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Post by HighCotton on Nov 23, 2014 22:13:27 GMT -5
Or have you or someone you've known just taken a break for a "season?" I've said for years that when this craziness called deer hunting is no longer fun...I'm done... at least for some period of time. I'm pretty much there.
If you've been there, what did you do?
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Post by nfalls116 on Nov 23, 2014 22:21:00 GMT -5
I started Squirrel hunting and other small game harder. deer was always in back of my mind finally back at it this year after 4 years off. Thanks to my wife who pushed me into it. This is the hardest season I've ever had. Makes it a little more fun. Never was a hard game for me to play I guess still isn't, been seeing deer like crazy just have to get my gun situation lined out. This is the first time I'm ever hunting for strictly meat so hoping I'm more successful
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Post by salt on Nov 23, 2014 22:26:33 GMT -5
I am going on a pheasant hunt on Tuesday. I think it is about time to switch out the barrels and have fun in the field again!
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Post by chubwub on Nov 23, 2014 22:38:18 GMT -5
My interest in deer hunting is waning and I have only been at it for 3 years. Every single time I go out, there is drama involved, wether it be harassment from competing hunters and crazy neighbors, idiot tresspassers or family feuds. When it comes to deer people seem to lose their freaking minds.
Waterfowl hunting has its share of idiots as well but dealing with them has been far less stressful for me and sometimes entertaining. We make our own luck when it comes to waterfowl hunting and by far even the idiots have been more sportmanlike. We had guys literally tackle a crippled mallard on a bank near their blind and give it to us even though they had every right to kill that bird and claim it. We have had people return a goose that they watched us kill after it flew 250 yards and expired. We held off on shots and allowed birds to pass just to let a newbie have a crack at them.
I have yet to meet any garden variety deer hunter exhibit this level of generosity and kindness to me.
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Post by onebentarrow on Nov 23, 2014 22:48:44 GMT -5
Or have you or someone you've known just taken a break for a "season?" I've said for years that when this craziness called deer hunting is no longer fun...I'm done... at least for some period of time. I'm pretty much there. If you've been there, what did you do? I am there been a tough season what I do is go when I want. No rain nasty weather. I enjoy the woods deer hunting is a reason to be there. When the weather is good or a fresh snow fall I will be there. I would like to put some meat in freezer but that is icing on the cake |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 23, 2014 22:51:39 GMT -5
I have sung solos and in quartets in front of many hundreds of people. I have given speeches and presentations before large groups. I have shot pressure free throws in front of more than 9,000 screaming fans. Still...nothing...NOTHING tears me up like the moment of truth between me and a buck! I am addicted to the incredible rush of adrenaline and emotion that come flooding over me in those moments before, during, and after the shot. I am humbled by the connection I feel to every hunter throughout history who ever experienced the same feelings. At that moment, we are all Daniel Boone, Fred Bear, even Zoog the Caveman. The anticipation of that moment keeps me awake late at night in anticipation in the weeks leading up to October. And, I feed off it through the long winter months until I can get back in the Spring woods.
I may, one day, lose that drive, but I can't imagine it right now. It is at the core of who I am. I am a deer hunter.
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Post by hunthard4 on Nov 23, 2014 22:53:23 GMT -5
There are good deer hunters out there. My dad got me into hunting at a very early age just watching then. The. Took me to get my hunters ed. Then rattled in my first buck for me when I was 9. Then let me shoot a buck I know he would've loved to have but he would rather see me shoot it. You may think 'well that's his son'. 4 years ago one of my cousins wanted to go for the youth hunt but nobody would take him. My dad (who doesn't care to much for this particular cousin) let him sleep on the couch at our house and took him to his best spot. He killed his first deer that day and my dad couldn't have been more happy for him. There all knuckle heads in everything we do. Deer hunting is no different. But there are a lot of good guys chasing whitetails too.
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Post by antiwheeze on Nov 23, 2014 23:10:20 GMT -5
Took a year off deer hunting when I got married. Didn't want to start badly. She knew I hunted but was clueless.
I get burned out after too many uneventfull hunts and take a day off.
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Post by firstwd on Nov 23, 2014 23:10:55 GMT -5
I have sung solos and in quartets in front of many hundreds of people. I have given speeches and presentations before large groups. I have shot pressure free throws in front of more than 9,000 screaming fans. Still...nothing...NOTHING tears me up like the moment of truth between me and a buck! I am addicted to the incredible rush of adrenaline and emotion that come flooding over me in those moments before, during, and after the shot. I am humbled by the connection I feel to every hunter throughout history who ever experienced the same feelings. At that moment, we are all Daniel Boone, Fred Bear, even Zoog the Caveman. The anticipation of that moment keeps me awake late at night in anticipation in the weeks leading up to October. And, I feed off it through the long winter months until I can get back in the Spring woods. I may, one day, lose that drive, but I can't imagine it right now. It is at the core of who I am. I am a deer hunter. You would be so much fun in a duck blind! |
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Post by drs on Nov 24, 2014 5:37:46 GMT -5
I plan to Deer Hunt during our December M/L season, for a few days, then go back to Squirrel Hunting. Our Squirrel season ends February 28th.
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Post by ridgerunner on Nov 24, 2014 5:43:57 GMT -5
Definately been a tough year..and I'm with ya chubwub..all the drama i have to deal with on our land with stray dogs, trespasser's, idiot neighbor kids driving fields at night....it's wearing me down...and the authorities will not follow up with these people....same ole story year after year. Yes it's getting old.
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Post by parrothead on Nov 24, 2014 6:14:45 GMT -5
I am just the opposite. I hunt every single day. I have missed one day in like 14 years. I cant wait to get out there this evening. I love it. I have not seen a deer the last 7 sets doesn't matter to me. I get 17 days off for Chirstmas Break and I will hunt all day everyday till the end.
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Post by maddog on Nov 24, 2014 6:36:02 GMT -5
Well, this is year number 35 for me, and I can honestly say it's not near as much fun as it once was. If it wasn't for my son, and the fact that mama and I like venison, I think I'd quit. I got a nice doe opening morning, and my son got a small buck two days later. Unless the weather really cooperates during ML season, I'm probably done. Squirrel hunting has taken up a lot of my time, the last three years. I love it, and have plenty of places to hunt, with NO drama. Going deer hunting, by myself is getting tougher. If I get one down it's a PITA to handle it, by myself. So we'll see. Deer just don't fire me up, like they used to.
maddog
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Post by M4Madness on Nov 24, 2014 6:39:07 GMT -5
I'm having a rough season when it comes to finding a large buck. I've seen quite a few bucks, including at least four pretty good 8-pointers, but nothing I want to hang my only tag on. Every year it seems harder and harder to get out of bed and go. I don't have the drive I once had. Oh, I'm all gungho every year for season to start, then get bummed out when it finally does. LOL!
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Post by steve46511 on Nov 24, 2014 7:02:39 GMT -5
Or have you or someone you've known just taken a break for a "season?" I've said for years that when this craziness called deer hunting is no longer fun...I'm done... at least for some period of time. I'm pretty much there. If you've been there, what did you do? As it happens, I am doing so this year (since you asked.  ). My own reasons for this break is not because health and age has made doing so more difficult. While even my two boys THINK this is the main reason, it simply is not the truth. Sometimes I even indicate it is factual simply because, I simply lack the ability to explain it properly. The past attempts to do so has shown me that only a very small minority would understand even if I were able to put it to words. Regardless of how each measures it, each and every one of us share a single goal. SATISFACTION. Assuming all efforts are legal, there does not exist a goal anyone could set that is "wrong". It's simply what that particular hunter feels that, if accomplished, will bring satisfaction to the table for that season. Within my own particular ways to have a satisfying season I have found that two particular factors, when included, gave me the most memorable, most enjoyable......most satisfying of any other factors and, as I have gotten old and crotchety, one of them has leaped from desirable to mandatory. These two things were: (1.) successfully take a deer with self imposed limitations including everything from a certain weapon type and distance of the shot to what manner I hunted, from elevated stand to ground stand to stalking, and even included WHERE I did so a few times. Successfully taking a deer while stalking a standing corn field or almost treeless swamp with longbow or revolver at about 12 yards holds rewards I will never have the intelligence to explain. FOR ME, doing so was extremely challenging. Successfully doing it only a couple of times was my deer hunting "lotto". and (2.) Enjoying the hunting season WITHOUT satisfaction ruining events involving stands stolen, vehicles vandalized or any one of the numerous efforts others deliberately use to mess up your hunt in any way possible. This one has become mandatory. Successfully taking a deer "in spite of efforts of others" just isn't a "goal" I find enjoyable nor is it a hurdle I am willing to attempt to jump any longer. A couple things happened that just made the second one not possible this year. In reality, "over coming" physical restrictions and number of times able to go at all could very well create a very satisfying season in itself. Satisfaction is, and has always been, affected greatly by the amounts of time and/or effort completing tasks in spite of the obstacles faced. While I have plans at least to complete something I wish to use for 2015 and to hunt areas of "habitat type" I've not hunted, and few others ever will, the opportunity to hunt a place where I could do so without undesired drama, just isn't available and without that, I've no desire to go. The Cons of such a scenario outweigh the Pros, for me at least. Challenging, relaxing.........fun. These factors make up for a dang fine season IMHO, regardless of what was taken and while I can deal with less challenges some years and perhaps weather can sometimes make the season less relaxing.....it's MUST be fun. The sticker is, for me, it has to be something I enjoy. FUN! Or I've no interest and for 2014, I just don't have the place to go and do so yet. Almost a decade of annually repeated harassment where I've hunted over 40 years simple has ruined the spot.......and the sport, for me. Plans are at least in the works to complete something for 2015 and the initial ground work has been done on an area consisting of a habitat type and manner I've not yet hunted. Almost every reason I have to do so lays in one single fact. No one else does so either. God Bless |
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Post by 46382 on Nov 24, 2014 7:05:08 GMT -5
Or have you or someone you've known just taken a break for a "season?" I've said for years that when this craziness called deer hunting is no longer fun...I'm done... at least for some period of time. I'm pretty much there. If you've been there, what did you do? I just quit for the day on Sunday. Pouring rain. But I have had the burned out feeling in the past. But, I guess it's mostly frustration on not killing any deer. |
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Post by span870 on Nov 24, 2014 7:26:49 GMT -5
I still go out every once is awhile, but more for the fact to say I did than anything else. I only hunted one day by myself this year at that was opening day of gun season. I did have a buddy come down and we hunted the whole first week of November. Didn't carry a weapon. Just sat in the tree with him and rattled for him. I have one reason and one reason only I gave it up. I just got to the point where I have too much remorse for killing one. Several years ago I shot my last bow buck. I went out several times last year during muzzleloader and actually stalked deer in their bed. Just couldn't bring myself to shoot them. My argument to myself was they made it this far, they deserve to live. The one deer I have killed since then was an argument with myself of why I did it and what was the worth.
Anyway to answer your question...I bought a whole pile of beagles. Do I kill many rabbits? No. I put to many restraints on my dogs. The dogs have to circle the rabbit at least twice for me to shoot and the rabbit has to come back to the exact spot that it was jumped. I have out that many restrictions on myself that my dogs have caught as many rabbits as I have shot.I feel the same remorse for them as I do any other animal.
I do enjoy taking other people out for deer and rabbits and whatnot and seeing the excitement on their faces. Seems after my dad died something just left me for the want to see an animal die. Maybe getting soft in my age. I don't know. Just don't like killing stuff anymore.
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Post by steve46511 on Nov 24, 2014 7:39:32 GMT -5
I still go out every once is awhile, but more for the fact to say I did than anything else. I only hunted one day by myself this year at that was opening day of gun season. I did have a buddy come down and we hunted the whole first week of November. Didn't carry a weapon. Just sat in the tree with him and rattled for him. I have one reason and one reason only I gave it up. I just got to the point where I have too much remorse for killing one. Several years ago I shot my last bow buck. I went out several times last year during muzzleloader and actually stalked deer in their bed. Just couldn't bring myself to shoot them. My argument to myself was they made it this far, they deserve to live. The one deer I have killed since then was an argument with myself of why I did it and what was the worth. Anyway to answer your question...I bought a whole pile of beagles. Do I kill many rabbits? No. I put to many restraints on my dogs. The dogs have to circle the rabbit at least twice for me to shoot and the rabbit has to come back to the exact spot that it was jumped. I have out that many restrictions on myself that my dogs have caught as many rabbits as I have shot.I feel the same remorse for them as I do any other animal. I do enjoy taking other people out for deer and rabbits and whatnot and seeing the excitement on their faces. Seems after my dad died something just left me for the want to see an animal die. Maybe getting soft in my age. I don't know. Just don't like killing stuff anymore. This entire thread reminded me of something read off and on for years and I felt it worthy of sharing. I, personally feel this link and it's information is well suited to the real hunters that frequent HI and, as such, worthy of being a "sticky" ......somewhere. THE 5 STAGES OF THE DEER HUNTER BY CHARLES J. ALSHEIMER charliealsheimer.com/ca/articles/5stages.htmlSorry, Charlie, but there are some of us that know that, for us, there is a Stage 6. The love of the hunt remains as well as the love for the game hunted but where taking the life of another one simply has very little to no value. Some may think it won't come but, IMHO, it will for almost all who hunt throughout life. God Bless One of the finer threads opened up this year, IMO. Thank you Highcottonguide |
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Post by Woody Williams on Nov 24, 2014 7:59:03 GMT -5
Yep....the old thrill is gone. I still enjoy it, but not near as much.
The fellows I used to hunt with are dead and gone(a couple more now have cancer) or moved on to greener pastures. I basically hunt all by myself. The hunting fellowship and camaraderie I used to get after every hunt at the parking spot has been replaced by Hunt-Indiana.com folks. Great folks here, but it isn't quite the same. I'm a people person.
I'm the Last of the Mohicans where I hunt.. Each season I wonder - Will this be my last? I do know there are a LOT less seasons in front of me than are behind me.
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Post by featherduster on Nov 24, 2014 8:28:54 GMT -5
Cotton not every hunt can be a paid release or a hunt on the family farm sometimes you just need to catch your breath and get back in the game with a new plan .
The hardest hunt for me was my 2012 turkey that I killed on the second to last day after hunting EVERYDAY but 2 and hunting from dawn to dusk. When I finally killed that bird it was not only my largest ever but it ranks right up there with one of the most satisfying accomplishments I had ever done in my life.
If you still enjoy it get back in the game, you don't need to kill a big old buck at least maybe not this year but in the future.
One thing about a hard season it makes shopping for hunting STUFF a lot more fun.
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