Notice to Deer Hunters: Larry Benoit RIP

[DogCatMom]

Larry Benoit, hunter of large bucks, has passed. This article has the specifics.

Undoubtedly a great and talented hunter! My question is: why, after one or two showy heads, continue to take bucks, likely to be the healthiest and strongest of a herd?

I haven't ever hunted, although I support hunting both for food and for (esp.) pest reduction. The deer in California can denude the landscape without even breathing hard.

So...why so many bucks? Prestige? I seek insight here, not controversy.

Thank you, and condolences to those who admired Mr. Benoit.

 

[grumpy]

One word: Money. It's that simple.

 

[TMTex]

RIP Larry.

As far as the trophy hunters, I don't understand it either. I've hunted deer for many years and have always been a cull hunter. If a buck with a decent rack comes by, I ignore him. Always have.

I don't understand the money thing either. Would someone be interested in a trophy that someone else shot? Hard to wrap my head around that one.

 

[PSFAngoras]

I don't trophy hunt, I will usually go for the first deer that I can get close enough to since with traditional archery you have to be within a very close distance, but for those that do it ethically, I can understand.

We have a good family friend that is an avid hunter, and usually goes for the larger bucks. His theory is that since they are the top animal, they get to breed more, and by the time that they reach their large trophy size, they have had enough time to spread those genetics around. By thinning these bucks out, he opens the chances for the younger bucks and new genetics to spread within the herd, increasing the herds chances of resistance against diseases and illness. I think he is completely right.

That being said, this same hunter will go for the weaker animal if he sees them suffering. Last year, he had his eye on a very nice buck that he'd been watching for weeks. Instead, he passed the buck up for a much smaller buck who had broken his jaw.

Also, no matter the size of the animal, he always makes sure the meat goes to use. We have gothen more than one deer from him when we haven't had luck ourselves and his freezer was already full.

I admit, most trophy hunters are unethical and are only in it for the antlers, but done ethically like our friend does, there is a good purpose behind it.

 

[Miss M]

The trophy hunters I've heard of don't waste the meat... they give it to friends or family, or donate it to shelters. They may be in it only for the antlers, but at least the rest of the animal doesn't go to waste.

Last year, our neighbor's brother shot a turkey. All he wanted was the beard and something else, can't remember. They gave the turkey to us, and we sure were grateful!

But as for WHY someone would want to hunt deer just for antlers? I don't know. I am consoled by the fact that the meat doesn't go to waste (for the ones I have known about), but I still don't really understand it.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

We have a good family friend that is an avid hunter, and usually goes for the larger bucks. His theory is that since they are the top animal, they get to breed more, and by the time that they reach their large trophy size, they have had enough time to spread those genetics around.

Interesting. I may be the victim of ARA propaganda, because I had heard that the overall size of trophy animals has declined since the biggest and best are culled by trophy hunters. :thinking: But it does make perfect sense that they have already contributed to the gene pool, so their young will continue to spread those superior genes.

I would probably go for a younger animal so the meat would be more tender and hopefully less gamey. With his views in mind, that would probably be more detrimental to the overall health of the herd.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I would take a big buck year after year if one walked by...because big tough stringy old buck is still more meat than tender little button-buck the size of a smallish German Shepherd.

However, I don't hunt where there's a plethora of big bucks, LOL. So I don't have a "collection" of nice bucks like my dad has. He goes way up north into Northern Ontario every other year to shoot massive whitetails. For him, it's the fun of the trip (think "wilderness vacation"), a road trip with buddies, and the fun of going out into some of the best pristine woods ever to hunt for shockingly huge bucks.

He takes deer that around here would be unheard-of huge!!! For that area though, they are just mediocre.

Of course, for "herd management" the DNR wants people to shoot does more often and more readily, so I happily shoot the biggest, fattest or oldest does I find just as eagerly as I do the bucks, LOL. Whatever I have a license for...I want to fill my tag- AND MY FREEZER. :dinner:

IF I had a bunch of bucks, though, I would do some nice European-style mounts (aka "skull-mounts) and decorate my future home with them. The sight of each one would remind me of a fantastic moment in my life, and be a profound reflection on how taking an animal who has lived life just as nature intended is far better than anything raised in a muddy, crowded feedlot.

__________ Sat Oct 12, 2013 12:38 pm __________

Oh and by the way, my dad's "collection" of nice bucks is like...six deer. One of which is a rather unimpressive but attractively-symmetrical little six-point...the first buck he ever shot.

To my eternal dismay, the first buck of my life will never hang on my wall...while my farmer friend was drying it, one of his migrant workers found it and threw it away. Especially sad because that buck was a unicorn. Literally. I shot "him" from a hundred-and-ten yards away with my scope set to thirty yards...and on a doe permit. I hit him on the left side, blew out both lungs and liquefied his heart at the same time; I know that deer did not suffer! But when I got to that "doe," I discovered that, though there was NOTHING on the left side of his head, he had a tiny little single spike on the right!!! :lol: Upon measurement, it was still under three inches (which counts as "antlerless" here) so I slapped my doe tag on him and declared my first buck bagged!!! :lol: And a pathetic looking buck at that!

I'd intended on mounting him but the dern farm workers thought a dried deer head was gross and chucked it.

Dangitall, how many times in a man's life will he get to shoot a UNICORN???? :lol: I may well never get another one.

 

[DonnerSurvivor]

I dont really understand trophy hunting myself. I typically shoot the first large deer I see which is anything not a fawn. I figure I farm everyday I can so there is no need to go out and try and farm wild deer, The people who promote trophy hunting for "herd health" are so full of it their eyes are brown imo. You would never see a farmer go out and shoot his nicest bull in hopes that some lil scrub calf will grow up to be even better. Its all about bragging rights in my opinion.

 

[grumpy]

RIP Larry.
I don't understand the money thing either. Would someone be interested in a trophy that someone else shot? Hard to wrap my head around that one.

It's pretty simple, really. It boils down to creating a reputation
as a 'trophy hunter' and documenting these hunts and harvests on camera.

Once this is established, imagine the income from product endorsements.
Consider the sales in videos. The speaking engagements. Autograph signings.

It's an unending cash-cow as long as the 'trophies' keep coming.
Fame is money. Money fuels more hunts...more trophies. More video sales.

on and on and on....it becomes an addiction.
A way of life and making a lucrative living.

grumpy.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

I don't understand the money thing either. Would someone be interested in a trophy that someone else shot? Hard to wrap my head around that one.

Somehow I missed this until Grumpy replied to it.

Saw somewhere where people pay TOP DOLLAR for trophy deer someone else shot. I dunno why, to me that defeats the purpose...to me, the "trophy" has to go along with the story behind it, either told by the person who took that deer, or by their descendants. The tale of how Grandad paid $25,000 for a deer someone else shot just doesn't appeal to me.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Saw somewhere where people pay TOP DOLLAR for trophy deer someone else shot. I dunno why, to me that defeats the purpose...

I think it is having something from a celebrity. People pay top dollar for memorabilia from actors/actresses and singers- why not trophy hunters?

 

[grumpy]

The two large bucks I took 12 days apart a few years ago
are worth quite a lot of money. I hesitate to venture a
guess as to how much they would bring if I offered them
for sale on some of the exclusive sites offering 'big'
buck mounts for sale.

I agree, they'd mean NOTHING to me if someone else
harvested them. But........that's "me".

Others, with more money than time, would not hesitate
in buying one of these and proudly place them in their
""Trophy-Room"". Trophies bought and paid for, along with
a "WHOPPER" of a story in how they themselves got it.

There's tens of thousands of individuals out there that
do this with no compunction, nor conscience about the
rules of fair-chase.

I've been told by outfitters and guides that
the pair of mounts I own would bring three to five
thousand a piece if I offered them. It's crazy!

grumpy.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

There's tens of thousands of individuals out there that
do this with no compunction, nor conscience about the
rules of fair-chase.

it just seems so dishonorable to me. :shock:

 

[DogCatMom]

There's tens of thousands of individuals out there that
do this with no compunction, nor conscience about the
rules of fair-chase.

it just seems so dishonorable to me. :shock:

Thank you. I had thought the whole point of the "head on the wall" was that the hunter personally had taken the animal. It's sort of...icky...to learn that these are a trade good to some.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

There's tens of thousands of individuals out there that
do this with no compunction, nor conscience about the
rules of fair-chase.

it just seems so dishonorable to me. :shock:

Thank you. I had thought the whole point of the "head on the wall" was that the hunter personally had taken the animal. It's sort of...icky...to learn that these are a trade good to some.

Yeah, the head on the wall is the intro to the story. "Hey, that's a nice buck!" "Well let me tell you all about it!" I figure it's okay to keep it in the family, too...my pal Arthur doesn't hunt but his dad (who passed from cancer a long time ago) did, and they keep his buck skull-caps nailed up in their garage, right where their dad put 'em. I'll for sure keep my dad's deer, so that maybe if I get grandkids someday I can tell them about how great-grampa Bill got that pretty lookin' buck.

The story is the real trophy. The antlers become just a "prop" as it were, a reminder, but they aren't the core, at least not for me.

Googling "trophy deer mount for sale" and clicking the very first link that popped up: http://www.taxidermytrophiesforsale.com ... -deer.html

This brute here...is a reproduced mount. They're charging $800+ for FAKE ANTLERS. I'm sure they cast it from a real buck (and can you IMAGINE what this beast would be worth if a CASTING is almost a thousand dollars a pop?!) but...it's NOT REAL.

So in addition to buying real deer mounts someone else shot, some folk will buy a FAKE DEER. How awkward would it be if you bought that handsome but fake beastie above, and then saw the SAME DEER on a friend's wall?! :lol: :lol: :lol:

One'a these days I'll harvest a tiny little buck and I'll make a nice, attractive mount of him...just so when people ask "why'd you go to all that trouble for that weedy little no-nothing buck?" I can say "well at least that's a real gosh darn deer right there!"