why does every deer shot have to be huge?

I went into a pawn shop not too long ago and they had maybe a dozen deer heads on the walls for sale. To tell the truth they were really kind of creepy.
 
Tell your son, "job well done",and give him a pat on the back for all of us. There is nothing wrong with a nice rack on a deer, BUT, I have yet to find a good recipe for it. Nice small doe = yummy. Big ole buck better have a nice rack so you can stare at it to take your mind off how tough the meat is. :D
 
I'm still proud of him but he has started to feel bad because it's not a 12 pt buck, doesnt weigh 250 lbs, he didnt shoot it from 400 yds away
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My bag this last season was zero.

But it is not the kill - it is the hunt. The hike, the climb, the stalk. The sights, sounds and smells, the natural elements, relaxation and companionship - or solitude. These are what make hunting worthwhile in itself and should be impressed upon all new hunters IMO.
 
I have to agree with the way this has gone so far, any first deer is a great one. I packed my first deer out of the woods over my shoulder, and carrying my 20 ga single. I was 13 at the time. (I still only weigh 140 at 35 yrs)
Definately not a big deer, but huge in my memory. I can still remember the taste of the meat when we grilled it that evening.
Your son's first deer will be like that hopefully, just keep up the good words to him so that he knows what You think.
 
I remember antelope hunting in Western Nebraska one year, and stopped to help a bunch of Game Wardens who lost an alternator belt on their pickup. One had been hunting and had an awful nice buck in the back, so I gave him our ice to keep it cool until they got mobile again. He went on at length about size, spread, bases, yaddah, yaddah, yaddah, until another old beat up pickup with an old(er) rancher, who stopped to see if we needed any help.

Well, the game warden started in on him, and the rancher went over to the back of his pickup and dropped the tailgate, revealing a buck that had everyone's jaw dropping. The now dethroned hero, stared at it while doing the mental math of the measurements, before starting back up:

"Well, you may have (may!?!? how about half again more) on length, but my bases are close (you wish!) and with the heart shaped horns, they will look good polished and painted with ivory tips..."

"You are going to paint your horns?? It doesn't have ivory tips now, why would you put them on?" I asked.

"Well... to spruce it up, so it looks..."

"Might as well give it boar's fangs and a great big honkin' rhino horn and red eyes, as long as we're makin' something up!" said my brother.
 
I'm with you Calvin. It bothers me that some people would take a poor shot at a buck instead of an easy shot at a doe.

Tell your son that this hunter sends his congratulations.
 
The boy did good. Tell him to keep on shooting those does and when that big one comes by, he'll be able to put him down. ;)
Funny story- the big trophy guy that I knew for years (last name was Dunn), called everybody's deer small, dinky, slick heads etc. and he never hardly killed a thing, and when he did, always talked about how he thought it was bigger - he was indeed, the trophy god. Well, the big one ran across the road in front of him one night.... he swerved off the road, down the embankment, and hit the deer. The deer staggered off into the darkness..... next morning, he jumps the deer and shoots it beside the road. Yes, he was of course, trespassing. Anyway, this was his story and he told everybody. About a year later, he had a big party, maybe 100 people there, and there was the deer - mounted on his wall! I said "Is that the deer you hit with your truck?". He acted a little funny, wanting to keep it quiet and everything. Well, from that night on, he answered to the name "HIT-AND-RUN-DUNN". :D Get it?
 
Hunting is about the quality of the hunt, not the size or sex of the deer you take. A real hunter, in this day and age, is more interested in the process than the outcome. Even trophy hunters, true trophy hunters that is, become trophy hunters because it improves the quality of the hunt, improves the quailty of the process itself. A real hunter, never ever sneers at someone elses kill.

Hunters who make disparaging comments about the size or quality of someone elses deer are those who naturally (and rightly) feel inferior; and try to feel better about themselves by killing a bigger deer than the next guy, or sneering at anothers deer. That is a BS game for the mentally lame.
 
I agree. We are seeing guys shooting caged deer in Australia so they can claim they have shot a trophy. Its sad.

I think we need to start a register of the dimension of the head or the weeny of a lot of the guys who only want to hear about big trophys.

My biggest 'trophy' was the first rabbit I shot 30 years ago. I have been prouder of that rabbit than anything I have taken since.
 
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