What is hunting to you ?

[Thess87]

Top 3 that make me pinch myself and think I was meant to be doing what I’m doing. Taking one of my girls hunting and seeing the joy on their faces.
My wife and I bow hunting elk when they bugle at 20 yards and it vibrates your chest.
And setting 20’ up in the river bottom hardwoods and hearing leaves crunch, and you look up and a big buck is coming towards you.

These are the ones I dream of.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Although I wish it were not so, I fear, sir, that you may very well be in the extreme minority.

I KNOW I'm in the minority. I also know I'm in the minority on another item as a hunter....I'm 84 years old!

 

[Yoder]

It's a tradition in my family. Something that has been there ever since I can remember. When I was a kid, I couldn't wait to hear the stories about the days hunt from my dad and uncles. I remember helping my dad blood trail deer during archery season. Now, when the leaves start changing and the temp starts to drop, I get this feeling that I have to get out in the woods. I love scouting all my spots and constantly looking for new ones. Looking for fresh sign to hunt, constantly trying to figure out what the deer will do next. The best for me is when I scout a new spot, make a prediction and the deer comes in just like I expected. It only happens every once in a while, but I'm slowly getting better at it. I spend a lot of time scouting spots for my father and son since they both don't have the time and my dad isn't as mobile. My most memorable hunts were when my boys killed their first deer and when my wife shot one a few years ago. Those experiences outshine any buck I've killed. Hunting is also a time when I try to appreciate God's creation and to be grateful for the opportunity.

 

[brancher147]

Hunting to me is about escape and freedom. For that time I am free and my mind is clear and focused on the hunt.

I don’t worry too much about what other people do.

 

[Billy Meyers]

What keeps me hunting is the hunt... very hard to describe to some. It’s being in an area most people will never see—learning animals, weather, terrain, and my especially my own limits. Hunting gives my time purpose, and if everything lines up, I’m fortunate enough to take an animal.

 

[Turkeytider]

I KNOW I'm in the minority. I also know I'm in the minority on another item as a hunter....I'm 84 years old!

Age does indeed put a different perspective on many things, does it not ? I’m 78 .

 

[Newbutold]

Pop-up blinds almost exclusively, ladder stand and stil hunting minimal.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Age does indeed put a different perspective on many things, does it not ? I’m 78 .

It does for sure!

 

[TXHunt]

These days its two different kinds of hunting I enjoy. I live in Texas and as some as mentioned, we hunt over feeders. Its how I grew up hunting and how my kids have grown up hunting. I lease just under 4 thousand acres in the hill country a couple hours from the house. ITs low fence but we have alot of exotics roaming around which makes it extra fun. We have had this place for over 13 years, my youngest was 3 when we got it. I now have 1 and 2 year old grandsons from my oldest. My Texas hunting is now all about just spending time at the ranch and the fellowship. I do a little bow hunting but my greatest enjoyment is watching the kids be successful.

The more serious hunting I do for myself is out west and north. Looking forward to an Alaska Peninsula Brown Bear hunt in May!!!

 

[dr.mooseknuckles]

Being out in God's creation is #1, meat #2.
I'm not a fan of baiting, but since it's been made legal in Alabama, our property follows along. We're the biggest private land owner in the neighborhood and all of our smaller tract neighbors are doing it, with food plots and feeders 10 yards from the property line. We bait and have food plots to try and give them more reason to stay on our place, which it seems we're successful doing so thus far.

I prefer not to hunt by a feeder, but sometimes it's unavoidable on our place. Not a guarantee though. Missed two does this past Friday by a feeder. Rifle/scope have been solid since I've owned them, but apparently got bumped since my Colorado trip to cause a miss.
Killed a nice buck Saturday morning with a borrowed rifle, chasing a doe/yearling in the woods, nowhere near a feeder.

 

[iamthenick]

I like hunting public, but dang is it hard here in Florida. I like going out and exploring a piece and trying to figure it out. Its difficult but rewarding, the deer know the game well and all the old bucks stay in the closed areas where you can't hunt. Ive been lucky enough to get on some decent ones early season over the last few years but it definitely takes time and luck. Very hard to pattern deer here where there is food and water in thick cover and they don't have to move.

I live in a small neighborhood a few miles from a WMA, most plots are 3 to 5 acres and we have some big neighborhood deer. When I first moved in I put up a feeder in my yard to see what would come by. During the summer I could ride my lawnmower within 50 yds to 8 point bucks during daylight. The first cold snap and opening day of archery season I sat out near the feeder, had a smaller 6 and a bunch of does. Didn't shoot anything and from October to February I did not have a single daylight buck on the feeder. Had a few regulars coming late night through the season. Late Feb I had a big boy come through one afternoon chasing some does and stopped to eat after they ran off. Never been on camera once. I wasn't actively hunting as i hsd pretty much given up but seen him and tagged him. It was kinda bittersweet as it didnt feel like "hunting" but I know it was not shooting tame trained deer either. I ended up taking down the feeder in the yard tho, was spending too much feeding the chickens and ducks lol.



Last Pic is the only daylight buck for that whole year. Lucky enough to kill him but it was definitely not shooting fish in a barrel like I thought it would be.

 

[jdmaxwell]

Hunting to me comes in so many different forms. Alot I do not believe in or participate in and have a personal distaste for.
But....someone participating in any legal method or way of hunting is way better than someone that is anti hunting..
Imo

 

[Rich M]

I like hunting public, but dang is it hard here in Florida. I like going out and exploring a piece and trying to figure it out. Its difficult but rewarding, the deer know the game well and all the old bucks stay in the closed areas where you can't hunt. Ive been lucky enough to get on some decent ones early season over the last few years but it definitely takes time and luck. Very hard to pattern deer here where there is food and water in thick cover and they don't have to move.

I live in a small neighborhood a few miles from a WMA, most plots are 3 to 5 acres and we have some big neighborhood deer. When I first moved in I put up a feeder in my yard to see what would come by. During the summer I could ride my lawnmower within 50 yds to 8 point bucks during daylight. The first cold snap and opening day of archery season I sat out near the feeder, had a smaller 6 and a bunch of does. Didn't shoot anything and from October to February I did not have a single daylight buck on the feeder. Had a few regulars coming late night through the season. Late Feb I had a big boy come through one afternoon chasing some does and stopped to eat after they ran off. Never been on camera once. I wasn't actively hunting as i hsd pretty much given up but seen him and tagged him. It was kinda bittersweet as it didnt feel like "hunting" but I know it was not shooting tame trained deer either. I ended up taking down the feeder in the yard tho, was spending too much feeding the chickens and ducks lol.

View attachment 986150

Last Pic is the only daylight buck for that whole year. Lucky enough to kill him but it was definitely not shooting fish in a barrel like I thought it would be.

Yup - a feeder isn't the magic contraption everyone paints it as. Hunting near houses is very diff from hunting on 500+ acres where deer are actually comfortable and patternable.

 

[wkk]

Being out in the woods and the satisfaction of providing meat for my family.

 

[Skerhunter]

Hunting is different than culling and I do both. What blurs the line is when people confuse the two!

Hunting should be fair chase where the hunter does everything right, but the animal still has a greater chance of survival than the hunter does of punch a tag. Culling is when then odds of the hunter harvesting are basically 100% and let’s say with little effort/knowledge required.

In my opinion- In its purist form hunting should be a challenge that pushes your skill level and knowledge (ever changing), with a little bit of luck mixed in. It should be hard, yet enjoyable/rewarding, but not contingent on if you fill a tag/limit or not (definitely helps though)! I think most people on this forum belong in this camp.

What type of hunt you prefer and find enjoyable and within your abilities will always divide hunters, because we are not all equal.

 

[MoeFaux]

My favorite is spot-and-stalk. I like to pant and sweat and scramble and sprint, because it makes the whole experience rewarding regardless of outcome. It also makes a successful hunt so very rewarding.

I'm a hard no on high fence and paying huge $$$ just to walk up and shoot a trophy. It's not rewarding to me, and it's not what I call fair chase.

I'm a hard no on hunting with dogs. Again, it doesn't qualify as fair chase to me. This relates to big game only, as I see bird hunting as an entirely different thing.

I have paid to shoot pigs from a local spot that has them on a few hundred fenced acres, and I would do it again if I found my freezer empty. I concede this is no different than hunting anything else in high fence, but I don't consider it a hunt as much as a harvest. Given the choice between pork that ran around in the woods and pork that slopped around in a tightly packed pen, I'd prefer to eat the former.

I have mixed views on baiting. For something like bears, it makes a really cool opportunity to see a number of animals. Sitting and watching the ones I don't want to shoot is pretty thrilling in itself (as you might guess, I don't live in bear country). I'm forever tempted to try it, but haven't yet, because it doesn't match the experience of spot-and-stalk.

I will be putting in a food plot and will consider dropping other bait when hunting deer on my property. I think that's because midwestern whitetails aren't an exciting hunt to begin with. If I'm going to be sitting still in a tree for hours on end, I'd prefer to maximize my chances of seeing things even if I don't shoot them. Plus, with Michigan's current challenges in controlling deer populations, it seems an efficient way to harvest does to fill the freezer and keep the population healthy.

 

[TJD2]

So much more about the experience and the memories made than the take. Icing on the cake to come home with something but for me its more about the people you are with.

 

[3325]

Hunting to me is what used to be called “still hunting” (don’t hear that term much anymore).

I’m not opposed to tree stands and ground blinds.

I’m not opposed to dogs.

I have no interest in “long range hunting.”

The ultimate hunting would probably be “cutting sign” and then direct tracking. The thing with that is, you have to be able to track well enough and fast enough (while staying stealthy enough) to close the distance. I’ve never taken an animal that way.

 

[MeatMissile]

Hunting is an escape from the noise and a return to basics. It’s the best sleep I get all year. Camp food always tastes so good, especially after you’ve earned your meal. I had a can of vienna sausages after a solo pack-out of a bull elk, and it tasted better than any ribeye.

I hunt public land, on my feet. My weapon of choice is a basic rifle with a fixed power scope.