FFTJ

So getting a plastic, generic trophy somehow tarnished the acts she made to gain it? Was she expecting a silver cup? Hunting is going to go by the wayside someday because everyone feels it' s necessary to kill a 150 class buck to prove their manhood to other hunters rather than enjoy the challenge of simply hunting. Hopefully you used the situation to teach your daughter that it' s not the trophy that matters but the fun she should have while participating.

Travis

wolfen68

Travis...of course I did. She is a great daughter but quite a pistol. Her comment brought a grin to my chin for sure. But as far as the point to my post goes, I maintain that there are differences in trophy deer and a guy who shoots the first deer he sees and claims it' s a trophy because he is too lazy, incompetent, or impatient to put forth any more effort but then will come on this thread and bash me for ruining the sport of hunting because I " trophy" hunt pisses me off as well.

Of course I understand the hunters who don' t have great land or great herds to hunt or who are disabled etc etc...that' s not what I' m speaking to.

Tazman

wolfen just a question out of curiosity, if you hunted in area with a high population of deer and you were allowed 3 bucks a years and a ton of doe, would you take the first 2 mature bucks you saw and save the third tag for the trophy or would you just go for the trophy?

Do you eat venison or do you strictly hunt for the bragging rights?

wolfen68

Tazman...First off, I would hate my state wildlife dept if they allowed 3 bucks per year and if they did I would not shoot that many. But to answer your question in a hypothetical manner, my goal is my goal with bucks and I would not make any exceptions. I would also shoot does to maintain the health of the herd. And as far as your next question, " Do you eat venison or do you strictly hunt for the bragging rights?" I' m somewhat offended at what you may be insinuating.[:' (] If you' re not going to eat it then why kill it? That' s a bit sacraligous if you ask me. [X(]

TxCowboy

I' m in 100% agreement with Wolfen on this one.

MA Jay

Wolfen and some others obviously have different views then some about what is a trophy. They are lucky enough to live in areas that have deer in the size and age structure for which they feel good about taking an animal. Unfortunately the list of states that equals or is better than Kansas for antler size is VERY small. Here in the Northeast a Wolfen type hunter would have to accept only scoring on a " trophy" every couple of years or pay the money to travel a bit.

Wolfen when you say something like that it kind of contradicts your point though, he has a valid question, you sometimes wobble between the taking of a deer for horns or for food. You say you shoot does for food but won' t shoot a small buck for venison because you want big horns. You do realize many states and areas only allow 1 deer a year so what would you do? Shoot a doe for food, small legal buck for food or wait for a wall hanger and risk no venison? Just curious what would you do?

Tazman .. your kids may not have realized what they lost with those trophies that are now in the dump for a few years yet. But if they are anything like me and my siblings ... they will later when they realize they are gone.

jeffmiller

I bowhunt a lot in the fall, in addition to attending college full time and working part time. If I go out and shoot a doe the first time out this year, I' ll consider it a trophy. Yeah it would be great to hunt where there are numerous mature deer, but sometimes it isn' t possible. Using your example, what happens if you earn $50,000 a year, and some guy earns $500,000. Would it be right for him to call your money and life " chump change" , because he earns way more? No, it is sometimes the circumstances. Being very busy, if I harvest a nice doe or buck, it' s a trophy to me, regardless of what someone else who hunts all fall on managed trophy land may say.

short-range

I don' t have a dictionary handy but using the MSWord Thesaurus-

Trophy:
memorial of victory
prize
memento
award
citation

I think the first one says it all. It is a memorial. It has to do with the road to get there and the battle that day in the field. I can' t go out today and play in the superbowl, I have to do my time and earn the chance. the playoffs etc. so yes this has a longer road and is a bigger prize because fewer have the chance,

If taking a large buck required a long trail of shooting smaller bucks it may mean more. But anyone " could' walk out their back door and kill a world record with with their first arrow shot.

IF you can' t tell me a good story it is only an impressive animal not a trophy.

Macdaddy

This sounds like the argument short people make. " We aren' t short we are vertically challanged" No matter what you call it short is short.

We have terms that quantify trophys for people. P&Y, SCI, B&C, etc. The " Trophy" itself is irelivent. The symbol is just that.

In deer hunting it' s the same thing. I could go out drop 5,000 on a hunt, shoot a 180 class buck in the guts, have a guide and some others go out and track him, find him 4 days later, cut off the head and mount it on the wall. Trophy?

Or I could be a guy with a second hand bow, hunting public land, three kids, not a lot of extra time or cash, shoot a forker at 15 yards, bring my kids out to help track him after a couple of hours, take some pictures with the family, show them how to take care of the meat and animal. Put the pictures on the wall, remind them of the hunt when we eat the meat. Trophy?

Are some of you arguing that we should be more PC about this word?

AKDoug

Hey!! That' s me Trophy? You betcha. Hell, I cherish the time being out in the woods, the kill is secondary. I' d much rather eat a 2 year old moose than a monster anyway. Too me it' s all about the quality of the eating.