I like eating wild game and will try just about anything. Saying that, I love venison and hunt for meat.I am not a rack hunter by any means but taking a nice buck does make me feel good and givesme some bragging rights.

There was one animal that I knew I was hunting strictly for a mount. That was my PA black bear. I wanted one bad and knew it was going to be full body mount. I even had the spot picked out for it if I ever succeeded in getting one. It happened in 2003.

I didn't get to eat any of it. I drug the thing out of the woods ungutted. ( weighed 200 lbs.)I didn't want to mess it up for the taxidermist. I waited until the next day to help the taxidermist skin it. The meat spoiled because it wasn't chilled quick enough. That was my fault because I was more concerned about getting it mounted.


Deep down I didn't feel right about that. I did talk to several people about bear meat and got mixed opinions. About half said it wasn't that good ( too greasy) and that I didn't miss anything by letting it spoil.

Right or wrong, yes, I did hunt something strictly for the trophy.