I like to kill a big buck as much as anybody. I have 6 mounts that would make 95% of the hunters in this state proud to have. But sometimes I will shoot a doe or a small buck just because I need meat and my opportunites may be coming to an end for the season.

Heres a story: I have taken my wife with me quite a few times and have yet to connect when she was with me. She started telling me that she was bad luck and that I never can kill anything when she goes with me. Took her one afternoon this year and told myself that I didn't care what walked out, she would part of a successful hunt if any way possible. That afternoon I had a 110 lb spike walk out. Dropped it on the spot and didn't think twice about it. Mission accomplished. My wife and I had that experience together and meat was added to the freezer.


Another story:
I hunted a gated road one time that was 2.1 miles to the end. Walked in early with plans to stay out there all day walking, stalking, scouting, looking, napping, rattling, etc. I told myself that day that I would kill what I wanted to. At 4 pm I had a mature doe step out, dropped her, quartered her in the field and packed that deer out on my back 2.1 miles.

I kill what makes me proud these days. Having my wife be involved in a successful hunt makes me proud. Packing a public land doe out 2.1 miles on my back makes me proud. I hate to see hunters try to push hunting in the direction of trophy bucks because thats what they like. Those deer/experiences are trophies to me.

The next deer I kill may be the biggest of my life, but I do not want to miss experiences like the above because I am always focused on horns. I do not try to force anybody to hunt like I do, and I sure would like it if folks would not try to encroach on the way I like to hunt.

No matter how many regulations we wish upon ourselves, your neighbor will still be killing all of the trophy that should have been yours.

Trophy = Eight point or better.

But at every kill, no matter what it is...I get down on one knee and thank God for it.

Good post.

The memories are the trophies. Nothing and no one can ever take those from you.

I used to be obsessed with growing and killing the biggest deer I could. Now, I'm just as happy to spend a few days at the camp socializing, cooking and working to put family and friends on a deer and ensuring a good trip to them. Any deer they deem a trophy to them will be a trophy to me. You can't put a value on time spent enjoying fellowship and the outdoors.

Even less important and of consideration to me, would be any mature buck that I can take with my bow. Once again, that's way down the list for me but it's the only reason I'll get out of bed to hunt one these days.

A trophy with a rifle for me is something I would be proud to display on the wall. I believe if im not going to mount the animal I have no purpose in shooting it because someone with much less experience or opportunity may see the animal and be tickled to death with it. Bow hunting is where I usually get my meat for the year. With a bow for me, everything is a trophy due to the opportunities being so scarce.

If you would pay to have it mounted then its a trophy

Dr. James Kroll taught a particular wildlife management class when I was an undergrad student at SFASU. One homework assignment was to prepare a response to answer the question, "Why do you hunt?" Our answers were all over the map but mostly attempts at a science-based rationale. I asked Kroll why he hunted. His answer: "I like the sickening thud sound a duck makes when it hits the mud." He made his point about not overthinking why we hunt.

Anything my son or stepson shoots.

This.

From Urban Dictionary: "Trophy: Something that serves no actual purpose, yet is there to make you feel big."

A trophy to me is watching my grandkids kill a deer. Any legal deer.

A trophy to me is one I would mount and display in my home. Have yet to kill one, been hunting longer than most on this board have been alive and I have probably averaged three deer per season. When I have one mounted, it will be one that everyone would be proud to mount and display.

Anything bigger than Ridgestalker has killed.

Everything I choose to shoot is a trophy. Doe, buck, small, big!!!! I have put myself out there to harvest an animal and I am not successful more times than I am successful. So therefore, anything to me is a trophy.

And if it puts a smile on someone's face, I consider it a trophy for them too!

I have two 10 points on the wall along with a big 8. I also have this little scrawny 7 point on my wall. It was my first ever deer shot on my first ever sit in the woods in my life. So I got it mounted.

I've shot everything from does, button bucks, big racks and everything in between! I eat the things! If I get something that someone else may think is a trophy, I'll get it mounted as something to talk about with my buddies that come over. But I see deer as meat and nothing more!

I hunt leases with friends that have their version of trophy rules. I follow them! I also hunt leases with no restrictions other than state regulations. Sometimes I regulate myself and don't shoot, other times I decide to shoot! It's up to me! And if I decide to shoot, it's a trophy in my book because I succeeded in my quest for harvesting deer.

a mature buck over 4 years old. No matter his rack.

However anything over 120 inches ..I will have mounted as well.

Agree with this. I'd a whole lot rather shoot a 5 year old 4 point than a 2 year old 12 point.

A trophy to me isnt a memory if for no other reason than the definition of trophy is a physical, tangible object awarded as a prize for success. By that definition a memory wouldn't be considered a trophy. Although I enjoy spending time in the woods with my friends and family, a trophy to me is a buck for the wall. For me that would take a 125" or better for me to spend the money to mount my trophy. Some of these other things mentioned are great accomplishments, like killin a deer on public land, getting your wife or kids deer, but in my opinion they aren't trophies In the literal sense of the word.

What I put on the plate to eat.

It all depends. I have one at the taxidermist right now that is not as big as others that I euro'd myself, but it is the first deer that I have killed on the property that I own. He was almost 19 inches wide and had good mass but he's not one that most would consider a trophy.

a mature buck, if you want meat, the easiest thing in the world to do is kill a doe

Anything that I kill or my children or a guest or another member of the clubs I hunt at are considered trophies for me. It is the direct result of the work and time that is put in by those that hunt to allow them to harvest an animal, whether it be a doe, bobcat, small buck or a monster buck. It is the hunt and the chance to be outdoors. It is the trail cam pic of a deer, turkey or hog. Those are my trophies and have a ton of them that I have collected over the years and look forward to many more.

I agree also.

I hunted 20 years before I took my first buck. I hunted a lot of hard places with low deer populations. I feel I was more successful as a hunter passing a truck load of 1.5 yr old bucks over the years and waiting until I had a mature buck to take.

But, after saying that. I was happier for my kid, and my GF when they shot their first doe than I was at my first buck.