I agree ... just trying to see where you were coming from .... I keep all the horns and memories from all my deer as well ..... I appreciate the fact the God put the deer here and has given me the ability to pursue them ..... I takes photos of every deer I kill and look at them, remembering the hunt .....
I don't have all the horns of the deer I've killed or a picture of even half of them. Except for the three I've mounted (and I am currently only displaying one of them), the ones Ihave kept are scattered around in various places or in a big pile in a barn.
Even though I am an avid amateur photographer, I just never consdiered taking a picture of every deer until I started participating on this site. Even with that I have only taken pics of 3 of the 4 I killed this year.
Can't even tell you exactly how many deer I've killed with my bow much less prior to that when I gun hunted.
Disrespect? Maybe to some, but I don't have that attachment.
On the other hand, I am adamant about making every effort in a timely recovery and utilizing all the parts of the animal that are considered for human consumption by U.S. standards. If I don't recover the animal in time for this to occur, I failed as a hunter. Not for life, but in this particular instance. It has happened and will likely happen again. But that doesn't change the standard in which should be the foundation in what makes a successful hunt.
That is respect.....if your gonna kill it, eat it or make sure someone else does and it does not go to waste. That IMO, is the respect these animals deserve if we choose to fling an arrow or lead at them.
A late recovery (while it happens to all of us eventually) is no recovery at all and there is no reason for congrats or accolades, etc. Keep the horns to "honor" the animal? What about the late recovered doe you find 2 weeks later. What do you keep to "honor" her?