I seldom ever start a thread here, but I am so torn about many of the issues happening in our hunting community, I wanted to put my reputation at stake here for once.

Sometimes, reading this forum, one gets the feeling that this is a trophy only hunting forum?

I for one, never hunt for trophy. I hunt to hunt; shoot to shoot.

I've only had one animal mounted, probably will never mount another. I will most likely do European mounts on any future kills, although with some, I've simply left the head/horns in the woods.

For some reason, I feel like we are losing our children to hunting due to the focus on trophy/high dollar hunting.

I have fought hard with my son to keep him out of this trend. But it's hard.

Is it time we as a hunting community stop focusing on measurements and start focusing on the experience first!!!!!!!???????????

Guess I'm a trophy hunter....meat is secondary. Strive to obtain the best specimen of a particular species not for bragging rights, but as a personal challenge to outwit the best of the best.

More often than not I fail to accomplish that....but when I am successful the species gets mounted out of respect/honor of the animal and in memory of the hunt.

Our family tradition is to mount the first deer on a youngsters first hunt. The pride and satisfaction from those kids is just as important to them as winning an Olympic Gold medal.

I shoot 3 to 4 doe a year for meat

I hold my buck tag at least the opening day to pass up smallish bucks

Do I want to kill big deer.....yes!

Approaching triple diget deer numbers I do enjoy killing a good buck

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
I shoot 3 to 4 doe a year or meat

I hold my buck tag at least the opening day to pass up smallish bucks

Do I want to kill big deer.....yes

Yup! and if you kill one that is bigger than mine, I don't feel bad about me nor do I think my hunt was a bust. I do feel glad for you.

I'm not at all a trophy hunter. In my opinion shooting an animal strictly because of the size of its antlers / horns is almost a crime against nature. Having killed nearly 500 deer, I've shot a handful of nice bucks but I've never put a tape measure to any of them and couldn't tell you what a "G2" is.

Trophy hunting is relatively modern idea. The concept was noble: to allow a hunter to spend a lot of time afield without decimating game populations. But it soon degenerated into a display of social status - the well-heeled sportsman vs. the ordinary "pot" or market hunter.

Obtaining a trophy animal these days is more about gaining access to places where they exist in greater numbers than it is about hunting skill. With that said, I'll be going on a trophy mule deer hunt this year. It's a bonus from my employer for 30 years of service. (Yes, shooting a big muley sort of violates my principles but I'll force myself to do it anyway. )

I'm well past trophy hunting, if it's horn or antler size. It was a phase I went through. I've kind of gotten into just trying to get a particular deer or take a deer in a particular area. It's kind of like trout fishing, they are all trophies; they don't know they are small, but they live in the most beautiful places. I've not done elk or moose, but if I do, antler size would not be that important. Only ever mounted one animal(and that was a dumb idea), a wood duck that I took with my brother in law one perfect Oct morning. He's not as pretty on the wall, as he was on those red and yellow leaves. Even my big Kudu, which would have been about number 13 or 14 in Namibia when I took him, is only a euro mount. I never did the process to get him listed. It made me realize how unimportant horn size really is. I didn't even get the horns on the wall for about two years. The trophy for me is the experience, but for some folks its antler or horns. To each there own.
Bfly

I am not a trophy hunter...I am not even a species hunter...I care more about who I am hunting with than what I am hunting for or the trophy

Absolutely.

I hunt because I love it! I love the solitude. Watching nature all day long.

I love to eat wild game too. Elk, deer, turkey, grouse, squirrel, rabbit, it just doesn't get any better than that. I'll take wild game over the restaurant stuff any day.

There are alot of deer where I live and I like to harvest several does with various pistols for protein every year. There are areas where there are less deer and less hunters that I usually go for the bucks and I try to not take a buck less than 3 years old. I love to spend days on end seeing almost no deer in hopes of seeing a monster. My wife tells me I have no patience; but I tell her I spend days at a time just hoping to see a big buck. When I am after big bucks I am in my spot from daylight until dark unless I kill something. I guess thats trophy hunting. I encourage young or less experience hunters to take anything that they want. If it doesn't get you excited you don't need shoot it. I have went several years in a row without killing a buck but I won't go without killing does for meat. Don't get me wrong, I eat the bucks too. I have a few heads on the walls and alot of euro mounts, I don't know if I'll get another one mounted but I'd like to think so.

If I didn't just hunt big bucks I wouldn't get to hunt near as much. You could kill the two buck limit here in one day if you wanted to most times with a bow. I like to hunt all season and kill one good buck and save the other tag just encase. I also hunt two states so I get to hunt just a little more.

I just want to be out there!

God Bless, Louis

There is place for both, so to speak. I have always hunted for the joy of hunting, and instilled that value with my daughter, my best hunting companion. Every animal taken is a trophy. That said I have, in the past anyway, sought to try to take the "best" of a given species. In so doing I found that, for me at any rate, it took more patience, more skill, and more cunning than the many I have taken for meat. To have failed in those endeavors, and it was not infrequently, I felt more than satisfied. I have taken my share of spikes, and at this time in my life, in my home state of Arizona, I guess I am a meat hunter. Enough with bulls, I now only apply for elk cow tags, and in hunting overseas, I am now more than content with a "representative" of the species than in seeking the so called "gold medal" animal. And if I do not take an animal, as was the case recently in Argentina, I have still succeeded in that it was a wonderful and unforgettable experience.

Some value their hunts by the trophies taken, others by the number they have taken. I have no criticism of either.

Almost every animal I have taken has been mounted, shoulder mounts, life size, and many in the European style. I not only have no regrets in doing so but am very thankful that I made that decision so many years ago. I can sit in my home, and look up at a given animal and remember the hunt, who I was with, and the wonderful time we had. Some of my hunting compadres are no longer with us, but the memories remain fresh.

Now some holier than thou critic is going to say well why not just take photos. I do that as well....but how often do you go and find those albums and sift through them. For me, the presence of those beautiful animals in my daily life at home cannot be beat.

In large part my philosophy is akin to Jose Ortega y Gasset, whose work I read so many years ago.

"One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted...If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it. What he is after is having to win it, to conquer the surly brute through his own effort and skill with all the extras that this carries with it: the immersion in the countryside, the healthfulness of the exercise, the distraction from his job.

Jose Ortega y Gasset, Meditations on Hunting.

To close let us not demean those who hunt for whatever reason they choose to do so, and let us not also forget that the funds raised by the organizations that promote trophy hunting, SCI for the most part, RMEF, and B&C, etc., are responsible for the conservation of species throughout the world.

And now for a good cigar, a dram of Scotch, in the presence of all those memories.

quote:

Originally posted by Bigasanelk:
I'm not at all a trophy hunter. In my opinion shooting an animal strictly because of the size of its antlers / horns is almost a crime against nature. Having killed nearly 500 deer, I've shot a handful of nice bucks but I've never put a tape measure to any of them and couldn't tell you what a "G2" is.

Trophy hunting is relatively modern idea. The concept was noble: to allow a hunter to spend a lot of time afield without decimating game populations. But it soon degenerated into a display of social status - the well-heeled sportsman vs. the ordinary "pot" or market hunter.

Obtaining a trophy animal these days is more about gaining access to places where they exist in greater numbers than it is about hunting skill. With that said, I'll be going on a trophy mule deer hunt this year. It's a bonus from my employer for 30 years of service. (Yes, shooting a big muley sort of violates my principles but I'll force myself to do it anyway. )

Don't know what you call modern but Teddy Roosevelt often spoke in favor of trophy hunting. And many of the old English and Russian castles had heads and horns displayed. And, FWIW, the cave drawings I've seen aren't of dinks.

Yes and no.

I don't know how things are in Tennessee as I'm not from there and have never hunted there.

I do hunt Texas, and my post will be subjective based on how I hunt here.

I grew up hunting. From having my fice run rabbits to their hole and twisting them out with a forked stick at 6 yrs, to shooting a 1000 birds a year when I was 11 to hunting wood ducks on our creek and pond to hunting hogs and deer as a teenager. We would go out at night when I was in my teens. Someone would drive the truck. We'd spotlight coons, wood cock, rabbits and armadillos. We'd hunt all night. Never thought of it as a trophy hunt. It was something to do that was fun with your buds.

Over the last 15 years or so I've had trespass leases in the Texas hill country. Here are some of my trophies.











There is nothing on my wall that is world class. However everything I have on the wall was DIY on low fenced ranches here in Texas. I had the money to do the mounts, wanted to, and did so. Never scored any thing there. Did measure the circumference and length of the horns on the Audad and blackbuck. Like Todd,(just-a-hunter) they are all trophies to me. My oldest and I can legally take 10 deer a year. Many year I may trap, snare and shoot 30 or more hogs. Keep two freezers full of venison and pork. Fish and chicken are about the only meat we buy at the store.
As to the other side of trophy hunting, its just my humble opinion that the emphasis on "trophy hunting" and taking only "mature bucks" has really had a negative effect. I've a real problem with the Texas Trophy Hunters and the emphasis they place on trophies and scores.
I happened to read an article in Outdoor Life by a fellow that describe what happened to their 50 year old hunting club when the emphasis switched from having a great time in deer camp with your buds and sons to that of "game management". Within 5 years of instituting a game management program where the only bucks that were shot were 4.5 yrs old or older and 8 points or better, the club fell apart. When I grew up, taking a buck was a rite of passage. Hunting and deer camp was about camaraderie and good times. Course anytime you have men together there will be competition. As said before, I have a real problem with the emphasis on trophy taking.

I figure I earn my deer every year. Yes it's no problem taking does in the hill country. However a good buck ain't so easy. I may make 15 hunts before I take my "good buck". Some years it don't happen. By time it does, I figure I've earned him. I figure most years I spend between 8k and 10k just to kill varmints, turkey deer and hogs. Yes, I know that I could go on a trohpy elk/mule deer hunt or an African plains game hunt for a trophy, but somehow, it's just not that important.
Quien Sabe.

Best

GWB

At home, I am a meat hunter. Would rather shoot a cow elk or a doe with no fawns for the table than a bull or a buck. When I go to Africa, then that changes. Don't care about the record books, don't score my animals here or there but there are plenty of animals there to choose from so I am a bit more picky. Love the peace and quiet. Don't mind armed hiking at all.

GWB, I like the trophy room.

I want one of those big northern porkipines mounted in the worst way.

I hunt because I like it, trophies are nice, but I think I get more out of varmints and does than anything else.

quote:

I want one of those big northern porkipines mounted in the worst way.

Really each to his own I have shot dozsens and dozsens of those nasty varmints. Never thought once of mounting one.

Most of the time, I shoot the first legal animal I encounter that presents the right kind of shot. We eat them all, and I rarely come back with nothing, but don't worry much about it when I do (it gets me out of the house and away from work).

I did have a mule deer head mounted. It was the first one I shot (coincidentally, one with decent antlers), but haven't worried much about trophy shooting since. My wife exiled the mount from the house after one or two moves, so it's now hanging over a stairway in the garage. So it goes.

quote:

Originally posted by Rembrandt1:
Guess I'm a trophy hunter....meat is secondary. Strive to obtain the best specimen of a particular species not for bragging rights, but as a personal challenge to outwit the best of the best.

More often than not I fail to accomplish that....but when I am successful the species gets mounted out of respect/honor of the animal and in memory of the hunt.

Same here.

To look at this issue in another light we asked a member to leave our hunting lease in Texas years ago because he would shoot the first thing he saw with antlers regardless of the deer's age. When confronted he always came back with, "I'm a meat hunter.". Since then I have always thought that the "meat hunter" label is mostly a cop out for people who do not want to put in the work to hunt a mature animal.

mdstewart,

Without any question I am a trophy hunter but the circunstances of the hunt dictate whether the trophy or meat is more important. When I lived in Alaska if my freezer was empty any mature bull moose was my target or if we went winter caribou hunting the object was to shoot as many animals as we could use. At the same time when I went or now go to some exotic place to hunt I'm looking for a trophy and as long as the meat is utilized by someone I couldn't care less about it.

I do think folks care more about trophies today than they did 20-30 years ago. Killing a big buck or bull now seems to be the macho thing to do and I think videos plus outdoor TV are to blame for that. It would seem that many hold hunting differently than I always have. On the other hand I think the trend to take only mature trophies is a good thing.

Mark

It's always amazed me, how few hunters share the same vision let alone definition of "Hunting".

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
mdstewart,

Without any question I am a trophy hunter but the circunstances of the hunt dictate whether the trophy or meat is more important. When I lived in Alaska if my freezer was empty any mature bull moose was my target or if we went winter caribou hunting the object was to shoot as many animals as we could use. At the same time when I went or now go to some exotic place to hunt I'm looking for a trophy and as long as the meat is utilized by someone I couldn't care less about it.

I do think folks care more about trophies today than they did 20-30 years ago. Killing a big buck or bull now seems to be the macho thing to do and I think videos plus outdoor TV are to blame for that. It would seem that many hold hunting differently than I always have. On the other hand I think the trend to take only mature trophies is a good thing.

Mark

Like Mark, I too am strictly a "trophy" hunter - at least that's what most would call it. We certainly utilize the meat from any animal I take. Firstly cause I generally like it, and secondly because its the law - but the meat is definitely not my motivation for hunting.

My reason for hunting is, "I LOVE THE HUNT"! Part of the "hunt" to me, is FINDING the biggest/best buck or bull that I can. Often times, finding them is only part of it - getting them is a whole different story. So combined, I find "trophy" hunting much more exciting and ful-filling to me personally. I don't enjoy stand hunting, as the "pursuit" of the animal is what makes the hunt for me. Finding a big one, and going after him - that's what I love to do. MD says "we need to start focusing on the experience first"! I'm doing just that - focusing on the hunting "experience" that I enjoy most.

In my home state of Colorado, we have a large deer & elk population. Finding a legal bull elk, legal buck deer, or a cow/doe to shoot, is so easy - that I simply get no enjoyment out of just another kill! I guess I'm just not that mad at em anymore.

I have long since graduated from the need to "get one", and frankly couldn't care less if I go home without one. I much prefer to practice what I "believe" to be good conservation - by only shooting older/mature animals, but that's my philosophy, its not law. We have no shortage of deer/elk in the country, so I say as long as its legal - do what makes you happy!!! Isn't that why we are out there in the first place????

To summarize what I've heard so far, there are some folks here who do adhere to trophy hunting, but not because they feel they are in a competition to take the next biggest thing. They do so because of the challenge and because they have taken enough of the not so trophy class that hunting for "trophy" only gives them more satisfaction.

To my original point, is the focus we see on TV and in magazines, the SCI, etc., deterring more hunters from entering our ranks?

I know many of you think we do not need more hunters, that the woods and fields are too cluttered now. But I just do not see a future generation waiting that will become our next hunting generation. And has "trophy" hunting, exhorbitant prices, trophy fees, etc, caused some of this?

Look to the future, and then give us an answer.

After my response was edited by one of the cats, this is a good topic and lots of good answers have been posted.

quote:

It's always amazed me, how few hunters share the same vision let alone definition of "Hunting".

It is simply human nature, we are not carbon copies of each other. I would hate living in a world where everyone thought/felt/acted just exactly alike.

If a person wants to do nothing but hunt for "Book" trophies, that is their business and I wish them the best in their endeavors. When they start looking down on other hunters and what they shoot or how they feel about hunting, that is taking things too far. It works the same way if those of us that view anything we kill as a trophy, place the blame for increasing license/permit fees on the backs of trophy hunters. I think given an opportunity any of us would shoot a real book trophy if it stuck its head up. I wouldn't on the properties I guide on, because I want our clients to shoot those. Put me out on a hunt I am paying for and all bets are off, but I will not be purposely hunting for a book animal.

As for the thoughts about young people not getting involved in hunting, that is a real and major concern and in some cases they are being turned off of hunting by the very people that should be working the hardest to get them involved. From personal observations over the years Dads especially forget or overlook the fact that the kid is an individual and as such, may never develope the same feelings toward hunting period, let alone trophy hunting.

I have noticed the same type attitude in parents having kids old enough to participater in Team Sports, they get to trying to re-live their lives thru the youngsters and many times the results atre not what was desired.

Great topic MD, Thanks for starting it.

CHC---Good comments that I agree with completely.

If meat is the trophy then yes.

Sure I have a couple racks on my wall. None of them make any book but mine.

The biggest problem with "Trophy Hunting" comes with the management practices to produce inches of antlers. For example, Utah severely restricts elk tags on most of its herd to produce high success rates for large antlered bulls. The price for such a sure-thing is a hunter must wait many years between permits. An area which once offered opportunity for thousands now only offers opportunity for a couple hundred. I grew-up hunting elk behind my house. Now my son must wait over a decade for the same opportunity. How will he ever build a true love and understanding of hunting if permits are few and far between?

I usually hunt for mature animals. I enjoy the hunt and don't need to kill, nor the inches with a kill. I do not expect the unit be managed just for my hunting goals and don't mind hunting less-quality units in search of a mature animal.

I began my life as a hunter at age 12 in 1948, and killed a good 4x4 mule deer the first day of my first big game hunt. Over the next 25 years or so, I hunted for meat and shot the first legal specimens of the species I was seeking.

Over the next quarter century I considered myself a trophy hunter, and hunted and collected more than 60 types of big game animals on six continents. I sometimes came home without game because I hadn't found anything "worth shooting." Along the way, I also took more than a few good heads.

Sixty-four years after my first deer, I have lots of mounts, horns, skulls and skins from animals that I've killed. Like Billintewild,I still can describe every incident involving the taking of each animal. As I enter the last phase of my life, though, I find my trophies mean little to me.

I continue to hunt because I am compelled to do so by something that can't be explained. I just know I will hunt until I can't.

However, I definitely have outgrown my trophy hunting phase.

With a bit of luck, I'll shoot another cow elk when the season near our cabin opens next week, and I will be as happy with her as I was with the biggest bull I ever killed.

Bill Quimby

quote:

I continue to hunt because I am compelled to do so by something that can't be explained. I just know I will hunt until I can't.

The thrill of the chase, knowing you can still play the game, Accepting the fact that you are still a predator and enjoy being on the hunt. Any of those could be the reason you still want to be involved.

There are a bunch of VERY good views outlined here.
Several very good stories.

But this one here hits very close to home for me and really bothers the hell out of me. I don't know how to fix it though, I'm not sure it can be fixed.

quote:

For some reason, I feel like we are losing our children to hunting due to the focus on trophy/high dollar hunting.

I do feel exactly the same way though. My first Buck was a crabby little four point. I still have the horns, I always will have 'em. That was one of my finest moments. Thank God there where no "trophy hunters" there to denigrate me for shooting him.

But take a kid to a "deer lease" these days and they watch deer after deer after deer, no that ones too young....no you can't shoot that one is only 4 1/2 and under 131". No you can't shoot that one it's 150" but it's only 5 1/5 we gotta wait till he's 6 1/2".

No we can't shoot rabbits on this lease, it's against the rules, you don't scare the trophy bucks off.

Granted the trophy quality is getting better by the day, but with kids getting discouraged by all the "red tape" it's getting harder to get them interested in going.

I love deer camp, I love being out on cold frosty mornings,I love watching animals and nature in general, I love the anticipation of what may walk out or what I might stalk upon.

By the grace of God, luck, and some hard work "I" can ( or could ) write a check and pay for one of those "artificially" large trophy whitetails, but that just doesn't mean much to me, it's the experience more than the inches. It's being able to take a kid or the wife and see their excitement. The effort and exhiliration of watching them strive to do "better" every year from that first spike, to a forkhorn then maybe a nice six or eight point.

Being able to shoot a deer that satifies my criteria is what matters, having to be a wildlife biologist that can age deer down to the year and Boone and Crockett score 'em on the hoof from 150 yards, doesn't appeal to me. I know to some it does and more power to 'em.

As we mature our priorities change, we have taken forkhorns, maybe we want to do better, hell, maybe we don't really want to shoot anything. Could be we really want to see a newbie or kid get their trophy, it's all part of the experience.

I am a much richer man for my experiences, and gratefull to have been able to have them.

Hunting and shooting have taught me a lot about responsibility. I don't want my children and grand children to miss out on that, it's vitally important.


.

Hell yeah I'm a trophy hunter......and I like eating my trophies too!

I think like a lot of these "What if" topics, it depends on the circumstances where you are hunting. When I was young, deer were our only big game and they were not plentiful so if you saw a legal deer and had a tag, you took it.
Now my wife and I eat about 2 deer per year and luckily we can get 2 tags so I will shoot the first legal deer I see then be somewhat more picky on the second.
The only time I have truly trophy hunted was in Argentina and Africa. We must have stalked and looked over a hundred stags before my guide gave me the thumbs up. Ditto on buffalo in Tanzania. Even then we were hunting and looking for the best animals we could take but no tape measures were involved. I've never seen the attraction of "Mine's bigger that yours".

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
Yes and no.

.

[





[.GWB

Talk about a trophy! Tell us about that white rabbit-chimpanzee-bear animal you have mounted sitting on the table. I have never seen such a magnificant creature!

Perry

I'm still pretty new to this whole game, trying to still find my way and define my style of hunting. At this point in time, I'm more interested in the experience and the tasty treats that are cultivated from each hunt. I would love to have trophy representations of some of the larger species, but that's not my main aim. I consider myself blessed enough to have the opportunities to hunt, which is something many of my friends do not have the experience of doing.

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:
There are a bunch of VERY good views outlined here.
Several very good stories.

But this one here hits very close to home for me and really bothers the hell out of me. I don't know how to fix it though, I'm not sure it can be fixed.

quote:

For some reason, I feel like we are losing our children to hunting due to the focus on trophy/high dollar hunting.

I do feel exactly the same way though. My first Buck was a crabby little four point. I still have the horns, I always will have 'em. That was one of my finest moments. Thank God there where no "trophy hunters" there to denigrate me for shooting him.

But take a kid to a "deer lease" these days and they watch deer after deer after deer, no that ones too young....no you can't shoot that one is only 4 1/2 and under 131". No you can't shoot that one it's 150" but it's only 5 1/5 we gotta wait till he's 6 1/2".

No we can't shoot rabbits on this lease, it's against the rules, you don't scare the trophy bucks off.

Granted the trophy quality is getting better by the day, but with kids getting discouraged by all the "red tape" it's getting harder to get them interested in going.

I love deer camp, I love being out on cold frosty mornings,I love watching animals and nature in general, I love the anticipation of what may walk out or what I might stalk upon.

By the grace of God, luck, and some hard work "I" can ( or could ) write a check and pay for one of those "artificially" large trophy whitetails, but that just doesn't mean much to me, it's the experience more than the inches. It's being able to take a kid or the wife and see their excitement. The effort and exhiliration of watching them strive to do "better" every year from that first spike, to a forkhorn then maybe a nice six or eight point.

Being able to shoot a deer that satifies my criteria is what matters, having to be a wildlife biologist that can age deer down to the year and Boone and Crockett score 'em on the hoof from 150 yards, doesn't appeal to me. I know to some it does and more power to 'em.

As we mature our priorities change, we have taken forkhorns, maybe we want to do better, hell, maybe we don't really want to shoot anything. Could be we really want to see a newbie or kid get their trophy, it's all part of the experience.

I am a much richer man for my experiences, and gratefull to have been able to have them.

Hunting and shooting have taught me a lot about responsibility. I don't want my children and grand children to miss out on that, it's vitally important.


.

+1

Thanks JTEX

GWB

quote:

Originally posted by perry:

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
Yes and no.



[





[.GWB

Talk about a trophy! Tell us about that white rabbit-chimpanzee-bear animal you have mounted sitting on the table. I have never seen such a magnificant creature!

Perry

You noticed those.

Those belong to my now 3-1/2 year old grandson.

My game room became his "nursery" when he was about 9 months old.



All his "trophies are collected there also. The items you mention are some he scored with the help of my daughter (his aunt). She's also quite a hunter, it's amazing what she can bag with my debit card.

Here he is last month hunting trophy lizards in my back yard.






Tripod, king of the swing.

Trying to do my part to raise him right.

Best

GWB

I don't think I am a trophy hunter but I am sure that others would beg to differ. I don't hunt for the eat but make sure every last morsel is taken care of and given to someone that will utilize it. I won't shoot anything that is not big enough to go in my trophy room and my wife hates european mounts so they are all shoulder mounts or more. Have eaten my tags many times and punched them several times as well. The word trophy is in the eyes of the beholder. I am sure that some people would not mount some of the animals in my trophy room and I have been in other trophies rooms and seen animals that I would not mount or shoot. Difference of opinion what makes the world go round.

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:

quote:

Originally posted by perry:

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
Yes and no.



[





[.GWB

Talk about a trophy! Tell us about that white rabbit-chimpanzee-bear animal you have mounted sitting on the table. I have never seen such a magnificant creature!

Perry

You noticed those.

Those belong to my now 3-1/2 year old grandson.

My game room became his "nursery" when he was about 9 months old.



All his "trophies are collected there also. The items you mention are some he scored with the help of my daughter (his aunt). She's also quite a hunter, it's amazing what she can bag with my debit card.

Here he is last month hunting trophy lizards in my back yard.






Tripod, king of the swing.

Trying to do my part to raise him right.

Best

GWB

That is a fine looking young man there GW, and growing fast too. I remember when you posted that first picture.......seems like yesterday. Won't be long before you have some help loading those rooters your always shooting.

Damn time goes fast once you get old......

quote:

Originally posted by JTEX:


Damn time goes fast once you get old......

Yes, but I've learned to take pleasure in the moment. I was fortunate that I had a grandfather that was a hunter, fisher and scoutmaster. My mom had six kids by time I was 10. So she had no problem if I spent a week or even a couple weeks with my grandparents. They were relatively young, and loved to hunt and fish. When I would stay with them, Gracie would go out and dig worms out of her worm bed and take me to fish every day at a small public lake near their house. Gracie would fry up the bream I'd catch. Jesse and I would hunt frogs with a flashlight, smash june bugs with my tricycle and hunt for berries and pecans. Jesse was a barber and had a shop in front of his house. I'd get to sit out there and sweep the floors and listen to the tall tales he and his customers would tell. Mind you this would be in the mid fifties. High times were going to Rollover Pass and fishing all night long. Later he would show me how to still hunt squirrels and twist rabbits out of a hole, build campfires and whittle. He loved to make slingshots and "tom walkers" for me. He gave me my first haircut, and when I decided to straighten up in 1976, gave me my first haircut since 1969.
I feel my life has come full circle. I am enjoying getting to do the same things with my grandson that my grandfather did with me.

Life is good.

GWB

My biggest regret in this life, is that I really have not been able to share or pass along my experiences to anyone.

My Dad did not hunt, he liked to fish, but having been born in 1897 and raising two kids during the Depression, by the time I came along in 1950, as a just turned 54 year old, Dad did not really know how to "relate" to a baby.

I was born a hunter, no regrets about that. Only had a couple of hunting experiences with Dad, but he was not a hunter. My hunting desire came from inside me and from the few hunting excursions I went on with friends from school.

Over the years I ended up being married twice, the first time for 17 years and on August the 29th. of this year, Lora and I will celebrate our 20th. Anniversary. I never fathered any children, and in some ways, considering how I am, that may not be a bad thing, except I have no one to pass along the desire to hunt to.

I sometimes wish things were different, but I also think how better things might be when me and those like me have moved on to that next campfire.

quote:

Originally posted by Crazyhorseconsulting:
My biggest regret in this life, is that I really have not been able to share or pass along my experiences to anyone.

I have no one to pass along the desire to hunt to.

I sometimes wish things were different, but I also think how better things might be when me and those like me have moved on to that next campfire.

Randall,
I respectfully beg to differ. I'd say you pass along quite a bit of yourself and your knowledge and experiences on the AR forums.
There are many nuggets and "diamonds in the rough". Some folks just aren't prospectors, so they probably don't see them.

I'd bet there are a lot young men that would love to have a mentor such as yourself.

Between 1995 and say 2007 when he passed, there was a fellow that I became acquainted with that was a "tote note" used car dealer. Bob was a very unusual fellow. The thing that struck me about him was that he was a man of his word. If Bob said something was going to happen and you shook on it, you could take it to the bank. He was uncommonly kind to me and my oldest son. He would go out of his way to help me when it would have been easier for him not to bother. When he was terminally ill I made the acquaintance of his son. Bob had been married multiple times and this boy did not have a whole lot of parental influence. Pretty much raised himself. However he has turned out to be a young man much like his dad. He in turn has kind of adopted me as a surrogate dad. Bob left everything he owned to this boy and at 34 years old the young man is set for life if he minds his p's and q's. I guess we get along, cause I don't chase him and don't ask anything of him like so many folks do that find out the kind of money he has. A couple times he has asked me to act as his broker on real estate deals. I tell him no, son, cause you might call me and want me to go look at a property and write a contract on the morning I was heading to the hunting lease, and I'd hate to have to disappoint ya! Go find someone that you can control.
Anyway, fast forward a couple years and he is wanting to start buying rifles, get into reloading and hunting. I am helping him do so and imparting my philosophy in regards to being a man, as well as my thought about guns and hunting. In fact he and I are going on a black bear hunt with hounds between August 14th and the 21st. This will be his first real hunt. I do have children but this is different, and it is fun to watch him learn and enjoy with him the excitement something new brings.
I'd be willing to be there is someone around you that could benefit from your experience. You may just have to do some prospecting yourself.

Best

GWB

quote:

I'd be willing to be there is someone around you that could benefit from your experience. You may just have to do some prospecting yourself.

Me too.

I have a son, fine strapping lad, but he has a character defect and he would rather fish than hunt.

I got my main hunting pard when he was a sickly 18 year old, about twenty two years ago. He had sat in deer blinds in E TX but never done anything else.

He is now 40 and the vice President of my company, closer than any brother and we have hunted several state together, hunted everthing from doves to Elk and I'm taking him to hunt in Argintina next month.

It can be anyone doesn't have to be offspring, there are plenty of good kids out there that could use a positive role model ( or even a role model like me ).

Those are great stories GW, kinda like how I grew up, yours are just a lot earlier pard.


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