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Boone and Crockett statement

triple_duece

Ragin Cajun.
9,123
159
Down here B&C stands for brown and cook. I hunt for big deer but killing one or not doesn’t define me.

Crazy that Giles started this thread as I was reading a thread the other day. Plenty big deer get killed and is never seen. I held in my hands a state record that I’ve never seen a pic of.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,704
248
Ohio
Never will enter one.
Every deer I kill is special to me.
Not worried about being in a book.

No offense to anyone else just not my cup of tea.

I don't think many here will be offended. There was a time I felt it very important. Had my first P&Y entered. Had two OBB scored at same time. Paid to have entered. Got the certificates. "IF" (and that is a big "if") I ever shoot a B&C I will cross that bridge as to whether I enter it or not. "IF" I enter it and hit the lottery twice, I doubt I would have a second or third entered. I'm all fairness to anyone who has killed one. . .that is one heck of an accomplishment. I couldn't blame them for entering it. It is certainly something to be proud of. I love hearing stories of the 70-80 year old guy that has hunted his whole life cashing in on a monster. Give that man a pat on the back. Those are the ones I'd rather hear about. (Whether they enter them or not.)
 

Jamie

Senior Member
5,684
166
Ohio
I've never owned a trail camera, so none of that matters to me at all. Still, I've never had any interest whatsoever in any of the record books. never did, but I understand their intended purpose and have no problem with it. having goals and standards for reaching them isn't a bad thing.
 
Never will enter one.
Every deer I kill is special to me.
Not worried about being in a book.

No offense to anyone else just not my cup of tea.

I think a lot of us feel that way. Score it myself just to get an idea of how big it really is but otherwise that's all that number will ever be. No interest whatsoever to enter anything in any records. It's all about the memory and if the number/record means more then someone's doing it wrong IMO.
 

Wildlife

Denny
Supporting Member
5,248
178
Ross County, Ohio
My first trail camera I ever used was when I first moved five years ago to where I am at today.

The first year here, I took approximately three brand new cheap trail cameras and set them up near our home to get some sort of an idea of what kind of wildlife activity took place in the nearby woods. I soon discovered that we had plenty in the area and during that hunting season, several gun hunters too that drove the woods close to our home. I did not hunt that first year because I was not familiar enough with the lay of the land, who hunted it and I was extremely busy with work, along with getting well established into our new home. The following couple of years, I utilized better quality trail cameras in the same area and hunted it, trying to get more of an idea of what was within those woods.

Last year, I only used one trail camera because I had two of them stolen the previous year. That one TC was setup at the feeder station that I first installed, only because I wanted to attract more deer much closer to our home, and attempt to do some sort of QDMA last season on the property, which is where I hunt most nowadays.

Over the past few years, I learned a fair amount about how to utilize trail cameras verses not using or placing TCs in certain areas based off the deer behavior, along with their travel patterns I’ve seen personally and/or captured on my TCs, plus of other hunters too.

This year I decided to re-implement all of my trail cameras that I have in stock into this year’s deer season approach because of what I have learned from those previous years, and so far from what I can tell, I seem to be doing a better job setting up those TCs where they are not spooking the deer nearly as often, along with utilizing some much better quality TC in certain areas.

I have been enjoying using my TCs this year no doubt, more than the previous years because of my increased experience with them. Some of you might have taken notice, especially if you have been paying any attention to my ‘TOO’ hunting journal.

Filming wildlife has become a fun little hobby over the past few hunting seasons. Capturing wildlife moments that most people do not ever get the chance to see and I get to share them with the whole world if I choose to do so, which is somewhat gratifying. It would mean a lot to me if I can possibly inspire just one new person into the sport, whether they are young or old, to consider what Mother Nature has to offer, whether it is through hunting or simply being outdoors.

I believe that we outdoors-men are a dying breed and that does bother me to a certain degree. The recent statistics prove it. I even experienced it personally while raising my own children, even though I raised them within the country life and values, however it still was not a enough to compete against today’s modern technological world.

So yes, I use cameras for both fun and sport. I can care less what ‘Bone and Crockett’ defines as fair chase. I hunt for myself and my family, however I do hold myself to a higher standard somewhat these days when I choose to target/hunt a good old buck. I know for a fact that an older mature buck will challenge me far more when I target/hunt them considering utilizing best practices, learned skills and encompassing most past experiences, all wrapped up into a very brief moment in time as they may make their appearance known while in front of you.

Yes, I choose to chase mature fair game Whitetail Bucks over most any other kind of wildlife species because to me, I consider them to be THE elite, THE smartest animal you may ever choose to hunt in the outdoors and attempt to take its life, although the coyote does give the trophy buck a run for its money IMO. It truly is a challenge for most any person. Any hunter that knows anything about hunting those wiser, more mature bucks should appreciate and/or respect those that have accomplished a successful mature buck harvest. We know It is NOT the easiest thing to pull off.

I personally want to congratulate right here and now all those hunters that have harvested an older mature type of a buck, whether it was taken on private property or on public, no matter what kind of legal hunting implement used. CONGRATULATIONS & WELL DONE!

I have been fortunate enough to successfully harvest two OBBs and I did NOT bother to pay for them to be entered into the record books, however both were professionally measured and certified by a person that administers OBBs entries. One was a typical @142” and the other a non-typical @175 6/8”, and I am enormously proud of both of those Buck harvests.




Both were taken without utilizing any kind of a trail camera whatsoever. I hunted hard for that typical, which was an all-day hunt and the other just so happen to be a perfect day where all the stars aligned with ideal weather conditions. I filmed on that day for my son sake using an old eight-megapixel pocket camera that I used mainly for field photographs and game harvest kept in my pack. That is when he first started to express an interest into hunting deer. My son put together a video of that hunt for me as a token of his appreciation. He was fifteen at the time. That video can be viewed on my YouTube channel.

The typical was taken in December of 2011 by way of shotgun and the non-typical was taken by compound bow October 24, 2010. Both are tremendous Ohio bucks that deserve to be recognized for what they are, which are top quality bucks from within this state.

Ohio absolutely produces some of the best Whitetail Deer I have ever seen in my life and I say that because I have hunted for them in other states. May not be the best state, but Ohio is surely up there IMO.

I have seen two deer with my own eyes that may have qualified as a Bone & Crockett within Ohio. None of them offered up any kind of an opportunity for me at the time. One was while I was driving down the road a ½ mile from my home and the other was on top of a ridge of where I was hunting, a place where I have hunted over a decade ago and just now started hunting it once again as of last season.

Yes, I have that kind of a dream of harvesting one like that before my days are over with and that dream is what has kept me going back each year to be quite honest. One can conclude that it's a personal goal of mine and I am okay with it if I come up short. At least I gave it my best!

Sorry for the long winded post, but damn it felt good to share it!
 
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brock ratcliff

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
24,827
247
I think they came up with that “rule” when BEC came in the scene. Their thought was if you get a real time picture of a buck in a given spot it gives an unfair advantage. And it would if Scotty could beam you over to that spot. I get it. In reality, I’ve sat in a tree on more than one occasion knowing the buck I was hunting was on his feet within 500 yards of my chosen ambush point and there was no way on Earth I could get to him undetected. And the frustration from those experiences is exactly why I do not use any camera that will tell me I’m in the wrong spot in real time.