Search the Community

Food for thought! Tomorrow is the opening day for New Jersey shotgun deer and bear seasons. First and foremost, remember to always be thinking safety first before pulling the trigger on your shotgun or muzzleloader. Many times in the excitement of the hunt we forget about the cardinal rule of knowing our target and beyond. It is the beyond part that we can overlook as we are shooting at a running dear or bear. We need to remember from our hunter safety class days just how far a slug or bullet from a shotgun or muzzleloader can travel. The other thing I would like to remind everyone of it the fact that it is the hunt that is the most important thing about the day, not what you kill to show your friends. Too many of us who are avid bow hunters suddenly change how we think when we go out with the shotgun or muzzleloader in our hands. We don’t have to kill anything to have a great day in the field. Our sport is called “HUNTING, not KILLING”. It always amazes me how guys I know will pass up all kinds of smaller bucks in bow season only to shoot the first legal buck they see on opening day of firearms season? If you see a buck during firearms season that you know you would have passed up in bow season, pass him up again now! I know many of you might say “well if I don’t shoot this deer, someone else will” which may be very true, but that buck just might make it through the season to put on 20 to 30 inches of antler next year making him a P&Y trophy. You will never have quality bucks in your area if you feel that you must shoot the first bucks you see in firearms season. Now I take this philosophy to the extreme as do many of my hunting buddies in that we don’t even go out for deer in firearms season unless there is a really good target buck that we have been after all bow season that we have not been able to arrow. In this way we don’t shoot any of the many small young bucks that we saw and passed during the bow season. The only shotgun or muzzleloader hunting that these guys do is for New Jersey black bear. Even here however I personally pass on this season optining to only hunt black bears with a bow or crossbow. Next year I along with you will get the chance to hunt black bears with a bow, crossbow, and muzzleloader in New Jersey in October which should prove to be a super good season for all of us. I guess what I am saying here is if you let a buck walk this week you might just be saving the buck you will harvest next year. I hope everyone understands I am not trying to say I am better in anyway than anyone else on this site. I am just expressing my thoughts and beliefs about how I feel when it comes to firearms season. I am not against firearms hunting at all; I am just suggesting that you think about what you do when you have that shotgun or muzzleloader in your hands in the coming weeks. The only one to judge a trophy that matters is YOU, not your friends! I wish everyone a good firearms season. I hope you each get the deer or bear of your dreams. Please always remember, “be safe and good hunting” Greg (aka) Highguy