Let's Talk Trophy Hunting.

well I am a meat hunter

but the bigger racks get hung on the fence, minimum 4x4 to be considered big enough to hang.

I have no problems with trophy hunters, I just don't have enough time to scout and then wait for the big ones

I'll have to check my trail cams for the huge W-tail buck that lives out behind my place, bugger will be nocturnal now, but come the rut he gets stupid, perhaps one day I'll get him and hang his head on the fence :) There is a herd of Mulies around here too that had a huge buck, but he got hit last year on the road, F&G were on site to take the head.
 
I am a meat hunter and my trophies are the pictures I take when the animal is down.

More often the picture tells a more complete story of the hunt than just a trophy head. I or my friend are usually in the picture and you get a view of the terrain and the weather at the time of the hunt.

For me the pictures would bring back better memories of the good time had while hunting.
 
It depends on how you describe "trophy hunting'' If you're intending to utilize the meat then I don't have an issue with it.

If you only plan on taking out the horns or head and cape, while allowing the rest to rot in the bush, not so thrilled about the practice.

I've been on hunts with some very ethical folks that have passed up some very good Elk, Moose and Deer because they were to far to carry back to camp, without a lot of trips. I'm in that camp.

I've come across kills where the horns and cape were taken out and the rest of the animal was left behind. Such a waste.

It's easy to say that a Bear or the Ravens, Coyotes will come along so it isn't being wasted. That isn't a guarantee, just something to use as an excuse.

If you can't respect the animals you hunt, don't hunt.
 
We have 5 deer tags in our group. The other 4 guys aren't picky and only hunt 5 days a year so they fill the 4 tags for meat.

I only shoot 4+ year old bucks as that's what I want to hunt. I like watching deer and I will sit all week and if I don't shoot anything so be it, It doesn't bother me much.

Id be super bummed if we shot 5 does /small bucks on first day and we're done for the year. We could easily do it.

If I don't fill my tag with the gun I can bow hunt for almost 2 more months. If I don't fill it then, O well, Got meat in the freezer and still enjoyed the time in the bush.
 
Have no issues with it at all. They leave more game for the meat hunters. And I've never seen meat wasted from a trophy hunter in my life. Can't say that about poachers. Used to see plenty of moose out in the oil patch roads in the foothills, shot, and only tongues, noses, and a haunch taken. - dan
 
Well there is plenty of trophy hunter coming to Canada that can’t bring meat back home and the only thing that matters to them is the antlers/horns/skull/pelt! That meat that those hunters are leaving behind is supposed to get used, but I know for a fact that it is not always the case and often only part of the meat is cared for properly! But again if you hunt for trophy but also use all the meat and care for it properly then I don’t care!
 
Much like "assault weapon" the definition of trophy hunting is fairly loose and each have their own.

IMO, trophy hunting is the act of hunting, any animal big or small, for the sole purpose of grip and grin pictures and bringing back a trophy (not the meat) home. Any hunter who waits for a bigger "trophy" is NOT a trophy hunter as long as they consume the animal they hunt.

I highly recommend every hunter to check out https: // huntquietly.org/ and the Hunt Quietly podcast. I think ALL hunters need to be better in general in terms of how we portray ourselves and who we share our sport with. Posting grip and grins on social media/the internet for complete strangers is no longer viable in my opinion and I say this as someone who is guilty of having done so in the past.

"Trophy hunters", celebrity hunters and hunting influencers are hurting us the most right now and are a huge threat to how we are perceived by the general public.
 
track said:
I'm a trophy hunter. If you read my signature line, I probably saved many lives of animals. I haven't shot a whitetail buck in the past 5 hunting seasons. Every year I pass-up 40 to 50 bucks while hunting. Antelope, mule deer and whitetail are the only trophies I persue. Meat never goes to waste and it's consumed by myself, family members and neighbours. To be honest, I hunt to hunt. I love being in the wilderness searching for Mr. Big, and if I don't find him, I'll try the following year, that simple.
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5 years!!! Hopefully you produce some bone this year buddy!
 
scruffee said:
Much like "assault weapon" the definition of trophy hunting is fairly loose and each have their own.

IMO, trophy hunting is the act of hunting, any animal big or small, for the sole purpose of grip and grin pictures and bringing back a trophy (not the meat) home. Any hunter who waits for a bigger "trophy" is NOT a trophy hunter as long as they consume the animal they hunt.

I highly recommend every hunter to check out https: // huntquietly.org/ and the Hunt Quietly podcast. I think ALL hunters need to be better in general in terms of how we portray ourselves and who we share our sport with. Posting grip and grins on social media/the internet for complete strangers is no longer viable in my opinion and I say this as someone who is guilty of having done so in the past.

"Trophy hunters", celebrity hunters and hunting influencers are hurting us the most right now and are a huge threat to how we are perceived by the general public.
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I think we should be more inclusive of who we let into our hunting community. As long as it's done legally and the meat is utilized by someone I'm happy to have that hunter on our side. I personally don't think dividing us into groups or saying one kind of hunting is bad but this way is good will get us very far. We've seen this in the firearms community.

Also at this point I'm not really interested in hiding what I do or what I'm passionate about. I've done nothing wrong and I don't see a problem with posting a pic of myself with an animal I've harvested. There are literally hundreds of hunting shows, YouTube channels, etc. With millions of pictures online. I highly doubt posting a picture on a hunting forum somewhere is hurting our way of life. Hunting is growing in popularity with many people from all walks of life joining it according to a lot of what you read.

I do think that educating non hunters about things like the false narrative around "trophy hunting " is important though. Personally I'm not a fan of the term and thats why I usually put it in quotations. To me there's just "hunting ". If you're shooting something and just cutting off the antlers then that's poaching and illegal and I'll report you if I see it. These are just my opinions and thoughts on this. I could very well be wrong.

Anyway I guess we're not going see your antelope in the SK antelope thread?;)
 
I understand scruffee’s point about hunting “influencers” but think more like jbmauser on the matter.
I live in town now and try to be discreet when taking guns to the truck or handling harvested game.
I tell myself that it is being respectful but for some reason it feels like shame. For that I’m truly ashamed.

I think society is more judgemental than ever and if your actions or opinion is different than the mainstream it’s labeled “extreme”.
 
jbmauser said:
I think we should be more inclusive of who we let into our hunting community. As long as it's done legally and the meat is utilized by someone I'm happy to have that hunter on our side. I personally don't think dividing us into groups or saying one kind of hunting is bad but this way is good will get us very far. We've seen this in the firearms community.

Also at this point I'm not really interested in hiding what I do or what I'm passionate about. I've done nothing wrong and I don't see a problem with posting a pic of myself with an animal I've harvested. There are literally hundreds of hunting shows, YouTube channels, etc. With millions of pictures online. I highly doubt posting a picture on a hunting forum somewhere is hurting our way of life. Hunting is growing in popularity with many people from all walks of life joining it according to a lot of what you read.

I do think that educating non hunters about things like the false narrative around "trophy hunting " is important though. Personally I'm not a fan of the term and thats why I usually put it in quotations. To me there's just "hunting ". If you're shooting something and just cutting off the antlers then that's poaching and illegal and I'll report you if I see it. These are just my opinions and thoughts on this. I could very well be wrong.

Anyway I guess we're not going see your antelope in the SK antelope thread?;)
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I get your points but it's not about hiding what you're passionate about, for instance, I share all my successes with friends on my facebook, instagram, etc. I've just made the personal decision to stop sharing my success with complete strangers online or adding every possible # on IG so that the whole world can see, as it doesn't really benefit me or the community in any way. I don't fault those who do either, do as you please and that's fine by me. What I do 100% disagree with on the other hand are hunting influencers and TV show hosts who are hurting the community more than anything. Hunters are becoming more obsessed with filling a tag and killing animals than anything else.

I also believe a lot of hunting influencers and show hosts are disingenuous, they don't give you the full picture, they hunt preserves, expensive leased lands, special tags, outfitted hunts, etc, and paint their hunts as "DIY that every Joe can do". There's a ridiculous amount of bad product placement, they push merch that sucks with promises of big bucks knowing their listeners will buy it. I think hunting influencers are drawing in the wrong crowd to our ranks and are pushing the wrong behaviours. Success is great and I've killed my fair share of game, but I've always tried to be an ethical and respectful hunter. That being said, the bigger the hunting industry has become, the less ethical I believe we've become overall. There are some good shows out there that push the right message, but I believe they are not the norm.

I also think hunting shows/influencers focus too much on the kill. Most shows open up with a 45 second intro of nothing but kill shots. Is that necessary? I enjoy watching a good hunt that culminates with the killing of an animal, but people seem to want to focus only on the killing part. The bigger the "hunting industry" is getting, the more we get reports of criminal activity/poaching from hunting celebrities and influencers who feel like they must kill something at all cost.

Finally, I've hunted a few Provinces and States, and can say Saskatchewan is somewhat sheltered from a lot of the BS. We have a relatively low population with healthy and abundant game species. We are also very restrictive when it comes to non-resident hunters.

For the antelope, probably not. All I can say is that it's by far my biggest antelope to date! :cool: As much as a part of me wants to share successes with like minded people, I just can't justify sharing grip and grins with strangers. Again, I used to do it and will not fault anyone on this forum who does it either!
 
scruffee said:
I get your points but it's not about hiding what you're passionate about, for instance, I share all my successes with friends on my facebook, instagram, etc. I've just made the personal decision to stop sharing my success with complete strangers online or adding every possible # on IG so that the whole world can see, as it doesn't really benefit me or the community in any way. I don't fault those who do either, do as you please and that's fine by me. What I do 100% disagree with on the other hand are hunting influencers and TV show hosts who are hurting the community more than anything. Hunters are becoming more obsessed with filling a tag and killing animals than anything else.

I also believe a lot of hunting influencers and show hosts are disingenuous, they don't give you the full picture, they hunt preserves, expensive leased lands, special tags, outfitted hunts, etc, and paint their hunts as "DIY that every Joe can do". There's a ridiculous amount of bad product placement, they push merch that sucks with promises of big bucks knowing their listeners will buy it. I think hunting influencers are drawing in the wrong crowd to our ranks and are pushing the wrong behaviours. Success is great and I've killed my fair share of game, but I've always tried to be an ethical and respectful hunter. That being said, the bigger the hunting industry has become, the less ethical I believe we've become overall. There are some good shows out there that push the right message, but I believe they are not the norm.

I also think hunting shows/influencers focus too much on the kill. Most shows open up with a 45 second intro of nothing but kill shots. Is that necessary? I enjoy watching a good hunt that culminates with the killing of an animal, but people seem to want to focus only on the killing part. The bigger the "hunting industry" is getting, the more we get reports of criminal activity/poaching from hunting celebrities and influencers who feel like they must kill something at all cost.

Finally, I've hunted a few Provinces and States, and can say Saskatchewan is somewhat sheltered from a lot of the BS. We have a relatively low population with healthy and abundant game species. We are also very restrictive when it comes to non-resident hunters.

For the antelope, probably not. All I can say is that it's by far my biggest antelope to date! :cool: As much as a part of me wants to share successes with like minded people, I just can't justify sharing grip and grins with strangers. Again, I used to do it and will not fault anyone on this forum who does it either!
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Well dang! I was really looking forward to seeing it! Congrats anyway!

And I do agree with a lot you're saying about hunting shows. Ever watch The Hunting Public on YouTube? I like their channel. Ordinary dudes hunting public land and they show it all, the good and the bad.
 
I go deer hunting with a legal and personal minimum in mind. If I come upon a trophy animal, happy coincidence.

Literally have passed hundreds of small bucks. Doing that means sometimes you end up eating tag soup. One little buck, walking up the same track, sniffed the end of my barrel.
 
DGY said:
Well there is plenty of trophy hunter coming to Canada that can’t bring meat back home and the only thing that matters to them is the antlers/horns/skull/pelt! That meat that those hunters are leaving behind is supposed to get used, but I know for a fact that it is not always the case and often only part of the meat is cared for properly! But again if you hunt for trophy but also use all the meat and care for it properly then I don’t care!
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Pretty sure that's illegal everywhere in Canada. - dan
 
There are a few lines in hunting, I crossed some of my personal thresholds that tamped my enjoyment of the hunt. Still recovering from that really and adjusting to a new approach to hunting and how it fits my life. I rather went off the deep end of trophy hunting frankly, once you are assemble lists, or significantly measuring the success of your hunt by the tape measure, or make your living off trophies, it’s taking on a different hue. Won’t tell others not to do what’s legal, but will say it soured my enjoyment of what is supposed to be a wholesome connection to the wild side, wilderness, and wildlife. I likely hunted too much, as well, as with anything you reach a saturation point. Came to the point when I had time off, last thing I wanted to do was go hunting, my favourite Zim PH was the same way. Asked him what he enjoys hunting for pleasure and he said “Only birds.”

For me, hunting has always been a connection to simpler times and the reason to travel into places I would never go without the impetus of hunting. I don’t need to hunt to survive I can afford to buy meat, it’s purely recreational and I enjoy serving the meat I harvested. But for whatever reason, even as an avid amateur photographer I don’t find it drives me to the same lengths and depth into wild places as a hunt does. That’s likely my dysfunction.

My favourite hunts have been North Coast BC in the mountains, wing shooting in the cold North, hot South and Africa. None of it had to do with the big game we eventually shot, those were generally the low points for me and simply the culmination. Yes, you were excited, and proud; but those moments always marked the end of the adventure. Guess I’m grappling with hope to go the same places, as intently and with as much focus and with the sensation of freedom of walking with a rifle, without having to end the trip with a kill.

I will still hunt big game, but will focus on heavily sustainable species and overpopulated and invasive ones in particular, to connect my boys to the wilderness as I’ve enjoyed it. I’ll keep them far away from the trophy and tape aspects I was very into for a long while, and came to dislike. There’s no harm in what track’s after, seeking a fantastic specimen of a whitetail, an overpopulated and incredibly ubiquitous animal that’s hard to connect with an incredible example. It gets muddier as you start chasing rare animals, and pushing into their holdouts populations on other continents, a Bongo and Forest Elephant hunt I cancelled as a prime example. I need to find another, better reason to go to the Congo and CAR for a month or more.

Enough rambling, we all develop our own thresholds, lines to cross. Mine have shifted to avoid anything rare or rapidly losing their habitat, and CGN isn’t hunting that way.
 
Primarliy I hunt for meat yet I've downed a few big bulls and big bucks over the years. The meat gets eaten at home or shared with those who can not get out in the bush due to age, health or others reasons.
 
Hunting for a little over 30 years now I started out as the very definition of a trophy hunter...... I was after score book big horn sheep and nothing else mattered.
Then a workplace injury put me down for a while and my priorities shifted as it was physically no longer in the cards to hunt those magnificent sheep. I've shot a few with a camera since but not on hunting trips.
Hunting for me then became about meat and nothing more. I prefer game meat over store bought and fortunately have been a successful deer hunter year after year in areas with very healthy animals and numbers that are not being impacted by hunters or natural predation.
To say I am a meat hunter only would't be accurate though as I always appreciate and am proud of harvesting that buck with a big set of antlers...... but I am equally happy when I take any legal deer for the freezer. The wife sees me as a provider and her family has always been impressed with my hunting and the dinners I cook and serve them whenever they come to visit. I keep my mother inlaw well stocked with venison ground ..... that's my secret to making my inlaws love me LOL
I don't have a single problem with trophy hunting healthy populations as long as the meat is put to good use. Either kept by the hunter or donated to local food banks or indigenous communities. The meat should be consumed and if it is, then I fail to see an issue with Trophy Hunting in itself.
The Anti Hunters use the term Trophy Hunting to describe any kind of guided operation and I find the term unfair and arbitrary and is a term that has been weaponized to pull the heart strings of the uninformed or willfully ignorant.
I would "like" to harvest a trophy Big Horn..... I would "like" to harvest a trophy bull moose and even a trophy elk...... but as long as I have enough meat in my freezer from other hunts...... I won't be expending the effort to satisfy those trophy animal desires.
 
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