Being a Sportsmen’s and conservation advocate for over 20 years now, I’ve had the pleasure (and sometimes, disgust) in hearing from a lot of sportsmen and women, as listening to opinions, beliefs and values that vary like the wind whipping through Highmark stadium on a blustery winter day, is the only way to temper recommendations and actions this community has trusted me to represent them in.
Of constant talk, throughout this 20- year span, especially related to deer hunting, has been deer management and mandatory antler restrictions, limiting what buck is “old enough” to harvest. In conjunction, the debate over hunting for food vs trophy hunting inevitably bubbles to the surface. Conversations ultimately devolve, as passionate subjects often do today, with one of the points brought is AR favors trophy hunting – something the overwhelming public at large has deep feelings about, and opposition to, as perception harkens images back to the days when hunting was not regulated, and hunters could literally kill everything that walked, year-round. Some of these hunters were even documented to simply just want the head, leaving the rest of the animal to rot. This understandable aversion to wasting a resource has, over time, in my opinion, warped the idea of a “trophy”, as, unlike in competitive games, where the winner gets a trophy, the perception has pigeon holed what a trophy, to the sportsman, must be.
Yet, history reveals a much different thing. From cave paintings depicting the successful, and tribe saving from starvation hunts, to the royalty of European castles commonly displaying the most impressive, and enduring through time, elements of animals taken by the lords, it is easy to draw conclusions.
A trophy actually is in the eye of the hunter, not a standard set by some nebulous third-party overlord. And although many believe that giant racked bucks are the trophy when it comes to deer hunting, and many will laugh when someone decides to spend $800+ to have their small 4 point or 6 point preserved, wondering why anyone would spend so much for such a “common” young deer, a trophy is in the eye of the hunter, not something that is a set rule or standard; trophies are only so small, as if to classify the meaning of a trophy, into something it is not.
The true trophies are the memories made. That small buck may be the first buck harvested by a young hunter, and dad wants to immortalize that memory that he and his son shared. It may even be the buck dad shot while hunting with his son… it’s no never mind who pulled the trigger or loosed the arrow, it represents a milestone or achievement that, to the one who harvested it, it’s important enough to immortalize, as to always remember that special moment, regardless of its size, or its value in another’s eyes.
Isn’t that what a trophy really is? A special moment that happened. that you always want to remember? Why do the football players receive a championship ring? Why not just save a newspaper clipping, or a few photographs? Because it was special, and worth more than a picture to remember it by long after the playing days are over.
This is very much similar to the outdoors experience. Except you’re not competing against another, you’re interacting with the natural world. Memories fade, through time and increasing number of trips/ hunts you have had. But some memories are more special than others, and those moments are worth remembering. After all, when your days grow shorter, and when time takes its toll, forcing you from the field you enjoyed so much, the memories of what you did and with who you may have shared them with, is all you have left, and remembering is the ultimate trophy.
I’ve been hunting for 40 years, fishing for a bit longer. I have made thousands of casts, and spent many hours in the stand, and at camp. All great experiences, most remembered, but many details from those days gone by, diminish. But of all the moments, all the crazy shit I’ve experienced, some of those moments were truly worth always remembering, and, to this day, when I look at the handful of taxidermy I have hanging, I can recount every detail of the day of that success, as that “trophy” is the reminder, not just of the hunt or the accomplishment, but those who shared it with me, some of them no longer here. And the detail that is recalled is sharp. This includes the faces, and even the voices of those who shared the experience, now long gone.
To me, that is the trophy. It’s worth reverence and respect. The fish or animal itself, while being a tribute to its magnificence, is what brought what was important to me… the day, the circumstances, the people with me, and the breathtaking magnificence that the natural world truly holds. It also reminds me that the fish, or animal, lost is life by my hand. Although I ate it, sometimes that animal is worth more than the delicious meals provided. That fish, or bird, or deer you see on my wall? That isn’t the trophy. It’s the memory, one that I found worth never forgetting…
Rich, you really hit home on this one. I harvested a buck hunting at Erie County Conservation Society, my home club, and it had an unusual antler. On the right was 3 perfect points, on the left was 1 point and two points fused together.
I did a European mount of that buck and had friends tell me how silly it looked because of the deformity. What they DIDN’T know was that this was the first big game hunt I did with my son. He helped me drag it out of the woods. Later that day, we enjoyed a deer dinner. That mount is a permanent remembrance of that day.