What trophy are you most proud of?

[Kiwifire111]

My wifes trophy husband!! And, my 2024 Wildebeest.

 

[DLSJR]

After 57 seasons of hunting so much game in many places, it’s difficult to pick just one. Some that come to mind include…

My very first sheep hunt, an Alaska Range backpack sheep hunt in 1978, when I was 19 years old. My parents sent me as a high school graduation present. I spent 17 days with a backpack, missed a really good ram midway through my hunt and finally killed a rather small full curl ram on the 14th day. For a 19 year old kid on his first Alaskan hunt, it was a grand adventure. I enjoyed it so much I went on a horseback sheep & grizzly hunt 2 years later, also in the Alaska Range.

My first African hunt was in 1983, when I was 24 years old. It was a dream safari by any measure, wildly successful on all licenses with great quality animals, but a couple animals stand out above all others. My first dangerous game was a good buffalo bull that we stalked in very close to in very thick bush. We were crawling in on 2 big bulls when one turned and walked directly across the front of us. I was shooting a 458 and the bull stopped broadside at 13 yards, but I had no shot as a large mopane tree was covering his front shoulder. The bull was staring directly at us and finally broke to run and I sent a 500 grain Hornady soft point into his chest. Roy Vincent was my PH and he said “You Missed”. I told him I didn’t miss and we jumped up in pursuit, running after the buffalo. It ran about 100 yards and its head suddenly dropped and he went ass over teakettle, stone dead. A few days after the first Buffalo, we were on the edge of a large herd of elephants that contained a good bull that was in musth. We got chased a couple times by juvenile bulls, kept dogging the herd in an effort to get a shot at the bull and we eventually got more than we bargained for. The bull charged, silently with his ears pinned back flat and we both shot him at the same moment, stopping him at 9 yards! There was a lot more to that hunt than I’m describing here, but 42 years after that hunt, many of the memories are still vivid in my memory. BTW, that first buffalo was 41 1/2” and the elephant was a 58 liber. I also took a big leopard, a bigger 2nd buffalo and some Great Plains game over 24 days.

Finally, one of the most recent African animals I’ve taken means more to me than almost anything I’ve ever hunted. 14 months ago I was fortunate to take a wonderful, old Lord Derby Eland. I had no idea how significantly that animal would affect me. As Lord Derby hunts go, it wasn’t particularly difficult as we took the bull midday on the 2nd day. But for some reason I realize how fortunate I am to be able to hunt such a special and majestic animal. Hunting Lord Derby’s is a privilege, one I’m extremely grateful to have been able to experience.