What is a trophy Buck to you?

[Don Stenseth]

I think that everyones opinions may vary on what they consider a trophy Buck. Some areas just do not seem to produce big bucks while other areas are known for them. What criteria do you use, Width, Height, points, Mass? This picture is of my Brother Brian who hunts in Buffalo County Wisconsin which is known for monster Whitetails. This Buck is the number 2 all time archery non typical Wisc Buck only missing the number 1 spot because of a broken drop tine. He has several Pope and young Bucks on his wall from this area. What is a shooter Buck in your area?

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[Spinach]

To me it is definitely a mix of height, points and mass in any area. An 8 pointer with good mass and some height is a trophy in my eyes, i think mass is a huge factor in any rack.

[Pegg]

Your right Pat mass is a factor in a rack.   

[Super Star!]

Thats a good question..  A true trophy in my eyes would be a top 10 record book scoreing deer.. or a odd lookin rack as in drop tine or tines, non typical, kinda like a bush on his head.... 

[Spinach]

Your right Pat mass is a factor in a rack.  

Good eyes. lol

[Realtree]

In the area in south central MN where I have hunted for the past 18-19 years, anything from a 8 pt up is considered a trophy whitetail. We just don't see the kind of awesome deer down here like the beast that Don's brother Brian is shown with from Buffalo County, Wisconsin.

To me, with what I have seen and experienced in my own hunting, I am happy to bring home a nice 8 pt or larger with a good sized body, some decent mass, height and width in the rack and a good time in the woods with some great friends. Anything above and beyond that is just icing on the cake for me personally.

I hunted for the first time up near Waskish near URL last season and plan to hunt there in the future as well. Our camp took home a 7ptr, another buck which I can't remember the size of, and a couple of nice sized does. It being my first season up north, I'm not sure what kind of deer we will have the blessing of bringing home in the future, but I do know that OJ and the gang have brought home some 10-12 ptrs in recent  years so i am excited about our future opportunities at URL.

In all my years of hunting in our area in south central MN, the largest buck I have seen from my stand is the 8 ptr I took a few years ago shown below.



It is by no means a monster buck, but for our area it is on the upper end of the spectrum. It had a nice symetrical rack with nice tines and some good width but not a ton of mass. It was a nice bodied deer and we got alot of venison from him with a clean heart shot and not alot of wasted meat.

I still am kicking myself for not having a mount done of this deer. It is a much better deer than I first thought in the field and did not take the appropriate steps for mounting when we were field dressing or butchering...live and learn I guess! 

[Don Stenseth]

Man Super Star, You set some high standards.

[Super Star!]

Man Super Star, You set some high standards.

got to...

go big or go home. right?

[Cody Gruchow]

i agree with star lol but not the whole top ten stuff, because thats big

[HD]

Already got a 180 class......NOW........we wait for........the 200 class!


Hunter

[tripnchip]

What is a trophy, hmm I got a 10 pointer that went over 200 lbs, I got a  8 pointer that went maybe 180lbs,I have a 6 pointer I took years ago that involve some speical circumstances. I have more but I'll just use these to show an examble of my feelings on a trophy. None of the deer mentioned are book class but each one has a story behind it. To me the story of the hunt is the trophy.

[Cody Gruchow]

my biggest deer weight wise was my first buck, it was when we started QDM and we were picking the ugly bucks out of the herd as well as alot of does, he was a 6 pointer but we aged him at about 5 years old and he dressed out at 200 lbs. now a real trophy for me would be a 170 class deer and up, but i dont care about points as much as mass and height. i would rather shoot a high heavy 8 then a 10 with less height and mass.

[BirddogBenelli]

That is a great question.  My first "legal" buck was a 9 pointer with 10" G2's, 20 1/2" inside and 24"outside spread and weighed in at 203lbs.  Needless to say I got that one mounted.  It was measured at 137 3/8" and that is a trophy to me.  2 bow hunting seasons ago I was fortunate enough to get a shot on a nice 11 pointer.  Only 14 1/5" inside spread but it had a hole in the G2 that split into 3 points and the character was so cool that I got that mounted to, trophy in my eye.  And it was the first nice mature buck that I took with my bow.  Now I am itching to test out my new Diamond Black Ice by Bowtech...what a smooth bow!

[T.R. Michels]

While most of us equate "trophy" with the score of abucks rack, some hunters eguate it with the wirght of the bucks, or the difficulty of the hunt, etc.

After looking at the responses on my deer survey the majority of hunters equate it as a buck that scores over 140+ B&C or P& Y points. In general, in the northern states, that means the buck will have 10 points, and probably be 3+ years old. A nice buck by anyone's standard. 

I've asked several top archery hunters the question, and they invariably answer 120, whichis the P&Y minimum for typical heads. Again, considering the hunting method, a nice buck, and reasonable.

As a researcher and guide, who sees a lot of deer, and lots of big bucks, I look for 160+ for my hunters; and since I've seen several 170+ deer, before I get excited, it should score over 180.

But, I've been around long enough to feel that any buck over three years old, that I can get within 20 yards of, is a trophy, because I probably had to "work" to get myslef that close to it, meaning I spenc time patterning it. The experinece alone makes it a "trophy hunt".

God bless, and enjoy the great outdoors,

T.R. 

[bowhunter73]

I have 3 trophies, first one I shot with a bow. The first one I shot with a rifle. And the third one would be the biggest buck to date

[Faceman]

I guess for me I dont think about the rack much. We only have 20 acres to hunt and get what we can without shooting little ones. I have shot several bucks and three of them being descent but never measured any of the racks. I shoot for the meat and you cant eat the antlers. I get excited when I get a big buck only because they are extremely hard to get where I hunt. I have gotten an 8 pointer, dressed out at 190 lbs ( first deer); a 10 pointer, dressed out at 210; and a 12 pointer, dressed out at 217. I have seen bigger but not when or where I can shoot them. But like stated earlier each one has a story.

The term trophey to means a succesfull and enjoyable hunt while taking an edible deer.

[Cody Gruchow]

anybody else, whats a trophy buck in your eyes

[deadeye]

Well BHcody, for me it's not so much the deer size or antler configuration but more the specifics of the hunt.  It seems like the more effort I had to put in to get a deer, the more likely I will feel it's a trophey.  For example years ago I spent the entire morning wedged in a fork in a tree, swaying in the strong wind and freezing with the temp hovering in the teens.  Just as I was about to give up a small 8 point showed up.  I think more of that deer than a big 10pt I shot a few years ago while walking a field edge.  I looked in the woods and there he stood not 50 yards away.  In short for me it's more about the "story" behind the deer than the actual size of the deer.   

[Spinach]

So many topics to disagree with you guys and gals with lately. 

I totally disagree with the last few opinions on calling a heavily scouted, more effort put in, sat longer in my stand etc.... A "trophy" deer.

While that deer that you or i worked so hard for should not be overlooked and we should be damn proud of our accomplisments, that is not considered a trophy deer in my opinion, unless it has the genetics, antlers or weight to back it up.

I call that a deer to be very proud of and stories that we can tell our kids or grandchildren some day, not a trophy deer.

Both P & Y and B & C have minimum requirements to be classified as a trophy deer and i believe those are some very good standards to go by.

Can you honestly tell me that if you scouted a certain deer for months, sat in your stand for days, sat through a major snowstorm, walked 3 miles each way to your stand, uphill both ways and had to drag your deer through 2 ravines and over 2 creeks and that deer was a smaller 6 pointer field dresed at 135 pounds a trophy deer? i call that a great story to tell in the future and a great sportsman that worked hard for his deer and something to be very proud of, but I definitely do not classify that as a trophy deer.

Ok, i'm ready for a few arguments now.  Remember its's all in fun....... 

[Don Stenseth]

OK Pat, You shoot a nice Buck that is 10 inches into the book gross score but falls an inch short net score. is he a trophy to you?

[Mayfly]

Pat I agree with what you are saying but you are looking at this too black and white. Sure, a "Trophy" deer is just that. It is a trophy. It meets the requirments of a B&C or a P&Y buck and therefore that deer is a trophy.

The question was: "What is a trophy Buck to you?"

So you have no right to disagree with anyone on this topic because it is not up for discussion. Although the answers vary greatly the question is pretty straight forward.

A trophy deer to me?? I'm not sure yet. I know I haven't shot one and when I do I will let you all know.

If I would of got either of these deer last year I surely would of called them my trophy deer!

[Spinach]

OK Pat, You shoot a nice Buck that is 10 inches into the book gross score but falls an inch short net score. is he a trophy to you?

Thats a tough question, truthfully very hard to answer. Off the top of my head, I would say no, it is not a trophy.

I know there is not a correct answer either, which makes it even more difficult to answer.

[Spinach]

I know what your saying Tim....... Whats that old saying " A trophy is in the eye of the beholder" or something like that.

I just think the word trophy in this scenario is the keyword. Would any of you answered this question differently if the question was "What is a real trophy buck"?

What would you think if i called you for help and said on the phone that i just shot a trophy buck, your heart would be racing and you'd probably drop what you were doing to lend a hand. Then you show up and here I am with a 6 pointer 135 pound deer. What would you say? Assuming you dont want to hury my feelings as I know none of us would. Would you hype it up a lot and keep using the word trophy every time we talked about that deer or would you basically congratulate me on my deer and still help out, take some pics and tell me nice shot, it sure is a pretty deer etc....

I don't think youd leave and start calling your friends and family telling them that i just shot a trophy buck. lol

[deadeye]

Pat, good arguments but you still havent converted me.    I still agree with " A trophy is in the eye of the beholder", unless of course it's a TV show.  They would look kinda silly holding the 135lb 6pt calling it a trophy.  
Besides, my little 8pt weighed at least 140 pounds. 

[Cody Gruchow]

to me a 6 point maybe a trophy deer, my first buck was a mature 6 point and there was nobody around that was happyier about it. i still look at that rack on the wall with pride, now im after what everyone would say is a real trophy. now those deer in the cam photos tim posted are trophy deer in my eyes, they both would make p&y easily i think the lowest score allowed for P&Y is like 120 class now dont quote me on that. they fact that i do scout after a certian deer, i hunt for that deer only, and ignore all others unless something bigger happens to walk by that i couldnt ignore. now pat everything you said does make sense, but i think the question was what is a trophy deer in your eyes.

[todd]

 
so this would be a little late but I agree with pat.
I you think it's a trophy then who am I to say anything.
My biggest buck was a 16 pointer and tip the scale at 196 but the one I'm most proud of is the spike I shot last year with my son!

[deadeye]

Damn Pat, all along I thought this was a trophy.  Now I gotta go get a bigger one so I can say I got a trophy.   

[Super Star!]

If I would of got either of these deer last year I surely would of called them my trophy deer!

Tim dont shoot bambis let those boys grow shoot the top one this year he should be nice..