What trophy are you most proud of?

[Hunt anything]

That's awesome. I know that the black duck limit is rumored to be going to 3 shortly. That will be huge for us. Brant are in a sad state at the moment so that season may go on moratorium soon.

We had a good season here last year with the weather. I unfortunately did the least amount of hunting within the last 11-12 years.

I was talking to a friend in the USFWS the other day and he said a moratorium on Atlantic brant hunting is probably going to happen this year. If not it will be a very extremely limited season and a limit of one.
It always seemed that on days I shot black ducks no matter where, Alabama, Virginia, Maine or New Jersey with a limit of one I could have shot a lot more. Now that the limit has gone to two I never see them. But I don’t hunt much where they would be now though.

 

[HookMeUpII]

@HookMeUpII - I can’t believe you sold your Sneakbox for “a more seaworthy boat”? The problem was Not the Sneakbox - it was your Judgement. Most sneakboxes, especially the older hand made cedar ones, are seaworthy in the conditions they were designed to hunt in “back water areas”, creeks, tidal areas that are shallow or hugging along the leeward side of a shoreline in high winds. They were never made for large open water, bays, or severe whitecaps. They are a Great boat design to get you into places where the puddle ducks are and you can hunt Out-of-your-boat. They handle a 9.9 to 15 hp engine. I loved mine.
Be carefull in your New “more seaworthy” boat - you can still get in trouble if you think it can take you Out Farther in ever rougher weather…even the Titanic sank.
Wear your life vest anytime your boat is under power, never more then one person in a Sneak box and maybe a dog. Good luck Hunting the Barnegette & AC areas — worth the effort for good duck & Brant hunting —-snow geese too when they are around.

Been doing this for a while my friend. It was a 12', if that, all-glass Higbee. Feather-edge box. Most of my hunting buddies have ditched the boxes for Duck Invader/Duck Boss 13's or 12' Roy Schellenger High-Box's.

Sneakboxes still have their place but crossing open water is still a fact of life in NJ tidal puddle duck hunting. Especially last season, with the ice. With winter weather and winds being unpredictable here, you may only get one good ride, either out or back, and you don't get to choose.

NJ is a hard environment on duck hunters. Boats are now better suited for the type of hunting here. Some of the older glass-over-cedar rigs are tanks but are fading away due to lack of interest and neglect.

The Duck Invader/Duck Boss lineup is probably the most ideal rig for NJ. They make them in 13' or 15'.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I was talking to a friend in the USFWS the other day and he said a moratorium on Atlantic brant hunting is probably going to happen this year. If not it will be a very extremely limited season and a limit of one.
It always seemed that on days I shot black ducks no matter where, Alabama, Virginia, Maine or New Jersey with a limit of one I could have shot a lot more. Now that the limit has gone to two I never see them. But I don’t hunt much where they would be now though.

With the black duck limit going to 3, I'd probably now go to many of the places that just have them. 3 big puddle ducks isn't a bad day at all. I had spots I wouldn't go because it was basically, all black ducks. That's going to change things now.

That's the story of NJ. World-class black duck hunting for those looking to punch that species on their 41 ticket. Guys who hunt here, mostly, get tired of seeing them.

 

[ftrovato]

Been doing this for a while my friend. It was a 12', if that, all-glass Higbee. Feather-edge box. Most of my hunting buddies have ditched the boxes for Duck Invader/Duck Boss 13's or 12' Roy Schellenger High-Box's.

Sneakboxes still have their place but crossing open water is still a fact of life in NJ tidal puddle duck hunting. Especially last season, with the ice. With winter weather and winds being unpredictable here, you may only get one good ride, either out or back, and you don't get to choose.

NJ is a hard environment on duck hunters. Boats are now better suited for the type of hunting here. Some of the older glass-over-cedar rigs are tanks but are fading away due to lack of interest and neglect.

The Duck Invader/Duck Boss lineup is probably the most ideal rig for NJ. They make them in 13' or 15'.

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A hardy mans sport! So cold on the water....until that first flight!

 

[HankBuck]

Been doing this for a while my friend. It was a 12', if that, all-glass Higbee. Feather-edge box. Most of my hunting buddies have ditched the boxes for Duck Invader/Duck Boss 13's or 12' Roy Schellenger High-Box's.

Sneakboxes still have their place but crossing open water is still a fact of life in NJ tidal puddle duck hunting. Especially last season, with the ice. With winter weather and winds being unpredictable here, you may only get one good ride, either out or back, and you don't get to choose.

NJ is a hard environment on duck hunters. Boats are now better suited for the type of hunting here. Some of the older glass-over-cedar rigs are tanks but are fading away due to lack of interest and neglect.

The Duck Invader/Duck Boss lineup is probably the most ideal rig for NJ. They make them in 13' or 15'.

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View attachment 677919

@HookMeUpII, you are right about the All-Fiberglass sneak boxes - they are NOT seaworthy at all and don’t compare to the heavier-older-glass over cedar Garvey style sneak boxes. In the 1970s to 80s glass over cedar sneakboxes were common and very seasworthy for their size 12’ to 13’. When the all glass boats came out - I wanted one because they were Faster, “less maintenance” and much lighter. They were great if you got stuck in mud - easy to push out but “crap” for high winds and white caps that the glass over cedar could handle (neither were safe for big bays in high winds). Still, any boat can be safe if you use good judgement and when you find yourself in a hairy or dangerous position - usually the boat operators poor judgment is at fault. I’m Not a great “Captain”, became more careful after making the same mistakes You did. If you ever had an hunt that was “exciting” because of a close call in the boat or from the weather - think about what You could’ve done to make it “Less exciting”…there’s usually a learning in there somewhere. For Me, when I started hunting with my Son, took even fewer chances then I did hunting alone, I didn’t become a better Hunter but I was a “Safer Hunter”. I later switched to a Duckwater Boat, 17’ all 1/4’ aluminum plate boat - very seaworthy and good for hunting off shore in the Ocean for sea ducks - weather & winds permitting. I also started getting the Marine weather forcast before and during some hunts and carried a Marine radio - not because I’m smarter but because I had a few encounters in bad weather that were avoidable - had I used better judgement. Later, had a small LLC side business and guided duck hunters - that also forced me to be extremely safety conscious. You will Never Hunt with a group of people Less Safe and more careless then when you start Guiding AND You become responsible for these nuts when you take them hunting…learned a lot from those years. Sorry if my post offended you, was not the intent, we have all hunted like you at some point and I’ve got good stories too….but none for the last 20 years.

 

[HookMeUpII]

A hardy mans sport! So cold on the water....until that first flight!

That first light and first flight is worth living for my friend. You get warm really quick!

 

[DieJager]

My hunting career is still in its starting phase I would say. To be honest I think my finest trophy up until this point is my first fox I shot with my hunting mentor and friend. Saw a small orange face on a hill in some bramble bushes. Looked very similar to the fox emoji on my phone. It was almost hundred meters. Had my 375 with me that day.

Picked up the binoculars and it was a certainly a fox. Aimed at the small orange dot that was his head and pulled the trigger. Instantly it was gone. Did I miss?

I walked up the steep hill and found the fox, I was so ecstatic that when I held it up I fell a few meters downhill. Got some scratches but who cares. In multiple occasions it outfoxed me but that day I got my first fox. Minus a small part of his head..

 

[ftrovato]

That first light and first flight is worth living for my friend. You get warm really quick!

NOTHING LIKE IT! Makes a grown man feel like a 5 year old on Christmas Morning!!

 

[HookMeUpII]

Hard to pick just one as all are special. I can probably narrow it down to three, maybe four.

In 2010 with 1 in 608 odds, I was drawn for a bighorn sheep tag in the Turkey Creek and San Francisco River units in New Mexico. I found my dream ram while scouting. He then disappeared with four other rams out of a group of eight total for five days. Finally on the afternoon before opening day, I found him several miles away on the SF River. A couple friends showed up to help and film and we got him on opening morning. I believe he is still the biggest ram to ever come out of that unit, scoring 185 net B&C and almost 40” long on each horn. An ancient old warrior.

Another favorite is my Stone’s sheep. I got him on day thirteen of an absolutely brutal fourteen day hunt after turning down other rams in BC. He was also about 40” broomed and was the largest Stone’s ram taken in the FNAWS (now WSF) records that year. I was guided on the hunt by one of the most famous sheep guides in Canada, the GOAT himself, Brent Sinclair. I spotted the ram on the 12th day when Brent told me to glass while he set up camp in a new area after an eight-hour horse ride. We got the ram the next day.


Although I have guided lots of hunters to big mule deer scoring 200”+, including an amazing 256” buck, I was lucky enough to take a giant myself, scoring 232” and 34” wide in 2017 on the last day of the season after my four hunters were done with their deer scoring from 198” to 225”+. For two years, the buck I killed was hunted by my clients and he was missed twice, once with a bow and another time with a rifle. I got lucky on the last day when one of my landowners happened to spot him with an estrus doe and called me. I was able to relocate the buck and get him after a difficult stalk crawling a couple hundred yards in a picked cornfield before the shot.

Another favorite was my lion taken in 2023 on the tenth day and after playing cat and mouse with him for 2.5 days.

Never had a chance to respond to this. I think every single one of those animals is a once in a lifetime animal. I can understand why you have a hard time picking. It's hard for me to even say that as a 3rd person one would be better than another.

 

[Andrew62]

Took 2 trips but I finally got my bongo back in 2000.

 

[Scott CWO]

Never had a chance to respond to this. I think every single one of those animals is a once in a lifetime animal. I can understand why you have a hard time picking. It's hard for me to even say that as a 3rd person one would be better than another.

Thank you, Sir! I’ve been very fortunate to get some beautiful animals.

 

[buffybr]

I didn't come from a hunting family, and I shot my first deer, a spike muley, while hunting with one of my college roommates back in 1966. I proudly hung those spike deer antlers on my college bedroom wall. Hunting again with my roommate the next year I killed my first elk, a 5x5 bull, and hunting became a big part of my life.

In the years since then, I have been very fortunate to have been able to go on many international hunts, and to have hunted many great animals here in my home state of Montana. Growing up I had wildlife pictures on my walls. Then, after putting my first deer and elk antlers on my walls, I shot my first black bear and my first pronghorn antelope and had them taxidermied into a rug and a shoulder mount.

After moving from Colorado to Montana in 1975, my hunting experiences expanded tremendously. In 1977 I killed my best ever bull elk, a 375" 6x6 on a DIY hunt on public land in northern Montana. I still have his mount in a key place in my Trophy Room. I shot my first caribou on a DIY hunt in Alaska with some of my new friends here. In the late '70s I drew 2 Montana mountain goat permits, and with the 2nd permit I shot an old, late season billy. In the '80s I drew 2 Montana moose permits and on DIY hunts I shot 50" and 40" bulls. My 2nd bull was from a solo hunt. And in the early '80s I shot 3 Bighorn rams in the Montana Unlimited tag sheep units, all on DIY solo hunts. I felt that these animals were special and had them mounted.

In the late '80s I built a 30x35 ft, 2 story addition on my house, with the top floor a 1,000 sf Trophy Room. At that time, I had only hunted in Colorado and Montana and I never thought that I would ever have too many mounts to fill that room.

Then in 1999 I went on my first guided and international hunt to the MacKenzie Mountains in Canada's Northwest Territory. On that hunt I shot a great Dall ram, a mountain caribou, and a wolverine, and had all of them mounted. And in 2000 I went on my first South African hunt, and I had 8 of those 9 animals mounted.

I also got divorced in 2000, and I went from living paycheck to paycheck, and actually began saving some money and being able to afford to go on some international hunts. Because I have been on so many great hunts I decided to only have my unusual or best animals mounted. That has brought my number of mounts up to 80 animals, with 60 of those mounts filling my Trophy Room that I never thought that I would fill.

I am very proud of the way my Trophy Room and turned out and all of the animals in it, so it is hard for me to pick out just one animal that I am most proud of.

My leopard in my avatar pic was a great hunt and my taxidermist did a fantastic full mount of him.

Of the 30 bull elk that I've shot, I don't think that I'll ever shoot a bigger one and he has a special place on the center of the front wall in my Trophy Room, but all of the others sure tasted good and kept my family fed for many years.

I'm very proud of my DIY solo hunts including this mountain goat and these Montana Unlimited unit rams...

I am very fortunate to have taken 2 Canadian caribou and a Muskox that qualified for the Boone & Crockett Record books including this Quebec bull who's picture is featured in two of the books.

I enjoy seeing and rembering the memories of the rest of them every day and in a room that I designed and built myself...

 

[DieJager]

I didn't come from a hunting family, and I shot my first deer, a spike muley, while hunting with one of my college roommates back in 1966. I proudly hung those spike deer antlers on my college bedroom wall. Hunting again with my roommate the next year I killed my first elk, a 5x5 bull, and hunting became a big part of my life.

In the years since then, I have been very fortunate to have been able to go on many international hunts, and to have hunted many great animals here in my home state of Montana. Growing up I had wildlife pictures on my walls. Then, after putting my first deer and elk antlers on my walls, I shot my first black bear and my first pronghorn antelope and had them taxidermied into a rug and a shoulder mount.

After moving from Colorado to Montana in 1975, my hunting experiences expanded tremendously. In 1977 I killed my best ever bull elk, a 375" 6x6 on a DIY hunt on public land in northern Montana. I still have his mount in a key place in my Trophy Room. I shot my first caribou on a DIY hunt in Alaska with some of my new friends here. In the late '70s I drew 2 Montana mountain goat permits, and with the 2nd permit I shot an old, late season billy. In the '80s I drew 2 Montana moose permits and on DIY hunts I shot 50" and 40" bulls. My 2nd bull was from a solo hunt. And in the early '80s I shot 3 Bighorn rams in the Montana Unlimited tag sheep units, all on DIY solo hunts. I felt that these animals were special and had them mounted.

In the late '80s I built a 30x35 ft, 2 story addition on my house, with the top floor a 1,000 sf Trophy Room. At that time, I had only hunted in Colorado and Montana and I never thought that I would ever have too many mounts to fill that room.

Then in 1999 I went on my first guided and international hunt to the MacKenzie Mountains in Canada's Northwest Territory. On that hunt I shot a great Dall ram, a mountain caribou, and a wolverine, and had all of them mounted. And in 2000 I went on my first South African hunt, and I had 8 of those 9 animals mounted.

I also got divorced in 2000, and I went from living paycheck to paycheck, and actually began saving some money and being able to afford to go on some international hunts. Because I have been on so many great hunts I decided to only have my unusual or best animals mounted. That has brought my number of mounts up to 80 animals, with 60 of those mounts filling my Trophy Room that I never thought that I would fill.

I am very proud of the way my Trophy Room and turned out and all of the animals in it, so it is hard for me to pick out just one animal that I am most proud of.

My leopard in my avatar pic was a great hunt and my taxidermist did a fantastic full mount of him.
View attachment 678080

Of the 30 bull elk that I've shot, I don't think that I'll ever shoot a bigger one and he has a special place on the center of the front wall in my Trophy Room, but all of the others sure tasted good and kept my family fed for many years.
View attachment 678084

I'm very proud of my DIY solo hunts including this mountain goat and these Montana Unlimited unit rams...
View attachment 678079

I am very fortunate to have taken 2 Canadian caribou and a Muskox that qualified for the Boone & Crockett Record books including this Quebec bull who's picture is featured in two of the books.
View attachment 678078

I enjoy seeing and rembering the memories of the rest of them every day and in a room that I designed and built myself...
View attachment 678082View attachment 678083View attachment 678085View attachment 678081

Do you have a picture of the taxidermy of the Dagestan Tur you took? I saw it in your media. I've booked one for next year so interested in how it came out.

 

[buffybr]

 

[Dave Fulson]

My first leopard. That memory stands out above all.

 

[Dave Fulson]

@HankBuck

I feel so embarrassed to be compared to the likes of the great Jim Corbett (my childhood hero). But thank you so much. It wouldn’t have been even remotely possible without the exceptional logistical support of the Sundarbans Department of Forests. My men made a buffoon like me succeed against all odds.

Same for my second & third man eater.
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Hard to top that!!!

 

[MontanaPat]

Some great stories on this thread. I guess the trophy I'm most proud of would be my 7x7 elk taken in 2022. I hunted elk in Colorado with my dad for a few years before he passed, his dream was always to take a bull elk but he never got the chance himself. When I got my first it was a special day and brought back lots of memories of those hunts together. I'm sure he was smiling the day I got my best bull here in Montana in 2022, he measured 342" and has a special place on our fireplace.

 

[Osama Mahdi]

When it comes to the most cherished trophy, it's not the type that matters most—it's the chase, the memory, the terrain, and the people involved and the next opportunity it leads to and wisdomgainedfrom. Like a big Steenbok taken in the final hour of the last day, after more than a dozen failed attempts—it’s those hard-earned moments that stay with you.

 

[Fatback]

For me it is my Dall Sheep I took in 2021. Just as memorable as the animal itself, it was the life changes I had to make to be able to realistically hunt a sheep. I had to loose a bunch of weight and greatly increase my fitness level to have a chance to be successful in the mountains. I booked the hunt in 2019 and by the time I left for the hunt in 2021 I had lost 90 pounds and had committed to a regular exercise regimen, that I maintain till today. I have no doubt the health benefits of committing to a sheep hunt have given me a few more years to live my life.

Then add on all the extra hoops I had to go through to get to the NWT right after Canada opened back up post Covid and that adds another layer of adversity just to make it into the hunting area and back home. All that coupled with the challenges of a sheep hunt and I have an animal that represents to me the importance of committing to a goal and doing everything I can to achieve that goal.

The fact I was able to shoot an old, double broomed ram just makes it all the better. I was also able to take a nice mountian caribou on this same hunt.

 

[KuduKiller]

I’m glad I started this thread! I’ve read some really cool stories on here that you all have taken the time to write and remember.