Trophy Minded: Is Trophy Hunting Hurting Our Sport? | Bowhunting.com Blog I really think trophy hunting is good and bad. Bad in the way that it truly has turned hunting from a fun activity, into a rich man's sport. Good in the fact that the deer seem to be healthier. I actually own land and hunt in Buffalo County, WI, which is supposed to be the big buck capital of the country. It was sickening to see some of my friends that had family farms, get all obsessed with the big buck craze, and the money they could make off of it. They never talked about the hunt, or anything about the journey to get the deer, all they ever talked about was what the deer scored. They pretty much stopped hunting themselves all together, so they could focus on the "guiding" of their clients. I would love to have a trophy on the wall. I do like trophy hunting to a point. However, I also feel that a lot of people take it WAY too far.
i agree with you. i just dont understand this buck madness sometimes. living and growing up in south texas you basically have to be made made out of money to hunt, not to mention is near impossible to find land that isnt leased up or wont cost you an arm and a leg.
Hunting is SUBJECTIVE .... whatever it is for YOU is what it should be....there are elitists on both sides ...ignore them and hunt the way YOU want...
I think the author missed a very important point. Yes, hunters are passing on younger/smaller/inferior deer in favor of larger bucks... but the population as a whole has become more healthy and genetically superior to the deer of yester-year. Aside from that, our needs as a population has changed as well. We do not need to kill. We can afford to be picky. I will have a somewhat skewed position on the matter as I live in a land with millions of acres of public land access. Out here, trophy hunting helps. In a state of just over a million people we rely on these NR "trophy" dollars to fund our conservation efforts. The money is the same whether they kill or not.
Seriously came in to post this. I don't think one way of hunting is better than another as long as it's ethical. That being said, hunt for meat, hunt for a trophy, or hunt for fun and donate the meat. None are better than another.
I couldn't agree more, its almost like people just want to walk in a fn cage and pick one out and shoot it. Where is the fun in that. I love the whole experience of the sport, just being out in the woods makes me happy. Dont get me wrong I would give anything to shoot a 180 or bigger, but just being out there makes me happy. Its to bad that people have to be miney hungry.
Its no secret that I think trophy hunting hurts our sport. I skate on thin ice when I say this...but i would never ever work in the hunting industry. Its a hobby that I enjoy, and thats it.
Nobody can define "trophy hunting". "Trophy hunting" in itself, is pretty much a myth. Some feel a "booner" is a trophy. Some feel a "pope and young" is a trophy. Some feel over 100" is a trophy. Some feel a doe is a trophy. A single persons goal can not define what a trophy is for the rest of the bowhunters.
I think the biggest thing I hate about trophy hunting, is what it has done to land values. Now, this may be because I don't own a prime piece of land. My land is family owned, and while in Buffalo County, its swamp land surrounded by state land. Based on the amount of people I see on the state land every year during rifle season, no one wants to put in the work to hunt it. I see maybe 5 guys a year hunting it. My family has thought about selling it, and buying some hardwoods, but the prices around this area are extreme because the outfitters lease or buy a lot of it for really high prices.
Even more so than just the result of higher land sales on the market how about the amount of money it takes to hunt! I feel blessed to have built some very solid relationships with the few land owners (two 3 acre people, a 70acre place and a 5 acre place) that let me hunt for basically nothing...which means any meat they desire, a christmas card usually with a big thank you and gift certificate to restaurants, offseason cutting of trails/planting trees/farm work or anything else they desire.
If you live in south central Louisiana like me, theres no such thing as "trophy hunting" so when we go out of state and see an 8 point, we go WWWOOOWWW!!!
Trophies are different to different people. I just harvested an amazing trophy (to me) this season. She was the matriarch of the woods, the smartest doe anyone has ever seen!! Ruined so many of my hunts as well as my neighbors. I put a pic up at the pro shop and got more high fives and pats on the back than I ever would for a big buck lol.
