We all have so much passion for what we do, it is this and so much more.
Memories, mounts, road trips, new friends, old friends, family, I could go on and on.

I have'nt and hope I never do.
Don't we all want something bigger than the year before or maybe a shot at something you missed than was bigger than anything you seen in the bush in your life? I'm not going to shoot no small buck when I have the potential to harvest 200"'s so I pass up some bucks that I wished I had shot come end of season. I too am waiting for the monster whitetail but come elk as long as its a legal bull I'm sticking it.

Bobby

p.s. I didn't vote but just wanted to state my opinion.

Absolutely. However, I do like having something tangible to remember the experiences by as well. In all honesty, my most memorable moments in the field have no set of antlers to go along with them, and in some respects that does bother me. The problem with just having the memories is that over time they fade, become blurry, and we just can't remember every single detail. Having both really helps after 10+ years have passed.

With that said the experience is the most important. However, I don't mount antlers on the wall for anyone but myself. That is part of how I remember the hunt, and sometimes I'll just go through and look at each of them remembering the events of the day.

I have a friend and he and his father keep most of their antlers in a box.[&:] To me that doesn't make much sense, and they seem to be more concerned with getting the next one than enjoying the memories of the past ones.

We all have our own reasons for enjoying the hunt though.

When you word it like that, I would have to say that the experience is much more important than a set of horns. There are several expereiences in the woods that you cannot put on the wall, like you mentioned. Sunlight shooting through the pines at daybreak, squirell fights (that would actually bea cool mount if you wanted to do it) the peak of the fall leaves, watchin that black bear comin barrelin down the ridge and run out everything (including you out of your mind scared to death) in the entire woods, those are all irreplaceable.

With that being said, mounts help keep other succesful memories fresh and keep a constant reminder of that adrenaline rush we all crave. Not only are they beautiful they give that deer an 'extended life' so to speak.

I hunt for the love of hunting, and am not a big "antler" guy.

But...I would like to get one full mount walter of each species I hunt to put on the wall. (Mule deer, whitetail deer & elk). So far I only have plaque mounts of my bucks and one bull, and a nice mount of an Alaskan caribou. Hoping to add a bear rug this spring