Ifall somewheres in between trophy hunter, and meat hunter. I've killed enough deer that now I'd just as soon take a doe, as I would a young buck, and I dobelieve in sound deer managemnt too!
I've been seeing many of the "trophy" huntingpurists putting down meat hunters though, so I have a hypothetical question for the "trophy" hunters!
OK, let's just say that you are allowed only ONE buck tag per year. You see an obvious cull buck! Big, pot-bellied, five year old. Do you use your ONLY buck tag and kill it, or do you let it walk?

As a trophy hunter, with only one tag, you'd probably let it walk, in hopes of taking a trophy buck!
If you let it walk, are you not the same as the hunter that shoots a 1 1/2 year old buck?! You've allowed an obvious cull to go on breeding! Thats not helping the "trophy" herd! You could take the cull, and get a bigger trophy next year!

Or, if you take it, does it not make you a trophy hunter, you've taken an average, or inferior deer?!

Decisions, decisions!

I live and hunt Kentucky. We are a 1-buck state. Depending on the region of the state, I can kill two deer, only one of whci can be a buck or 1-buck and an unlimited number of does.

I Trophy hunt to my standards. When faced with the choice of a small buck, it walkes 100% of the time. I would rather have a good deer than a deer I can not be thrilled to shoot. It is more about th ehunt than the kill. As such,I have only killed two Kentucky bucksover the last 5 years a 140 inch (bc) killed 5 years ago and a 125 inch (bc) killed with my bow this year. If I had a rifle, the 125 would have walked.

This is just my prefernce. I get met from does and hunt for the big ones. When hunting family property in Arkansas and Mississippi, I am a little less picky and will kill a smaller buck.

I don't really consider myself a trophy hunter.We have a 2 buck limit and would shoot a cull buck in a minute.As far as 1 1/2 olds I let them walk and try to take a doe.I haven't shot a buck going on 3 years now,but I still have all of Dec.So far I've seen 7-1 1/2 old bucks and 1 mature buck that winded me ofcourse.I still consider the season a success even with my tags going unfilled.

Well I think I would qualify as a "trophy" hunter cause I have been hunting my Bowling trophy my wife put in the garrage last year ... but seriously .. I love to harvest a nice buck as much as anyone ..but lets face it if all you ever got to eat was trophy buck meat most of us would starve!

dd

I fall somewhere in between, but consider this. In my neck of the woods a deer that is older than 3.5 yo is a very rare find indeed. So, it would be a trophy in my book even if it were a spike because of the age. My neighbors have spotted an old deer that is only seen about once a year and he has a messed-up antler on one side and four good points on the other side. I told them that he would be a trophy for anyone to harvest, because he is probably 5+ yo.

I never really understood the idea of a cull buck. Sure the buck is on his way down hill, but at one time he was a trophy, and as far as I know dna doesn't change, so he will still produce trophy racks out of his offspring unless he grows only one anltler every year or something screwy like that then I would take him ( a 5 1/2 year old buck is a trophy in my book no matter the size of his horns)

I would pass a 1 1/2 years old. But I would shoot the cull buck. I consider myself a trophy hunter and would without a doubt harvest a 5 1/2 year old.

Thanks for the replies! As most of us probably fall somewheres inbetween trophy hunter, and meat hunter, I just wanted to make the point that ALL LEGAL hunters are needed for any deer managment to be successful!

In the last few years I've changed to somewhere in the middle. Several years ago, the land that my dad and I hunt produced mostly bucks with puny, lopsided racks. Since those were almost all we ever saw, we started taking them everytime we had the chance instead of holding out for a monster. In the last few years the benefits have been obvious. We were looking at the racks from 10 years ago and comparing them with more recent ones, and the improvement is amazing. I'm convinced that taking the cull will ultimately result in taking the trophy. Of course, "trophy" is subjective, because not even the nicest bucks we've taken would score on B&C, but to us they are trophies just the same. Just my opinion.

My views have flip flopped lots over the years. I consider myself a trophy hunter in that I have a certain standard for bucks. However I have changed my way of thinking to not only look at whatI think he'll score but where he is in maturity as well (or potential). I have taken bucks that fall below on my min score level but are mature and in the downslide of antler development. Equally I have passed many deer that would have scored better but were still growing or immature. Now their are cases where a deer might not be at his prime but still possess trophy headgear, in this situation I would shoot. (example Hansen Buck, he was aged at 4 1/2 year and would have put on even more bone the next season but who would really pass such a specimen??)

So in your scenario I would take out the mature buck and let the immature walk.

As far as meat vs trophy. I see no difference, as long as you are happy that is all that counts. We are all still hunters!!!!