Thread: What constitutes a trophy???

Originally Posted by deer243

Tell me this, if a hunter has no interest at all in trophy potential or antlers and it totally means very little to them compared to meat why should they leave it and go home empty handed ??
So, you saying you should put complete strangers (other hunters) ahead of your own needs?
You dont know if who shoots it in the end is going to be a complete wanker or a good bastard. The hunter that has no interest in antlers at the time could of shot it when its in prime eating condation.
The hunter that might shoot it in its trophy stage is prob going to shoot it in the roar in its worst eating condation .
Depending on the hunter they may take the antlers and leave the meat or take just the back steaks and leave the rest, might do might not.
Is a set of antlers worth more than meat? Whats more of a waste?
In certain areas where people go to hunt for trophy potential stags yes, leaving a promoising stag is ok and prob the right thing to do.(and yes i would leave them)
In common DOC blocks where hunters just go to hunt why should a meat hunter leave what they want for someone else that might get it in its prime and when its a trophy where in all likely situations its prob either going to be shot before it gets there anyway or die from 1080.

Yes, i understand what you saying but it comes down to horses for courses. around here the trophy potential is way to crap. 1080 is dropped everywhere and we get more than a fair share.
They common Doc blocks where most hunt for meat and whats seen is shot .
Yes, around here im more than happy to shoot a velvet stag, a trophy or not and i dont feel bad about it . Other areas it could be different, and thats fair and i agree.

But dont judge others because they dont conform to your needs or wants, hunting is a personal experience and people can do as one wishes and i think thats fine. In the end DOC think they pests, they happy to shoot them all and leave they to rot on the hill or 1080 the lot .
No meat hunter is as bad as that

Its not nessarily the only animal you see though (it doesnt guarantee going home empty handed) so why not be somewhat considerate to the next guy. You learn alot watching animals not just killing the first. If it is the only one you see then go for if you need the meat otherwise why not wait til next time. My experience is its very rare to only see stags. Also during the velvet stage they are often bunched up and i think Dama Dama is suggesting dont just shoot the biggest one try pick the one thats maybe missing tines or has a ugly head etc.

Like i said up where you are in Nelson heads are typically not going to be monsters so maybe be less stringent but say areas such as the wider poulter/hurunui/ rakaia/ otago areas maybe be more selective. You sound like you already set your self some goals for what youd like while your freezer is well topped up. Its a good thing to not determine a hunts success in what you kill as the experience is worth it regardless. also every deer has meat but only mature stags grow good antlers so while they aren't worth more necessarily than meat they are only available if they are allowed to mature. Whereas killing a stag doesn't knock out the opportunity for meat hunters to the same extent.

I'm not saying your doing anything wrong as it sounds like you are already considering others by leaving some animals so i cant really ask any more of you as you have compromised from just killing the first of anything. I appreciate it and most guys do none of us are perfect and none of us agree what perfect is either lol.