To piggyback on the last thread "What motivates you?"
What killed it for you?
For me it was my dad getting sick about 3 years ago. He passed just almost 2 years ago.
Toss in a dislocated knee and other med problems. I haven't seen the woods in over 3 years.
Never missed a year since I was 10 (I am 37) until then. I just lost it.
I'd rather be fishing.
True, Iowa is great. There is a big difference though. Nonresident is very restricted and I am not sure Iowans are as crazy about shooting a deer. Iowa has much easier winters than northern Wisconsin. As for rifle hunting the rut. I will say it again. There is almost noone hunting way up north anymore. You will see a few more hunters if we start gun hunting earlier but a recipe for disaster is not the case at all. If anyone wants to try big public land hunting, I would suggest finding a big piece of public land with no roads for several miles and scout all spring. You will need to put on 50 miles of scouting . By the time you are done you will realize why it is so lightly hunted and a good chance you will not come back and for good reason. It is that tough in so many areas out there. I am willing to bet there are square miles with about 5 deer on it. Many places are better but it is the toughest hunt being a mile back off the road and finding a buck.
I'd be against the earlier gun season. Guns in the rut with Wisconsin pressure is a recipe for disaster. I actually prefer Iowa's way of not having guns until December. There is a reason everyone wants to go there to deer hunt and it's not the timing of the seasons.
Yes, very serious, and to all these guys that think they are going to come up to the big woods , scout out a 40 and be on a buck has a lot of learning to do . Very likely their first season up there will be their last. As a matter of fact , I wonder what the big deal is about the traditional gun season starting the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We could open gun up a week earlier in Wisconsin . Gun season some day will play second fiddle anyway with all the crossbows and compound bow hunters getting bucks before the skeeters are even gone. Michigan season starts on Nov. 15. That is two days earlier than Wisconsin is on the earliest opening. Kentucky and Missouri starts the week before Wisconsin does. Minnesota starts 2 weeks earlier and keeps the northern part open for 3 weeks.. Northern New York starts Nov. 1. but the southern unit starts the same day as Wisconsin. There is no mad dash to hunt the Adirondacks , that is for sure. Silly charge? Not at all. Also, I will try not to anger you by stating that if baiting was made illegal , you could hunt northern Wisconsin the whole month of November and still not shoot as many bucks as they do up there with bait. I know JC is an avid supporter of baiting. I would love to hunt northern Wisconsin 2 week earlier with no bait in the woods. Just saying, not trying to start a pssssinn match about baiting.
"There is a real fast fix to older hunters calling it quits. Make the gun season 2 weeks earlier north of HWY 8. Many say it will kill off all the bucks . It wont cause there are so few hunters up there anyway and so many are bow/ crossbow hunting in the gun season anyway"
Serious? I, along with multiple thousands of hunters, would gladly drive north of HWY 8 to hunt, and if we didn't get lucky we would partake in the regular season down here. That should solve the "few hunters" dilemma if a silly change like that was made 
For the first time in my life I am feeling I'd be okay giving up the gun hunting and only bow hunting. My dream is to have own a small piece of land and bowhunt only and feel like I'm getting close to being able to do that. I have a 8 month old son and when he gets old enough I'll take him youth/gun hunting but for me gun season doesn't do much. I like hunting by myself, i don't like all the noise, and I don't like all the people. I have found I enjoy hobbies where I can be at peace with my surroundings. I love bow hunting and trout fishing. I love fishing small rivers in my kayak. I can tolerate ice fishing because I can explore and get away from people. Maybe next year I'll just meet the guys at dark. That is where the fun is for me. I spent the last two days in the woods mainly checking my phone for the time.
When I first started hunting I never sat on stand I always still hunted be cause I did not have the patience. I always wanted to go seek the game and saw a lot of rear ends. I was always warm from walking. Sit for a while then walk/ stillhunt/ stalk/glass. Here it doesnt work so well. Though I have had some success in wisconsin with my own personal" stalk drives"into the wind, I found that sitting is best if you got the right spot. I have a terrific spot on public and have never failed there. My mind is there though every season, I can imagine the hunt and what it is like to be out there and that is enough. Maybe some day when my grand kids are old enough and I am still alive I will go again with them.
I hear ya Utahman. It was so cold Sunday morning that we just waited till 9 and took a nice walk. Found some options for next year too. Saw some big bear tracks and timber wolves. We even heard a few wolves last evening. There is a real fast fix to older hunters calling it quits. Make the gun season 2 weeks earlier north of HWY 8. Many say it will kill off all the bucks . It wont cause there are so few hunters up there anyway and so many are bow/ crossbow hunting in the gun season anyway.
The Cold. Last few times I had to use a garbage bag inside a mummy bag and a thermos of coffee to stay warm thank god it was only about an hour and a half or two before I got my deer. It was 8-11 degrees with a slight wind. I was also contemplating the killing aspect. I've shot 13 elk, one wild buffalo, quite a few muleys, and about 30 whitetails. I got to thinking what right do I have to take that animals life? In my adventures in the mountains of the west I had hypothermia with extreme exhaustion about five times that I could have died.I hunted alone,no cell phone just me and the wilderness and those were tough times making it out alive. I once slept on a cliff out in the open, because it was the only level spot and it was dark, and it snowed that night.That is what made me feel alive when I was younger, knowing I conquered the wilderness. Last hunt was 15 minutes for elk 2004, I got lucky. Then I moved to Wisconsin and, my son was old enough to hunt so I continued with him. Many a brutal morning with the cold. He shot a 146 and the temp was 11 with a 10-15 mile wind in his and my face. It just got to the point where I just wasnt having fun or had that adrenaline rush of being out there. The cold wasnt so bad when we were doing drives with a crew, but that got old and I wanted to show my son what real hunting was so we went to sitting on stand. Never got to teach him stalking. It worked real well out west but not that great out here.I get all my deer now from roadkills, a lot easier and I never run out. As for ducks and geese I could never seem to cook them to get tender enough. The last year I hunted,I got 5 geese and cooked them 5 different ways and they always were tough no matter what. Same with the ducks tried everything I knew. When Iived in utah I shot a lot of ducks and coot and would cook them in an oven bag with a piece of chicken and it was fine. It didn't work with the goose. I tried to give some goose to some life long friends that live here and they woudn't take it. Now I know why.
