1st, this is in no meant to take anything away from BHF's thread. I was set to ask this the morning he made his post. But it does kind of help my question. Do you think the phrase "buck of a lifetime" (BOAL) and/or "trophy of a lifetime" (TOAL) are used too often? It seems these days that label gets thrown around with every really good buck, or hard earned critter. I just don't see it that way. There are members here who've got trophy rooms filled with bucks & animals of a life time...but obviously to them, they aren't. Which leads into, does a "TOAL" for one person automatically apply to anyone who kills it? I remember killing my 1st really nice buck & having a guy congratulate me and tell me it was a "BOAL" to which I silently thought...man I hope not. Does congratulating a person with that BOAL reference actually diminish the accomplishment when the phrase is thrown around too often? Or maybe I am just out in left field and all y'all think its ok for every deer you kill to be a Trophy of a Lifetime.
I think that the term is kind of thrown around loosely, and the only person that can really decide if it is a BOAL is the person that killed it themselves. A couple years ago my dad killed a buck with a 25" spread and scored 192" and he considered it a BOAL. However, just last year he had an encounter with a buck that ended up scoring 196", but he shot just under it. I don't know if it's made him reconsider his buck being a BOAL or not. To the actual question.... yes, I think the term is thrown around rather loosely and considering where some people hunt and the genes that are around, it's hard telling what a BOAL is. Every deer I kill is a trophy that is special to me, but I can't honestly tell you what I would consider a BOAL to me. However, the monster buck with 4 droptines that was found dead about 5 miles away would definitely have been considered a BOAL for me, it scored 254 some odd inches.
Not trying to be a smart ass but................ who cares? To me this seems to be micro analyzing at it's finest. If someone says, "Congrats, that's a BOAL or TOAL", they're just trying to compliment you and your buck. Nothing more. The only person it really matters to is the person who shot it. If it's a BOAL/TOAL to the guy that shot it...... then it is. I'm sure there are many different criterias that determines ones BOAL/TOAL, and it will definately vary from hunter to hunter. Accept it for what it is, then let it go. It's nothing to get worked up over.
To me I think every buck you shoot is a buck of a lifetime. Gotta pay respect of the animal that you are taking and also each one has a story about how you got the animal.
I concur with what I think you ment by saying that the "term" BOAL is over used. This is not to say that there should be a standard for which a buck is considered a BOAL. I think if you call every buck that you kill a BOAL, it takes away from the term.
Hahaha. Thats funny !! Hahaha I think you're reading too much into this. Obviously, a trophy is in the eyes of a beholder. And, taking the buck of your lifetime doesnt mean you wont, one day, outdo yourself. It will just be a better buck of a lifetime, unless you get more than one lifetime, which then it will be the buck of that lifetime, unless its in the first lifetime that you shoot 2 bucks of a lifetime and you shoot nothing in your second lifetime, but then you shoot a buck of a lifetime in your 3rd lifetime, then its balanced out adn you;ve now got 3 bucks on a lifetime in your 3 lifetimes. Ya know ? If someone tells me that I've just shot a BOAL, then either it is really a buck of a lifetime for him, or, he wants to make me feel good, or its really a buck of a lifetime
to each his own get out there and enjoy every minute of it. after all isnt that why we all do this.......i still get worked up coming to full draw on a big old doe....its the experiences we have not thekills those are just bonuses right............
In the heat of the moment, every deer I kill is the BOAL or TOAL. At the end of my career, when I'm done hunting, maybe I'll pick one particualr deer out. But until then.................
I agree that the term gets used too often. It is definitely something that is determined by the guy who shot the deer. Which would have more meaning, a 200"+ buck that you shot at an outfitter and had no history with or a 140" 8.5 year old that you'd been chasing since he was a 160" 4.5 year old and watching since he was 2.5 and gave you fits trying to get him?
