Sherri’s Corner – B&C Memories

Question: Who defines what a “trophy” deer is? Who has the right to tell you if your deer is big enough or tall enough or wide enough?

Answer: No one!

My absolute biggest pet peeve when people post hunting pictures is the comments of “It’s not the biggest deer….” “I only had 2 days to hunt this year…..”

For starters, the animal that you decided to pull the trigger on deserves more respect than that and secondly, if you’re only out there for the score of a deer’s horns or to get the next world record animal then why are you out there at all?

The picture that goes along with this blog is a perfect example of 5 very different, unique and awesome stories of “trophy” deer

The deer on the far left was taken by a Grandfather who chose to take this buck so that he would be able to give 100% of his attention to his grandson who had completed his hunter education course and also got drawn for his first ever deer this year. The boy’s parents don’t hunt so this was a pretty exciting year for both Grandpa and Grandson to be able to share a hunt together. This deer not only supplied meat for the family, the horns also got made into a euro mount.

The deer 2nd from the left belongs to Matthew (the Grandson) who did in fact, get his first ever deer with his Grandpa!! This skull is also now a euro-mount which will serve as an awesome souvenir for Matthew to remember for years to come, not only of his first deer but who he was with when he tagged out!

The deer in the middle wasn’t plan ‘A’ for Neil, but when his little girl Kamryn, spotted this buck in a clump of trees, her excitement sky rocketed as she told her Dad that she thought he should shoot that buck! So since she had been the one to see it and was insisting this was the deer he should tag, Neil did just that. Another euro mount to remember that day for Daddy and Daughter! It’s moments like this that help to create the next generation of hunters! Parents don’t keep souvenirs of the day their kids passed a new “high score” on candy crush!

Talking to Neil about his 2016 whitetail, he quoted “The trophy for me this year was all the hunting I got to do with Kamryn and getting that little whitetail with her”

The next buck was shot by a friend of mine who like many people, was a bit crunched for time this year due to work and wanted some meat for the freezer. After spending 2 days scouting and helping another friend get her first deer, he found this guy within a couple miles of home and didn’t want to pass up the opportunity. He was thrilled when he got his deer and was happy to have fresh meat in the freezer.

The deer on the right was taken on the 2nd last day of draw rifle season and not for lack of trying either, after going out several times during the muzzle loader time frame to no avail – the chance arose to tag out on this guy and my friend did just that with only 10 hours of shooting time left in the season.

So you see, as long as you’re out doing what you love with friends and family – that is what counts. We all need to stop making excuses for the animals we take and instead of responding to the “Did you get a deer this year” question with “Yea I did but he’s not the biggest/widest/tallest deer I’ve ever shot…” it should be “Yea I sure did! I made a great shot and my son/daughter/buddy was with me” Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to play down the heavy massed, tall tined, unique drop tine deer, I’m trying to play up the small deer, the typical deer and most importantly, the memory deer.