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 guess I was trying to read between the lines of your post to see what you thought of Ryans original post ....... I still haven't figured it out I am guessin you are somewhere in the middle?

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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?

Respect the animal by killing it quickly and not letting it waste. Pictures and mounts are simply things forself gratification..............nothing wrong with that, but it's doneso you can look back at it and remember, brag, or laugh............not to "honor" the Animal.....sheesh!

It's asilly dog and pony show if you ask me. Honor is a word that should be held asid forGod, men & womenand our Country.............not a dead deer.

I don't think I cross the "creepy" line, but I respect the hell out of the animal. At the point of harvest it's more of the completion to a long journy with the deer. All the work and hours suddenly paid off and there is some emotion after killing a deer for me. He picked the wrong place on the wrong day. Better yet I picked the right place on the right day [8D]. Either way when it's said and done after killing a deer I feel great respect for him/her for their ability to survive up until that point. I'm not going to shed any tears or have some sort of ceremony, but I will respect them.

I like all the creepy talk, it's funny.

Me, I love deer. I love to watch them, study them, learn about them, and hunt them. There is just something about whitetails that gets to me more than any other animal. The amount of time, effort, research, and care I have put into deer is pretty inordiante to other things in my life. I have sacrificed time with my family, opportunities for better paying jobs, and countless dollars for whitetails. I have literally sweated and bled following them, just as many here have.

At the end of the day though they are animals. Animals that I respect and admire, but I lay them down and cook them up all the same. I'm grateful to do so, but still keep things in perspective that I'm not doing God's work or anything.

I would rather see someone er to showing to much respect than to little.Hard not to respect an animal that is such a worthy adversary! My preference is quiet appreciation and to show the animal dignity,especially so when it's dead.
I don't have a lot of tolerance for throwing a dead deer around,or mutilating it or throwing it among filth,whether the bed of a pickup with a ton of crap in it or on the floor of a shed or gargage that isn't clean.
No you don't have to get all teary and sovereign but show the animal some dignity.That's my opinion.

I respect every animal I hun. By obeying game laws. Being ethical and taking only good shots and doing everything I can to recover the deer,duck,ect. I also do what ever I can on the conservation end of things. These are the ways I respect animal. You would understand the whole attachement thing if you were a trophy hunter and have spent hundreds of hours scouting and days in the stand if you dont trophy hunt you will never understand the magical part of deer hunting

Do you make a casket for it and all?

Deer are just wild animals that I want to kill for food. They make it hard on me sometimes. That's the extent I go.