Public display of your kill... good, bad, indifferent?

[DavOh]

I recently read an op-ed peice(i think) where the author(an avid hunter, fisherman, and conservationist) expressed his... ahem.... concerns about hunters displaying their kills on the roof of an SUV, or in the bed of a pick-up truck with the tail-gate down, while driving through town to show off their achievment.

Personally, my parents instilled in me at an early age that ethical hunting meant making the kill count. More than any other way, in the freezer and on the supper plate.  We have always hunted on family land about 8 hours away from home in the Texas hill country. This entailed a significant stretch along the interstate. I remember while growing up seeing people displaying their trophies on the roofs of their SUVs, or with the deer's head hanging out of a cooler or over the edge of the truck bed. The most egregious of such displays, to my parents who understood that the trophy was in the dinner we brought home, were the ones who did nothing to keep the meat cold or clean. Don't hunter's ethics include the use of all the meat? We always skinned, quartered, and kept on ice our kills. When we got home, my mom proceeded to remove all meat untill the seleton looked like a buzzard had gotten to it. I still see this happening from time to time and I can't help but think of my mother's grimace at the meat that was lost as the result of spoiling and scraping off with a wire brush to remove the road grime.

Here in Texas it seems to be pretty common practice, especially outside of the handful of large towns and cities. We always skinned, quartered, and kept on ice our kills. When we got home, my mom proceeded to remove all meat untill the seleton looked like a buzzard had gotten to it.

The author of the article I read was really adament about proposing legislation for the banning of public display of harvested game. What are everone's thoughts and experiences on this.

Now I'll get off my soap box and let everyone else chime in, if interested.

-Davoh

[NONYA]

Sounds like another aproach by the antis to take away the rights of hunters,you could strap a dead deer accross the hood of your truck for all I care,wasting meat is already a crime in my state and I see dead deer,antelope,elk,ect,ect every time i travel on the highway here,everyone sees dead animals all year round on the roads how could you make it illegal to have one visible in your vehicle?If that guy is an avid hunter im voting for Hillary!Show em off,be proud of your heritage!

[Charlie Tango]

[bigbore442001]

Here in New England, many states require that all or part of the deer taken needs to be exposed to public view until it is offically tagged by a warden or at a checking station.Once that is done, then the legal owner can do what they want as far as display, etc...

I will concur with my father's opinion. He grew up in a different generation when hunting wasn't so much under attack by the fruit groups. He believes that the current trend of keeping your hunting activities a secret or low key is detrimental. The cowering to the anti crowd just makes them more brazen in their attack against us. He ,and I as well, believe that an animal taken with honor is something to be proud of.

I see much of the problem with the influx of suburbanites in to what was once rural communities. This past year I checked in a couple deer at a general store in northeastern Connecticut. The owner of the store wanted everyone checking deer in to park at the end away from the entrance. She said that the  new people in town were complaining. I just wish the "new " people would move back to where they came from.

[Redhawk1]

[Redhawk1]

I look at it like this. As long as it is not distasteful, I don't see a problem displaying your kill. When I come back from a hunting trip, I like my game covered to keep it clean. I keep it in the back of my truck with the tail gate up and my topper closed until I get to the butcher shop. When I am riding with my buddy, we don't have room in the back of his SUV for  game and use a game hauler on the back of his SUV. We tuck it all in and try to keep the road grime off of the game.  All in good taste, and no disgrace to the animal. JMHO.

[beemanbeme]

Like we need another law.  Sounds like a PETA troll wrote the article to me.  Another back door sally by the huggers.

[elmer]

I know that a hunter education video here in Texas talks about this subject. They suggest not driving around with a deer strapped to the outside of your vehicle. One of the concerns is that hunters are a minority and the anti-hunters are a minority. The majority of the voters are ambiguous so why upset them and push them toward the anti crowd.

Generally in Texas you want/need to get the meat on ice fairly quick. Besides if it's strapped to the hood the engine heat is going to be heating it up regardless of the air temp.

[rockbilly]

:roll: One of the most important factors in preserving the meat and having a quality piece for the dinner plate is how it is treated from the time it is killed to the time it is processed.  I hunt West Texas, (yesterday it was 81 degrees) when a deer is killed, it is field dressed and taken immediately to be processed, where it is skinned and hung in a cooler for a few days, if you linger too long showing it off the meat is ruined.  Usually, this takes no more than thirty-forty minutes fvor me to get an animal to the processor.  If I am hunting away from my home area, I always carry a large ice chest, a kill is skinned and packed on ice until final precessing can be accomplished.  On trips to Colorado or New Mexico, unless is is really cool the animal is hung in a cooler and quartered as soon as possible for the trip home in an ice chest.

For years I have seen deer being transported on the hood of a car or in the bed of a pick-up.  First, the hood of the car is normally heated from the engine, that heat transfers to the meat...........generating quicker spoilage.  A deer transported in the back of a pick-up or on the hood will pick up all kinds of road dust, etc.  

If there is no other way than on the top of a car or bed of a truck at least wrap the animal in an old quilt and a tarp to help protect it.  Make sure the animal is totally cooled before wrapping it, and throw a bag or two of ice in the cavity before hitting the road.  This will make for much better table meat.

As for laws on how game should be transported........the person that dreamed that up needs to get a job and focus on something serious. :wink:

[Charlie Tango]

My daughters hunter safety class touched on this subject and if I remember correct they tried to push "being tasteful and non offensive."   The only thing I try to do is make sure the deers cavity is not showing in case someone has a soft stomach for that type of thing.  Other than that the deer is in the back of the truck or on the hitch rack.  Here in Illinois our gun season is usually cold so we don't have to rush the meat to a cooler or a butcher.  Every now and then we might have to cut the deer at camp and pack it in coolers until we get home.

As long as the deer was harvested ethically and legally, show it off.  Don't worry about these anti everything - politically correct people.  Most of these type people that I have met are uneducated on both sides of the subject.

God Bless America

[rickt300]

I usually skin, quarter and put on ice if I can but this weekend hung the deer overnight gutted and in the morning filled the body cavity with ice and drove three hours to town. I got several thumbs up's and a couple of interested people at the gas station. It was in the bed of a small pickup four feet in the air.  I wasn't showing it off though I did feel a bit uncomfortable going thru Fort Worth.

[Carroll B]

As far as I'm concerned it doesn't bother me to see the deer sticking out of your vehicle.  That being said, I read that 10% of the public are for hunting, 10% against hunting, and 80% are undecided. As hunters we have to do everything possible to protect our privilege to pursue our sport so that we can continue to hunt and so can our children and grandchildren. I would hate to see a few ruin it for the rest of us. I look forward to 8-10 years down the road when my grandson can join me and my son in the field.  I don't display my deer for everyone to see.  I proud of the fact that I have the skill to harvest a deer but why take the chance on offending someone who may be undecided about the sport of hunting.  I would never do anything to ruin the meat as that is one of the reasons I hunt.  I have actually not hunted on a day when if I got a deer I would not have any way to keep the meat cool as the processor was closed due to it being a holiday and the weather was too warm to let it hang outside. (I already had taken two deer anyway).

[Daveinthebush]

Never tie an animal to the hood. The engine heat can ruin the meat.  It is much better on the roof or trunk like these guys did.

You should tuck the tongue in though! :roll:

[Daveinthebush]

On a more serious note I try to use a politically correct language when talking to non-hunters about  what I do.

Like:

Killed = Harvested

Gutted = Field dressed

Dragged = Transported

Butchered = Processed

Wounded = Warned the animal of my intentions (Just kidding )

[NONYA]

That bull was shot by a woman here in Montana where nobody ever has to ask this question,the only thing that makes us hide our kills is warm weather.

[Redhawk1]

That bull was shot by a woman here in Montana where nobody ever has to ask this question,the only thing that makes us hide our kills is warm weather.

I don't think it is a matter of hiding your kill as much as displaying your kill in a bad manor. Not all States are tolerant as say Montana or other big game States.  

[Tn Jim]

I went with my son when he went through his hunter education class and they touched on this. The main thing is to try and display your kill tastefully. As a hunter I'm proud of another hunter taking an animal and will give him a thumbs up if I pass him on the road. But most people don't hunt and can't understand why we do. A animal that is displayed distastfully can be the one thing that could turn someone that is not commited into a rabid bunny hugger. I haul my kills in the bed of my truck with a tarp over it, but only to keep it clean. I'm not ashamed of it or trying to hide it but my hunting area is only accessable by dirt roads.

[DavOh]

I see what you guys mean. Tasteful transportation is really all I ask. As long as the meat is taken care of.

As for the author of the "article", I did some searching and found where I originally read it. It was on a hunting website forum, similar to this one. The author supposedly had 1000's of posts under his belt and had been a member since 2000, I think. I think I remember that he's from new england somewhere. And while there are hunters there, they're in the vast minority, so I can see why it could be a touchy subject there.  :?

Thanks for the input guys!

In case anyone is interested, I broached this subject with my "anti-hunting in-laws"(who's daughter has decided to hunt with me next year :grin: )... Even they acknowledged that tastefully done and un-wasteful that there's no problem...

[Dave in WV]

Hanging the deer's heads over the closed tailgate of a PU is  poor taste and asking for negative feedback. Hiding the fact I hunt is not in me.