Do you hunt for the trophy, meat or both

[NBK]

For me, mule deer is all about fooling that old buck. That is why I rarely shoot muley's. I am waiting for the big boy (Trophy)...I may wait for years to come. He will step out in the open someday; making the proverbial mistake. I will take him to the taxidermist and have a mount recorded as well as have the butcher make salami and jerky sticks.

Geese taste horrible (IMHO) but are fun to shoot. I give them away; ya' I know, cook them this way, marinate them that way and they are great. They’re far better on the end of a Mustad (7691S) 10/0 hook with 800 yards of 100# spectra. Put the clicker on in goose camp, drink beer and wait for the bite! Coyotes make good fertilizer for the cottonwoods.

I have killed big Bulls...very tough meat; grind-grind-grind into burger. I shoot a cow every year in New Mexico but I put in for bulls in top units every year (build points) for the burger with the bigger horns than my last.

Shot a bull Oryx on the White Sand Missile Range (Stallion range) in January 2008. It was fun, they are fairly tough to hunt and kill and they smell and taste like poop. I have heard that if you cook them this way, marinate them that way they're good!

Hogs for me are all about the meat. Yum…

My family and I eat game 2-3 times a week, so both trophy and meat for me…



One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted.
--Jose Ortega y Gassett--

Flame away!!

 

[young gun]

Ive only been hunting for small game (rabbits really), but Ive eaten everything that was edible after I skinned and gutted them. Theres so many good recipes for rabbit out there. Ive already tried a few and they were pretty good. Although I do enjoy the "meat aspect" I also want to enjoy the "hunt" part more. Hopefully that will come as I graduate to bigger game.

 

[Lungpopper]

I hunt for both. But trophy is higher on the ladder than meat.

There is no way a game animal can compete with a Beef or pig that was hand feed by some kid and sold at auction. I'll tell you that is the best meat you will ever have.

Trophy is way higher on the ladder, but every body has a different idea of a trophy. For me a big bull is a great trophy. But its not as high on the ladder as a local buck that I went out two three times a week for the last three months looking for. The bull is magnificent the local bucks not that impressive. The difference is the amount of sweat that was put into it months verses a few days or maybe a week.

Allot of people just look at the size of the animal and have no idea how much time and effort was put into it.

 

[teachanother]

It depends on what I'm hunting for. There is some wild game that is quite good. For me, its mostly about he trophy. Here's my wild game top 10 list:

1. Quail, chucker, grouse & partridge (very tasty meat!)
2. Smoked Wild Turkey (Delicious)
3. Wild Pig (No boars please)
4. Moose (Yum!)
5. Pheasent
6. Big horn sheep
7. Rabbit (don't over cook it!)
8. Buffalo (Way good)
9. Caribou
10. Doves

Ducks, Geese & bear will never be on my list. Venison is a 15-17, it just does compare with a porterhouse. most of the time its going to be jerky on sausage at my house. You know what they say, "You can grind up an old boot and make it taste good in a sausage."

 

[Ghosthunter]

Me and my wife where talking about this yesterday, Being i have been hunting for close to forty years I am always out to shoot the biggest animal on the mountain but in the long run of the season we always want a freezer full of meat. I enjoy cooking all the animals I hunt and I love to cook wildgame. Wether it is Elk, Deer, Pigs or small game you have to enjoy eating your kill, That is the satisfaction of the harvest.

I have shot trophy animals and freezer meat animals and they all taste the same, good eating.

 

[BuckHunter]

Both.

I split my season. I start out looking for the trophy and will pass on doe and small bucks. About half way through the season I’ll start to re-evaluate the situation if I don’t have a buck down. If I’m local with two tags I like to put one down early then take my time on something special. That usually ends with an unfilled tag or a doe the last week to fill the freezer. We love the meat and will eat 3 deer by March if we can get them. Burger is so easy to make chili, taco’s, Philly cheese steak, spaghetti etc.