LAST EDITED ON Nov-06-09 AT 09:08AM (MST)[p]This is the lead of an article I wrote about 20 years ago. The rest of the article went on to outline the parameters for judging a trophy buck on the hoof.
IS IT A TROPHY?
Competing for some warmth, two other guides and our six hunters from New Jersey and Texas huddled closer to the dwindling campfire. While they continued swapping hunting tales on that eve of the 1976 Colorado deer season opener, I placed a fresh log on the coals, then watched the flames prey on the hunk of wood.
The pine pitch warmed quickly. With no breeze to alter their route, the sooty smoke curls lingered a bit before drifting away into the night sky. I peered up at the star-flecked blackness and smiled, recalling a question my now 45-year-old son, Keith, had asked as an inquisitive 5-yr.old in 1967.
We had camped among the ponderosa pines in northeast Arizona?s White Mountains. Although it was mid-summer, the night temperature had fallen to the low 40s. Wrapped tightly in his heavy coat, Keith had pushed in tight against my wife for extra warmth and had intently focused on the fire. After 15 silent minutes, he suddenly asked, "Daddy, where does the smoke go." Knowing I would have no plausible answer, my wife smiled when I told the toddler the smoke just goes all the way up to heaven.
Right then, a client interrupted my musing, but I heard only my name. "Sorry, I was dreaming. What did you say?"
The man from New Jersey repeated his question. "What do you think our chances of taking a good trophy are?"
I waited for a few seconds, thinking about the irony. Although the question was less far-fetched than Keith?s, I had no definitive answer simply because I needed to know what comprised a trophy for him.
Little has changed since that night in 1976. Today, the adage, "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder," still fits. The problem is one of definition; a trophy for one guy might be a non-shooter to the next guy.
At one time or another, many hunters will harbor the spirits and desires of a trophy hunter. Unfortunately, the reality of it all usually takes precedence over spirits and desires.
Hunters supposedly kill about a million deer for each one that makes the Boone & Crockett (B&C) record book. So if my hunter wanted a B&C mule deer, his chances would be minimal at best and astronomical at worst. Yet knowing many older bucks lived in our hunting area, I could have comfortably said he had a 50/50 chance at a nice representative head, especially given the results of past hunts in the same area. But again, my answer depended on his trophy parameters and not mine, which might greatly differ.
If we stay with the dictionary definition, any memento of the hunt would be a trophy. And many deer hunters do follow Mr. Webster's interpretation. Certainly any youngster who kills his first buck will cherish it as a trophy, regardless of antler or body size. Actually, even a spike or a doe, where legal, might qualify a neophyte hunter?s trophy.
Then there's the middle-grounders. Although they pay little attention to concise parameters and rarely fret over a lack of symmetry or the number of points per side, they bestow trophy status to any mature, above-average buck. B&C scores are unimportant; they merely want a set of antlers for their wall. Many middle-ground hunters might also shoot a smaller buck as the final day of the season approaches.
At the other extreme are those who feel only a record-book buck deserves trophy recognition. Of course, these committed nimrods will sometimes tag a non-record-book buck that anyone would still call an outstanding trophy.
Those dedicated types who search for monster bucks have already paid their dues and gained the knowledge, experience and skills to locate and outsmart big deer. Most importantly, they have learned to be patient, often passing on average bucks. They can spot a buck, give it a quick once over and quickly evaluate its trophy proportions. This ability comes only from practicing what they already know.....
TONY MANDILE
How To Hunt Coues Deer
