So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

A Doe A Spike A Big Rack ?

To me any deer you go out and hunt and finely get is a True Trophy.
If you take the time to scout and to get up early in the am and go after.

To me a big rack is not all there is to hunting.
Just being out in the great out doors is good theripy.
Or to go and bond with your friends and family.
It gives you time to clear your head.

So what ever you get while out hunting is a Trophy.
Even if it is only time to your self, Time is a Trophy in it self.
Well thats my 2 cents worth.

So what do you think ?

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

a buck ?
but id shoot a doe and still b proud

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Well said jrbsr,I could'nt have said it better myself.I could go without the gun just to clear my head,but it would suck if that Trophy popped up without it.LOL
JE

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

depends.....any deer is special to me.....i remember all 7 clearly....like it just happend yesterday....i wouldnt call any TROPHYS though.....to me a trohpy will be a nice racker buck....good spread and good tine legnth...and a few points on each side....not neccesarrily a monster...just a half respectable buck.....not a basket rack.....but i do display my 2 buck racks proudly....pretty basket 6pt and a scrap rack fork horn with little brows...depends how you count points....could be a 6 if you go by the "hang a ring and its a point" or a bump of any size and distinction is a point....but my state says a point has to be atleast an inch long since the AR stuff......all my deer mean something to me....all 7.....but a "trophy" to me is something a little harder to come by....theres alot more to hunting then trophys.....if i wanted nothing but trophys id take up a diffrent hobby like a ball sport or something "trophys" are given to regularly.....i just love to be out there......ill get me a trophy some day......till then my does make me totally happy.....and when i come home skunked...i still smile and say it was a great day....beats doing anything else...

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I hunt because I love to hunt and the enjoyment of the hunt is not determined by whether or not I kill a deer.That being said,I consider a trophy to be a large deer for the area that you hunt.Where I hunt a buck scoring better than 150 net B&C would be considered a trophy by most hunters.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Rule 1 = all deer are a trophy.
Rule 2 = the deer that's bigger than the last
Rule 3 = the deer that was the hardest to hunt
Rule 4 = the deer that combined rules 1 through 3
Rule 5 = the deer you remember the most.

The memory of the first deer I took (doe at 11 years old) is more vivid in my mind than my biggest buck.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Oh yeah - to answer the question:

If I say it's a trophy - it's a trophy. It's in the hunters' heart. It's in his(her) soul. You can't put a number on it.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I agree the harvest, antlers, meat, etc are icing on the cake the experiences are the real reason I love to hunt.

The perception of what a trophy is up to the individual, any animal I take is held in high regards and am extremely thankful/proud. That beings said I don't consider them all "Trophies", that is reserved for an animal that has attributes I consider to be exceptional to my personal standards.

As long as your happy that is all that matters IMO.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Anything ,especially my wife

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I saw an 11 year old boy come into our check station during the Adult Child hunt. When the truck came around the corner I knew there was a deer in the back and who had killed it by the ear-to-ear grin on that boys face. It was a Doe but that didn't matter to him, his picture on the board we keep of all the Deer killed on the management area is one of my all time favorites. That Doe is a trophy of the first order.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Well lets see, A trophy to me is a big buck for the area you hunt or maybe it's any racked buck??? Maybe it's even any deer I harvest or maybe it's just the memory of the good day spent with family and friends! I read all these posts about how I/we should pass on the smaller bucks and let them grow to be "trophies" but thats just not me. I think taking any buck is a tough task and something to be proud of! The taking of any deer for that matter. Those of you who get 20, 30, even 50 or more days in the woods might disagree because you have the time to be picky! I don't! I get 6 to 12 days a year and thats it! I am just as proud of my crazy looking spike buck as I am the nice 9 point I took last year! Since I don't take a wall hanger every year when I do come across one it makes it that much more special! I'm not a "trophy hunter" I'm a deer hunter! I take my doe's every year and I hope for a bonus of antlers on one of the grey ghosts I come across! If it has a big rack on it's head well thats just icing on the cake! Any day hunting is a trophy to me! ..... My 2 cents ... Jim

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Coastie put it right!! That makes it a personnel thing. First deer is always a trophy to the taker. In the B&C arena I think trophy starts at around 100 points and improves from there. When ya get into the 140s now your talking bragging in any circle.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Any deer that you hunt and kill you should be proud of, any deer should be a trophy and if you look at it different you probably shouldn't have shot the animal!

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I'd say that the hunt is the trophy, not the animal! My biggest deer was not the one that was hardest to hunt. I did hunt this buck for two seasons, but on the actual day of the harvest, it was almost a "gimmie!" Sometimes a wise old doe is harder to harvest than a buck! So again, the hunt is my trophy!

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I think any deer you shoot is a trophy.Just geting away from everything for a few days or a week is the real Trophy

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

To me there are absolute trophies and conditional trophies. Absolutes are the big bucks you see that are huge regardless of the area they came from. Conditional trophies are deer that have extra special meaning to the hunter that took them. I don't see ALL deer as trophies. I have probably 2 bucks that are extra special to me, my first and my biggest. Neither are absolute trophies, but my biggest adorns my wall. You don't need a deer to be considered a trophy in order to shoot it.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

The big one that got away .We call him the RAKE HORN ,two of my brotherinlaws got a shot at him and missed ,one with a bow at 30 yards and the other a black powder rifle at 4o yards ,my miss was with a 30-30 at a 100 yards i shot 7 times and didn't touch a hair.This buck had a rack that looked 30 inches wide and had at least ten nice points if not 12. That hunt was 15 years ago and i still see him going over that hill waving goodby. So far that was the best hunt of my life and a memory that will aways be with me .

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

anything taken legally and no one got hurt thats a trophy you can live to tell about

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

It means different things to different people but If its a trophy to you, thats all that matters. I am not a rack hunter and would not shoot a buck unless it was quite a bit bigger than anything I had shot before. To me it the getting out hunting that matters. And thats all that matters in that area.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

this season.......anything would be a trophy

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Like anything in life, it's what each person defines for themselves. That being said, to me, a trophy is that extra special deer. A deer is a deer and I love deer hunting more than anything, but (when) I finally tag that big buck, you know the kind that takes your breath away when you first see him., then I'll have my trophy. A hunter's first deer is probably the biggest trophy of all, regardless of size.

I am also a diehard fly fisherman. I have caught many trout but it's that 10 pounder that has been eluding me thru the years. When I finally net him, it will truly be my trophy. It's the same for me when deer hunting. I hunt areas with low deer density, so I don't have the luxury to see deer every time out in the woods, so any legal deer is special, but is it a trophy, no to me. A spike is nice, but that 12 pointer than dresses over 200 pounds is what I personally call my trophy.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

EXACTLY!!

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

A big, heavy bodied fully mature buck of at least 4 1/2 years old, regardless of his rack size.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Anything I would Kill I would consider a trophy because I took the time to scout and hunt that deer that I shot, and even if I dont kill a deer I enjoy the outdoors so much its like a trophy in itself

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

a buck bigger than my last. However, always happy to take a doe too. My next goal/trophy is to find one with a drop tine.

luckyone

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

a great day afield.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I trophy hunt whitetails. I have very high standards in what I take because I want to get the ones I see and can't get a shot off at or the ones I do I just f@#% up on the oppurtunity. Three years ago I had the opppurtunity to shoot a white tail with at least 200 inches of mass in sub-zero temps, a possible state record, but hyperthema set in after 4 hours and I was so numb and shrieving and covered in snow, I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn but bull headed I am. I have seen some other desent ones but nothing with the mass that that one had.
I do drop my standards come that last few days of the season though and will put some meat in the freezer. I just like antlers when it comes to white tail but when it comes to elk, I"m not so choosey, as long as its a bull. Bobby

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I'm still at the point where any deer is a trophy. But growing up with a grandfather who was addicted to hunting an Eight Point or bigger was a trophy .
Chuck

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Any deer i take is a trophy to me

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I tell my wife every year that it is not about the kill, it is just being out there in the woods and enjoying the time. Every deer is special but I do consider the bigger bucks trophies, just because that is what we have always called them.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I agree jrbsr I just killed a spike and I am just as proud of it as I would be a 10 pt.

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RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

The animal that's in my sights at the time I release or squeeze .
If I'm not proud to take the animal I don't .

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I've been hunting for about 17 years now and have shot a lot of deer. In the last 4-5 years I have been able to help 4 different hunters(friends and family) get their first deer. Two doe, a button buck and a four point. Those 4 deer are the best trophies I have.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

To me, a trophy would be any buck that dressed-out over 190 lbs or so...antler points are not as important to me as body mass and antler mass. But that's just me. I have a 9 point on the wall that was a very big boy...his main beams are thicker than a baseball bat and he has some riser tines over 10"

For does I'd call it a trophy if it dressed out over 160 or so

I do like to eat em' !!!

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

whatever i just put in the back of my truck, that's my trophy, be it a skipper, doe, or mature buck. that's the way it's supposed to be viewed, at least in my opinion.
Pat

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

Around here, any deer. Period. If it's got horn it's even better. But any deer is here.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I refuse to pull the trigger or hit the release unless its a trophy. So any deer i kill is a trophy regardless of size.

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

A trophy buck to me...... over 150" but I've seen and taken alot of bucks that score less then this, but have alot of character (heavy mass, stickers, drops) that are pretty impressive looking bucks. 150" is where I like to start at, but I'll shoot something smaller if hes mature and has character.....;)

RE: So What Do You Consider A Trophy ?
 

I would consider a trophy buck to be an 8-Pointer. But thats because around here you dont see many bigger deer than that. Granted any deer is special to me but thats what i would consider a true trophy.