Wow. I have to say This is one of the most spirited discussions I' ve seen in here.
I don' t look down on trophy hunters. That might sound silly. But I really think that if you are obcessing about the size of the antlers you are missing something. Would I drop that bg 12 pointer. OH YEAH! I love hunting. Bow, shotgun, rifle. I enjoy it tremendously. If I a total of 7 years in the woods and I have only seen a " trophy class deer" once. I missed it. It was awesome to see but I can' t see passing up a 4 pointer with an empty freezer back home.
I have a nice job. I could just buy the meat. But there is a lot more to it when I went out in the woods myself. Killed it myself. Dressed it, skinned it, and butchered it myself. What I am feeding my family is a continuation of our history. I am grounding my children in reality. They know they are eating an animal. Meat doesn' t come in shiney plastic packages from a magical place behind the cooler in the grocery store. 30-40 years ago Deer in Virginia were " scarce as hen' s teeth" . Now we have a heard of about a million. some of them are real big. Most are not. I would say the Game Commission did a damned good job. This is not directed at anyone in particular. Just a basic statement. I don' t like to insult anyone but if I' m hunting legally and ethically and I make a clean kill and you don' t like it you are an a#$hole. I also don' t have a problem with someone who only hunts for the rack. ust so long as they don' t let the meat lay and spoil. Can' t think of anything to add to that.

David