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August 2004 Feature Article:

What Trophy Should Really Mean

Please use this area to post comments or questions about this feature article.

Dusty Rhoades · Newbie Joined: 05 Nov 2004 Posts: 1

Wonderful story and thoughts. I wish all would look at how they percieve why they hunt. What is it they consider a trophy. For my family and myself we are meat hunters. The "Trophy" is an added bonus. But then all deer that we harvest are trophies. We respect the deer for what they are, and we are thankful for the opportunity to hunt.

PaRu · Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:25 pm Post subject:

Yeah great story trophy is what you remember and enjoy.

stillhunter · Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 7:32 pm Post subject:

Excellent article, well put. I see/hear all too often those hunters who feel the only thing worth shooting is a big buck. Many also don't feel the intense emotion/ gratitude/reverence that should come with killing an animal. The guys on the hunting shows who go up to the downed animal, hoot and holler, then talk to the couch sitter about the size of the antlers are particularly annoying. I rarely watch these programs for this and other reasons.

I'm not trying to come off as a holier-than-thou hunter, but rather, as the the author of the article states, someone who respects the game we hunt, and is thankful for the opportunity to provide for myself and my family, and enjoys the time outdoors.

dougw · Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 7:19 am Post subject: What a trophy should really mean

Thanks for this article.

I shot a bear two weeks ago....it turned out to be a lot smaller than it seemed when I first spotted it. I got back the meat from the butcher the other day. Also, we're having the hide made into a rug.

It's meat will be appreciated at our table. The bear will be remembered among family & friends as we swap hunting stories. He truly was a much appreciated GIFT, small or not.

hatracked · Sportsman Joined: 03 Jul 2006 Posts: 232

Fantastic!

hunter777 · Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2006 11:39 pm Post subject:

That is a great article. One of my favorite pictures of deer that BGH members posted this season was of a doe. I don't remember who posted it but I can clearly see that doe in my minds eye as I type this. One of my favorite mounts that I have at home is also a doe......She is beutiful Yes

thenail · Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2006 10:06 am Post subject: what trophy should mean

Hunter I also have a doe mount ane your right she is beautiful . IMO it a lot nicer than a buck .

rychrger72 · Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:32 am Post subject:

great article, thats why i dont like to show some of those shows, to ppl that i try to explain the art of hunting to. sometimes those host seem like they are just jaded. in all my hunts i have not harvested many birds, 2 pheasants and maybe 5 quail, and some squirrel, but those were all good times spent with my best friend, my brother, and my dad. when it all comes down sometimes thats the most important part, then when when you harvest the game you desire, you appreciate it that much more.

i have yet to hunt deer, elk, or any other big game but believe me its only a matter of time. Yes

RMulhern · Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:00 am Post subject: What is a trophy?

This article emphasizes greatly my sentiments regarding this issue! I grew up hunting the 'thickets' of North Louisiana; back when a spike buck would have been a trophy! It was a buck....so be proud that I got to see one! Back at that time.....1950....one would go to jail quicker for shooting a doe than if they had murdered a human being....such was the mindset during those years! I have been totally 'turned off' by the hunting videos/shows that come on the Dish Network because it's really obvious that all of these shows are pushing the latest new fad or gadget and that it's really all about MONEY!! Brick Wall

And.....the emphasis is totally upon what constitues a trophy as being nothing but a huge set of 'harns' and whether or not it will score 190+!! It's gotten to where a young kid can't go out and shoot a small spike or a 4 pt. and feel good about their accomplishment because all they see on the 'boob-tube' on the hunting shows is what was mentioned above!!

Frankly.....I don't waste my time with those 'shows' anymore! My time is better spent on the range or in the loading room when I'm not hunting!!

Take a kid hunting.....and convey to him/her.......that whatever they decide to shoot.....is a real accomplishment and trophy....horns or not!!

LlindeX

I read this article with reverence for the author. He obviously has a grasp of the fact that any animal harvested is worthy of respect. He understands that any animal taken during the hunt is a Gift of nature. He truly brelieves that the best part of the hunt is the companionship of our fellow hunters and the oneness we obtain with the wild things around us. You hear in his voice the pride of having supplied his family with a wonderful gift of food, yet you also feel the reverence in his voice as he talks of the life he has taken. He understands that he has taken an animal the Creator has given him in order to sustain the lives of himself and his family. For him, killing an animal is not the sport of obtaining a trophy set of horns, it is a way of living life as the Creator intended; for us to be a part of this great cycle of life. For him, the Trophy is not the mounted animal that hangs on his family room wall. The Trohpy is the memory of the Hunt. The mount on the wall is only a symbol to frequently remind him of those memories. The fact that we have been given a mind capable of remembering that feeling and sense of reverence & compassion for the animals we have taken is what sets us apart from the wild predators of the world. When human society looses that ability, then we truly become nothing more than wild predators.

If more parents taught their sons and daughters these things, I firmly believe our world would be a better and safer place. I genuinely believe we have so many predatory killings of young people on our streets today because we as parents have failed to teach our chidren these things and how precious a life really is. Take the time to teach a young person the truth of what it means to hunt & fish. You might just be saving his/her life.

clif Williamson · Newbie Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 1

So, what is a trophy?
Somehow I envision a plaque, medal, or statue. Something that was presented as a reward for something done at a high level against other humans. OK so you hunted a relatively dumb animal with only it's instincts for survival. But you killed it with a rifle and scope from somewhere near 200 yards. I can’t imagine when that animals instincts ever came into play. So what was the great high level activity that you did to justify the word trophy?
Man is the only predator who does not make body contact with his hunt. Why don't you try to run the animal down, or perhaps wait in a tree for it to pass by and drop down and kill it with your bare hands?
When you say you want to be a hunter and not a killer, it confuses me. You hunted, you pulled the trigger, the animal died. You killed it. That makes you a killer. Had any other predator done the same thing you would have called it a killer. There is no difference. Sometimes you even use that as a justification. Wolves, mountain lions, coyotes, and other predators are hunted and killed because they are killers, not because the are hunters.
And please don’t' try to color the act with words like reverence or respect. Not that you do, but most hunters hunt for only one reason. Entertainment. It's fun. Not that having fun is a bad thing, but killing part of the echo system has a truly negative effect.
When the deer, that you said is so difficult to find is taken out of the system he is taken away from the natural predators. Wolves and mountain lions hunting for food have to move into territories populated by humans. And a new hunt begins. Nature is out of balance. The cause..........humans.
Example: I live on the fringe of a the wilderness in Northern California. My neighbor complained to the authorities that she had lost two, oh my god, TWO, of her precious pet goats that had been left out over night. The authorities determined that it was a Mountain Lion and are now going to trap it, and euthanize the animal. Why? Because it did what it has always done. The authorities said it had developed a taste for goat and would be back. Who are they kidding? They eat goat. Why not relocate? To expensive.
I digress, but the point is clear. Hunting is a necessary part of the animal kingdom, and an unnecessary part of the human kingdom. We do it for fun. Please don't try to paint a pretty trophy picture, or justify what you do as necessary to keep animals from starving. How did they manage without us?
Let me finish with a story about a friend of mine who is a hunter? A duck hunter to be exact. Went out for eight days and came home with 32 ducks. Gave away ten and ate, over the course of the next year, ten more ducks. The next season comes and he tosses twelve ducks in the garbage to make room for 26 ducks from this season. Why did he kill more than he could eat? Simple, it was fun.
Please, don't get me wrong. I don't care if you hunt and kill, but please don't try to create some glamorous justification for your action, and don't try to convince others that they should have reverence or respect for their "TROPHY". If that was really your intent you should have told them to use a camera with a cross hair. That would be respect and reverence. But as you well know, that wouldn't be any fun, would it? You wouldn't have something to hang on your wall to show the world what you had done.
As far as meat is concerned, I don't know anybody who eats Wolf, Mountain Lion or Coyote, so these can only be considered meaningless trophies by your standard.
And what of the responder who is going to Africa. Is he going to bring back the meat from the animal he kills? No. He will probably give it to the guide, except the head of course. And that is of course the 'TROPHY", isn't it. It will be fun. He will come home with a picture of him next to a dead animal, and later the head of that dead animal......MAYBE.

kf4mat · Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 4:49 pm Post subject: Thanks for the article

Great Article...... Never can understand why a troll like Cliff, who even if he says he respects your right to hunt obviously hates the whole idea bothers to come on a hunting web site.

Anyway, I'm 43 and this year 2009, will be my first ever hunting season. I am looking forward to taking my "first" trophy, be it a doe or a buck (in reality though I will probably try for the doe because I have a feeling the meat will be more tender.)

I don't understand the hunting shows either, what I would like to see them do is make one for people like me. A complete Novice, and then take a season where they show how to actually hunt. Most of the shows I have seen just show a guy going to an outfitter who is probably providing the guy a free hunt in return for the advertisement. Then they put the guy on an animal that the average hunter will probably never see in his life and make it out as though it is an everyday occurrence.

Oh well, and Cliff I hope I can take one out for you this season.

Tom

hunter g · Sportsman Joined: 04 Aug 2009 Posts: 102

clif
maybe you should come out west and hunt deer with a bow and see just how easy it is id bet you could not do it. some of us hunters take a lot of pride in what we kill we all eat the meat. sometimes it is donated to the poor, we find a buck with a good rack most likely it is a mature one and you hunt that buck anything killed is a trophy. to bad you feel that way you are missing out. the last bear i shot i did eat and i must say it was not bad tasted like a cheap beef. this is a trophy to me