I never was a trophy hunter, can't afford it. All it takes to take a trophy is lots and lots of money to get on the right hunting ranch. They have all sorts of ways of charging, usually a minimum, then by the inch or by the point. I've had free range deer since I bought my first place in 1988 and hunted 'em for meat. I've been in hunting clubs, taken day leases, but it is best to own your own land in Texas, if it's in the right area. You really don't need a LOT of land if that land is in the right spot. I have been hunting mostly pigs anymore, though, as I prefer pork to venison. BUT, nothing like a hot bowl of venison chili on a cold afternoon, not that we get many of those. I dream about cold afternoons when it's August.
As for the sport, yes, I'm getting a little bored of deer hunting and MUCH prefer my bird hunting. I'm getting too infirm to hunt the duck marsh much anymore, what I once LOVED to do, but I still like my dove hunting. That's coming up soon. Deer hunting, especially bragging about shooting the big rack, never appealed all that much to me, well, not since I shot my first one 54 years ago as a kid. I was ate up with it when I was young. Now, I just enjoy watching 'em. I think it's probably a natural evolution.
I'll pick on the pigs, though. I don't get tired of smoked pork.
I'm hoping my bud in Waco will want to come down this year and shoot geese. That's cheap and lots of fun, guided, imagine that! A GUIDED hunt a po boy can afford!