Dead deer in public view???

[RedAllison]

This has been a sore spot with me for ALOOOOONG time and I am about to get too the point where I might take on an endeavor to do something about it. What is the majority of you hunters view on the issue of dead deer being displayed in public?

I have ALWAYS thought it tasteless, un-necessary, rude and outright REDNECK in the first place. Have I done it? In over 20 years of deerhunting and having taken over 200 deer, I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have ever done it. But even then I was uneasy about it and got off the road ASAP.

I know for alot of hunters it's a pride thing, they want to show off their hard earned trophy but too who? The anti-hunters in society only make up about 10-12% of the general public. Hunters themselves only make up a slightly larger population of appx 15%. That leaves the vast majority, some 75% as being "non-hunters" which are neither pro nor anti hunting, they are just in the middle and don't favor with either side unless proded for one reason or another. Most are level headed and don't side with the far left "eco-nazi" animal rights activists and generally accept hunting because they either are familiar with it through friends and family but they aren't politically allied with prohunters either!

I am considering taking on the daunting task (or at least planting the political seeds) of getting legislation passed in TN that would outlaw the public display of any animals taken while hunting. It just irks me to no end when I see some REDNECK, backwoods, toothless, banjo pickin inbred rolling down the road in his jacked up 4x4 with a dead deer lying in the bed of the truck with the tailgate left down EXPRESSLY for the purpose of showing the world a bloodied animal that was killed at the hands of this "hunter". It REALLY gets too me when I see them tied on the hood, atop the roof or strapped too a trailer or on an ATC which is riding along behind the tow vehicles.

Duck and turkey hunters don't tie their take atop the roof of their SUVs, fishermen don't leave their limits lying gutted on the decks of their boat for the trip home. So why should it be "acceptable" for deerhunters to do the same? I likewise think some "reasonableness" could be incorporated into the matter. If the hunter has a nice SUV or car then sure I wouldn't expect them to have the deer upfront riding shotgun with them. I think a properly wrapped or otherwise contained animal would be acceptable. There are commercial "game bags" for just such purposes and I have several times wrapped by deer up in a simple tarp for the ride home. I don't personally think the rack being visible would be all that bad, but the rest of the animal should be completely out of public sight. Many SUV and car hunters also use the various "hitch hauls" to haul their game on. I have seen many of them wrap their game up like I mentioned so I know it is possible.

It just seems like the most stubborn and "REDNECKED" amongst our ranks have a shortcoming in some other areas of their life and somehow believe they can "make up for their short manhoods" by leaving a blood trail down mainstreet.

What is the general consensus among "da family" here?
RA

 

[jimmyb]

i think you will have an uphill battle, red...

actually in WI, we are required by law to display a deer!!! we have tagging and registration stations here in WI. Once we shoot a deer, we have to fill out a paper tag and afix it to the deer's antlers or ear. We can then legally transport that deer to the registration station by vehicle, but the head of the animal has to be hanging out. Once the deer gets to the registration station, an attendant checks that all the tag info is filled out correctly and then afixes a metal tag to the deer. Once the deer has the metal tag, then you can put it fully enclosed in the vehicle. However, by that time the deer is usually to stiff and it is too big of a pain to try and put it in the vehicle, that most people dont bother.

the dnr makes us display the animals to try and prevent poachers...

red, you still have to shoot me an email about your smokeless pole!!! (i know you have been too busy hunting to email a poor northern boy!)
speeder@athenet.net

 

[GotMyAlly]

Good luck with that legislation. Even if it were passed, those toothless redneck Bubbas that haul the deer around in plain site are the same ones that hunt out of season, shoot over their limit, and generally have no regard for game laws or any legislation whatsoever. Getting the legislation passed would be the easy part. Enforcing it is another matter altogether. And even then, most of those backwoods hillbillies are too stupid or just don't care to follow the law.


I've never shot a deer, been deer hunting 2 or 3 times but never had the patience for it. BUt I know what you mean. When I went to eat breakfast thanksgiving morning with my grandfather in McKenzie TN, we pulled in to a small coffee shop and there was a wad of deer hunters in there. 3 or 4 had deer and I looked over the tailgates briefly at a few of 'em, but there was one as you mentioned....big rusted out mid-70s chevy 4x4 with a field dressed doe in the back and blood everywhere, tailgate down for everybody to see. Of course the guy had enough other shxt in the back of his truck he could have buried the deer under if he wanted to (2 spare tires, half a cord of wood, etc.), but all that crap was pushed up to the cab so the deer was there for everybody to see. And of course, when this 300 pound overall-ripping hillbilly left, everybody for miles around could hear him as the mufflers had obviously rusted completely off. I remember thinking to my self, "that guy must have an IQ of about 10."

Even though I've never had a dead deer in the back of my truck, I've had plenty of ducks in my truck and never have I felt the need to advertise 'em. And I have killed plenty of 'em...the last three years I ran my club in AR, we killed 900-1200 ducks per season.

 

[scottybuck11]

thats about the farthest thing form the truth.i dont hunt out of season or anything else illegal for that matter and if i want to drive down main street with my 10 pt in the back of my truck with the tailgate down you can bet your butt im going to do it.call it redneck or what ever else you want but its my choice.

 

[Timmy D]

deer

hay jim did they change the law about deer in or on the car or truck? i thought they changed it decause of the attention? i always close the deck lid or the tail gate

 

[LisaBaja]

Have yo not seen the movie Tommy Boy? Never put a Der in the Back Seat :twisted:

 

[Reelly]

You are kidding me. I always follow regulations and I have all my teeth. I also have no "shortcomings" in my life. In fact I have a good job, live in a very nice neighborhood in a very nice house. I have good wife who will be the first too tell you that I do not have any shortcomings in other manhood areas (however you worded it). With that being said I will be the first one to shoot a nice buck and tie it to the tailgate of the truck. You DAMN right!! Go join PITA or something. Whie whie whie!!!!!

 

[K.Kiser]

Reely and Scottie, alot of this has to do with not pissing off any more non Hunter and anti Gun People than are already livid and are trying to ban these freedoms... You can do it as of now because it is your choice, but your choices are getting smaller and smaller at the hands of People and an upcoming generation that don't like Hunters.. I come from a VERY gun enriched Family to say the very least, and are freedoms aren't comparable to what the were 30-40 years ago, and the outdoor Nazi's are gaining momentum.. This is really a time to keep Our noses clean...

 

[whipper]

Red, holy! JimmyB was right about an uphill battle!<<:>> Up hear close to Alaska in nothern British columbia most of the hunters try to not hide from public view so much but keep there Moose or Deer down and out off the way. 90% of the population in my town hunt Moose, deer, and or Grizz and you very rarely see more than a the antlers. A lot of it is just keepen the road grime away from the animal. But if ya have to go threw town we dont want some little girl whos 3-9 years old to see some big moose with his tounge hangen out over the tail gate covered in blood from a head shot either! shure if ya nailed a trophy great, there are record books for that like boon and crocket. know one cares if your driven down the road with it, they cant tell if its a 14 point non tipical or from a 8 point. Thats what your wall is for. If ya must display your kill most guys only if its a big one will leave the horns up in view some times. Ya never see to many deer or moose in the trucks.Every one knows what a moose or deer looks like any way and the mose impresive thing about any hunt is how good it tasts not what it looks like dead big deal! Lets put it this way the realy great hunters never drive out of a block with a Trophy hangen out because what the have and were they got it is always by zipper mouth lake.:mrgreen: James

 

[RedAllison]

This thing still goin??? :mrgreen:

I might use a little "literary license" to overstate the simplicity of the point I am trying to make (about the typical person who actually WANTS attention on the road for an animal) but the end result is the same... it will be the senseless few lose it for ALL of us.

Unfortunately the ones who typically do such parading around don't understand the difference between NON-hunters and ANTI-hunters. The Anti's (as a percentage of the total population) are about 5% less than we hunters (10% vs 15%) while the NON-hunters make up the remaining 75% of our general population. For the most part the non-hunting public supports hunting and in general have a favorable view of hunting and hunters. However it doesn't take much to lose that favorable view and leaving blood trails down main street is one of the quickest ways to do change hunters perception in the public eye. But as I've said before, some guys are just to self-centered to care and to ignorant to understand the ramifications of their childish actions.

Like many other things in life, sadly it's our future generations that will have to deal with our own laziness and poor attitudes!
RA

ps
Whipper I can certainly understand the attitudes in your part of the continent. The vast majority of folks around you either hunt or grew up hunting, it's still a "big event" each year. And lets face it, when you are talking about something as large as a moose it becomes an honest consideration of subsitance hunting. 1/4 or 1/2 a ton of meat from one or two animals is something to consider, especially in remote areas of the globe. But in many areas east of the MS River and in most any metropolitan areas hunting as viewed as a choice (it is afterall a privilege, NOT a constitutional right) so it could ALL be taken away by a swayed majority... I'm not asking those against me to "do as I say just because". I'm just pleading with them to consider their public image and think about their kids future and the future of our sport!!!

 

[Speedman]

Red, you must not be from Tn!

 

[RedAllison]

Speed I was born and raised in Memphis, TN. Been in TN all my life, love it here and the hunting is great. I just want my boys and grandboys to have those same options in the future!

Do I LIKE having to be mindful of todays society? HELL NO!!! I'd give anything to be back in the 50s when it didn't matter and much more of American hunted. I remember my grandad telling me about flying on a hunting trip. He carried his shotgun in a soft, zipped case and carried it ON BOARD with him!!! Yep, carried it right through the airport and borded the plane with it. Once in the plane's door he handed it too the stewardess who simply stuck it in the coat closet. When the flight was over she simply handed it back too him as he walked off the plane. MAN would I like for times to be like those again.

But they never WILL be will they? So call it PC, call it giving in, call it whatever you will. But the simple fact is we can police ourselves and clean up our own act... or it WILL be handled for us and by a non-hunting public.

Ask the Brits about the recent banning of fox hunting in England! Who woulda thought ANYTHING like that would ever happen in a million years? Fox hunting goes with thoughts of England like Big Ben and the Thames River, but the emotional anti's got too the politicians and pulled the wool over the non-hunting publics eyes. But it was the HUNTERS who paid the biggest price and lost the most from that battle.

Once it's out of our hands it's then to late!
RA