Last fall when I was at the local archery shop looking to get back into traditional archery,a fellow archer made a comment that has linger on in mind ever since."I don't know many traditionalist that consistantly kill trophy animals".Now he made this commet knowing that I try to harvest mature animals when ever I can.I have killed big and I have killed small,but my best trophys was a cow elk that took me 5 years of hard hunting on a tough unit and 2x2 mule deer I harvested just after surgerey(still had a drain tube in).I know what a trophy means to me what dose it mean to you?or do you always get the big one?
I tell ya what. I was having trouble connecting last year and didn't get this one till Oct 20th. I was bouncing off the walls for a week cause I had straps in the freezer. Frying pan trophies!!!! :bigsmyl: I have taken a ton of doe, a few young bucks and two nice ones but I don't think they are any more important than this small doe. The small doe taste way better!!
anything taken with a stick and string is a trophy to me.
I think most on here would agree that anything you worked your tail off to put a tag on is a trophy, and that mixing family in with anything is a trophy.
I have unsuccessful hunts that rank up there with those where I punched my tag on a good critter, but because of the exertion and limits I pushed the unsuccessful hunt was more "memorable". Of course that is of no disrespect to the animal, but I tend to weigh the effort and blood, sweat, and tears as heavily as the outcome of the hunt.
I got plenty of tag soup the last few years marinated in effort, blood, sweat, and tears. This Fall is going to be my year!
No matter the weapon of choice, if a hunter takes any game and they are proud of it then it's a "Trophy". I can't tell you what a trophy is, just as you can't tell me what one is. A trophy varies from hunter to hunter.
I've been hunting for 32 years now and my idea of a trophy has changed in my own mind three times. Folks that think or say stuff like that are trying to bestow their idea of a trophy on others in my opinion.
QuoteNo matter the weapon of choice, if a hunter takes any game and they are proud of it then it's a "Trophy". I can't tell you what a trophy is, just as you can't tell me what one is. A trophy varies from hunter to hunter.
I've been hunting for 32 years now and my idea of a trophy has changed in my own mind three times. Folks that think or say stuff like that are trying to bestow their idea of a trophy on others in my opinion.
Hear. Hear!
I have been hunting 39 years and have taken deer with every weapon that I have used. I have not taken a large mature buck in all those years. I have seen 3 P&Y class deer and only one close enough to shoot at. This is not the fault of the weapon.
The best trophys you can have are the memories that make you smile.
Taking up the challenge of trad hunting your own definitions of a trophy may change, the only insight i can give as a hunter who made the change recently myself (this will be my 5th year)...your first animal will be a rush like no other bar none, and i have found that i actually have had more encounters with the mature bucks that i hunt because my equipment has forced and taught me how to become a better bowhunter
Like Arwin said.
I usually respond with something to the effect of "you cant eat them horns" or "while your gnawing on those antlers all winter this young and tender will be melting in my mouth."
and I forgot. around here seems like everybody has these huge tower blinds and 300yrd shooting lanes/food plots.
so sometimes i respond that i am a hunter not a sniper.
I guess I'm one of the odd ones,
I haven't killed a deer in 4 or 5 seasons,trying to get one to get 3 1/2 years or better.Plenty of oppurtunities to kill.Been there and done that.Also been trying to kill a big blackbear w/out a baitsite.Have passed on a few 200/300lbers.I know there's better bear in there.Took 5 years to kill my last bull elk and believe me,I had plenty oppurtunity to kill before then.
As you see,
I don't kill much but I sure hunt more
Trophys, like beauty, is in the mind and eyes of the beholder.
What makes you happy and proud and content is all that really matters in this equation. What everybody else thinks is, frankly... only what they think.
ChuckC
A "trophy" is different to everyone and I don't think there is a right or wrong anwser. I use to shoot the first deer I saw within range and was happy to do so. Now there are alot more deer in the areas I hunt seeing deer is not uncommon every single hunt now it was not like that 20+ years ago. I tend to hold out for mature bucks notice I said mature he can have 6 pts and be mature and on doe's I just arrow one if I am hungry at the time. The main reason I don't shoot every small buck I see still is if I did I would be tagged out within a week of opening day and have nothing to do while my buddies all hunted for another 3+ months of deer season. I guess for me I would rather spend 3.5 months in the woods hunting and go home without a deer vs tagging out first week its the time in the woods that keeps me returning year after year mother nature is the best theater on the planet.
I love the things that that are being said by everyone,to me it is the act of hunting not the product.
Years ago during the original tradional (before compound) days I stopped hunting with a couple of guys who disparaged small bucks I shot. Now where we hunted you had to kill two does before you could even shoot a buck. I resented their elitist attitudes and basically stopped hunting with them.
Well, your "fellow archer" has no clue about the world of traditional bowhunting. Perhaps you should enlighten him about guys like Roger Rothhaar, Gene Wensel and his brother, and myriad others who have done such consistently.
I would also remind him that not all of us are on testosterone overload, and need to have huge animals to sate our lust. Some of us hunt for the love of hunting with the real bow.
George, ya beat me to it.....AGAIN!
That said, I kinda wonder sometimes about how pretty much all trad hunters downgrade the typical standards of the word "trophy". It's almost like outcome based education where if you lower your standards, they are more likely to be met.
But hold off with the flame throwers....
I'm really nitpicking semantics.
To me, a trophy of any given species is several things. By definition, it means that it is a mature, healthy animal at or near the top in size or quality for either the species or the region. It is the sort of animal that, if there was a picture of it with zero information about the hunt or the equipment, you would still say, now THAT'S a trophy animal.
The cool thing about hunting with trad gear is that the difficulty and extra effort required makes ANY animal taken more cherished, special or memorable in the hunters mind than animals that come easy or from a great distance. But that does NOT qualify it for "trophy" status.
Pulling a bow, aiming and loosing an arrow at an animal is such a personal act, doing it successfully is a very special moment. There are intense emotions involved whether the outcome is positive or negative. The natural tendency is to transfer those emotions and memories to the animal after it is down in the form of psychological value. That is not the same as the animal being a trophy animal. It is however, equally pleasing to the hunter. To me, it's just an improper use of the word trophy. Trad hunting makes every hunt and kill a little bit more special. It doesn't turn a spike into a "trophy". Nothing can. But it does make me value it just as much.
It's a fine line but the animal is what it is. It's as big or as small as it is. Every life taken should be valued equally as the life of any other animal. Honestly, I've never shot a game animal with any weapon that I wasn't proud of regardless of distance, ease, difficulty or size. If I ever do, it'll be time to stop hunting.
Well said Dave! :thumbsup:
I haven't killed a "trophy" animal yet. I tend to hunt like Fred Eichler. I like the meat and can't seem to not shoot a nice fat doe if the opportunity offers itself. I wouldn't pass on a trophy buck, but I don't feel I'm any less of a hunter for taking does either.
Contrary to what the TV "hunters" would like you to believe, not all of Iowa is teaming with trophy bucks. Actually there is a relatively small area that naturally produces big bucks. Many of the ones you see on TV are "managed" bucks. Not necessarily high fence areas, but posted and access limited areas.
In the area I hunt, a 120 class buck is a real trophy. Some 150s show up occasionally. Anything bigger is VERY unusual. I have seen one, but didn't have a shot opportunity. That is in 40 plus years of hunting this area. So trophy can mean different things in different areas of the country as well.
A Trophy animal is in the eye of the beholder.
I set my standard, and no one else, if I want to harvest a doe, sow or cow, that's my choice.
Now if you do harvest the doe, sow or cow and you start to make excuses for your choice, I don't think your hunting for you.
Some people make excuses for harvesting small or immature animals, if that's what you want and it's legal, that's your choice.
For me, I like to harvest old, wise animals, a true Representative of a mature animal, it's flat out more of a challenge to me, and one of the reasons I shoot a stick Bow, is, it's more of a challenge and I must increase my hunting skills to get closer, I have to practices more and all of the other things that a Trad-bow brings to the table.
It would stand to reason that after you have harvested several animals that you would want to raise your challenge level, say, from a button buck to a fork or any other goal you would want to challenge your self with.
Testosterone overload.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w27/kingwouldbe/elk.jpg)
Big time lust.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w27/kingwouldbe/Deer/DSCN2538-1.jpg)
For the love of the hunt.
(http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w27/kingwouldbe/DSCN0346.jpg)
They are all just backstraps to me.A true trophy would have 4 instead of just two and I am still looking it. :biglaugh:
More devils advocate.
Why does the "challenge" have to even enter in. I hunt because that is what I do. I bow hunt (as opposed to gun hunt)because that is what I would rather do. I don't feel that challenge is part of it. I use a longbow or recurve because that is what makes me happy.... and sometimes I kill something and get some fine eating.
That's my take. Y'all have another take on it.
ChuckC
I seem to remember the shot more than the trophy. I think as I get older; I hunt more for the shot - than anything.
When I was a kid; I saw Howard Hill shooting things with a longbow at the theater. Then I saw Fred Bear shoot a grizzly with his bow.
I am not an artist; I cannot take a pen or pencil and draw a picture.
When I saw Fred shoot a grizzly; and the arrow flying and connecting with that bear....I saw that shot as an artists stroke -connecting man and nature :campfire: .
Then when I read Ishis dying words- 'we will meet again in the flight of the arrow'. It really hit home.
I thought: 'if I am going to hunt; why not learn to do it in the way that it has been done for thousands of years' 'a way that is an art form'.
I looked at the old Fred Bear and saw a kind person that hunted; and did it in the purest way; and got an immense amount of pleasure out of it.
Why not work to end up in the same place?
We are connected to Ishi and all those that lived by the bow for food; and too; for the woodmanship; and the challenge.
I have seen the arc of my arrow into game animals; and it is a connection that does not in my mind warrant anything in between it- like sights; and such.
I have taken trophy animals; and I have taken many ones where the phrase " LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THOSE EARS!" fit well into the scenario.
I will become totally absorbed when I see a trophy; but ... if I make a good shot on any game animal I am as satisfied as I can be with my hunting.
:campfire: :archer:
wow there are some great answers on here. To me a trophie is any thing that is worked hard for and the memories made at that time wether you get it or not. I have lots of trophies that i never killed
i've been killing things to eat for a lot of years. i've only shot bucks or bulls when it was not legal to take a doe or cow. i look for a barren doe when they are legal. best eating.
i have never taken a picture of a dead animal. i have taken some of an animal right before i killed it.
never have thought about the "trophy" thing. guess it doesn't interest me.
The little doe in my avatar, the coyote last year----for me those were a bigger trophy than the 300#, 9pt buck I took with an X-bow back in school---way before I "saw the light" of Trad Archery!!
Some times the trophy is the HUNT not the animal we take or do not take. I've only killed one animal with traditional gear. It was a spike deer that walked under my stand as if it was a gift. At seven yards he stopped broadside and put his head to the ground on the opposite side from me by his front hoof. He was my first trad deer and I still consider him my best hunt.
Some good stuff written above.
My experiance has been that hunters that regularly kill trophy animals with a compound or rifle, will with a traditional bow.
As they say, the musics not in the guitar, its in the performer. Do what makes you happy.
Many good and accurate comments here. I choose to hunt with traditional equipment because it is more of a challenge and gives me more time in the woods. Whatever I kill with my longbow/selfbow is a 'trophy' of sorts, even if it doesn't measure up to what the 'hunters' on TV would consider a trophy. I do it because I enjoy it; being in nature, watching animals, the comraderie of the hunting camp, watching arrows fly. I would get bored pretty quick if I was sitting in a tower with a rifle, but wandering the woods with bow in hand is a constant source of pleasure for me. Hunting rewards equate to how much effort you put into it, at least in my opinion. I shoot the bow just about every day, and enjoy the process. I hunt 'the hard way' because I get no enjoyment out of whacking a critter at rifle distances. I own several hunting rifles, but they haven't been out of their cases for years. If I was to kill a 350 bull elk with my 30-06 it wouldn't be a 'trophy' for me, but a fat cow or spike taken with longbow is. It is all in your priorities, and how you view what hunting is about.
I have to agree with George and some of the other ideas already expressed.
There are a good number on this site alone who consistently take mature animals. Just because that guy doesn't know them, doesn't make him correct.
There are MANY "traditionalists" that consistently take mature game(I refuse to apply the term trophy to animals). Usually, an animal that is considered such is mature. Mountain man is right, these animals are easily recognized by everyone without any accompanying information. It's the big buck in the mist, the old alert doe, the regal 6 by 7 elk bugling in a valley or the 350 pound black bear eating berries. All mature, majestic and worthy of our admiration.
When I take animals/fish to the taxidermist to display in my home, it's in an effort to remember the hunt/fishing trip and those who were with me. I do not display trophies, but what I consider memories. I have little engraved placks under each stating the place, date and sometimes names of those involved.
My first bow killed big game animal will be mounted. It won't matter what it is, because it will be the memory attached to it that is my trophy. I will make sure to put it right out there where everyone can see it.
-Charlie
Quoteknow what a trophy means to me what dose it mean to you?or do you always get the big one?
a spike buck on public ground with trad equipment is far more the trophy than a 160" paid for ranch hunt with a compound
most people don't understand that though :(
here's what it means to me: Trophy
"Hey Guys! Come look at this dinky deer! Boy, I'd have passed on that one."
I couldn't hear their conversation all that well, but I knew it went over poorly with the young fellow who was checking it in at the State Wildlife area. I could see the color in his cheeks and his clouded, narrowed eyes.
I was helping out at the check station, having filled my tag early with a fat, mature doe. I wouldn't hunt them again until the late season when the bucks are trying to breed last year's doe fawns and the woods is empty of this crowd.
As we checked his little deer, he nervously told me his name was Joe. He was from Columbus, and he said he had hunted deer for three years. This was his first one and he was proud of it. I had some time to kill and I could see that he wanted to tell someone about the hunt, so I asked him to fill me in.
He told of the first couple of season's frustrations and close calls and tags that went unfiled.
He went into detail about how he had scouted and built a treestand from scrap lumber in the summer after work so it would be nicely aged by deer season. How he had cut shooting lanes just like it said in the magazines. He kind of got caught up in it and began telling me about his father.
His father had been a hunter. A bowhunter.
He had been too young to go, but he remembered the sweet venison and how his father had loved hunting them before the war. "Dad would take a bite of his deer steak and say, That's God's own candy!" he said with a smile.
His father hadn't come home.
"Missing in action, presumed dead" was what the letter had said. His mother remarried after a time, but stepdads don't always make time for someone elses' kid.
He taught himself to hunt by reading everything he could get his hands on and spending his spare time in the woods.
He had to work his muscles into his dad's old Bear recurve, and make his own practice arrows with money earned working weekends and after school. He said he'd had an awful time learning to release, but had practiced daily, rain or shine, until he felt comfortable with his shooting. The other guys were busy with girls and their places in the pecking order, so he was on his own.
He said that as the deer turned broadside and he drew the bow, he could feel his father there with him and I suddenly felt the need to wipe something damp out of my eye and I thought of my first deer--shot with a model '97 Winchester--so long ago I can't remember the exact year, and of the fox squirrel that was my first bow kill and the 42 lb. Kodiak special my father had given me.
We passed a few more pleasant moments in conversation before he left.
I was impressed with this young man.
He could have been out raising hell or on drugs but, despite the odds, he had taught himself to hunt- the hard way- out of love and respect for his missing father.
His "Dinky deer" was a trophy !
Not so much for itself, but for how the purity of it's spirit had mingled with that of a young boy's.
How it had helped him through some rough times.
How it had helped forge a man from a boy whom circumstance forced to grow up much too soon, and how it showed me that his big heart was indeed,
"God's own candy!"
John Nail
I would rather be able to hunt the last day of the season and go home with a tag rather than kill something just to be killing. I have my standards and will pass up good shots on animals that need to grow a little. A cow elk, any hog or a 2 year old blonde phase bear meet my standards, a 130 class or less whitetail or 12 inch pronghorn doesn't. I really like elk meat, but I am just not that fond of whitetail venison. Just depends on what I am hunting. My trophy really is getting to go hunting, not the animal I take.
Cool story John.
Indeed John Nail. Trophies of the heart are not easily seen by those on the outside. You did good by listening and understanding that young man. I would probably have opened my big mouth to the jackass giving him grief about it as well.
That deer to him was immense in quality for sure.
Good job.
I don't think anthing else can top that story John. Not that you shared it for that reason. It simply and truly catches the spirit of why most of us are out there hunting and what it means to us.
-Charlie
John - you 'Nailed' it.
Way to go John. You did the right thing and made that young man feel good about his trophy and the hunt.
I agree with ChuckC- I am not sure it has ever been about the "challenge" for me. I really trad shoot/hunt because I have found great satisfaction in this "style" of equipment and hunting. I hardly ever remember thinking it was about the challenge- it was just economical and fun!
As far as trophies. . .I guess I do like to set the bar, but that varies depending on the situation. I posted on another thread a couple of pics of the good deer I have taken here in KS. While they seem big for some of you- just remember the context-I live in KS (which is sadly changing dramatically!). If most of you lived here you would probably do better than me. On the other hand, I have a forky (barely-more like a spike with brows) that I took on a 3-day public land hunt up in MI with my son and a friend. That deer is every bit a trophy and special memory as any deer. Even the two does I took last year were special memories. . .
Gosh, the more I think about it, the more every animal I have taken has been magical for me. . .
QuoteOriginally posted by m midd:
anything taken with a stick and string is a trophy to me.
ive always felt the same way. Trad, or wheels.
John- WOW! Great post. . . oh that we could return an entire hunting culture to that point!
So what everyone is saying is any animal is a trophy and that just supports what the dude at the store said. Not many trad shooters shoot trophy animals-it's true. We severly limit our "trophy potential" by shooting at 25 yards instead of 40 or even 60yards. That's a fact. What can't be measured is the adrenalin rush of looking at a spot and raising that bow then shooting all withoug sights or gizmos.
If you want a p&y animal I'd suggest wheels but if you want fun then get a stick and string.
the chef
Hope I never forget that story John. That's as good as it gets.
The bow has nothing to do with what people consider a tropy or if they hunt for certain animals a lot.There are a thosand times more guys hunting with wheels than stickbows so of course the numbers of bigger animals will be higher.The goy that chases racks will do so with any weapen he hunts with.It is the difference in people not weapons.To think you need to stick to wheels to trophy hunt is a bit far fetched to me. :)
When I see a picture and see that a animal was taken with a traditional bow I think to myself that guy got close to the animal to get it. That to me is what it is all about and whether it is a trophy or not. My friend loves to hunt with a rifle on hunting trips since he does not want to come home empty handed since he is spending a lot of money. He went on a rifle elk hunt and on the first hour of the hunt he got a six by six elk since every morning they head out to the agricultural fields to feed on the ranch. Every rifle hunter that week got a six by six. Now he shot that elk at 250 yards from the treeline. To me that would not be a trophy but to my friend it is. another friend went on a horseback elk hunt with his recurve and took a nice 5 by 6 and to me that is a trophy since he shot it at 20 yards.
Shooooooooooooot!
I've had Trophy MISSES!
and no one is gonna convince me they weren't! lol
Every hunt I have just plunked down where I think "it looks promising" and have game come in close enough to watch 'em blink.....is a trophy.
If I get a shot......it qualifies for Steve's P&Y record book!
Oh yeah.......I successfully shoot some too.
My "biggest" trophy to date is a 138lb dressed out 8 point IN buck, stalked and shot at 17 yards at 4PM on a hot windy October day..in bright sunlight.
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude! I WAS PUMPED!
*grin*
The Trophy to me is that boatride back to camp after a hard evenings hunt.Or maybe the rays of sunshine coming through the trees on a frosty morning.Maybe hearing that swamp rooster "hammer" during the spring when I have to decide if I want to go to him or to the ridge where I know some porkers will be crossing....
The big rack is just the product of a lot of hard work and a good shot.RC
RC just nailed the definition of trophy for me!
It's too relative. 170 inch whitetail over a feeder or 130 inch buck on public land?
I think there is way to much emphasis on "trophy" hunting these days (at least as conventionally defined). Regrettably, the outdoor media have largely been part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I sure like what I am hearing here. The original comment sounds like it was made by one of the guys that just doesn't get it. Let's hope he does someday. Don
overbo said it best...not the kill thats the trophy its the hunt that is the real trophy,a kill is a bonus.most of my hunts now consist of doing whatever i feel like doing while i'm in the woods,unless of course i'm guiding someone then i have to put in the extra effort for them but overall to me hunting is the trophy and i could really care less if i fill my tag.
to add to my definition of trophy hunting several years ago i was still hunting a small ravine in eastern oregon.there was a game trail that looked like a highway...i sat for a good three hours waiting on a log,i saw an absolutely huge muley buck coming up the trail,i was stuck on that log and could not even twitch as he would see me.he stopped right in front of me and looked away as if he was waiting for me to shoot him.i shot.i missed just under his chest,so close he kicked at the arrow.he ran off and i sat there with what had to be a grin a mile wide on my face.what a trophy....this is what i hunt for...the memories. :campfire:
Im a trophy hunter when it comes to deer Because im living in one of the best deer heards in the world.Now other anmials watch out. :biglaugh:
I think there are trophy hunters that hunt with rifles and pistols; and bows and muzzleloaders.
I have been in areas where I was in a controlled hunt for mulies; where I could well expect to see 5 or 6 hundred deer a day; and of that see many pope and young ; and several Boone and Crocket bucks.
When your in a spot like that; and have weeks to hunt- you can try for trophies- and you are a trophy hunter.
If I get into one of those places where selection is an honest reality; I trophy hunt.
I have eaten tag soup over it. Once.
But in a normal hunting situation; hunting on public lands or private lands that are not prime... my focus is on the shot. Be it a big buck or a big eared doe.
One could logically argue that every area can be hunted for its biggest and best- and some find some incredible animals doing that.
But ... I am not a true trophy hunter; I can't see the antlers for the burgers.
Wonder what the Wensels would say about all this.. they seem to have one foot in both worlds we are talking about...
I kinda like what I'm reading as well, the so called industry of hunting would have you believe its gotta have massive antlers, or long spurs, beard etc.Mangage the herd and on and on. I would like to get (and have a good whatever) I'm after but why kill it if the number one thing is not to eat it. Rather than the bragging rights not that I wouldn't but its not why I go out to hunt.
Really the mounts look great but I think whats a trophy to me is when I see a live animal weather its a bull elk, deer,moose whatever thats the true tropy not whats on my wall. Cause its still out there doing animal things.
From the Dictionary.
tro⋅phy
–noun, plural -phies.
1. anything taken in war, hunting, competition, etc., esp. when preserved as a memento; spoil, prize, or award.
2. anything serving as a token or evidence of victory, valor, skill, etc.
3. a carving, painting, or other representation of objects associated with or symbolic of victory or achievement.
4. any memento or memorial.
I think where spot on as a whole group.
Whats interesting is our views of what we take with us, memories, friendship, camaraderie, meat, horns, pelts, and just the experience of being there. :archer:
I just started shooting a recurve last summer. I kept at it and felt i was good enough to humanely get a deer with it by October. About my 4th trip on public land I shot a doe at 12 yards from the ground. That doe will standout in my mind for a long time. I have a monster hanging on the wall that I got with a shotgun but that doe took way more effort on my part and I believe that is why I will always consider her a trophy. I made a quiver from her hide and think about her everytime I wear it.
I got another doe towards the end of October. I felt the same way about her. Neither came easily. With two more tags left I waited for a legal buck with 3 points or better on 1 side. I let a lot of does walk even though I could have filled my tags with them. Does that make me a trophy hunter? I don't think so because the way I hunt is more important to me now that what I get.
A legal buck would have been great but those two does were pretty special too.
Pac I'm with you. I have a 140 class buck I took with a smoke pole but the two does (actually one doe and one button buck) that I have taken with my trad gear mean just as much to me if not more.
I'm as proud of this little button buck as of any animal I have ever killed. Trophy is subjective.
(http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m123/JDS3_2006/100_0438.jpg)
Just having the freedom to hunt and enjoy the outdoors is the "trophy" to me. Anytime I bring game home is a bonus to be shared with my family. I'm so glad I was blessed to be born in the USA instead of another country where people don't have as many chances to enjoy hunting. Happy Father's day to all the dads and grandads. God Bless our military forces.
Seems to me there could be lots of trophy items from a hunt. A horn, a tooth, a rock, a memory or the whole hunt. I guess I would call the animal a treasure, weather I took it or not.
we have gotten (as a hunting group) warped into thinking bone mass = trophy size. How stupid we are.
QuoteOriginally posted by John Nail:
here's what it means to me: Trophy
"Hey Guys! Come look at this dinky deer! Boy, I'd have passed on that one."
I couldn't hear their conversation all that well, but I knew it went over poorly with the young fellow who was checking it in at the State Wildlife area. I could see the color in his cheeks and his clouded, narrowed eyes.
I was helping out at the check station, having filled my tag early with a fat, mature doe. I wouldn't hunt them again until the late season when the bucks are trying to breed last year's doe fawns and the woods is empty of this crowd.
As we checked his little deer, he nervously told me his name was Joe. He was from Columbus, and he said he had hunted deer for three years. This was his first one and he was proud of it. I had some time to kill and I could see that he wanted to tell someone about the hunt, so I asked him to fill me in.
He told of the first couple of season's frustrations and close calls and tags that went unfiled.
He went into detail about how he had scouted and built a treestand from scrap lumber in the summer after work so it would be nicely aged by deer season. How he had cut shooting lanes just like it said in the magazines. He kind of got caught up in it and began telling me about his father.
His father had been a hunter. A bowhunter.
He had been too young to go, but he remembered the sweet venison and how his father had loved hunting them before the war. "Dad would take a bite of his deer steak and say, That's God's own candy!" he said with a smile.
His father hadn't come home.
"Missing in action, presumed dead" was what the letter had said. His mother remarried after a time, but stepdads don't always make time for someone elses' kid.
He taught himself to hunt by reading everything he could get his hands on and spending his spare time in the woods.
He had to work his muscles into his dad's old Bear recurve, and make his own practice arrows with money earned working weekends and after school. He said he'd had an awful time learning to release, but had practiced daily, rain or shine, until he felt comfortable with his shooting. The other guys were busy with girls and their places in the pecking order, so he was on his own.
He said that as the deer turned broadside and he drew the bow, he could feel his father there with him and I suddenly felt the need to wipe something damp out of my eye and I thought of my first deer--shot with a model '97 Winchester--so long ago I can't remember the exact year, and of the fox squirrel that was my first bow kill and the 42 lb. Kodiak special my father had given me.
We passed a few more pleasant moments in conversation before he left.
I was impressed with this young man.
He could have been out raising hell or on drugs but, despite the odds, he had taught himself to hunt- the hard way- out of love and respect for his missing father.
His "Dinky deer" was a trophy !
Not so much for itself, but for how the purity of it's spirit had mingled with that of a young boy's.
How it had helped him through some rough times.
How it had helped forge a man from a boy whom circumstance forced to grow up much too soon, and how it showed me that his big heart was indeed,
"God's own candy!"
John Nail
Thank you for the great story!
I love what Dave Bulla said, I'm o so proud of every deer and animal I harvest, but my pursuit every fall is for big mature smart ol' bucks
the doe's and smaller bucks i shoot along the way get me very excited and i'm so proud of them, but trophy class animals are what they are, last year as an example I had about 5-6 close encounters with big mature bucks and was able to connect on one of them, were as i had probably at least a 100 or more close encounters with small bucks and doe's. that being said I would say having hunted in the past with a compound I might have shot them all with more advanced equipment but i'd be more proud of my one good buck with trad gear, than all 6 with a gun or compound. So in closing i think the word ''trophy'' has different meanings, it's used to describe a class of large mature animals, as well as an animal that your just very proud of, i think my biggest ''trophy'' is a small 2x2 mule deer i shot after an incredible stalk on public land, but i have taken several ''trophy'' class animals. Really in the end it's all about the hunt to me.
I consider myself a trophy hunter and the best explanation I have of that comes from Steve Fausel in Masters of the Barebow V2. "To me trophy hunting is using the bow to create the ultimate experience." That statement just says it all for me. The size of the animal's antlers or skull isn't nearly as important (and most times not even relevant at all) as all the circumstances surrounding the hunt including maybe stalking it and getting close, remaining unaware, making a good shot and a short recovery. Good hunting, Rick.
Boone the hunter said:
"I think the word ''trophy'' has different meanings, it's used to describe a class of large mature animals, as well as an animal that your just very proud of."
That about sums it up!.
In my first post, I was trying to advance the point that a trophy ANIMAL by definition needs to be among the best there is of mature animals of the given species. I stand by that.
But a trophy "generally speaking" can be the attainment of whatever it is you seek when YOU hunt. If that is memories of times with friends, scenes of peaceful times in the woods, seeing your child take their first animal or whatever, THAT is a trophy too and likely more valuable than a trophy animal in many cases.
Ahhhh, they are all trophies. One can define a big animal as a trophy, but when it really comes down to it, the journey, the sights, the smells, the sounds, all of the things that make up the hunt add to the value of the trophy, be it a huge bull, or a lop eared doe!
far to many hunting shows stress that you have to shoot the biggest,own the best gun/bow,score in the book or go home. bunch of hogwash.this my little forest pixies is what is called being human.a trophy to me is waking up each day and realizing i made it to today. take care...... :campfire:
but a nice big 6x6 never hurts either :readit:
During the last few years I have Tried to limit myself to taking only mature bucks. But this is because I live in Illinois, where there is a reasonable chance of taking such an animal. I hunt as much as I possibly can, and I really hunt hard during November. But I enjoy it. I love passing on smaller bucks that I could have legally taken. Sometimes the challenge can be almost too much, but I keep going with it, because I love it so much. HOWEVER, not everyone is fortunate enough to live in an area where mature animals exist. If I lived and hunted in a state like NY or PA, I would be content to hunt whatever the area offers. I don't care how good a hunter you are....you cannot shoot what is not there. This is why many fine deer hunters from poor whitetail states can come to Illinois or Iowa and enjoy great success. They already have the years of experience and knowledge, they just did not have a place to apply it. I think alot of people try to limit themselves to mature animals, where few if any exist and can become frustrated. In the end its about having fun and making memories.
A trophy is in the eye of the beholder!! I have a 10 year old boy that loves to hunt and fish and I want him to be happy with any animal he my take! I know a fella ought to let the little one's get big but I would'nt dream of making him hold out for a big wall hanger unless it was his choice! I am just thankful for what GOD has blessed me with and I love every accpect of hunting...come what may!! Good Hunting,Jason