What defines a trophy hunt?

[Legnip]

I just thought that I would put this out there. I've been reading a lot about QDM and best practices, but I would like to hear what makes your hunt a trophy? Is it a massive drop tine coming in near last light on the last night, or is planning and preparing for the hunt and everything happens just like you planned for it?

[DeerCamp]

to me any animal is a trophy. but to answer your question, i think that going out and finding a area and hunting it with cameras, doing all the prep work and bagging that buck that you have looked at during the summer on the trail cams. he doesnt have to be a monster with drop tines but i wouldnt pass on that either.

[Legnip]

My first trophy was the first deer (a doe) that I took while hunting with my Dad. Today a trophy hunt is having a deer walk or stand right under me. I don't have to shoot. I just like to know that I won the contest of seeing without being seen. I love the big horns, but they make thin soup. That doesn't mean that I try for every buck that I see. I still let the 6 pointers walk and hope for the big boy. To me it's just something special about being there.

[Robert Rowland]

A trophy hunt is when my daughters softball team enters a tournament.  ha ha.
A trophy deer hunt is when you take home a deer that met your standards of a "shooter".
As far as high scoring B&C deer around here, they are very scarce. What people around here would call a monster might get passed up by a lot of hunters in other places.

[JPH]

Let's face it, we're all worm food. That B&C score will not do us a bit of good when we meet our Creator. Physical trophys can be a kind of false god and can do more harm than good if we're not careful.
 
Don't get me wrong, I like my mounts, but they're just "things". The real trophys are the memories that I hold on to.
 
The sight of mist floating through the November woods. The rustle of leafs that signals an approaching deer. The way the brisk air feels on my face. The way my hands shake after the shot. The way little curls of steam rise of a freshly fallen deer. The feel of a smooth deer hide the first time I lay hands on it. The musky smell of a buck mixed with moist woods.
 
Those are the only trophys that will travel with me. So to me a trophy hunt is any hunt that fuels my memory bank with that kind of magic.

[Legnip]

It's the little things that make it a trophy hunt. If I can say Wow about something, then that's a trophy hunt to me. I had one where I was watching a squirrel. A hawk came in and tried to make it lunch but missed, and then an owl came in and hit the hawk mid air. All hunters went home empty that day, but it still sticks in my memory as a trophy hunt.

[burnnurse1]

I hope to get my biggest trophy ever this season........ my 7yo son getting his first deer!! I would trade em all for that one special moment!

[howhill1]

JPH i couldnt add to that at all. perfectly said.

[msbadger]

There ya go...each one of you hit the mark...........[;)]

[schlupis]

re-living the hunt through the questions asked by my children.