What trophy are you most proud of?

[24on48hunting]

I also found one of his sheds from a year or two ago.

 

[hoytcanon]

After half a century of a life in the woods, as a hunter and guide, I have taken many big game animals... lots of them are "book" animals, although I have never entered one in any registry. Probably the prettiest animal as a representation of the species, was a Canada bull moose that I arrowed in 2013... and it was nice having my son along on that hunt.

 

[NoStepOnSnek]

Probably the old 6 point I shot. I didn’t fully appreciate him at the time, mostly because of some debate over age (ended up being 4.5 based on molars). First racked buck I shot, and with my grandads Model 70 30-06 that he gave me when I was 13

 

[NoStepOnSnek]

Probably the old 6 point I shot. I didn’t fully appreciate him at the time, mostly because of some debate over age (ended up being 4.5 based on molars). First racked buck I shot, and with my grandads Model 70 30-06 that he gave me when I was 13

 

[3chunter]

For me it’s the deer I took in front of the dogs when I was 17 years old. The kill picture still hangs at the club 25 years later. Here he is up in the house, just took the pic. In SC, this is a once in a lifetime deer for the average Joe.
Cool fact, the farmer was cutting cotton on the other side of the field in the combine and could not hear anything, when I shot him. The deer was running mock 9 and cotton stalks were slinging up in the air while I was throwing buckshot at him. The deer kept going across a dirt road and actually ran by the landowner and his wife. Luckily the deer died in a two rut road else might not have found him cause that place was super thick.

 

[Rifleman97]

For me it’s the deer I took in front of the dogs when I was 17 years old. The kill picture still hangs at the club 25 years later. Here he is up in the house, just took the pic. In SC, this is a once in a lifetime deer for the average Joe.
Cool fact, the farmer was cutting cotton on the other side of the field in the combine and could not hear anything, when I shot him. The deer was running mock 9 and cotton stalks were slinging up in the air while I was throwing buckshot at him. The deer kept going across a dirt road and actually ran by the landowner and his wife. Luckily the deer died in a two rut road else might not have found him cause that place was super thick.

I'm not gonna lie I didn't know people actually hunted deer with buckshot. Every shotgun only state I've hunted has banned buckshot and has only allowed slugs, I thought it was just some urban legend or marketing thing lol. I thought people only used it for home defense and wild boar. Cool story and handsome buck.

 

[Rimbaud]

Either a big stag I took last year in Hungary, or my beautiful wife.

 

[Tbitty]

I had to ponder this one for a while. Ultimately, I settled on the trophy I am most proud of only exists in my memory at this point. ...

When I was in college, I got a yellow lab puppy (Avery) that was out of a stud dog my cousin had that was from a line of phenomenal hunters, but a bitch that had no significant pedigree from a hunting perspective and no hunting use. So a bit of a question on what my puppy's potential would be. I took her everywhere as a puppy and young dog and spent all of my free time training her as best I could.
She immediately showed she had the heart and determination to be a great dog. At 5 months old, I took her dove hunting and she was retrieving like a seasoned pro. A couple weeks later we were teal hunting and she literally dove under the water for at least 30 seconds chasing a wounded bird that kept diving. I was kicking off boots and about to go in myself thinking she was drowning when she popped up with the duck in mouth and brought it straight to me.
But that was not my favorite "trophy" with her. 2 months later it's opening weekend of pheasant season. Hunting with my Dad, my brother and his pointing lab (Avery's Uncle), and our family German Shorthair pointer. A few fields in, Avery had been doing good trailing and watching the other dogs, engaged in the hunting and retrieves, but nothing too advanced. I take Avery off to a small hill that would otherwise be walked past as we make our way around the CRP grass, the same as I would even without her along, but looks like it might hold some birds. Avery gets extremely "birdy" and suddenly locks up with a picture-perfect point. I half brushed it off as a puppy doing puppy things, but engaged as though I would with our trained dogs through the years. Move up to the spot, talking to Avery with the commands we use, and then I step into the spot where the point is being held. The world explodes at my feet - you fellow pheasant hunters know what Im talking about- and a rooster gives me a nice shooting lane away from the others. I give him a moment to get a little distance so I dont obliterate him, take the shot, watch him fold, and mark the down spot. "Fetch," I tell Avery, and she's off like a missile. Directly to where she saw it go down, a few steps around to locate it, grabs it up and back to me. It was a point and retrieve done as if she had done it 10,000 times before, but being her first ever it was extremely special to me. ... I wish I'd have saved that bird and had it mounted. Or one of the thousands of other birds we chased in her life, from dozens of other hunts that were remarkable, at least to me, in one way or another. Best dog I've ever had, maybe the best I ever will have.

The pheasant itself may not have been anything special, but the hunt and story make it my favorite Trophy.

 

[HankBuck]

After half a century of a life in the woods, as a hunter and guide, I have taken many big game animals... lots of them are "book" animals, although I have never entered one in any registry. Probably the prettiest animal as a representation of the species, was a Canada bull moose that I arrowed in 2013... and it was nice having my son along on that hunt.View attachment 706232View attachment 706231View attachment 706233

@hoytcanon - taking that Moose with a bow AND having your Son with you = a WOLRD RECORD memory !!

 

[hoytcanon]

@hoytcanon - taking that Moose with a bow AND having your Son with you = a WOLRD RECORD memory !!

Yeah, it sure was... it is hard to get him out for big game...he prefers upland and waterfowl... he feels that big stuff is too "slow."

 

[Tbitty]

I had to ponder this one for a while. Ultimately, I settled on the trophy I am most proud of only exists in my memory at this point. ...

When I was in college, I got a yellow lab puppy (Avery) that was out of a stud dog my cousin had that was from a line of phenomenal hunters, but a bitch that had no significant pedigree from a hunting perspective and no hunting use. So a bit of a question on what my puppy's potential would be. I took her everywhere as a puppy and young dog and spent all of my free time training her as best I could.
She immediately showed she had the heart and determination to be a great dog. At 5 months old, I took her dove hunting and she was retrieving like a seasoned pro. A couple weeks later we were teal hunting and she literally dove under the water for at least 30 seconds chasing a wounded bird that kept diving. I was kicking off boots and about to go in myself thinking she was drowning when she popped up with the duck in mouth and brought it straight to me.
But that was not my favorite "trophy" with her. 2 months later it's opening weekend of pheasant season. Hunting with my Dad, my brother and his pointing lab (Avery's Uncle), and our family German Shorthair pointer. A few fields in, Avery had been doing good trailing and watching the other dogs, engaged in the hunting and retrieves, but nothing too advanced. I take Avery off to a small hill that would otherwise be walked past as we make our way around the CRP grass, the same as I would even without her along, but looks like it might hold some birds. Avery gets extremely "birdy" and suddenly locks up with a picture-perfect point. I half brushed it off as a puppy doing puppy things, but engaged as though I would with our trained dogs through the years. Move up to the spot, talking to Avery with the commands we use, and then I step into the spot where the point is being held. The world explodes at my feet - you fellow pheasant hunters know what Im talking about- and a rooster gives me a nice shooting lane away from the others. I give him a moment to get a little distance so I dont obliterate him, take the shot, watch him fold, and mark the down spot. "Fetch," I tell Avery, and she's off like a missile. Directly to where she saw it go down, a few steps around to locate it, grabs it up and back to me. It was a point and retrieve done as if she had done it 10,000 times before, but being her first ever it was extremely special to me. ... I wish I'd have saved that bird and had it mounted. Or one of the thousands of other birds we chased in her life, from dozens of other hunts that were remarkable, at least to me, in one way or another. Best dog I've ever had, maybe the best I ever will have.

The pheasant itself may not have been anything special, but the hunt and story make it my favorite Trophy.

Found a photo that was from that hunting day of Avery and me with our daily limit.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

View attachment 706361
Found a photo that was from that hunting day of Avery and me with our daily limit.

I'll have to agree. The dog days memories are the most valued trophies for me too. This one probably tops the list. While it is never terribly special for me to fill a honker bag limit of five in as many shots with a triple thrown in, shooting a pheasant triple is very difficult. First, it requires an empty bag (limit in Montana is three). And a gun that will hold three shells (most upland aficionados refuse to hunt with any gun that doesn't have two tubes). Finally, it requires finding three roosters together which is not easy, especially late in the season when I prefer to hunt (when rattlers are asleep). Three years ago hunting on a breezy November 4°F morning I finally gave it up after a fruitless hour and a half of freezing half to death. On the way back to the rig my Lab Ellie suddenly locked up ahead on the corner of the trail. Walked right up to her anticipating only a hen would hold that tight that late in the season but I got ready anyway. Stunned when three roosters flushed. I knocked the first one down going straight away through the willows and took a second rooster quartering to my left. Third one was too far by then so I saved the ammo. Ellie charged off after that one. I pulled off my right glove to grab a shell from my vest pocket. Just then two more roosters jumped up from the same spot! I dropped the glove and shell and folded my third bird as he hooked left. He fell in the middle of the trail. Ellie picked up the last two dead birds but the first one did a runner. Too much bird sign in that spot for Ellie to pick up the track so I hustled back to the Jimmy for my French Britt "Puppy". I took twenty minutes to warm up and then the three of us were off. Almost two hours later Puppy cornered the rooster at the base of a big cottonwood tree and Ellie broght it to hand. I'm guessing at least 300 yards from where it fell. That guy had a tire shot out and still running like the wind. That was my only pheasant triple for this lifetime and I wasn't giving up till he was in the bag.

PS: Dogs were warming up in the Jimmy when I took this photo. I found the shell I dropped but that black glove evaporated.

 

[HankBuck]

I'll have to agree. The dog days memories are the most valued trophies for me too. This one probably tops the list. While it is never terribly special for me to fill a honker bag limit of five in as many shots with a triple thrown in, shooting a pheasant triple is very difficult. First, it requires an empty bag (limit in Montana is three). And a gun that will hold three shells (most upland aficionados refuse to hunt with any gun that doesn't have two tubes). Finally, it requires finding three roosters together which is not easy, especially late in the season when I prefer to hunt (when rattlers are asleep). Three years ago hunting on a breezy November 4°F morning I finally gave it up after a fruitless hour and a half of freezing half to death. On the way back to the rig my Lab Ellie suddenly locked up ahead on the corner of the trail. Walked right up to her anticipating only a hen would hold that tight that late in the season but I got ready anyway. Stunned when three roosters flushed. I knocked the first one down going straight away through the willows and took a second rooster quartering to my left. Third one was too far by then so I saved the ammo. Ellie charged off after that one. I pulled off my right glove to grab a shell from my vest pocket. Just then two more roosters jumped up from the same spot! I dropped the glove and shell and folded my third bird as he hooked left. He fell in the middle of the trail. Ellie picked up the last two dead birds but the first one did a runner. Too much bird sign in that spot for Ellie to pick up the track so I hustled back to the Jimmy for my French Britt "Puppy". I took twenty minutes to warm up and then the three of us were off. Almost two hours later Puppy cornered the rooster at the base of a big cottonwood tree and Ellie broght it to hand. I'm guessing at least 300 yards from where it fell. That guy had a tire shot out and still running like the wind. That was my only pheasant triple for this lifetime and I wasn't giving up till he was in the bag.
View attachment 706362
PS: Dogs were warming up in the Jimmy when I took this photo. I found the shell I dropped but that black glove evaporated.

@Ontario Hunter - good memory and rare to shoot 3 roosters from same spot - but Not a “triple”….as all 3 birds you shot were Not in the air at the same time. Still, shooting a Double followed shortly by a single is still a great day hunting pheasant and especially if they were Wild birds. I would rate that day highly in my Upland book too

 

[Ontario Hunter]

@Ontario Hunter - good memory and rare to shoot 3 roosters from same spot - but Not a “triple”….as all 3 birds you shot were Not in the air at the same time. Still, shooting a Double followed shortly by a single is still a great day hunting pheasant and especially if they were Wild birds. I would rate that day highly in my Upland book too

I'll fudge it as a triple because there was only a momentary lapse before the last pair was airborne and all were in the same spot. Also, thinking back, I'm sure I had removed my glove before shooting the first two. Plenty of time and I can't shoot anything with gloves on, especially insulated. I reached for the shell about the time Ellie hit the brush and flushed the second pair. Strange that they didn't take off with the other three or when my gun fired. Definitely wild birds and the season was a month old so they were not inexperienced. Also on a federal refuge that gets hit hard by hunters. Shots were hard to come by that season.

 

[HankBuck]

I'll fudge it as a triple because there was only a momentary lapse before the last pair was airborne and all were in the same spot. Also, thinking back, I'm sure I had removed my glove before shooting the first two. Plenty of time and I can't shoot anything with gloves on, especially insulated. I reached for the shell about the time Ellie hit the brush and flushed the second pair. Strange that they didn't take off with the other three or when my gun fired. Definitely wild birds and the season was a month old so they were not inexperienced. Also on a federal refuge that gets hit hard by hunters. Shots were hard to come by that season.

@Ontario Hunter - I’d be happy with 3 roosters in a day regardless of sequence taken and especially if Wild — if any of those 3 roosters had “spurs” almost certain they were wild….all Pen Raised/released birds fail to live long enough to grow spurs (takes a year+)

 

[The creed]

in reference to the title i would say my wife. hunting trophy then i would say a mountain lion back in 2018 which we tracked for 3 days.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

@Ontario Hunter - I’d be happy with 3 roosters in a day regardless of sequence taken and especially if Wild — if any of those 3 roosters had “spurs” almost certain they were wild….all Pen Raised/released birds fail to live long enough to grow spurs (takes a year+)

No stocking birds on that refuge. The woman managing it thinks she can turn the pages back to Lewis & Clark days. She hates "invasive" pheasants and Russian olive ... that feeds and shades everything from coyotes to moose.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I don't think I have responded to this thread yet? Apologies if my memory is incorrect.

For me it's a moving target. Different trophies conjure up different memories at different times, and new ones get added to the list with the passage of time.

If you asked me right now today? Probably the gemsbok bull in my profile photo. An animal's size can certainly be a part of feeling immense pride over a trophy, but for me it's soooo much more: hunt conditions, who I hunted with, some aspect of the hunt (such as a new load I put together or a particular rifle I hunted with).

Here are two: the aforementioned gemsbok, and a medium sized bull moose from a solo winter hunt.

 

[deewayne2003]

My first man eating Royal Bengal tiger. The hide was gifted by the President to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II during her state visit in 1983. She wasn’t just another VIP that I met & accommodated during my career. She was a very likable, laid back & approachable person face to face.

View attachment 677237View attachment 677238

Another example of why I love your posts @Hunter-Habib; it's hard to best that one...... Killing a man eater and the hide being gifted to the Queen of England who you also got to meet.

For me my most prized trophy is my elephant hair bangle from my first African animal; tuskless elephant.

 

[3chunter]

I'm not gonna lie I didn't know people actually hunted deer with buckshot. Every shotgun only state I've hunted has banned buckshot and has only allowed slugs, I thought it was just some urban legend or marketing thing lol. I thought people only used it for home defense and wild boar. Cool story and handsome buck.

Buckshot is highly capable out of the right choke. I put 15 pellets in a 25” circle at 40 yards with my gun. I have probably killed 50-60 deer with dogs and that’s a drop in the bucket compared to many people around here. Our deer season lasts 4.5 months. Use any weapon and all weapons. Rifle, bow, shotgun, whatever. lol.