Fieldmouse

I wanted to find out how many of you feel the same way. If someone shoots a deer with a bow and gets it mounted, I call that a trophy. If someone shoots one with a gun, no matter what size, I call that a nice deer. In my book it's no trophy because shooting it with a gun is no major feat.

For me it comes from the areas I hunt. Several places I can use a gun and I would have a wall full of 160s and 180s if I did. Now, I have no more desire to deer hunt with a gun no matter where I go. I will always choose my bow over my gun.

Charlie P

Honestly why should anyone care, what you think about the deer they shot.

"In your book" you the head of Pope and Young?

Fieldmouse

Boy Charlie got up a little grumpy, eh?

Since us hunters shoot deer and get it mounted just to show them off, it's a very valid question. I won't be rude and tell someone it's not a trophy. I will just compliment them on a nice deer.

kevin1

That's a mighty prejudiced POV you have there Fieldmouse ,
why not just sell your guns ?

I know a few folks like you , I call them what they are , snobs . Just my opinion , but if you mount it then it's a trophy .

txmarshmonkey

FM, I feel "somewhat" the same way about MY deer. I've only got one deer (a spike) with my bow but I don't feel that it was a trophy. However, I think that I could stick another spike under different circumstances and possibly feel that it was a trophy. Anything bigger than a spike, I know I'd feel like it was a trophy. I've killed 4 bucks with a rifle BEFORE I became a bowhunter, and I feel like they are trophies. NOW, I have zero desire to hunt bigger game with a gun. I love my bow and bowhunting.

I do not feel this way about "non-bowhunter's" kills. If they are excited about they're kill, then I feel it is a trophy for them. JMO

Mykey

What one person considers not to be a trophy may be the trophy of a lifetime to another. I have seen spike bucks mounted and even does and the persons who had them on the wall were proud owners of a trophy in their eyes. I have deer mounted that was killed with bow and gun and they are all trophys to me no matter what weapon was used to harvest the animal. I have also killed many deer that i considered a trophy that isn't on the wall. When my 11yr old son killed his first deer which was a doe it was as much a trophy to him and myself as it would have been if it were a big 12pt buck. We didn't have the doe mounted (although i thought about it) but it will always be a trophy to us both. It's no doubt a feeling of accomplishment to harvest a nice buck with a bow at close range but that feeling is no less when shooting one at long range with my rifle. To be honest every deer i harvest is a trophy to me because i love deer meat!

Charlie P

So if I go into a highfenced guarenteed hunt and shoot it with a bow it's more a trophy then a buck shot by a guy that packs back into the wilderness and shoots a great buck?

bearklr

The only person who can decide if a deer is a trophy or not is the one who shot it. Wether it be with a gun, bow, crossbow, pistol or anything else. Personallly when I see a mount I base my decision soley on the size of the rack and nothing else. However that is a biased opinion because I don't know the circumstances under which the animal was taken. Therefor I never pass judgement on any deer I see hanging on the wall but rather offer my congrats to the hunter bevause I know to them it is a trophy.

Eric

rybohunter

Although personally I will most likely never shoot another buck with a rifle, I have learned that compared to some places, it is easier for me to shoot a buck with my bow than it is for someone to shoot one with a gun. So I can't deny anyone's trophy. I do plan the next time I come up short in archery season to try and take a buck with my revolver. The close range hunting that I plan on, holding to my personal rack size standards, and the added difficulty of using the revolver will certainly make a buck taken with that weapon a trophy to me.

Charlie P

Bearklr, you broke the page.