Trophy Hunting

Trophy hunting; these two words may well bring to mind more negative thoughts about hunting than any others. Many non-hunters agree that a man or woman has a right to hunt for meat, but when the subject of "trophy hunting" comes up, they'll often shake their heads "no." It's time to put some false impressions to rest.

The existence of hunters who hunt solely for the antlers or horns of an animal is vastly overstated. Many have the impression that after the hunt, the animal is trucked off to the nearest taxidermist to be "stuffed" to hang on the hunter's wall, with no thought given to the meat. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

There are many hunters who will not shoot a deer or other "big game" animal if it's not large enough to suit them, but their motivations are far different than many believe. I know of only a few hunters that hunt solely for big bucks, and every one of them uses the meat from their deer, no matter what. True hunters find it criminal to waste an animal by not making use of the meat. Hunters in Africa are sometimes the target of criticism, but most animals taken there are readily consumed by the hunting party and/or local "natives," whose diets sometimes depend on what the hunters kill.

Most hunters who pursue larger animals do so because of the increased challenge involved. Any experienced deer hunter can tell you that older bucks are much harder to fool than their younger counterparts, and if one happens to hunt in a locale where deer abound, the increased challenge of taking a buck of "trophy" proportions can be quite appealing. We hunters thrive on challenge; if we saw a buck every time we hit the woods, we surely wouldn't shoot every one... we'd simply start trying to find more demanding prey.

The word "trophy" itself is often misunderstood, and can mean different things to different people. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines trophy, in part, as "something gained or given in victory or conquest esp. when preserved or mounted as a memorial." This very apt definition captures the essence of the hunter's trophy. I keep some sort of trophy of every deer I take. I don't have any heads mounted, but I have several sets of antlers on plaques.

I have never taken an exceptionally large deer, but I have taken a fair number of them over the years. The purpose of the trophy is to help me remember and appreciate that day, every time I look at it. I suspect "sports" trophies, such as those won via baseball or bowling, serve much the same purpose. My Dad likes to say, "I'm a trophy hunter... I'm just not particular about my trophies."

I have a favorite quote from The Old Man and the Boy, by Robert Ruark (the best book on American hunting traditions in existence), regarding trophies & memories (the Old Man is talking):

"Hunting is the noblest sport yet devised by the hand of man. There were mighty hunters in the Bible, and all the caves where the cave men lived are full of carvings of assorted game the head of the house drug home. If you hunt to eat, or hunt for sport for something fine, something that will make you proud, and make you remember every single detail of the day you found him and shot him, that is good too."

My trophies are something fine, something that makes me proud, and makes me remember every single detail of the day I found him and shot him... and the meat's good, too!

Anyone who will kill an animal simply for antlers or horns, and who wastes the meat, is not a hunter, he's a poacher.

-Russ Chastain

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