I think we need to clarify what a trophy is, and here's where we can start:
Is every trophy in a record book? No.
Is every trophy a candidate for a record book? No.
You've probably been in someone's trophy room. Is every trophy that person took mounted and in his trophy room? No.
Can we all agree on what a trophy is? I think we can.
Are you a trophy hunter? I think every hunter is a trophy hunter. That's certainly the way it is with a mother coyote that carries a fawn back to her den of pups being weaned from her milk to solid food. The African lion likewise has a trophy when he kills and devours a wildebeest. The size of the prey is irrelevant to whether it is a trophy or not.
I've been in some hunters' "trophy rooms." The animals on display are impressive, but who's to say that the animals mounted there represent all of the hunter's trophies? They most certainly don't. I have many trophies I have no mounts of, and some I don't even have photos of.
For some insight into what a trophy really is, read my January 6 column, "Trophy Hunting," in the Jamestown Gazette, FREE by clicking here!
To read other blog posts at "MISSION: HUNTER," CLICK HERE to go to www.EverydayHunter.com.
Photo by Steve Sorensen: The author’s first buck was a modest five-point whose antlers fell off when he was shot. Was it a trophy? You bet it was! .