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.    

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.  

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.  

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.