Trophy Hunting?

So, what is "Trophy Hunting" and why has it become a rallying cry for anti-hunters? Even among hunters the term is divisive. It shouldn't be!

Most of us hunters would love to shoot the biggest goose, the pheasant with the longest tail, the buck with the biggest antlers, the elk with the biggest rack. The bear that "squares" the biggest hide, or has the biggest skull. Why? Because normally the biggest animals are the oldest, the survivors, well past their prime breeding age, but extremely well versed in staying alive. They're often the most difficult to hunt. That's a challenge!

And then what happens when that big bull, buck or bear is down? Most often the "trophy" goes to the hunter. Hide, head, antlers, whatever. That piece serves as a memento of the hunt, bringing back memories of the sweat and aches needed to close with and take the animal. The good times with wonderful companions. Most often the meat is utilized, even treasured. In my experience, it's a myth that the meat from a big ol' bull elk or mature mule deer is bad. Not at all! It's often quite good.

Re bears, I had a woman, an intelligent woman, but ignorant of hunting, ask me "Why did you kill the bear? They're endangered, and you can't eat them anyway!" This was about a nice sized black bear I'd taken here in Washington on a spot and stalk hunt. I calmly explained that there are over 30,000 black bear in Washington. They're not even close to endangered. That the state issues tags, and in some areas encourages hunters to take a second bear! Also, that my family and I relish bear meat! It can be excellent! And yes, I kept the skin and skull as a "trophy" but that is just a reminder of the wonderful hunt with family and friends.

Am I pleased with the large elk rack hanging in my family room? Yes! Of course. It was taken on an incredible hunt in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming at nearly 10,000' elevation! We used horses to reach our campsite then located the bull and went after him. It took skill, stamina, and a certain amount of luck. We got about 300 pounds of meat from that animal. Delicious meat which fed my family. But mostly, I remember the friendship forged on that hunt and am grateful for the opportunity to take such a magnificent beast!

Recently I read a story about a fellow hunter who took a huge hippo in Africa. Was he after the meat? No. He was after the hunt! So... What happened to the beast after he stalked and shot it? The entire animal... hide, fat, meat, and even the ivory tusks (yes hippos have large ivory tusks inside their heads) all that went to the locals. He brought nothing home but the experience and a few photos. EVERYTHING went to the locals and they were grateful for the protein. I'd imagine they're also grateful for the funds from selling the ivory tusks. The hippo herd? It's simply minus ONE of many big males. The hippo herd remains undiminished. It's treasured as a resource by the locals, instead of them attempting to wipe it out.

Nearly two years ago I filled a dream of hunting the arctic grizzly. It was a grand adventure. On that hunt I took both a grizzly and a wolf. The state of Alaska carefully regulates hunting of the abundant wildlife there. With the grizzly tag I was given TEN wolf tags. Alaska recognizes that they have an over-sized wolf population. I'm sure they're disappointed that I took but one wolf.

Did I eat the wolf? No. I kept the hide and skull with which to remember the hunt, the cold, the wind, the icy streams we crossed. And the same with the bear, only more so. I kept nothing but the hide and skull. The rest of that meat, from the two apex predators, fed other bears, other wolves. Interestingly I found a study that showed hunters taking mature male bears actually improved the population of bears in any area. Why? The biggest threat to young bears... Is older bears! Yes, the big males eat their young.

All in all, "trophy hunting" is proven to ENHANCE wildlife populations. It does not deserve to be referred to as something evil or bad. Every animal I take, I revere.

Regards, Guy

Guy

I read an article by a hardcore goat hunter here in Washington. He ran into a backpack group, and one of the ladies asserted they hike here all the time, never seen a goat, wondered how he could an an endangered species. Set up his spotter and showed her 60+ goats from where they were standing.

People just gott'a complain about something. I blame it on to much free time. If they spent more time tending to their own business, they'd have less time to poke their noses in mine.

The issue as I see it stems from the fact that you are taking the life of another living being for your own personal reasons. For many people the killing of mammals is frowned upon except in limited scenarios such as hunting which is generally seen as having the purpose of getting meat for your own survival.

When the focus shifts from the substance (meat) to the inedible portions strictly for a "mine is bigger" type mentality is when people start to have a problem with it. Additionally many people see trophy hunting as simply killing for the sake of killing, I know several people that don't have a problem with hunting as long as you eat what you kill.

Additionally Trophy hunting in a way harkens back to the days of commercial hunting where we wiped out a large portion of the animals in this country. The poster animal for this being the Bison of which upwards of 30 million were killed in the span of a few years solely for the inedible portions of the animal while leaving the rest to rot.

For a much more morbid example look at it this way, many people would not have a problem with one person killing another in self defense (survival) but everyone would condemn them for killing someone for their possessions (trophy).

Was in Idaho and got suckered into big hole bugling.Buddy shot a six pt bull with his longbow,down was only way out at this point.We ended up on some nature trail 12 miles from our camp.Several groups off hikers and we where rough from packing,I had gotten bloddy nose and wasp stung.Most people not a word, then one group with daughter, "nice stag can we take your picture"we looked at each other with a grin.These nice folks gave us a ride to local pub,where another fine gent gave me ride to camp,guy at pub let me get burgers and beer on my word iou.What a fine day

Great post Guy, I find myself continually appreciating your thoughtful contributions here.

Was riding horses into Trout Lake, site of first kills by grizzly in Glacier Park.My father and father-inlaw both mentioned in book Night of the Grizzlies.Some people hiking in said, are you allowed to have horses in here?Then I told them that was how alot of the park and trail system was made and maintained

It is because some people genuinely hunt only for meat to feed themselves and their families. Not too long ago that is the reason that most people hunted I would say. That or to protect livestock or their families from predators. I think one of the largest mule deer ever harvested was never claimed by the hunter - it was shot for meat and somebody else came along and found the head and brought it back to town. This was a long time ago...but I still think it is in some record book.

There have always been "trophy hunters" but if you stop and think about it, a lot of the comforts of our present days lives make hunting a hobby or sport rather than a neccessity for survival - at least where most of us on this forum live. Because of that there will be those who criticize taking animals lives for sport. If you go back a couple hundred years did everybody have big elk antlers or deer antlers hanging on their wall to show off to their friends? I don't know the answer, but I bet it was a lot less common.

I have antlers hanging on my wall, nothing worthy of the trophy books, but reminders of good times spent with family and friends.

sp6x6 said:

Was riding horses into Trout Lake, site of first kills by grizzly in Glacier Park.My father and father-inlaw both mentioned in book Night of the Grizzlies.Some people hiking in said, are you allowed to have horses in here?Then I told them that was how alot of the park and trail system was made and maintained

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Funny... horses/stock were in many cases, the true measure of the wealth of a person for virtually the entire history of mankind with the exception of the last couple hundred of years. Now they're just a curiosity.

FIGJAM said:

It is because some people genuinely hunt only for meat to feed themselves and their families. Not too long ago that is the reason that most people hunted I would say. That or to protect livestock or their families from predators. I think one of the largest mule deer ever harvested was never claimed by the hunter - it was shot for meat and somebody else came along and found the head and brought it back to town. This was a long time ago...but I still think it is in some record book.

There have always been "trophy hunters" but if you stop and think about it, a lot of the comforts of our present days lives make hunting a hobby or sport rather than a neccessity for survival - at least where most of us on this forum live. Because of that there will be those who criticize taking animals lives for sport. If you go back a couple hundred years did everybody have big elk antlers or deer antlers hanging on their wall to show off to their friends? I don't know the answer, but I bet it was a lot less common.

I have antlers hanging on my wall, nothing worthy of the trophy books, but reminders of good times spent with family and friends.

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Pelts and hides were a major reason for hunting and trapping for centuries.
Buffalo as a prime example.

Personally, I like hunting the oldest, wiliest deer I can find. The sneakier they are the better the hunt. The deer on my avatar gave me the slip three times before I got him at 501yds. It was exhilarating. He was old, blading on his antlers, well past his peak and might make 140 score, but one of the better trophy's I've taken, but no where near the best deer I've taken.

Canhunter35 said:

Pelts and hides were a major reason for hunting and trapping for centuries.
Buffalo as a prime example.

Personally, I like hunting the oldest, wiliest deer I can find. The sneakier they are the better the hunt. The deer on my avatar gave me the slip three times before I got him at 501yds. It was exhilarating. He was old, blading on his antlers, well past his peak and might make 140 score, but one of the better trophy's I've taken, but no where near the best deer I've taken.

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Good point.

I was going to go on a little rant, but will refrain. What I will say is this, whether you hunt for food or hunt for trophies you better do all you can to preserve/improve the resource and places we go to harvest it, purely for the purpose of continuing being able to harvest it like we do. And, we better band together as a unified front for hunting because as we all know there is a huge movement that wants to ban it solely on the basis of some preconceived notion of moral superiority. I don't like to see animals suffer and bad shots make me want to puke, but in the end the goal is still the same. Fill the freezer, and if I shoot a Booner then freaking awesome...and you can bet that if I can choose I'm going to shoot the big one...at least most of the time, there are times where I will purposefully shoot the small one but its beyond the scope of this response. That being said, if you're primary goal is a Booner, then great but you better stand up for the meat hunters too.

Animal sentience isn't a rational reason to ban hunting in support of commercial agriculture, and furthermore its not a reason to ban commercial animal husbandry in favor of eating only plants. If that was the case the same logic should be applied to breaking bones. It should be illegal for you to anything that might cause you to break a bone (like you're femur, or tibia, or any bone) because its incredibly painful...see how dumb that sounds? Life hurts, and nature can be brutal. Obviously, the goal should be to be as humane about it as possible and not to cause purposeful prolonged suffering.

We should also strive to create environments where game populations are "out of control". I.E. extremely plentiful and set aside purely for the purpose of hunting. We should do everything we can to increase the numbers of wild game, "trophies" or not...In my mind they're all trophies though. Aside from the meat, I also like animal hides, bones, skulls, and antler. Its all awesome. I don't know how as a society we've gotten to the point that simply because someone doesn't want to do something based upon their own personal moral conundrum that they now have the right to try and force that belief onto other people who don't have that same problem. Especially when, BY FAR, the largest threat to wildlife populations is human intrusion/expansion.

Excellent original post and something that is clearly spelled out for most non-hunters to appreciate. I think there are many, including non-hunting women that appreciate the idea of a high quality source of non-processed protein, as game is.
There is the social issue that is being pitted against hunting by anti hunters but there is also a higher level to discuss when I think of "trophy hunting." I think you can easily argue that there are some that hunt with the perspective, I'll go as far as to loosely describe it as a more western view, that the hunter is the epicenter of the universe vs more animistic views of the those like most indigenous tribes of N/S America, Africa and Asia (and many modern Americans!) , where the hunt IS existence, not just one ego. If nothing else, what I consider bs hunting machismo, is easily used by anti hunters for their cause.