Preoccupation with Score

[Wind in His Hair]

I know a couple of people who, no matter what hunt they are going on, what animal they or someone else takes, it's always about the score. This scores better than that one, I wouldn't shoot that one, etc. They are totally fixated on score and I honestly get tired of all of their texts and emails about it. I like to hunt for the experience. Killing a high scoring trophy is obviously great, but I just really find myself getting turned off by this fixation they have.

Not sure if Im asking anything here, more just venting, and wondering if Im the odd man out here, or what

 

[geetar]

I've seen those people on TV. I have never met one in person.

 

[TOGIE]

when it's no small critter that's been shot i think just about every hunter has some interest in what it's score might be, regardless of how much score matters to them in their own pursuits. at least i see no problem with it. it is a more objective measure of what you're looking at and how it compares in the world of big critters and that is interesting data for many scientific and, simply, personal reasons.

i do get annoyed on a fixation of scoring as a measure of the success of a hunt. not really for me to say if some people are actually viewing it as their measure of success of a hunt though, even if i seems that might be the case.

when anyone has a desirable tag, score does become part of the equation, and that's not bad necessarily - it is a component of maximizing a rare opportunity.

as i've learned more and been a hunter longer, score has become much more interesting to me, both when looking at someone's animal and learning the score or to measure mine myself, even though i'm the type that will go out and shoot dinks all day long without a second thought.

 

[Goatshoes]

I get it. If they are freinds of yours, I would let them know that its a turn-off for you. After a little akwardness, they'll get over it and likely shut it down. If they are not freinds dissasociate with them.

 

[rogerthat]

Let them know so they can unfriend you. Joking….kind of. The cool thing about hunting is that we can all enjoy it for how and what we enjoy about it as long as we stay in the bounds of legality. They have that right too. Don’t forget that.

 

[rideold]

The only score I'm interested in is how much space in the freezer gets used up

 

[Ben Lamb]

Tyler Childers had a quote not too long ago about the state of country music that resonates across multiple spectrums:

“The problem with country is we’ve turned the props into the play,” he says. “Let’s not just Solo cup and pickup truck it to death. Let’s handle this in a smart way. Nobody is thinking about lyrical content, or how we’re moving people, or what’s going on in the background of their minds … It doesn’t make sense to move to one of the biggest-growing cities in the nation (Nashville) to sit in a room with 12 people and write a country song. They’re all singing songs about ‘the place down the road’, but what is that place now?”

For hunting, I think this applies as well. The act becomes about the gear or the desired outcome or the attention is receives online rather than the experience and the reality of living fully in your own life. Couple that with a drive for competition (which is great) along with the untenable falsehoods portrayed as reality through our screens and here we are. We've become a people that only wants to luxury estate or the biggest antlers. We've traded excess for meaning, and we've traded material goods for actual substance.

 

[Oak]

Didn't we have this discussion like 2 weeks ago?

I like to hunt mule deer. I like to eat elk. I choose my shots accordingly.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Didn't we have this discussion like 2 weeks ago?

I like to hunt mule deer. I like to eat elk. I choose my shots accordingly.

View attachment 385444

Sir,

Mav didn't take the shot because he was still all tits-over-tailhook about Goose dying. He had a clear shot. Sundown was right in his criticism of not taking the shot.

I expect more from you.

 

[DFS]

Don’t shame trophy hunters just like trophy hunters aren’t supposed to shame meat hunters. We are all in this together.

 

[44hunter45]

The state of hunting and country music in one vid. Thank God it's only 3:44 long.

 

[Wind in His Hair]

Here's a example of a recent interaction:

They have an awesome 10+ day hunt that they have been telling me about for the last 2 years as it got closer...lots of hardship and beautiful scenery, culminating in getting their target animal, send me a bunch of pics. Its a hunt I would love to go on but will never be able to afford to. No sooner do I see these pics and shower them with congratulations then they say "I dont think he will score well"...and they start talking about how they wish they would have gotten a better one. Im like really man? You just had an epic trip of a lifetime that most regular folk will never get to experience, chose to pull the trigger, and now you are nit picking about score. Shouldve just eaten the tag and let someone else kill it who would be over the moon

They have killed alot of high scoring animals, and I haven't. Maybe that's the disconnect.

 

[Gellar]

I have had 11 year old kids on the first day of hunters safety tell me they passed on deer during youth season because their dad said it was only 130".

 

[Sheltowee]

Here's a example of a recent interaction:

They have an awesome 10+ day hunt that they have been telling me about for the last 2 years as it got closer...lots of hardship and beautiful scenery, culminating in getting their target animal, send me a bunch of pics. Its a hunt I would love to go on but will never be able to afford to. No sooner do I see these pics and shower them with congratulations then they say "I dont think he will score well"...and they start talking about how they wish they would have gotten a better one. Im like really man? You just had an epic trip of a lifetime that most regular folk will never get to experience, chose to pull the trigger, and now you are nit picking about score. Shouldve just eaten the tag and let someone else kill it who would be over the moon

They have killed alot of high scoring animals, and I haven't. Maybe that's the disconnect.

Shortsighted and childish but, even worse, deeply disrespectful to the animal he just killed. A hunter owes respect and reverence to the animal that just gave its life in order for us to pursue this passion. Can't provide that? Don't take the shot.

 

[Gellar]

The state of hunting and country music in one vid. Thank God it's only 3:44 long.

I won't be able to focus on work the rest of the day.

 

[DFS]

I have had 11 year old kids on the first day of hunters safety tell me they passed on deer during youth season because their dad said it was only 130".

Dad of the year right there. You have to be careful around kids. I let one of my nephews use my gun and take a shot way too far. Now he thinks that is part of the fun. I regret that one.

 

[SaskHunter]

The state of hunting and country music in one vid. Thank God it's only 3:44 long.

 

[Oak]

I don't know, man. Kinda sounds like you ran into one a-hole versus an epidemic.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I don't know, man. Kinda sounds like you ran into one a-hole versus an epidemic.

I wouldn't take advice from someone who isn't gonna back up Sundown on taking that shot.

 

[SaskHunter]

I know a couple of people who, no matter what hunt they are going on, what animal they or someone else takes, it's always about the score. This scores better than that one, I wouldn't shoot that one, etc. They are totally fixated on score and I honestly get tired of all of their texts and emails about it. I like to hunt for the experience. Killing a high scoring trophy is obviously great, but I just really find myself getting turned off by this fixation they have.

TBH, any annoying convo can be ended with "deez nuts".

Dumb friend: "I'd give him another year or two, not enough mass"
Me: "Not enough mass deez nuts"

Seriously, I just make fun of silly crap people focus on and dismiss it. There's no pressure like peer pressure!!!