Abolish the Trophy Hunter Term
The term trophy hunter can conjure negative connotations between both hunters and non-hunters
In recent years the term “trophy hunter” has been thrown around a lot by people, but many times, this term comes with a negative connotation. When some people use this term it is often to describe someone who will only shoot monster deer, or target certain deer. Some people think that the killing of that animal is the only thing this hunter cares about. I feel that this is far from the truth and wish this term would no longer be used.
The first reason why I think this term should be eliminated is because the word “trophy” has different meanings to different people. To a middle-aged hunter, that likes a challenge and has shot some nice bucks, a trophy could be a 150’ class deer, but to an entry-level hunter a trophy can range from anything with horns to a doe.
The word trophy has no hard definition when it comes to deer hunting. It should only be defined by the individual and be based on the results that they want based on his or her ability. As long as you are truly happy and proud of the animal you have harvested, it is a trophy. If we are all striving to tag out on one particular thing, in this case a whitetail, doesn’t that make us all trophy hunters? We can take this negative term and turn it into a positive one by simply opening our minds. It is not our right to say what someone can and can not shoot and this is a large issue that is dividing hunters everywhere.
Another reason why I believe that this term can be harmful to our sport is because we are all in this together. What I mean by that is that hunters need to stand together united because we have so many people already criticizing us. It does not make sense to tear each other apart and give anti-hunters more ammunition to use when we can work together. The number of people who hunt declines every year and we need to try to hold together the small amount of people that we have.
To me hunting is not just a sport, it’s a way of life. Hunting should not be defined by how many mounts you have on the wall, but by the amount of joy and happiness that one acquires from it. As hunters, we need to stand together and bring back the tradition and impacts that hunting once had on a family.
Family is everything and hunting is a great way to bring it closer together no matter what kind of deer they shoot. We can all work together to make hunting a positive thing for everyone. Limiting our use of the term “Trophy Hunter” or using it correctly is just a start.
