Do you hunt to fill the freezer?

[def90]

After the last few years and how this year is going so far I think I've decided that I hunt in order to enrich state agencies, outdoors sporting goods companies, hotels and gas stations.

 

[Heath423]

Fill the freezer and then help others fill the freezer. The others are typically close friends who like the meat but do not hunt.

 

[DawnPatrol]

I guess what I’m asking…do you ever stop hunting because you’ve killed too much shit?

I’ll let you know if I ever get there.

I’ve averaged about one critter a year (over like 15 years of hunting). So it hasn’t become an issue.

I got a lot of friends and family that love to eat deer/elk but don’t hunt, so if I filled the freezer and still had a tag in my pocket and time off to burn, I’d probably still hunt. Not for a trophy, but because hunting is awesome. Now that I have two little kids, that might be less true.

 

[MTtrout]

For years filling the freezer has been an enjoyable priority and still is. My family eats mostly wild game. I’ve never had to much game and some years have a few months supply left when the new season begins. I’ve never hunted for others but enjoy giving away some and treating our guest to fine meals.

 

[Spike elk]

I hunt to feel the freezer. Once that is done then it is time get after coyotes and do some ice fishing. There is always something to do in God's country.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Fill the freezer and then help others fill the freezer. The others are typically close friends who like the meat but do not hunt.

I don’t mind helping people who at least work hard. In my experience the guys with boats and tools at their disposal who don’t do shit are the first ones to ask for moose meat.

 

[2-Stix]

This is my 3rd season hunting. Tagged out on blacktail each season so far. I have a family of 4, light eaters. I want that freezer full before I start passing on a forky. I am still working on getting a lot of experience. I will probably shoot another deer and maybe fill a bear tag this year for that coming tag soup. I figure tag soup is coming sooner than later with a tough muley hunt next year and a cow elk hunt the following.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Only reason i hunt other than I enjoy it.I dont even have mounts now.Sold them and kept one euro mount.Dont get me wrong i like to hunt mature animals but thats not my focus.

 

[skeen]

Not at all. I can buy meat from the grocery store.

I hunt for the sport.

 

[Decker9]

Moose has always been our bread, if the freezer is still half full, we will skip a season with the rifle and switch to camera.

Anything but moose, it 100% pleasure/trophy hunts. I get as much pleasure from stalking + photos as I do pulling a trigger, I actually dont care to be the trigger puller in general. But, it he’s bigger then my biggest, it’s hunt on.

Also not afraid to support local farmers in years of need.

 

[manitou1]

No, like most of us honest folks we hunt because it is fun and we enjoy participating in nature. If we wanted to fill the freezer there are less time consuming, less exhaustive and less expensive ways to do so, such as going to the grocery store.
Filling the freezer is a by-product, and a bonus.

 

[Travis907]

The experience and my passion for the outdoors and of hunting is the true reason I hunt!
Filling my two freezers with awesome wild game meat is definitely important and saves my family a lot of $ each year. If my freezer is full I dont stop I just become a spectator. I love just being out there watching the woods come alive! If I know someone or a family who needs the meat then I fill the extra deer tags and donate to them.
The total experience is why I’m a hunter anyway and the delicious meat is just a bonus!

 

[Jethro]

Freezer fullness certainly plays into how much I hunt and/or kill. Lots of doe tags go unfilled just cause we don't need the meat (or sometimes just don't feel like having to do more butchering). I'll still go hunting often, but pass up opportunities. Thought about participating in our share the harvest donation program this year if we get to that point.

I've been back east for 2 weeks now and haven't even unpacked my bow from the travel case. Nothing takes the excitement off PA deer season quite like an elk in the freezer.

 

[cnelk]

Hell yes I hunt for the freezer.

I'll shoot does, fawns, spikes, elk calves to fill it! lol

 

[Boarmaster]

I am a primarily southeastern whitetail hunter with long seasons. Once my freezer is pretty well filled I get more selective on big bucks. If I kill a descent buck or two then I keep hunting just to be out there and scout. I think some of the best scouting for next season is during the current season. In my neck of the woods the foliage looks a lot different in Jan / Feb than the rest of the year. Places that don't look that great in Oct/ nov and even early Dec look really good when the foliage is fallen off.

 

[Dust Rider]

No.
Filling the freezers is the bonus.

 

[Wymatt22]

Definitely hunting to fill the freezer. If I shoot more then I know we will eat in a year I give it away to friends and family.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Hell yes I hunt for the freezer.

I'll shoot does, fawns, spikes, elk calves to fill it! lol

The second part of my question was the part I’m more curious about. If you hunt to fill the freezer, what happens when it’s full? Do you stop hunting?

 

[cnelk]

The second part of my question was the part I’m more curious about. If you hunt to fill the freezer, what happens when it’s full? Do you stop hunting?

Yep. Then I start fishing!

 

[SoloWilderness]

I keep the freezer full with elk and give away probably 50-100+ lbs of game a year to family, friends, and hunting-curious co-workers. Best outreach is to share the harvest and open the door to possibly turning an anti-hunter into maybe just an ambivalent-about-hunting. Good opportunity to discuss the locavore aspects, as well as the spiritual, mental and physical gains that come from hunting. I do not typically get 2 elk tags in year, just don't see the need, unless I am hunting OTC archery, then I will usually get a rifle season cow tag to make sure I get an animal.

I typically give away 90% of the deer I harvest, to donation organizations, or to friends who may be in need. I like to hunt mule deer, it's a different experience then hunting elk, so I keep hunting them, but if I just have a doe tag, and harvested an elk that year, I rarely hunt the tag. If it's a buck tag I just go out with the intent to only harvest a mature buck. These are leftover deer tags, by the way, so I'm not taking away anyone's opportunity to harvest by eating the tag. To me it's just a donation to DOW.

But, to answer the original question. I hunt because I love to hunt. To get out into places in the backcountry few people ever see. To test myself, and challenge myself, mentally and physically. To ensure I maintain a connection to my basic, primal human nature. To make sure I'm in the real 1%, of those who can survive, no matter what. If I don't have a good tag, I still hunt, every year, to help friends with their hunts, and to help them pack their meat. Helping a friend take their first ever bull, on an epic backpack hunt was, and is every bit as satisfying as harvesting an animal myself.