No right or wrong answer here. I have hunted all of my life. Been blessed to be able to hunt in different countries and species along with great whitetail hunts.

One of my best friends is also an avid hunter and has hunted all over the world.

My question is would you want a bunch of trophies even if many of them are the same species? Or Would you want one trophy from many different species?

For me I just always sought to get the best trophy I could get of different species - I have never wanted to take 10 Boone and Crockett whitetails or 10 huge elk. I just wanted the best animal I could take out of whatever I was hunting at the time.

Interested in everyone's thoughts. Again no right or wrong answer - just curious

Mine is simple.....WT or MD and as many as I can put on the walls of my home. The trophy is in the eye of the beholder....what defines that "trophy" is who is beholding it. I have been hunting all my life and for as long as I can remember my favorite animal was the WT...I later learned to appreciate hunting mule deer.

When I was younger I wanted tons of trophy whitetail. Now I’m falling into category #2 and want to hunt a bunch of different animals. Deer hunting is fun but there is so much more out there.

I want to fill my collection with as many different species as possible.

Since we live in deer country it makes sense to have more whitetail and mule deer than anywhere else, but I don’t want a room full of just whitetail.

Some animals ive killed and probably would not kill another ( Impala for instance ) as multiple mounts of that animal wouldn’t serve my purposes of what I’m trying to achieve.

I would love to kill a bull elk in Texas, doesn't have to be a huge trophy just a good example of the species. I've been trying to save my pennies but something always comes up.

I look at hunting the same way most athletes look at their own sport by becoming their best at one or two positions. For me that equates to becoming my personal best at hunting deer and hogs. Everything else is like the football or baseball player who enjoys an occasional round of golf or some other sport.

You do know that elk were originally native to only a very small portion of Texas. Not trying to crap on your parade but most people think that the elk in west Texas are reestablished, not introduced. They originally ranged in the far northern panhandle and a few spots in far west Texas and along the New Mexico border

If this doesent mean anything to you then proceed, and I hope you get to realize your dream !

Colorado and New Mexico elk hunts are cheaper too!

I've hunted a lot of different species in TX. I just wanted a mature specimen and low fenced. I could have gotten much bigger animals hunting high fence. It's been fun. I've collect whitetail, mule deer, Japanese Sika, javelina, Axis, and Oryx. My mule deer was old as dirt and well past his prime but it was a challenging hunt. Worst tasting deer I've eaten.

Oryx was a truly exceptional specimen and the best tasting of anything of killed.

Now, I'm more of a meat hunter.

Only WT and MD for me...never cared about other species. Up until 5yrs ago I had 18 shoulder mounts 2 pedestals and a bunch of euros. I downsized to my fav 3 shoulder and one pedastal. mounts. Grandkids took some and rest went in a friends restaurant and bar

I feel almost exactly like STx. Even though I may hunt MD again, it is WT that I love. I have always put all my eggs in one basket at whatever I do. I would rather be great at one thing than mediocre at many. Not judging others on that but just how I’m geared. I put so much effort into WT that I have no time or money for MD and I sure don’t have time or money for any other species. Don’t even want to hunt WT any place but my lease.
It’s all about the ENTIRE PROCESS of finding the lease, finding other hunters, deciding goals/rules, deciding on stand locations, looking at game cams, deciding age/score, deciding where/when/how to hunt each day, enjoying camaraderie, etc etc etc. If you pulled up to my house and said let’s go hunt another lease, another State, another country, another species and it’s all free, I would say no cause I got work to do at my lease.
I rarely even pull the trigger, my pleasure is in the challenge of knowing I have done all I can to put myself in position to kill the biggest WT on the place.
I think that answers your question.

I doubt I ever shoulder mount another WT, Mule deer, Elk or pronghorn from me. Euro, skull caps, cut off pile for now on. I'm sure I'll shoulder mount a few for kids though

You may want to build the next one bigger.

I used to think I wanted a bunch of trophy WT but the more I took the less I wanted. Now I’m focused on a couple things. Would love a free range black buck or axis and a boar with huge teeth

+1

great answers guys and not a one of them is wrong -to me the beauty of hunting in general is we are free to make our own choices - I went to Africa and shot some awesome animals - went to New Zealand and took some awesome animals - went to Spain and shot an awesome trophy - for me that is what I wanted to do - for someone else they have the freedom to hunt whatever they want to hunt - and on and on - so God bless we get to live in a country where each of us gets to choose where and how we hunt - never take it for granted

I think I’ll stop shoulder mounting animals when I have 1 more mount than Stx....

Spent most of my life hunting whitetail. For years thought that was all I'd ever do. Now starting to branch out. Fortunate to have family land with great axis and blackbuck so have done plenty of that too. Now have started west for pronghorn (done), mule deer (this year), elk (coming) - want to work my way through North American species. I want to get all the way up north for moose and caribou and maybe hit sheep and mountain goats. Africa is not high on my list, but I may do it at some point. I'll keep whitetail hunting as I do the rest, but I'm getting so many whitetail mounts I'm going to have to start getting pretty creative on how I handle them or build a massive man cave / beer barn / stand alone structure at the ranch just for mounts.

I only have a few mounts but if I can swing it I’d like to have some different animals on the wall. I would probably have a couple of the same animals up along with WTs. Hoping to be able to put auodad, blackbuck, axis, pronghorn, nilgai, elk and caribou over the next decade. If I ever get to Africa then I’d probably add a few more animals to the list.

Add one more to your list...as I have one ready to pick up now. I think that puts me just over 60 now

New Mexico elk are not the elk that were native to there and West Texas, the New Mexico and Texas are from the Yellowstone herd which is where the largest concentration of elk in this country was located. Currently there are the Rocky Mountain elk, Roosevelt Elk and Tule elk left the Eastern and Merriam's Elk are gone due to subsistence and market hunting with no laws at the time to protect them.

I have a Montana elk and Texas elk on the wall. That is takes all the wall space in my house for elk, now I would love to have a cow elk in the freezer every couple years would be great. But I will just keep eating whitetail deer which is good just not quite as good IMO.

For me it's no longer about the animal on the wall; the hunt is the trophy to me. I don't want to ride around in a pickup, jump out, and shoot a Booner. I want to scout, track, glass, hike, walk, and WORK for the animal, whatever it may be. The memory of the hunt isn't measured in inches. Hell, if all you want is something on the wall, you can buy that and never leave your house.

WT are a little different but I still hunt for them. On our central TX property, we're trying to improve conditions, limit the herd, and see what the land can produce. I'm proud of that animal because we worked to create the conditions that helped him to be what he is. Honestly, a good picture of those deer is enough for me now, or the look on a family member's face after they get one.

I'm in the same camp as far as looking for what the area I'm hunting in can provide as far as a what I would call a trophy, but the last few years what I'm calling a trophy has changed of course a big 170" 10 point would be a trophy but this year I'm chasing a six point with 20" main beams 5" brow tines and 12" G2's....this year he's a trophy to me. But I do fall into the wanting multiple species category as well.

I’m at 30 even if you count a few euros ....halfway there

If I'm not mistaken, elk were a plains game animal a long time ago. We've dug up elk teeth in North Louisiana looking for arrowheads.

Trophy is in the eye of the trigger puller.

Im not big on mounts, I like to make my memories and enjoy the process from field to table and start over again. I have 1 shoulder mount, not big by many standards and definitly not yours. Im not really planning to mount another but might. I never plan to mount an elk or anything else of that size.