Townsend Whelen

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Col. Townsend Whelen In his book on Wilderness Hunting and Wildcraft makes the following statement, which I think is a pretty good philosophy for the Trophy Hunters : :)

I believe that one should never kill except as a gentleman and a sportsman. The primordial instinct to kill for food and trophy, the matching of the human brain against the instincts of a wild animal, and the test of manliness which a wilderness demands, will usually be the call which induces one to take up big game hunting. But I do think that a gentleman will always feel a desire to curb the almost inborn tendency to kill, and that he should limit himself to one or two good heads of each species. If he shoots these in a sportsmanlike way he will have no regrets, and he will learn the delights of the unspoiled places of the earth, and its fauna and flora. He will appreciate the attractiveness of wild life, the glorious scenery, the sense of solitude, the exhilaration of hard exercise in the purest air, and the test of manhood. Thereafter he will be only too glad to confine himself mainly to photography instead of shooting, and to the study of the habits of the game. After one has obtained a trophy, photography and the study of wild life offer far greater promises for reward than merely more shooting and killing. It takes much greater skill to obtain a really good photograph of a wild animal in its native haunts than it does to shoot the same animal, and the picture is quite as good a trophy on one's wall.
 
I never have, nor do I think I ever will have the slightest interest in photographing animals. I’m a hunter and I don’t agree with him at all.
 
I am not a trophy hunter or will become a trophy hunter what i shoot i eat or make sure it's given to some one who will eat it. I've only lost one deer and that was bow hunting a good broadhead to the lungs and watched the deer jump in the air and do a complete flip and then run off.in my hast to recover said animal it ran about 50 yds. and layed down when i was walking over a little rise the deer got up and ran some more. After a 3 hr. grid search i new i would not find the animal.Being late in the evening i decided to look the next day.A land owner did recover the animal i found out later,so nothing went to wast.
 
A gentleman of 75 years of age(at present) in his younger years used to photograph the animals...just,before he shot them.....I got to see his little collection....awesome...
 
1874sharpsshooter said:
Col. Townsend Whelen In his book on Wilderness Hunting and Wildcraft makes the following statement, which I think is a pretty good philosophy for the Trophy Hunters : :)

I believe that one should never kill except as a gentleman and a sportsman. The primordial instinct to kill for food and trophy, the matching of the human brain against the instincts of a wild animal, and the test of manliness which a wilderness demands, will usually be the call which induces one to take up big game hunting. But I do think that a gentleman will always feel a desire to curb the almost inborn tendency to kill, and that he should limit himself to one or two good heads of each species. If he shoots these in a sportsmanlike way he will have no regrets, and he will learn the delights of the unspoiled places of the earth, and its fauna and flora. He will appreciate the attractiveness of wild life, the glorious scenery, the sense of solitude, the exhilaration of hard exercise in the purest air, and the test of manhood. Thereafter he will be only too glad to confine himself mainly to photography instead of shooting, and to the study of the habits of the game. After one has obtained a trophy, photography and the study of wild life offer far greater promises for reward than merely more shooting and killing. It takes much greater skill to obtain a really good photograph of a wild animal in its native haunts than it does to shoot the same animal, and the picture is quite as good a trophy on one's wall.


I can see where he is coming from, I have said all along that i am after 1 Whitetail buck that will score 150+ Inches to have a really nice shoulder Mount done, if/when I accomplish that i plan to fully convert to sidelock Muzzleloader hunting. I was taught to love and respect the game that i hunt and i can truly say that i do just that! My heart goes out to our Elk and Moose here, they have been beaten to death here from Hybrid wolves that were introduced here, Along with Bad winters, and over hunted, Moose use to be VERY abundant here, Now you are lucky to see 10 a year. I use to love to Elk hunt, but i honestly felt kinda guilty the last 2 i shot, They are struggling to survive here, they are being hunted year around. Moose took the wolf problem the hardest, Moose are not afraid and will stand their ground, Ad a deep Snow/harsh winter where the top layer of snow freezes, predators such as Wolves can run across the top, Moose and elk are bogged down in it, Turns in to a Massacre. One would be amazed at how many deer are killed by Coyotes here, I’ve witnessed it. I can honestly say that i am just as much in to conservation these days as killing. My passion is hunting these Whitetail deer, i let a TON of decent bucks walk away each year, and it gets easier and easier for me each year.

Sept Archery elk, i hiked back in to an area about 3-4 miles that had been decent elk hunting over the years, i found a little group of 5-6 Elk but MAN WERE THEY SKITTISH!! They busted out for what seemed like another county!?? It didn’t take long to figure out why, There was 1 very distinguishable Wolf track in the dust of the old logging rd i was in, I wear a size 12 Boot, that Wolf track was the size of my boot heel. These bigger critters like Elk and Moose don’t stand much of a chance with these Hybrid wolves, they are truly KILLING MACHINES
 

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