The term “wall hanger” has been used by sportsmen ever since a Neanderthal decided to hang a mastodon tusk over the entrance to his cave to show his fellow tribesman he had scored on a mighty animal.

It provided a sign to other hunters that this hunter had great prowess or just a lot of good luck stumbling across the beast.

I am not sure whether mastodons dropped sheds like a deer or elk but something tells me that you had to either take the tusk or find an animal that had succumbed to some disaster.

In today’s world, man and woman can have the passion of collecting things from all over the world and in all kinds of styles. Many of the men that I know have their own area known as their man cave and a lot of these folks have “wall hangers” on the walls.

Some devote their whole house to displaying their collections while others are more controlled and have an assigned area for their prized possessions.

I know many men who have built entire rooms onto their homes just for that reason.

The rules for wall hangers are varied according to the person and his or her standards for impressive or memorable. The degree of difficulty in obtaining a species due to location, numbers, obtaining access, obtaining a license as well as the way the wall hanger measures up to its contemporaries all factor in the final decision. What I consider a wall hanger may not make the grade for someone else who has much more experience or success. However there are some standards that all outdoorsmen recognize as a true wall hanger trophy.

With fish the length and weight is the key and each species of fish has its own standard. A perch may be a monster as he approaches the high teens in length while a muskie is considered exceptional after reaching the 50 inch mark. Both are wall hangers in their own right. My man cave has a few wall hangers that I found exceptional during my years in the outdoors. Some are just great memories of hunts and trips with friends and family and really not all that exceptional.

Recently the bucks are starting to show up in greater numbers displaying racks that get the attention of many hunters and non-hunters alike. I have my neighbor girls trained to update me on the development of the local deer herd when I’m not around. Every now and then I’ll get a photo on my cell with a caption telling me where the deer is hanging out at. A couple of these bucks are wall hangers and will gain the attention of many hunters hoping to fill an empty spot in their cave.

August is when I start to really practice with my archery equipment making sure that I’m ready when I want to make an accurate shot. There is no substitute for practice and when you practice you truly begin to know your equipment capabilities and your own limitations. Respecting game animals is your duty and when you make a decision to harvest an animal whether he’s a wall hanger or for the freezer only you are morally obligated to make a clean and mortal shot. It is not acceptable to do anything else when in the woods and unfortunately some people don’t follow that creed.

For those of you that hunt antlerless deer be reminded that the first round of unsold deer license applications starts on Monday, so if you forgot, you now have been reminded to get it in the mail. A recent check of the license allotments shows that WMU 2D has 26,279 licenses remaining and WMU 1A has 21, 950 licenses remaining. In fact there is not one WMU sold out in the entire commonwealth at this time.

Until we meet again good luck on finding your own wall hangers!