Let them walk.

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As long as it is legal and taken fairly I have no objection what the next guy does. His idea of a trophy maybe different than mine...very subjective definition.

Now with that being said, I have taken my share of animals so I am picky with what I take in my old age. Sometimes it is just as rewarding just to watch them in their natural environment. Besides, I think about the drag out and etc. more now.
 
As long as it is legal and taken fairly I have no objection what the next guy does. His idea of a trophy maybe different than mine...very subjective definition.

Now with that being said, I have taken my share of animals so I am picky with what I take in my old age. Sometimes it is just as rewarding just to watch them in their natural environment. Besides, I think about the drag out and etc. more now.
Lol true that!!!!
 
I'll do both. I don't have to let certain failures pass to also press my will on the bigger picture.

When I was a kid, I'm glad I had people that would tell it to me straight... rather than let me have some false idea of what was true. No wonder we have kids growing up without even knowing what gender they are. Adults apparently think they are doing them a favor by lying to them. This is how we get the idiotic stories you can hear in gun stores. They think their perception is king, whether it matches reality or not, and carry it into adulthood.

My first rifle buck below. Took me 17 years before I dropped a firing pin on another mulie buck... and I had to drive halfway across the country to do it thanks to everyone shooting crappy little bucks in the area I hunted. Soon, that will be ALL hunting areas... and I'll be able to pull up this thread as proof of why... just like the old timers I talk to now that tell me hunting is garbage compared to when they were younger.

I was 15 or 16 years old. My trophy, was an actual trophy. No one had to lie to me, or accept me lying to them when I told the story.
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Now tell me about how "not everyone has that opportunity." Right, ... and since everyone wants to shoot everything with tiny little horns and justify it... most people never will have that opportunity. I've had the opportunity twice in my life. Once I was 15/16, and another hunter the other side of the ridge missed... he came running by and I popped him running at 180yds, off-hand with a .243win, standing, with a sling. Much to the disappointment of the other hunter that walked up 20 minutes later. Next time was a 945yd shot when I was 32.

None of this makes me want to join the "I'm going to get mine" crowd and start blasting every crap buck I see.

When I was young, I'm glad I was around people of character. I'm glad I was around people that could exercise personal restraint. I'm glad I was around people that were concerned with more than just "getting theirs." The older I get, the more I wonder "where are all those people today?" Men of principle. Men of integrity.

Instead, it's just a society of hollow people that will do just about anything, and justify it any way it suits them. That is not how a strong, righteous, and proper society is built. We're living in the ruins of the country that had that... but doesn't anymore. What better day to recognize it.

My two Mulies. The only two proper specimen I've ever had the opportunity to kill in my life... which is two more than many will have the opportunity at.
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@338 dude, you see? Those mulies of mine are not trophys by some folks standards. The folks in colorado, new mexico, and a few other areas... they would pass on both of them. However, they clearly reached a certain point where they became acceptable to shoot... by anyone's standard. You cared enough about your pronghorn to have it mounted... so clearly it's a trophy to you. That's not what this is about. This isn't about someone's lifetime hunt, or even lifetime of one-upping what he's got on the wall... always moving upward in class or character. It also isn't about the kid bashing his first buck and having it be a dink, despite the fact that NO ONE is doing that kid a favor calling it a trophy.

No.

Actually, it's not even about hunting. The same people that refuse to hold standards when hunting... generally won't hold a standard anywhere else in their lives either. That's what it's about. Every day when talking with customers on the phone, I hear the complaints from everyone on how terrible this or that is... and saying things like "how did this happen?"

Unprincipled men, justifying the lack of standard among their even more unprincipled boys. I see it in hunting, and I see it in everything else. I've seen it get only worse in my lifetime, and I expect it to get only worse as time goes on. You can't suggest unprincipled people change. They won't listen, and they will attack you.


I used to believe that. However, I've seen it with my own eyes. This buck was smaller last year. Want to know how I know? He was here last year and I took his picture in almost the same spot in my back yard as I did this year. He's bigger this year. Yet, now you know that's not really what I'm talking about after reading this post. ;) I'm talking about the problems we face as a society and a nation. As our country grows another year older... it's on my mind.

Angry unprincipled people getting mad at principled people, and the principled people just going away because we're tired of dealing with them. That's how we got where we are. If that continues, it will continue to get worse. Hunting is just one place I can easily see the lack of standards and restraint very plainly showing up in the drastically reduced trophy opportunities available compared to when I was a kid. It's very obvious to anyone not paying big bucks for guides. So I thought it a good parallel to draw.


Done. :)


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You're not lying to the kid if he shot a deer and he's proud of it then it's a trophy.it can be a doe and does not necessarily even have to have horns.I am not the smartest man I only know what's going on at my place and I don't even know all of that. I trust the biologists that get paid by the state to look at the big picture and I go by the limits that they set and I'm not mad at anybody just offering my take on what is a trophy as I said earlier I'm a meat hunter you can't eat the horns. I feel this whole world is in a steady decline for many many factors overpopulation the current state of our economy etc. but if you go farther back than that remember there were no deer they were commercially Hunted to near extinction we are blessed with a deer populations we have today from thorough management that is true.everything I do is legal and by the book. I have noticed deer in this area they are getting bigger .this year alone I've seen more bucks than ever but I have too many game camera pics to put online. At least around here I attribute this to large tracks of pines set out by paper companies are being clear cut,the deer have to go somewhere .urban sprawl over population and lack of habitat are just as deadly on deer populations.
 
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My last post on this subject, I just wanna point out that I eat every deer I take I usually take from 4 to 6 each year and they go in the freezer with the price of groceries nowadays I'm sure more people will be doing the same. For at least the last eight or 10 years we can take two bucks a year and three does a day that tells you something about the deer population here and the pics I'm showing you are from nearly 20 years of hunting don't think that I just shoot everything that walks.
 
We strive to take mature animals as well. That does not always equate to B&C or P&Y quality animals. But passing on spike and raghorn bulls, or forky mulies, or 10" goats does help the age class of legal game. Some animals are a lot easier to find over a course of several days than other species. Pronghorn seems like one of those. We usually have a "hit list" for those hunts, and target a couple specific animals. Deer and elk can definitely change in the blink of an eye when something you have never seen magically just appears. Sometimes it sucks to pass on "legal" game while waiting on a muture animal to show. Hunting can be tough when after mature animals. They don't get older by being stupid. But there are areas that the "mature" animals might only be 3 or 4 years old. But in those areas that are known for big and mature animals, to see people taking yearling or immature animals that many apply for years, or even decades for, can be disheartening. I can understand where this thread is coming from.

If all you want is meat, awesome. Seems like we have lived on at least 50% game meat for the last 25+ years. When my kids were able to start hunting, more times than not, they were putting the meat in the freezer. Quite a few cow elk, some muley does, but some bomber bulls and bucks too. Which is good, because I SUCK at drawing tags for myself.
 
All I'm trying to say is that animals are trophies for many different reasons to many different people!

this.

i take no joy in taking the life of an animal. but every deer, bear, rabbit, squirrel, fish i take and keep is a trophy. as long as it's over the legal limit (fish) and a legal dispatch, it's a trophy because it's providing food for my table.
 
I shot service for years; high master across the course and long range, distinguished, and President's Hundred, I have to admit your kill on a deer on the run is quite impressive.

I probably have a high probability of hit on a deer from standing at 200 yards (that's the range we shoot standing) but I have never shot at a dèer from standing position at any distance.

Good shot.

Once I was 15/16, and another hunter the other side of the ridge missed... he came running by and I popped him running at 180yds, off-hand with a .243win, standing
 
I used to hunt for trophies. But after a couple of forkies I hunt for the meat. If I can get a cow or doe that's fine. otherwise a young buck or spike is on the menu.

Romans 14:1-23
As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ...
 
This is my first buck, I took him with archery gear he's only a 8 point does that make him not a trophy? The Tenpoint in the background he's not much of a 10point at all, but he avoided me for two years on my property I moved a stand one day and caught him by surprise. he walked right in front of me 25 yards again with archery gear he was old teeth were shot he's obviously backsliding I'll bet he was much better in his prime. The last photo is my wife's dear the one and only buck she's ever taken and he's bigger than anything I have taken myself so that definitely makes it a trophy for her no matter the size. The bigger thing that makes all of these a trophy except for the antelope and hog they were taken on my property here in Tennessee they are all definitely trophies to me!View attachment 376505View attachment 376506
West TN here and those deer in this area are well worth putting on the wall. The best point I have read on this thread is what you said. A trophy is in the eyes of the shooter. I'm glad that the OP has the opportunity to hunt out west year after year. With that being said I dream of going out west for Pronghorn. I'm sure that I will not be as sophisticated with my ability to score on the hoof.
 
Ya I agree. Should only be taking mature animals unless your a first timer or need to manage population or genetics. Would only take a few years and everyone could be shooting big mature bucks regularly.

PS I got as big a goat or bigger than last years eyed up for archery this year. It looks to be another great year for big goats. Can't wait for season to start.
 
I've got a few trophies.

The first is the button buck I dropped on the spot with a single 20ga slug when I hunted by myself the first time in 6th grade.

The second is the 4x5 bull I took an hour bear crawling 15 yards to get a 45 yard bow shot.

The third is a 3x4 bull I shot 10 miles into my favorite mountain range and packed out myself.
 
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