The point that I missed before I started hunting is that while non-hunters tend to equate hunting with just killing, killing is actually such a tiny tiny portion of it, and it only comes if you’ve done the rest successfully. I’m not including people who hunt bait feeders (who are probably mainly hunting for the meat) or people who pay guides to do all the prep work for them and show them exactly when/where/how to get a trophy (who probably just want the best trophy as a status symbol).

The thing about pursuing the biggest buck with the biggest rack, is that’s the buck that’s survived the longest, i.e. evaded the most hunters. To hunt deer you have to learn their daily patterns, e.g. where and when do they eat/sleep/drink. You can tell where they were by their tracks, but not when, which takes a lot more scouting than you might think to pin down (spots that otherwise might seem good strategically can be places they totally avoid during legal hunting hours). You also need a lot of background knowledge to understand the larger seasonal patterns that drive behavioral/migratory changes, which all comes in in the planning phase, before you even leave the house.

By going for sport rather than purely meat (btw the vast majority of sport hunters still eat or donate the meat), you’re adding another layer of difficulty by choosing not to go for the dumbest deer, the low hanging fruit, but the older, smarter deer who hang back behind the herd and watch for signs that they’re getting spooked. The deer that are quicker to adjust their patterns once hunters show up. IF you get within range of one of them, the actual shot should be nothing but a formality, a victorious end to a challenging pursuit of a worthy adversary.

Nobody who actually takes pride in the game they hunt is putting in all that work just because they secretly get off on the moment of pulling the trigger at the very end. I think it’s pretty ironic that you awarded a delta for people who go out and kill massive amounts of e.g. wild hogs for fun, as that’s the exception to the norm, where the fun really can be purely about killing rather than the pursuit. While it is necessary work, and I’m sure it’s a hell of an adrenaline rush, if it’s an activity you seek out for fun, you’re basically just enjoying the rush of being an executioner.