Thread: Stonker

I personally think there are likely to be a lot of cases where "record book" trophies are shot and entered under dubious circumstances these days. Probably more than you'd think too. I think even restricting to only public land would not stop some interesting entries. It's impossible to prove for a start! Most hunters will lie about where they shot it anyway, just to protect their spot!

The lines are so hard to draw now, even a massive animal shot on 100% public land, km's from private land can't be guaranteed to not have "farmed" genetics in it's recent history (they all came from farmed/estate blood anyway) And sure there are freak exceptions and I respect that, but I do raise my eyebrows at some heads I see or hear about that are "huge" and shot on "public" land.

If a massive trophy is hunted legally and is shot in a ethical manner, then so be it, but like you, I too feel a bit for the old timers records getting knocked off their perches by todays animals.

I know of a couple of cases this year where massive stags have been shot (350+DS), both in areas near where trophy parks are located (like within a couple of kms) and the hunters intend on entering them in local/national NZDA trophy comps. To me this pretty much says that today those comps are nothing but a dick pulling convention, and from what I hear/have seen they really bring the worst out in people (no offence to anyone entering a trophy...lol).

It is what it is at the end of the day. For these reasons I take pretty much take no notice of records or those competitions. To me a nice trophy is a nice trophy...and this is even more relevant in the eye of the hunter. My 12 I shot in March means a lot more to me than the other heads hanging in the shed that are bigger, and as cliché as it sounds it was the hunt and experience that made it a trophy for me. I will get it mounted one day for me to enjoy.

Your buck @R93 was a cracker, and I pretty much know the circumstances how you got around to hunting and shooting it (after being told by you on the day you got it), so certainly respect it as the cracking trophy it is. But the fact it is/was a new national record means diddly squat to me.