WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER A TROPHY BUCK?

[Stalkhunter]

I like to keep my skills honed too, the best challenge for me is sneaking up on them. One of my best hunts was with Mike243, we were hunting some property in Blain, it had snowed above 1200 feet level. I was down low and so was Mike. I texted him and said keep your eyes open, I am on my way to you. Unfortunately nothing came to him. I said hey I am going to the snow line. I will have down by 11am . He said have fun lol he knows the climb I was about to do lol.
The day before I heard two bucks going at it, first time ever up there, so I took my time got to the snow line and headed west along 60 yards blow military crest. I would grunt and move and scan, I move 15 yards at a time and stop by a big tree to look and listen. I got about same spot I heard the buck fight the day before. I moved to look in the direction I was that day before over looking the holler. I grunted and by a big fallen blow down I seen a flicker of ear move, I grunted again and this buck came up out of that blow down like his backside was on fire. He'd went up quartering away from me. He was running I put the cross hairs of my 06 on him and then pulled it a bit ahead of him to lead and dropped the hammer. It was a great hunt. It was the chase what a rush. Thanks Mike 243 that was the best hunt ever.

 

[DMD]

Honestly...for me, it depends where I am hunting. Ohio is far different from TN. A large private lease is different than a small public tract, etc. But, in TN - a trophy to me on Public land is 3.5 years or older. On private - a 4.5 year or older. Rack size doesn't really come into view so much. Yes, I want to kill a 150" or bigger - But, I've never seen one in my life on camera or in person, so...I'm sure not waiting on one.

 

[270MONTS]

I get you cecil30-30. Back when we first started trying to manage for older bucks, killing a 2 1/2 year-old was a rare event. Some years, we never saw one. For that reason, an above-average 100" buck was a rarity and a real trophy. We've got quite a few 100" shoulder mounts at our hunting cabin. Those ABSOLUTELY were trophy bucks because they were rare. In the below pic, all of the shoulder mounts are of bucks right at the 100" mount, and we were proud as heck of them.

Very nice.

 

[double browtine]

A 135" 8 pointer or a 155" ten pointer would be a trophy to me.

 

[Kevin]

Killing one of this caliber or better every year is my goal.

I've never put tape on him, he wasn't the biggest rack I had a picture of last year, but he was my biggest to date.

 

[mike243]

I like to keep my skills honed too, the best challenge for me is sneaking up on them. One of my best hunts was with Mike243, we were hunting some property in Blain, it had snowed above 1200 feet level. I was down low and so was Mike. I texted him and said keep your eyes open, I am on my way to you. Unfortunately nothing came to him. I said hey I am going to the snow line. I will have down by 11am . He said have fun lol he knows the climb I was about to do lol.
The day before I heard two bucks going at it, first time ever up there, so I took my time got to the snow line and headed west along 60 yards blow military crest. I would grunt and move and scan, I move 15 yards at a time and stop by a big tree to look and listen. I got about same spot I heard the buck fight the day before. I moved to look in the direction I was that day before over looking the holler. I grunted and by a big fallen blow down I seen a flicker of ear move, I grunted again and this buck came up out of that blow down like his backside was on fire. He'd went up quartering away from me. He was running I put the cross hairs of my 06 on him and then pulled it a bit ahead of him to lead and dropped the hammer. It was a great hunt. It was the chase what a rush. Thanks Mike 243 that was the best hunt ever.

Heartbreak Ridge

 

[wobblegobble]

Just curious, how many 5 1/2+ do y'all average a year?

normally we have several that are 5 but this year on my place just 1! We knocked off all the older scrubby bucks last and the upcoming 5's must have died from ehd or rut stress! We have had 6 the last two years make it till feb. and never show back up.

 

[GumbyGuy]

Body size and age are what excites me the most these days.

Just looking at the back strap area excites me

 

[TNRazorback]

This guy

 

[Winchester]

4.5 and older with a rack that gets me excited! Usually something in the 130's or bigger but sometimes character plays a role.
I hunt mostly public so I try to keep it realistic.

 

[REN]

"trophy" has a lot of definitions for me and it has changed as I have gotten older. When I first started at age 12 it was almost anything with horns. Later in my teens it was anything over 100 inches. In my early 20s that moved up to 120ish. In my 30's age and rack started to come together so a 3.5 year old deer 120 or over.

Now in my 40's with a number of deer on the wall in the 130 - 170 score range its all different. Now I look more at age, mass, characteristics, uniqueness. Now 4.5 or older is the goal and something that is really unique!

I always had the mindset, even at an early age, that whatever the next "trophy" is has to be bigger than the one I already shot. My issue now is I killed a 170" deer last year with tons of character so I doubt I will ever top that in TN where I hunt so Im in somewhat of a conundrum on what the future looks like. If meat is what I really want Ill just shoot a doe, as far as bucks go if its not going to the taxidermist then it wont be in danger around me

 

[marty d]

We do our best on our small lease to look for mature deer. If you shoot any old small buck you will rarely ever have anything but small bucks. As far as trophy goes that depends on the person and the means used for taking them. My first buck I got when I was 14 was an all out trophy to me then and hangs on my wall today. But today would pass on him and most 2 to 3 tines his size ( he had horns but was small). That is just me. Also what do use to harvest with matters. A high powered rifle makes any kill easy where as something taken with a trad bow is a trophy to the shooter. All about perspectives.

 

[killingtime 41]

A trophy to me is defined by what adrenaline spike I get when I see him
Coming. Heart pounder equals a shot. I'd like to kill anything 3.5 and up. Would love a huge rack 130 plus.

 

[Outdoor Enthusiast]

Like many, my definition has changed over the years. I have probably killed the largest buck I will ever kill on our small piece of private land, but I will continue to hunt for bigger. However it will be hard to top a 161" 11 pointer in the hills and hollers of northern middle TN.

Anything 130"+ is certainly still a trophy to me.

Now I am focused on helping my girls kill their first deer so that will open up some really fun new trophy opportunities.

Plus when I started doing my own euro mounts I found great enjoyment in adding 120" bucks to my garage wall.

 

[deerhunter10]

It does no good to say that 140 is your minimum or 5.5 years old if you don't have one of those on your land to hunt, and then go hunt!
I try to find the top buck or two on my available land and then hunt those deer. Some years they might be 4.5 year old 160 (last year) and some years 3.5 year old 120( so far this year).
I will only target certain bucks, knowing that I might see that unexpected buck too that I had no idea was there.
So, I would say my trophy requirement would be the top buck for that area.

This is correct. We have never had a year we don't have 4 or 5 mature deer to hunt. That's why we hunt for age and not inches. We generally have a 140inch class buck to chase also rare we don't. But we have several farms and quite a lot of acres. But tou can't kill what's not there.

 

[102]

Any buck that is a good representative of age class and antler that lives in the area I am hunting. on pressured areas...

Illinois public...125 or better
Tennessee Public...115 or better
So. Bama ANYWHERE...large bodied for the area (usually 130 dressed or bigger) and ANY mature deer!

But ask me what I will do a shoulder mount on...150 or better (except for my 400th kill (maybe ANYTHING with antlers, my 200th was a 5 point I mounted...long story)

But I like to punch tags on BIG BODIED mature deer. Last year I killed several bucks. A 4.5 + y/o 8 point in Bama weighed 100 ish (dressed) and sported a 90 inch frame.

I also killed a WHOPPER 9 pt. scoring about 130 that dressed nearly 190.

And a 6 point STALLION that dressed over 150 and was HUGE but skinny.
Looked like a chest freezer with legs.

Didn't mount a one!

 

[gasman]

This is one of my favorite trophy bucks. First pic was November 18 2021. Second pic was November 21 2022. Same deer. Only deer I've ever killed twice. A lot of you will remember this one.

 

[chris1976]

I would rather kill a 110" 5 year old than a 140" 2 year old.

 

[ImThere]

If you can't see it with the tailgate up it ain't a trophy!

 

[nso123]

I have hunted the same farm for 20 years. I have seen a handful of 130+ inch deer on it, but they are rare. I see a whole lot of six pointers and killed a stud of a 6 last year that was at least 5-6 years old. I have also seen one at Dunaway that was in the 170s. Two different locations, and two different trophies.

 

[Whitetaillane8]

A buck that gets me excited when I see it. Everyone elses opinion doesn't matter to me.

 

[BSK]

A buck that gets me excited when I see it. Everyone elses opinion doesn't matter to me.

You're a smart man Whitetaillane8!