Evolution Of Hunting

Reading evan9201 and his frustration reminded me of something I read a long time ago about the evolution of a hunter and it applies to fishing as well. It goes something in this order.

1. Just very happy to be able to go and hunt.
2. Extremely happy with the first critter.
3. Happiness is finally getting a full limit.
4. Finally getting the largest of what you are
after.
5. Getting a nice critter for the table.
6. Geez, it was really a nice day and I enjoyed
my time in the field.

evan9201, I sincerely hope you get to go through all the phases, it is worth the trip.

RDE

How true.
The way things usually go for me , step 1 can be inserted between all the other steps.

I haven't killed a deer in several years and don't need to to have a successful hunt. Somethings are more important to me, like being still enough to have a deer(always a doe, it seems!), walk within a few feet of me and not realize I am there. I actually had a bird land on my rifle barrel this season, look at me for a few seconds, and then fly off. That has never happened before, and was the highpoint of the day.
Seeing new territory, or going back to a place I haven't been to in years is also high on the list.
On the land across from where I live are some of the most amazingly beautiful rock castles I have ever seen. In another place I found a rock castle with broken china at the base of it, a good mile away from the closest old foundation. I am always awestruck at the amount of old stone walls I find, and can only imagine the labor that went into them.

For me, it is not just the "kill".

Getting out is the most important thing for me too. Last year I started grouse hunting after more than 20 years away from it, and a kill is seldom, but the trips out are great. I use a .22 mag, so I must see them before they fly. My deer hunting has gotten better with all the time afield looking for grouse, so it is a win win. I plan on spending more time out this year, with all day long trips.

It's post season here and in CT. I was happy just to see a lot of deer poop all over her property. She now "has" seven deer and they need NO laxatives. Aparently they also need no fertility drugs. :haha:

-Ray

i agree with all of you guys a kill is not factor in a good hunt, but its nice to at least get a doe during the season or when i go fishing few good stripers during the season i can eat, i have spent many a hour in compleat bliss night fishing or in a ground blind hunting just enjoying the great outdoors. i really liked the quote" if you are going to be a predator ,your going to suffer like one" its so true.

i really dont like eating store meat because of all the manure they put into it and thats why i love wild game so much. i think at times i wait too much and im too hestant with my hunting and fishing

evan9201 said:

i agree with all of you guys a kill is not factor in a good hunt, but its nice to at least get a doe during the season or when i go fishing few good stripers during the season i can eat, i have spent many a hour in compleat bliss night fishing or in a ground blind hunting just enjoying the great outdoors. i really liked the quote" if you are going to be a predator ,your going to suffer like one" its so true.

i really dont like eating store meat because of all the manure they put into it and thats why i love wild game so much. i think at times i wait too much and im too hestant with my hunting and fishing

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I agree, we also value our wild meat a lot. I took 3 nice does this year and 4 grouse :haha:
I used to cut meat for a living, so now it's wild meat, instead of beaf.

I always cut my own up, but this year, I've had 3 others ask me to cut theirs up, too. I should charge for this. Although, I do usually keep the back strap. I'm not letting that get ground into jerky meat. :nono:

Harvesting a wise old doe for meat is tougher than a nice buck in rut. My son is probably going to "beat me on the number of harvested deer" he is up to 3 to my two, it is good for the boys confidence. But I cleanly took a 5 pt buck with a muzzleloader after much tree acrobatics and contortions much more fulfilling than the 10 point I took with a shotgun a few years back. I took a doe with a pistol great harvest. There is and has to be a balance between taking animals to keep populations in check and the sport of letting one go. The amazing Natural Things we all see like a hawk owl fight keep us going back.

buttonbuck said:

Harvesting a wise old doe for meat is tougher than a nice buck in rut. My son is probably going to "beat me on the number of harvested deer" he is up to 3 to my two, it is good for the boys confidence. But I cleanly took a 5 pt buck with a muzzleloader after much tree acrobatics and contortions much more fulfilling than the 10 point I took with a shotgun a few years back. I took a doe with a pistol great harvest. There is and has to be a balance between taking animals to keep populations in check and the sport of letting one go. The amazing Natural Things we all see like a hawk owl fight keep us going back.

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You're right that it's more the experience than just harvesting game.
I hunt more than one state & so far have taken 6 deer this year, with the first 2 being bucks. (1-shotgun, 1-flinter) The memory of taking those bucks is not nearly as fond to me as the two does I took with one shot with my flinter. Like you, I have taken a small buck with a pistol that the memory of is a good one. I was hunting on a steep side hill. I had sat down & after a while I found myself laying down against the hill. Being almost asleep, I heard something up above me. I just tilted my head upward & saw the small buck feeding above me. I started to try for a shot by raising the pistol above my head where I would have been shooting with the gun upside down, but thought better of that idea & slowly turned over to take the shot. It was just a small scrub buck, but still a fond memory.

Now here's the part I'm probably going to get flamed for. I get sick of reading or hearing guys say, " it's all about the experience, not the harvesting of game", when the season is over & they haven't filled a tag.
:bull: :bull: :bull:
That's just their way of justifying their unfilled tags! If it's just about the experience, leave your gun home & go for a walk in the woods. Why lug that gun around just to get the woods experience? They call it hunting because you're out there to find & harvest the game, not just "experience the woods"! How about spending more time in the woods, learn the game & it's habits so that when hunting season arrives you'll be successful? :shocked2: That will also give you a lot more "experience" with the woods & wildlife.

OK.....flame on!
Time to go hunting. I'll check back later. :v

I hear you baldmtnman. It is about getting out and enjoying cause we can't always kill one, but at the end of the season you do like to have some meat in the freezer!!!

I have passed a lot of deer so far this year waiting on mr. big, but haven't seen him. I decided last week to kill some meat and missed a big doe with a bow. I took my son on Saturday and he killed a spike, so the pressure for meat has been lifted.....a little. :wink:

[url] http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v664/flintlock/?action=view&current=DevanDeer020.flv[/url]

Richard, that sounds so much like myself. I remember when I HAD to fill my tag. It was not a good season until I did. Now, I am content to hunt hard and hunt for the buck I am hunting for. Sometimes I am surprised be seeing a bigger buck than I thought was there, sometimes I see bucks that I will wait for them to mature. For me,meat in the freezer is good, but hunting my way is more important than that. The privilge of seeing record book bucks and pursuing them is a reward for me. Tagging one, is the icing on the cake.

". I get sick of reading or hearing guys say, " it's all about the experience, not the harvesting of game", when the season is over & they haven't filled a tag."

I think many people actually look at hunting this way, when the kids were home a couple of deer in the freezer was a real good thing, now it is not so important, I have had very enjoyable seasons without pulling the trigger I have seen many nice bucks that were just a bit better at the game than I was, I have let several does pass then seen nothing the rest of the season,( I count those as catch and release because I could have taken one)I do enjoy taking a deer and a nice buck is a real treat with a flint smoothbore but all the time spend trying is not wasted if the shot does not come in a particular season.

For me it's all about predator and prey. I prefer to match wits with bucks and usually spend most of the season in that pursuit. If I tag a buck then I'll think about filling Doe permits. I can harvest Does at almost anytime but would rather have them work for me attracting the bucks. It's the challenge I'm after. I don't have to win everytime but I'm sure out there trying to everyday.

Richard Eames said:

4. Finally getting the largest of what you are
after.

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That one I'm going to have to disagree with.. :nono: I've had so much pleasure, excitement and anticipation chasing "The Big one", I just don't know how it would feel to walk up to him and say this is it, I did it. (of course I could ax mr bridges :bow: :rotf: ) I'm afraid the journey may not be the same there after. Ideally that would come on my last hunt.
Reguardless evan9201 you have the right attitude and spirit. Just stay the course and you'll be fine. :thumbsup:
sniper

Bald Mtn Man said:

"...It was just a small scrub buck...:

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Well, no flame at all, but just to be clear, it's not quite as black and white as you make it seem...I used to shoot "scrub bucks"...anything with horns that was legal but don't do that any more. I don't use the venison and give it all away and there's no longer any need for me to kill for the sake of[url] killing...made[/url] my bones years ago...could have tagged out this year during the first 2 weeks of the November rut but none of them were good shooters...the only two really good bucks I saw this year were each flying through the woods hot on the tail of a doe at 30 mph and for me a running shot with a Flintlock would have been irresponsible...

good point on the meat and having the kids at home my 3 eat a lot especially the teenager. You have to walk out of the woods and feel good about what you took deer or memories. You do need to consider your own personal ethics, I decide in advance what I will take and do so. They give me another tool for discussing ethics with the kids. What you can realistically take often varies with the hunting conditions, sometimes nothing but a big buck or doe will do other times any legal deer is a trophy. THis year is a wierd one THeir patterns have changed because many have gone away from row crops and planted grass and trees I hunt on a friends 11 acres surrounded by timber the piece seems to be tempremental, A plan Back 40 doesn't exist since any timber is spoken for and some what crowded by hunters. But hey this is hunting not just shooting.

Bald Mtn Man said:

Now here's the part I'm probably going to get flamed for. I get sick of reading or hearing guys say, " it's all about the experience, not the harvesting of game", when the season is over & they haven't filled a tag.
:bull: :bull: :bull:
That's just their way of justifying their unfilled tags! If it's just about the experience, leave your gun home & go for a walk in the woods. Why lug that gun around just to get the woods experience? They call it hunting because you're out there to find & harvest the game, not just "experience the woods"! How about spending more time in the woods, learn the game & it's habits so that when hunting season arrives you'll be successful? :shocked2: That will also give you a lot more "experience" with the woods & wildlife.

OK.....flame on!
Time to go hunting. I'll check back later. :v

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Well you can think it's :bull: if you want but the fact is that I had over 40 shootable deer in range this season and let them all walk. 6 were bucks, but not THE buck I wanted.

I still have meat in the freezer from last year. I've killed lots of deer. There's just not a need for me to kill one. There is a need to go huntin' tho.

There's still a couple weeks of bow season and I'll probly get out with my recurve a few times. Unlikely that I'll shoot one tho. You just never know when the big one is gonna show up and give you a shot so you gotta keep tryin'.

Then we have 3 doe days with guns in mid January. I want to take a deer with a ML pistol and that is the only legal time to do so. I'll be out then and give that a try too. Even tho I don't need the meat, there is the extra challenge of the ML pistol... And I know people who would take the meat in a heartbeat.

It's not always about killing. It's all about hunting! Some hunt to fill a tag. Some hunt for the love of hunting. When filling a tag gets too easy some hunters increase the challenge to increase the experience. Hunt bigger bucks, use more primitive equipment, etc.

I started hunting with a single shot 12 ga that was older than me. Taking any game was a challenge! Hunting was fun!
When I became a deer hunter I graduated to a pump with rifle sights and learned everything I could about deer. Then I went to a scoped, rifled semi-auto 12 ga slug gun. Killing deer started getting too easy. So I bought another single-shot, this time rifled and scoped.
After a couple years with that gun I ended up switching to traditional MLs only.

I don't shoot young bucks because I want to shoot big bucks. If you want to shoot a big buck, you got to let the little ones grow up. I'll shoot a doe next year if I don't get one with the ML pistol this winter. The pistol is gonna severely limit my chances, But I will be huntin"! :v

jethro224 said:

"...Killing deer started getting too easy..."

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That's why I switched to sidlock MLs, then finally Flintlocks exclusively...have a few Remington 700s in different calibers & big Leupold scopes just laying oiled in their cases...it was at the point where "if I could see it I could kill it" kind of a thing...

The muzzleloaders keep it interresting as does the longbow etc....They help me to balance a part of the sporting aspect of hunting with the taking of game, Remember that hunting exists to keep populations of animals in check in central illinois and much of the world we are the preadators.