Why do you hunt for trophies?

[CBH Australia]

It’s just a part of who we are and we are all different.
Hunting evolved from taking meat to using skins for clothing and protection from the weather to furs later being a luxury item.

some people are drawn to hunting and some collect examples of various species. Is it just the trophy they are pursuing or is it the experience?

Does a sportsman only play sport to get the trophy or are they drawn to the game, the challenge the sense of achievement or simply the physical sensation of being in the game.

Do professional sportsman only play sport for the money, the prestige, the cars or to attract a following or are they just drawn to something and use their talent.

Does someone who works hard to accumulate art or antiques need to answer why or do we just accept that is their thing.

Taking the trophy, keeping a skin to display or collecting the horns or tusks is just a part of the experience and a reminder of the events.

I don’t think anyone really understands why we’d are drawn to what we are drawn to but if no one is hurt in the process it’s just things going full circle creating employment and people pursuing their own interests

 

[CBeck]

I have built several of the rifles in my arsenal, numerous knives, and almost all of my own leather goods like slings, ammo sleeves, etc… I also load my own ammunition…

This gives me great satisfaction knowing I played a part in developing and building every tool used in the hunt and that after a successful hunt, the tool was proven capable and worthy of the task..

I’ve gone so far as to building all of my own blinds at the deer lease rather than buying blinds.. taking a chainsaw to a full acre and clearing out a camp site, etc etc..

The hard work, whether physical, or mental, that ultimately leads to a hunt is a huge part of the experience for me… I very much enjoy knowing I’ve developed a set of skills that aren’t necessarily unique, but are certainly uncommon today among individual men..

lol…..I resemble that remark. My desk at the moment!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I predominantly hunt because there’s absolutely nothing more “In line” with nature than going into the wild, harvesting a game animal employing your skills at bushcraft & your aim with a firearm and then getting to process, cook & eat my quarry. It’s without a doubt the most natural thing of all.

In regards to the animals which I hunt that I won’t be eating (such as tigers, lions or leopards), it must be borne in mind that overpopulations of these game can be very problematic in areas where the number of animals far exceeds the terrain’s LCC (Land Carrying Capacity). In which case, their populations must be brought down to stable numbers in order to reduce human-wildlife conflict so somebody has to hunt them. That somebody might as well as be a person who enjoys it. That’s where people like me come in.

Sometimes, I like to keep a momento or a souvenir of my hunts. Something to remind me of a pleasant hunt. But that is a very minor consideration for me. Second to the act of hunting itself. If I was only concerned with collecting trophies, then I would have stopped hunting in Africa by the time of my 5th African safari. But here I am, going every alternate year (often after the same species with some degree of rotation) without even the slightest thought of ever tiring or getting bored of my activities. Clearly, I just love doing what I do.

Contrary to what many people associate with “Trophy Hunting”, I’ve kept trophies of very few of my hunts over the years: A Cape buffalo head mount, a lion hide, a pair of elephant tusks & a zebra hide. For two years, I kept the hide of the first man eating Royal Bengal tiger which I had shot. But I was eventually asked to hand it over to the state and it was gifted to Queen Elizabeth by our President in 1983 during Her Majesty’s state visit to our part of the world. I couldn’t keep the hides of the other two man eating Royal Bengal tigers which I had shot although I was permitted to retain the fangs of my third & final man eater. When I hunt my rhinoceros someday, I would like to keep a rhino head mount though.

On a related subject, I really have a bone to pick with the idiot who thought up the name “Trophy Hunting”. I personally find it to be quite one dimensional, tasteless and shallow. The name implies that we hunt game animals specifically with the objective of collecting a head or hide while we leave the rest of the poor creature on the ground to rot. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

[baxterb]

I was asked this once by my vegetarian boss. My response was simply that I didn’t hunt *for* trophies, I just hunt. If there are portions of an animal that I can keep as a memento after the hunt, so be it. If not, well, OK.

One need only take a cursory interest in the history of hunting (or humanity) to know that taking keepsakes from a hunt, be they hides, horns, antlers, teeth, hooves, bones, feathers (for Pete’s sake, can you look at ANY indigenous tribe across the globe and NOT find feather adornments???), etc., for practical use or not, are inextricably entwined with hunting - and have always been. To infer the opposite is the rankest ignorance. I like to refer people to Steffanson’s book on the Eskimo.

I also like to point out out that keeping non-edible portions of an animal one has hunted and whose meat been utilized has far less effect on the environment than all the make-up, and synthetic “technical fabrics” and adornments of the so-called modern environmentalist.

 

[CBeck]

In regards to the animals which I hunt that I won’t be eating (such as tigers, lions or leopards), it must be borne in mind that overpopulations of these game can be very problematic in areas where the number of animals far exceeds the terrain’s LCC (Land Carrying Capacity). In which case, their populations must be brought down to stable numbers in order to reduce human-wildlife conflict so somebody has to hunt them. That somebody might as well as be a person who enjoys it. That’s where people like me come in.

.

A very good point discussed frequently as a fundamental when I was in Forestry school. Most don’t understand the land and ocean has a carrying capacity for all species from fish to trees to man.

And I couldn’t agree more….Trophy Hunting has a negative connotation and quite inaccurate.

On a related subject, I really have a bone to pick with the idiot who thought up the name “Trophy Hunting”. I personally find it to be quite one dimensional, tasteless and shallow. The name implies that we hunt game animals specifically with the objective of collecting a head or hide while we leave the rest of the poor creature on the ground to rot. Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

[VertigoBE]

"Why do you hunt for trophies".
That's a very hard question to answer. It is not one I have really asked myself before, mainly because I do not really hunt for trophies as a main objective. I hunt, because I could not imagine my life without hunting. Although I do not come from a hunting family, reading stories, then getting my first taste of hunting, it awakened something inexplicable in me. Some kind of long lost genetic obligation to go out and chase and kill and eat and honour an animal. So "Why do I hunt" is for me as deep as the cave paintings of the first humans describing their hunts, chasing large fauna. It is "etched" in my being.

I have tried to rationalize why I would kill an animal while hunting, and I came up with the following reasons:
- For sustenance, to take my place in the circle of life.
- To end the suffering of a wounded, sick or very old animal
- To control a population, as a good steward of land and beast.
- To better the species, by removing weak examples from the gene pool.
None of these reasons mention anything about a trophy however.

To answer "Why do you hunt for trophies", you would also need to define what a trophy is. For some it is the biggest they can find. For others the most beautiful version of its' species. For some it is the rarest example of the species, irregular, uncommon or otherwise. Still for others it is simply the oldest animal they can find. I find myself definitely in the latter case. Age above all. That the size of the trophy often is linked with great age, is a happy circumstance, but not exactly the goal I have in mind when I set off on a hunt.

Honouring the animal, by "eternalizing" it, through a mount, a skin, a leather product made from its skin, is about keeping the animal somewhat alive. To show your respect for it and lock in the memories surrounding the hunt.

That's about as far as I got tonight... If I have more reflections I'll add them.

 

[Nyati]

I hunt for the experience of going after a certain animal, not the first one which crosses my path.

For all the feelings I will experience, that you my fellow hunters know quite well .

For all the new places and people I´ve known while hunting.

Then I will take back my trophies and hang them all around my house, and they will remind me of those experiences.

No excuses.

 

[LivingTheDream]

It’s a burning passion in me that I can’t explain.
It just feels natural to me

I would agree with this, if to add to it, to be humbled, for the challenge, and to remember my role and place on this earth.

 

[RichD]

I was asked this once by my vegetarian boss. My response was simply that I didn’t hunt *for* trophies, I just hunt. If there are portions of an animal that I can keep as a memento after the hunt, so be it. If not, well, OK.

One need only take a cursory interest in the history of hunting (or humanity) to know that taking keepsakes from a hunt, be they hides, horns, antlers, teeth, hooves, bones, feathers (for Pete’s sake, can you look at ANY indigenous tribe across the globe and NOT find feather adornments???), etc., for practical use or not, are inextricably entwined with hunting - and have always been. To infer the opposite is the rankest ignorance. I like to refer people to Steffanson’s book on the Eskimo.

I also like to point out out that keeping non-edible portions of an animal one has hunted and whose meat been utilized has far less effect on the environment than all the make-up, and synthetic “technical fabrics” and adornments of the so-called modern environmentalist.

We prefer to eat game meat over store bought. It's low fat, low cholesterol, organic, and natural fed. The few horns and antlers I've kept evoke memories of good times spent at hunting camps with good friends. Many of my hunting partners have passed away, but the memories are still alive.