting, but a goodly amount of my land is open to hunting. I keep that section, across the road and abutting the farm, for my own personal hunting grounds.
There's no shortage of other deer in the area. It's actually quite traditional to leave your area unposted. People hunt, fish, hike, and camp on my property. I do not mind. They were doing it long before I owned the place. I have the legal right to tell them not to, but I have the moral obligation to let them continue to use the land - in responsible ways.
Near my house and across the road are posted. The farm is also posted because idiot out of state hunters have ruined it. It's 'by permission only' to hunt there. A few years back some out-of-stater shot a cow. The cow was out in the field. There were other cows in the field. I have no fucking clue how they mistook a cow for a deer. But, that's why it's posted. We still spray paint the cows in hunter orange.
who the fuck would shoot a cow? There is no way to mistake a cow for a deer.
Some moron from New Jersey. Worse, he was hunting with a buddy of his. So, not only did they shoot a cow, his buddy didn't stop him - meaning they too thought the cow was a deer.
They got a huge fine and had to pay for the cow. They lost the right to hunt (in Maine) for like a decade. I assume they're still hunting but not in Maine. It made the local paper, but the local paper isn't actually online. I think he paid like $3000 for the cow, so that's worth more than the cow's usual value. We'll sell you have a cow and process it for $600. We'll do the same for a whole pig at just $400. Both are pretty economical ways to get meat. Few people do it, however.
Right now, the farm also processes game. So, if you get a deer you'll likely bring it to us, or someone else, to properly process it into food. Nobody does their own really.
$600 sounds like a hell of a good deal for a whole cow processed.
The previous owner of my house did deer processing. There's a sliding track with a dozen meat hooks on it in my shed
(post is archived)