Good post Bowdawg but it's the competitiveness that is the icing on the cake for me. I enter big buck contests every year in the area where I hunt. About 20-30 guys get into it and once the season comes there is always a constant buzz about who shot what, who saw what, and who is in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the contest. It's exciting as hell!!! It only heightens the drama for me. There is already a huuuuuge amount of pressure to make a good shot on a nice deer within 20 yards and closing but it makes it even more so when you know it could be #1 and you have to make a good clean shot or you may not get another the rest of the season. It keeps guys honest. It lets the little ones go so they can grow! It increases the amount of time I get to enjoy being in a stand thus increasing the amount of deer and other wildlife I see thus giving me more experience and knowlege about deer thus leading to my becoming a better hunter and wildlife conservationist with every season that passes. For me there would be 0 satisfaction in killing a spike or forkie, but that is me. Holding out for big ones is relative to one's area and the quality of the herd that one hunts. However in every herd there are going to be a small percentage of bucks that are bigger and wiser than the rest and more of a challenge to hunt. I see nothing wrong with a guy setting his goals for the toughest of all North American big game animals to hunt...that being a mature whitetail buck! Or in other words...A honkin monster whitie!!