Rob and JRW...point well taken...my apologies.

Your original post is somewhat wrong wolf. There would be no " World Series Trophy" , Super Bowl rings or Winston Cup Trophies if it wasnt for the Little League Championships, the State/Regional Finals in High School football or the Sunday go-cart races. We all gotta start somewhere.

I' ve been fortunate enough to take 2 P&Y bucks with my bow. But to say I was' nt proud of the first deer I ever killed in my life, a fat lil forkhorn with a bow when I was 13, wouldn' t be true.

Gross score is not the ONLY measurement of a " trophy" ,
RA

ps
I dont stand behind the " I eat everything I kill" excuse either. I am a " Trophy Hunter" and gladly admit it. I prefer to eat the many does I have to kill for mgmt reasons because of the obviously better meat quality than the old bucks I am fortunate enough to kill. I typically donate those bucks to the Hunters For The Hungry Program here in my state or give them away to some happy recipients I know of. I have no problem with it and I suspect many others do the same but for some social reason they feel less of a man/hunter for admitting to it.

Everyone here is a trophy hunter, like it or not!

There isn' t a bowhunter here that would shoot a 4pt that stands 15 yards broadside when there is a 150 class standing 26 yards facing us. I really wouldn' t believe a single person here who said they wouldn' t wait to see if they might get a shot on the 150 class. Hopefully everyone here has the sense not to shoot straight on in this scenrio. A true meat hunter would shoot the 4pt....any of you?

Rob,

November 11th, 2001. I shot a big doe out from in front of a nice 8-pointer, and used my only either-sex tag on her. I' d been watching that doe all day long and decided that if she offered a shot in the last 15 minutes of light I' d take her. She did, so I did.

Despite the fact that the 8-pointer would have looked very nice on my wall, and would have been my biggest buck to date, I had no regrets.

I should probably mention that I don' t consider myself a meat-hunter or a trophy-hunter. After seeing those terms get bounced around for the past several years, I still have no idea what they really mean. I guess I just figure I' m a bowhunter.

Okay, feel like I have to jump in on this one
Am I a meat hunter? No
A trophy hunter? No

I hunt because I love it. I have passed on small bucks and large does. I eat the deer I kill or give them to my sister and her husband who don' t hunt. Would I take a 150 class over a doe? You bet your sweet arse. I think the trophy issue is being blown way out of proportion here. To make book and meet recognized trophy status deer must be a certain size. Don' t tell me on the other hand that the nice doe or buck I do shoot isn' t a trophy! I have spent much time and effort on the sport and ANY deer I take with a bow is certainly a trophy to me and no amount of debate will ever change my opinion

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

I worked my a** off last season and I saw a grand total of 8 deer. Only 1 was
within range for a shot, just happened to be a nice 10 pointer, he is my
super bowl ring. I dont even get a shot at a deer every season simply
because I dont have a lot of land to hunt and the deer around here are
extremely pressured,especially when gun season starts,
so any deer I take is a trophy to me and one that I will always be proud of.

Unless you have scouted a deer from birth to P&Y rankings....any TROPHY deer you shoot was one that you were lucky enough to have walking around where you planned on hunting.
I am NOT saying that if you find a/some big buck/s and scout them, and hunt them hard you are not to be congradulated for your results.
The fact remains that a HUGE deer might just walk under your stand...whether you planned it or not. There IS some " luck of the draw" . Just HAVING big bucks in your area is cause for thanks!!!
EVERYONE IS a trophy hunter....we just aren' t always succesfull...then we take what we can get....or nothing at all.
Some of us are meat hunters as well....we' ll take the doe to manage the herd, and fill the freezer...and hope we can fill another tag on that " big buck" (IF we are FORTUNATE enough to hunt somewhere that you are allowed a buck and a doe).
I' ve passed up a shot at 10 yards on a 6 point buck....cause at 15 there was a BIG doe (damn spike behind me that I didn' t see messed that ALL up...but that' s another story )
Now if a big rack was all I wanted, I' d save a LOT of money by not hunting so much, and spend it on a nice guided hunt in Marathon county...the Milk river area...or something similar.
PERSONALLY, I look at it this way. I want meet for the freezer...does beware. I' d LOVE a HUGE rack, but would consider it a give from God if I saw one in my area while hunting...other than that....any 1/2 way decent 8 pointer in my area had better look up a lot [>:]

A trophy is a trophy in the eye of the beholder!
First, not all hunters are " trophy" hunters. Nor should they be!
If everyone held out for a true trophy, the theory of population game management would not work, because not enough animals would be harvested. Someone has to take the culls and does.

Second, not all areas have true trophy sized animals.
Sure every now and then a record size deer can come from an area that is not known for large racks, but that is rare. So in that case, a trophy could be a great deer for the given area, but would not even be considered a decent cull to another areas deer class.

Third, even though I admire trophy racks, not all trophy racks are equal either!
What is behind that 150+ rack on the wall?
Is it a skillful hunter, that worked hard for it? Or is it someone with more money and/or luck than brains? Don' t get me wrong, if you can afford a great hunt, I' m glad for you! There is nothing wrong with that!
However I' ve seen too many yo-yo' s, that don' t know diddley squat about hunting, that have true trophy mounts on the wall! I admire the animal, but I would not really consider them to be true trophies.

So, to me the trophy is really in the HUNT!
It may be harder to take a six point or doe in some areas, than it would be to take a B.C. class buck in other areas!

Wolfen that answer brought a grin to my face, I was glad to hear it, I have known a few trophy hunters over the years who could care less about eating thier kill, one of them didn' t even bother field dressing one, he would cape it, remove the head and give it away! I had a heck of an argument with him over this, we don' t speak any more. I did not mean to offend you, I simply wanted to know.

wolfen I have a strong feeling you would feel differently about 3 bucks a year if you knew how many deer we have in Va. Last year I saw at least 5 BIG bucks and a passle of smaller ones throughout the season, I was just never in the right place at the right time, except once and the stinker wouldn' t give me a decent angle to shoot until he cleared my shooting lane, he was within 10 yards coming before he turned, of course he was out of the lane then!