To me, it' s comical when a person thinks a P&Y score makes him a better hunter--as if he actually grew the antlers in the first place.

But hey, I still enjoy hearing folks declare their hunting prowess for killing a " book buck" that they' ve scouted all year from their sofa via a trail camera. I really crack up when they brag about shooting it from 30' in the air, wrapped in half a dozen layers of Scent-Mummy clothing, with 80% letoff, an electronic sight, a mechanical release, and a laser rangefinder, while the deer was standing in the middle of a puddle of doe-whiz while en route to a chum pile or food plot.

Then again, if that' s your thing...

JRW, WOW[] Way to put into perspective.....lol

JRW............LMAO!

What about the hunter who has put in many hours of time, I mean real hard hunting time without getting a shot at a specific animal he was after, BUT then while hunting............ a huge animal unknown to the hunter in the area just happens to come by. The hunter kills that large unknown to the area buck.............is that any less of a trophy?

In my opionion, espically in bowhunting, a deer killed is a trophy. The amount of time and effort spent to get the point of " experiencing" bow hunting, and taking that particular animal, is well worth stating it is a trophy. It is all about being able to follow thru on the opportunity to take such a wonderful animal.

I' m one of those guys who doesn' t have access to the great trophy spots, but still holds out for mature deer to harvest--and bucks have to be 8 points or better with a very nice rack in order to make MY grade. I didn' t even shoot a buck last year because all of the bucks with-in range were too small for MY personal standards.

Some hunters don' t have the access, the experience,the equipment, or the skill needed to wait for Mr. Big to come by--especially when he might not even exist in their hunting area. I' m not going to denigrate their deer which they may value very highly. Some hunters try very hard, but it' s just not going to happen for them--just like many novice athletes.

My son was told on his first hunt to not shoot baby deer. He spent the entire first evening with a fawn under him which he just watched. His first kill was a nice 8 point which just made P&Y.

I wish everyone would pass the younger deer and let ' em grow, but I can' t tell someone who worked very hard and ended the season with a small deer that his deer was insignificant and not a trophy because it' s score wasn' t high enough.

JRW...I think you' re comical and lucky that last year or whenever it was you shot a nice buck. FYI, I don' t use trail cameras, scent lock, laser range finders, 80% letoff, electronic sights, or even treestands sometimes. You have a deranged, misinformed, unjustified, and unhealthy view of me and any trophy hunter that I know. I work my arse off to get what I get and despite what you or others believe, there is not a PY or better buck behind every tree in the midwest and yes it does take more skill to harvest a mature buck consistently vs. killing an immature deer every year and I certainly don' t get one every year or let alone every trip to the tree stand. It' s sad that you are missing so much yet are so vocal and outrageous in your views...loud and dumb is a dangerous thing to be.

By the way folks please read all the posts before posting....I already explained that this doesn' t apply to disadvantaged hunters, including those that have horrible populations of deer from which to hunt.

Why do you guys feel it' s necessary to pass judgement on what constitutes a quality hunt or quality deer to everybody else. If you' re offended by someone calling a smaller deer a trophy you need to get a life. If this thread was " What do you think is a trophy" I wouldn' t have a problem with stating your personal requirements. This is just another thread that turned into an arguement about who' s better than who. The biggest challenge we have facing hunting today is non-hunter ignorance. They see 50 hunters calling 50 other hunters names because they don' t conform to one' s personal ideas of good hunters and this really leaves them with a bad impression of hunters in general. They are turned off to the whole deal. Then you have new hunters who read the original post and are turned off because the people they look to for guidance and support slam them for not killing a monster buck every year. If you want to give your personal opinion of a trophy by all means do it but don' t make others feel bad about the choices they make.


Travis

W68, I don' t think JRW is talking directing towards you. I took it as a broad/general statement and a very justified one at that. You have a valid point of view with many allies, pick your convictions.

Wolfen,

Perhaps you thought my previous post was directed at you. Perhaps you failed to notice that I didn' t address it as such. Perhaps you took offense for some reason. And...

" By the way folks please read all the posts before posting."

...perhaps you should take your own advice.


" ...despite what you or others believe, there is not a PY or better buck behind every tree in the midwest..."

Psssstttt...take a look to the left and tell me where I' m from. []