Why do you trophy hunt?

[hoshour]

Why do you trophy hunt?

That is, if you do concentrate on getting the biggest bull or buck you can find.

Is it competitive spirit? Taking hunting to a higher level, taxing your body and honing your skills? Is it pride in outsmarting the best buck on the mountain? What makes trophy hunting special for you?

Because some nonhunters MAY understand meat hunting somewhat or enjoying the annual hunting trip with family or friends, but just don't get trophy hunting, even though we consume the meat from trophies too.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

Great thread.
I see so many people bashing on the trophy Hunter. I think they don't understand that we consume the meat and not just cut the head off and mount it. I think the perception of trophy hunting is a bad thing and not conservation.

For me I want to take a old mature deer, with that comes bigger antlers. I also think that the trophy is each individual's perception of what THEIR trophy is. I want to hunt hard and out smart a big buck that I've scouted for years learning his patterns and waiting to draw the tag. It is a huge accomplishment in my eyes for me to take a buck like that. The trophy is not so much the score, although I want to kill a buck that's bigger then the last one but that doesn't mean I wouldn't pull the trigger on a buck that to me is a trophy even if it's smaller but unique to me. It's a reward for my hard work and time to take big old bucks and show how proud I am of the buck is all his glory by having him mounted and putting him on the wall.

 

[Gr8bawana]

We always start out trophy hunting but if things have been really tough we will take any legal animal on the last day of our hunt which is usually a week long.
I guess if we were really trophy hunting we would go home and eat tag soup. We like eating game too much to do that.

 

[theleo91386]

Because I like big horns. It depends on the tag, with my bow the first legal animal is in danger, with my rifle I'll draw my elk tag maybe once every ten years. If it takes that long to get a tag I'm going to shop around a bit before I settle on what I'm going to hang my tag on.

 

[JimP]

Anymore I hunt 4-5 states a year and after one deer and one elk a year I don't need any more meat. I have actually given away more meat in the last 10 years than I have ate. So now I hunt for horns unless my freezer is close to being empty. I just love looking at animals with the best headgear that you can find, and the experience of trying to get close enough to either put a arrow into them or get into rifle range needs to be experienced by all.

All the smaller bucks and elk need to worry about me is if I might hit them with a rock that I might throw to get them away from the road.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

I grew up hunting and our philosophy was always eat what you shoot. My Dad was raised during the depression and food was sometimes pretty scarce, especially meat. My Dad always shot the first legal animal and we ate it. I pretty much started out that way. I will start a hunt being very selective, looking for a nice trophy. But in the end, I want to take home some meat for the dinner table. I have a wall full of horns, so one more set doesn't mean much.

 

[CoHiCntry]

I don't consider myself a trophy hunter. Never have & never will. I actually don't even like the title. It doesn't describe why I hunt. Hunting is not a competition to me. I believe there are more negatives than positives when it comes to trophy hunting.

 

[brianboh]

Personally I kill a lot of animals and eat everything that I kill. Matter fact I do not buy beef from a store. With that in mind I only shoot mature Males. It is nothing to go out and shoot a small buck or bull. If I am going to kill a male animal it will be one worth shooting. If it boils down to the end of the season I will shoot a Cow or a Doe but not a small Bull or Buck and never a Jake. I cant eat his antlers so I would much rather shoot the females. To me there is no reason to shoot a small Buck or Bull and throw his antlers in the trash or a pile. It is a competition with me with my self to do the best I can and kill the mast mature animal I can except does or cows. I will shoot a yearling if need be if I a managing a farm. Meat is never wasted. Between my family and friend family we consume 20+ deer a year.

 

[AT Hiker]

My initial goal is a mature animal, typically I lower that standard to what the area produces on average. If my tag allows a female I will take one over a immature male, if I like the taste of the animal I will gladly take whatever I can get at the end.

Thats part of my "trophy hunting", the other part is how much fun and adventure I can have. Trophy units/states provide much more than high scoring animals to me, low hunter pressure and access to huntable animals make up a large part.


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[Tim McCoy]

If your definition of Trophy Hunting is harvesting the biggest antlered animal in a given area, I'm not the right guy for that quest anymore, because I'll probably fail. If I am hunting for a mature animal and the biggest animal in the area presents a shot, I'll happily take him. I have more horns than room, some very big, some not so much. I do have a wife that reminds me we can't eat horns and that rutty mule deer does not please her. She suffered through about a 10-15 year phase when I focused on big antlered mulies, often in the rut.

So I'd say anymore about 75% or more of my recent hunting is about having a fun hunt for the table, usually cow elk. Occasionally I'll try to hold off for a mature set of antlers, but that usually goes out the window with the first representative mature target I find. I am really going to try to be selective on an upcoming Antelope hunt, one more Bull Elk hunt, any maybe 2-3 more mule deer hunts. Not even sure why, the challenge in outwitting a very old smart quarry mostly I guess? I'd actually happily hunt antlerless for the table almost every time. I have almost as much fun processing my game at home with the entire family, burger, sausage etc., as I do in the harvest.

So for me, and I suspect others, the motivation changes with time, age, experience, etc...

 

[B&C Blacktails]

I agree with IKEEPITCOLD. For me my objective is harvesting a mature deer, they have bigger antlers. Mature deer have twice the amount of meat as a lets say a forked horn anyways. I do love meat and won't hesitate to shoot any legal animal towards the end of a season.

Also if anyone asks me where did you get that buck, I remember and have a story for each and every set of antlers I have, even the forked horns.

Some of my most memorable hunts have been cow elk hunts, experiencing a no pressure lets get some meat type of hunt. Those hunts are a trophy of memories.

 

[kidoggy]

because I can.

 

[stevevan]

Typically I try to hunt for a buck/bull that is in the upper end of the age classes that the area has to offer. I like maturity as a priority which usually translates into good antler/horn. If an area generally produces 3 1/2 year olds as its top end in the age classes then that is what I focus on. Should I have a special tag, then I look for something special. Having said that, I do enjoy game meat. However, hunting is a recreational pursuit first and foremost. The bounty of the harvest as a meat source is a by product. As we all know if we took all the $'s invested in a hunt we could go to the best butcher shop and buy prime beef for less.

 

[Roamer]

I start out looking for a big one mostly because I love being out there so I don't want to shoot the first one I can. I guess mostly I want to extend my season so I pass on a lot until it gets close to the end.

 

[Mr Drysdale]

I am from Mississippi. We are inundated with Whitetails. I will shoot the first doe I see with my bow and freshen up the freezer. I will then shoot the first 3.5 year old buck I see and also put in the freezer. From then on I am hunting because I like to hunt. I pass on many opportunities each season as I usually hunt 30+ days each year. Our season starts the 1st day of October and ends the last day of January. Starts with archery then rifle, then primitive, then rifle and back to primitive. I may or may not shoot another deer after the first two but if I do it will be a good one. As far as trophy hunting goes, I do not consider myself one. I love being in the woods.

 

[hoshour]

This is interesting. I expected to hear more of "Go big or go home" and guys willing to eat tag soup if they didn't locate an animal above a minimum they set for themselves.

What I'm hearing from most is that they start out looking for a big, mature animal but will always try to shoot something to eat by season end.

 

[mallardsx2]

Trophy hunting almost always extends your hunt. Thats why I like to hunt for something with size. When you hunt is extended your future hunts in that area only get easier and easier as the years go on. I try to kill a monster every time I go hunting. 99% of the time I don't succeed lol

 

[Zim]

Why do you trophy hunt?

Mostly for the challenge. I think experienced guys can tag out in a day or two for any species even on public, if they are just meat hunting. I love being in the outdoors and prefer to spend as long as I can there. Depending on the tag I'll often eat tag soup rather than take a lesser critter. But it depends what's in my freezer.

 

[Musket Man]

Some guys with alot of money and all they care about is killing the biggest animal they can at all cost is what has given trophy hunting a bad name. They are killers, not hunters or sportsmen.

I trophy hunt because of the challenge. If I can locate an older buck and get in range and take him without him ever knowing I was there that is exciting to me. Thats what keeps me coming back every year. If Im not excited about it I dont pull the trigger.

 

[50bowhunter]

As others have said, I live in the east and can legally kill 6 deer per year, and that doesn't count if I get any management/damage tags. I don't usually think about being picky until I have 2 deer in the freezer. I've gone through a transition in my 21 years of deer hunting. Having a wife and 2 kids, a successful season is enough to meat to carry us until the next season. Not that we can't afford it, but because its healthier, cleaner, and I'm going to hunt no matter what so we might as well have dinner.

Now if I were more restricted on tags, I would no question become pickier to extend my season.


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