What is a trophy?

[Rich M]

He's not asking what you'll shoot, he's asking what you consider a trophy - or special. Something you won't forget in 3 or 5 years...

Think I remember the misses more than the kills and I'm not overly attached to big buck hunting, preferring to just hunt and have fun. I can see every buck I hit and lost but I can't remember a whole lot of the ones I did kill.

Still waiting for a whitetail that means more to me than my wife's 6 pt. There is not a deer I've killed that I wouldn't give up for her to shoot that 6 pt. She wants to shoot a big one this year, having seen a big one a couple weeks ago while hunting.

[CChunter]

Seems most of you guys think every deer you kill is a trophy. For me a trophy is a deer I’m willing to spend $350+ to have mounted. If I can’t kill a buck I want to spend that money on then I’ll just kill does for the freezer. A spike buck would not mean anything more to me than a doe so why not let the bucks grow and kill does that eat better anyway? Not saying that’s how everyone should feel just my thoughts.

[Dewey]

Seems most of you guys think every deer you kill is a trophy. For me a trophy is a deer I’m willing to spend $350+ to have mounted. If I can’t kill a buck I want to spend that money on then I’ll just kill does for the freezer. A spike buck would not mean anything more to me than a doe so why not let the bucks grow and kill does that eat better anyway? Not saying that’s how everyone should feel just my thoughts.

For many of us our small bucks were and still are trophies because of the memories they hold. It’s normal as we progress as a hunter you naturally want to increase the challenge and no longer want to shoot those small bucks. Ideally I would like to keep topping my largest buck and pass everything else but eventually you reach a point where that maybe not even possible anymore. Can’t kill what’s not there. It’s hard to give a blanket answer to a question like this because it’s strictly an individual thing. A 100” 10 pt I pass may be a huge trophy and personal best for somebody else. That’s what is so great about hunting. We have choices and every person can decide for themselves what is a trophy to them.

[fenderbender62]

I hunt in Eastern VA where they hunt with deer hounds on every possible piece of property for 90 days straight. ANY deer I kill on public land with a bow or otherwise is a trophy to me.

[DEERSLAYER]

For me it's all about age. The older the more of a "trophy" regardless of rack size, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a big rack too. No matter how old or big though, if I don't make a good humane shot on it for quick kill then I will wish I never got it. I would much rather go without. Unfortunately I have trouble finding others who feel the same on that last point.

[DaveT1963]

For me personally, it is when I achieve a specific goal I have set and take an animal (which meets the criteria I have set) by design with trad gear. As I have gotten older, I seldom mount my deer anymore - the real trophy is the memory in my heart (as I am fully aware I have only so many more of those in my future).

[Hambone79]

I have been fortunate to have been able to kill some nice deer over the years on out of state hunts. Being I live in Florida what most would consider trophy and the typical deer we have here are two different spectrums. Not saying we don’t have some bigger deer cause we do just not common place. I hunt a lot of WMA's especially during archery and in my opinion a opportunity at a legal or even a decent buck on public land in archery in Florida is a trophy.

[elk yinzer]

A trophy is an object from the hunt that we keep and/or display to memorialize the hunt and honor the animal. Antlers can be trophies. Photos can be trophies. They can be quirky; I have started a collection of jawbones I consider trophies. I think it all just comes down to what drives our personal satisfaction. As I get older I could care less what anyone else is into or what people think of me. I do pass younger bucks but it is just a matter of personal satisfaction and knowing what I want out of my hunting efforts. What satisfied my objectives 10 or 20 years ago doesn't necessarily today and will continue to change. I am not about to criticize a hunter on another section of his or her journey. I think far too many people today take their hobbies to a point of seeking affirmation. I say do you, have fun, and let the freak flags fly.

[Evanszach7]

Kinda corny, but its the experience more than the end result. Yeah, 99% of the time Im not going to be satisfied with my season if I dont kill the target age class animal for the area I'm hunting. But, is a buck a trophy if he doesn't come with a story? A little hard work and perseverance? If not, to me it wouldn't be a trophy. It'd just be something I did once.

[DEERSLAYER]

Kinda corny, but its the experience more than the end result. Yeah, 99% of the time Im not going to be satisfied with my season if I dont kill the target age class animal for the area I'm hunting. But, is a buck a trophy if he doesn't come with a story? A little hard work and perseverance? If not, to me it wouldn't be a trophy. It'd just be something I did once.

This is what I think it should really be about & is how almost every hunter I met felt about it in the late 70's & 80's. Before I ever shot a deer I couldn't wait to go up deer hunting & could never get enough of it because of the whole experience (we camped out for the weekends). Back then getting a deer was just frosting on the cake. I think too much emphasis is placed on killing a deer these days. The same for killing big bucks. I have come across several people that have quit hunting because they said if they don't get a deer or a big buck they feel like a failure. Most of them were kids that out grew the youth hunt & could no longer easily get a deer. I think the big buck craze makes a lot of people feel this way.

[Boogieman1]

Kinda corny, but its the experience more than the end result. Yeah, 99% of the time Im not going to be satisfied with my season if I dont kill the target age class animal for the area I'm hunting. But, is a buck a trophy if he doesn't come with a story? A little hard work and perseverance? If not, to me it wouldn't be a trophy. It'd just be something I did once.

This is what I think it should really be about & is how almost every hunter I met felt about it in the late 70's & 80's. Before I ever shot a deer I couldn't wait to go up deer hunting & could never get enough of it because of the whole experience (we camped out for the weekends). Back then getting a deer was just frosting on the cake. I think too much emphasis is placed on killing a deer these days. The same for killing big bucks. I have come across several people that have quit hunting because they said if they don't get a deer or a big buck they feel like a failure. Most of them were kids that out grew the youth hunt & could no longer easily get a deer. I think the big buck craze makes a lot of people feel this way.

I see very similar results here as far as younger hunters folding up there tent and taking up golf instead. Feel its a result of no longer easy hunting conditions . From the best I can gather it’s usually a case of no longer falling into the category of dads high dollar lease kids under 18 hunt free on pops tags scenario. When fresh out of the nest/schooling they tend to realize they never really learned how to hunt and find something else to do hobby wise. But the worst is those who only feel success based on what others think. I mean there are folks who honestly are tickled to death until they view there accomplishments on what others do or say. I’ve never had it personally happen to me but have seen it take its toll on many new comers. I’ve just never really cared, should someone open there fat mouth to me I don’t have a prob telling em what they can wrap it around.

[treeroot]

I just thought it is an interesting question. I find myself enjoying the experience more than anything else. After videoing the fawn running around me you'd have thought I killed a monster for how excited I was. It's a nothing video but to me it was a trophy.

Anymore a trophy for me is the experience. I enjoy the cat and mouse game more than the kill. Of course I want to get the biggest of the land like anyone else. But if I make the choice to take a basket 6 it's an experience I'll remember forever.

[Motivated]

A trophy is anything that I use to spur the memory of the hunt. Something to inspire the story about that hunt. I care about the story that I share.

A trophy without a story behind it is meaningless to me.

[Cchez]

I like many guys have already said, consider all my kills to be trophies. Just because I don't get a shoulder mount doesn't mean the buck wasn't a trophy to me. I like to keep all the racks of my bucks, sometimes i do euro mounts, sometimes just a skull plate plaque. But i love having them all to look at and remembering each hunt. What buck i kill is determined by point in the season, and whether or not i know if there's something bigger in the area than what i've been seeing. On our private land i hunt, i always make it a goal to harvest something thats a nice 8pt or better. If i dont come across one, i dont kill it, and i'm happy to let the little ones walk to have a chance to grow even if it means not filling my tag. An example of this happened perfectly this year. In october i had a nice 3.5 yr old 8pt dead to rights at 5 yards, but i decided to not shoot because there was a big 10 point hanging around that i was really trying to kill. I never came across him. By second weekend of our gun season i managed to harvest a 120" 8 pt that was very happy to take. He got my blood pumping hard, and i put in a lot of time and effort to make the kill.

[thepennsylvanian]

First, as many have said, it's really dependent on the hunter. My goals a for improvement, meaning that, I try to take a buck that's bigger than the last one. This doesn't always happen. It's easy for guys to get caught up in the I need to shoot a booner thing. If you kill a buck that got you blood pumping, it doesn't matter how big it is.. no one needs to justify the size of a buck, especially when they are excited about it, period. There's nothing wrong with a guy who let's 120's or 150's walk because he wants better, but there's also nothing wrong with a guy who consistently kills 100" bucks. No one will remember the bucks that you kill when your gone...... you just have to find a way to happy with YOUR standards and what YOU harvest! There's way to many people worrying about what others are doing or thinking these days. All I know is even if a shoot a 200" it'd impossible for me to let a 110" walk the following year, even with my own rule of shoot something bigger because I enjoy filling my buck tag as much as trying to fill it! All I can do is be concerned about myself because what someone else thinks or does doesn't really effect me!