"Scores" or numbers don't denigrate a deer...only certain people do by making derogatory comments about someone else's deer. To me, a "score" helps me visualize a deer I have not seen and that's all. Scores are just numbers that mean nothing as to the personal value of the animal to the hunter.
I have several small bucks (and a doe) mounted for the memory (and "art") and have had visitors comment "What the heck did you mount THAT one for!" I explain a particularly exciting hunt with my bow and arrows made by my hand, off the ground at mere feet, or my first with a traditional muzzleloader, but I find that most of these people DO NOT get it at all!
The picture below shows two bow killed bucks. I have them side by side for a purpose.
The yearling seven was, without a doubt, the most exciting hunt I have ever been on...late season snow, low deer numbers, cold weather, called him in from over 100 yds with soft doe talk, on the ground, longbow, wood arrows. At one point he was mere feet from me trying to push through the thick oak deadfall I was hiding in and I shot him when he came around the open front just a few yards away. The whole hunt was as good as it gets. I want to remember that forever.
The mature 11 is my biggest but "the hunt" was almost boring. I sat for an hour in nice weather. He came in chasing a doe, stopped broadside, shot him from a tree stand, he went 20 yds and fell over.
I tell people the two stories and most don't get how the yearling could mean as much or more to me than the "booner with a bow." Their skepticism and comments mean NOTHING to me.
I have three eligible "booners" and numerous P&Y whitetails, none taken with modern firearms. Never entered any of them in any competitions or record books. They, along with several "small" bucks mean just as much to me on my walls.
So don't be disheartened when others ONLY focus on scores or numbers. They can never take away the pride of a hunt well done and only show that they have no clue as to what the hunt is all about.
