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Debate time

OhioHunter88

Junior Member
270
68
Perry County
Okay, its summer and we are all bored..Facebook is overtaking our lives and we need something to talk about....

I'm Facebook friends/ follow on insta a lot of "famous" hunters,I love seeing pics and vids from this time of year.. From doing food plots to mineral cam pics I love this time of year.

But, the point of this thread is to talk about this, every year someone we have never heard of kills a huge deer and becomes "famous" with sponsors and let's just say for the argument of this post this is their first bowkill buck but scores 260+"

Then, we personally house some people that kill 140"+ EVERY YEAR yet they are not "known" or sponsored by any companies/products.

Who do you think is the better hunter and or why?

 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
Hahaha! The guy that can go out every year and put a mature buck on the ground is good. The guy that can go out and kill a specific deer, is a deer whisperer.
 
I'd say the guy that kills a mature deer year after year gets the nod. Depending on his kills being made in "normal" hunting circumstances. By that I mean, not some big fancy place that makes killing a mature deer "too easy".

Killing a specific deer is a feat, for sure. But, IMO taking a good one every year is a more difficult task.
 

Bigcountry40

Member
4,555
127
Honestly, I would say more than 50% of the guys on this forum are better than the professionals. Most of us have very limited budgets, time, equipment land etc, other hunting pressure, etc.
 

antiqucycle

Junior Member
506
36
East Ohio
"Famous Hunters" have ruined a sport that an average person formerly enjoyed each year. Anybody can achieve "famous status" by breaking the rules and not getting caught.

Who knows this fall. if Hillary Clinton will nail a 300pt P&Y to get the "hunter vote".
 
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I need a break from Facebook for sure as it's been my fuel lately for political talk and my opinions on everything going on in this country. This post is a good break from it. I have so much more respect for the guy who busts his ass and works hard every year and somehow puts it together on a somewhat regular basis. Years ago I had a conversation with someone on getting that giant and letting real good bucks go. I was then and still am of the opinion I'd rather have a wall full of great memories than that one giant. Now with my hunting desire dwindling the last couple of years it's good to reflect on those memories and somehow spark that flame again. Hopefully it can happen this year.
 

Dustinb80

#FACKCANCER
Supporting Member
18,172
187
S.W. Ohio
"Famous hunters" haven't ruined hunting. They may have corrupted some hunters view of what the sport is supposed to be about though. What any "famous hunter" does has no bearing on how I hunt.

Unfortunately that's how I started out hunting. I quickly learned after I joined TOO that I was wasting my time and $$. I have learned an immense amount of knowledge from this group and will be forever grateful.
 

Bigslam51

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
25,778
127
Stark County
"Famous hunters" haven't ruined hunting. They may have corrupted some hunters view of what the sport is supposed to be about though. What any "famous hunter" does has no bearing on how I hunt.
Most of them sure don't teach much on their shows, all they care about is pimping the latest attractants and trail cameras.
 

Bigcountry40

Member
4,555
127
I think the combination of the crossbow and good looking women shooting big deer with ease on outdoor channel has killed the sport. Everybody is a hunter in the area I grew up now!
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Most of you know I have a degree in marketing and my new career has me back in this world. Fresh out of college, I fully immersed myself in the hunting world and quickly feel victim to the top marketers. Bill Jordan. Will Primos. Mark and Terry Drury. Are these guys truly better hunters than the majority of this site? Or are they pretty good hunters that happen to be amazing marketers? After doing my time (very little) in the "industry", I give the edge to the latter question. No one consumes quality marketing like hunters. Michael Waddell. Chris Brackett. Lee Lakosky. Today's brilliant marketers. Doesn't make them any better a hunter than finelyshedded, JDBoyd, Gern, or Fluteman. Combine access for a knack for promotion and it's a recipe for success for the guys/girls that are capable enough to capitalize.
 

Mao

Member
1,695
109
Coshocton, OH
I feel like comparing TV celebrity hunters and regular guys like us is comparing apples to oranges. I know there are some exceptions to this, but on TV I see a lot of celebrities fly across the country, arrive at an exclusive outfitter that has planted the plots, done the scouting, hung the stands, etc. and all the celebrity has to do is slide in the stand they are put in and make the shot. This is completely different than what most TOO members do. I just feel like we are completely different types of hunters than they are. Now, I know many of those celebrities could and did hunt like us before, but don't have to now.

Could take it even farther... Guys that have exclusive private access to 1,500 acres vs. public hunters. To me, whole different ballgame there as well. I hunt private only and have a great respect for the public land guys because they have it much tougher than I do. Just a lot of differences between what the celebrities do to what others have to do.
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
Guys on TV aren't hunters, IMO. We are hunters! The guys who goes out to do his own scouting, takes his own time to learn the deer, work around other hunters, the weather, the asshole neighbors dog, the trespassers, all the things a "normal" Hunter encounters in a season. The guy with his face on the front of a call...fugg that guy, he ain't no Hunter!
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,856
260
SW Ohio
I feel like comparing TV celebrity hunters and regular guys like us is comparing apples to oranges. I know there are some exceptions to this, but on TV I see a lot of celebrities fly across the country, arrive at an exclusive outfitter that has planted the plots, done the scouting, hung the stands, etc. and all the celebrity has to do is slide in the stand they are put in and make the shot. This is completely different than what most TOO members do. I just feel like we are completely different types of hunters than they are. Now, I know many of those celebrities could and did hunt like us before, but don't have to now.

Could take it even farther... Guys that have exclusive private access to 1,500 acres vs. public hunters. To me, whole different ballgame there as well. I hunt private only and have a great respect for the public land guys because they have it much tougher than I do. Just a lot of differences between what the celebrities do to what others have to do.

I agree Marcus!

I feel killing a deer with some age on him is just as rewarding as one with a lot of inches on his head if not more so! I've seen so many threads started on a few hunting forums that always go south because many seem to harp on the inches rather than the age. How I see it is, mature deer(deer 4.5 or older) get rather tough to locate and kill no matter if it's public or private land. Every state as a lot mature deer but not every state has a lot of 150" deer. If you are killing mature deer,regardless of score, every other year or a couple years in between you are doing something right!


I'd take that more so than killing one giant that could have been just being in the right place at the right time or just being lucky.
 

Iowa_Buckeye

Smartest person here
1,776
85
Linn County Iowa
Getting back to the original question, I think that if someone is fortunate to kill an absolute slob (250+) it is really the deer that becomes famous and it drags the hunter (celebrity or Joe-blow) along with him. Chances are that person will not kill another deer of that caliber again no matter what their hunting abilities are. They are just too rare too be taken by the same hunter twice. Does anyone know of anyone that has killed more than one 250 inch free range whitetail? Celebrity or not?? Pure hunting abilities don't have anything to do with killing a single giant, you just need to have access to the ground he lives on. And some luck....

As for celebrity hunters in general, there are some I really like to watch and learn from, and others I don't care for. Most do hunt and 'work' as hard as the average guy as they are just field producers who are probably just happy to be able to tax deduct their hunting expenses and maybe get a free hunt from an outfitter to promote their business.
 

OhioHunter88

Junior Member
270
68
Perry County
Does anyone know of anyone that has killed more than one 250 inch free range whitetail? Celebrity or not??

I haven't heard of any of that, but I do know Adam Hays has killed 3 200" deer and Stan Potts has killed 4 or 5 200" deer... The difference being that some of Stans were with outfitters and Adam's were all on his own...