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.
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.
The internet!! Everyone has a so called professional opinion anymore and when a guy shows a pic of a small buck he has to have 10 excuses why he chose to shoot it. I enjoy being out, shooting what still makes me excited and I give rats a#% what others think. Hunting shows!! Got to have the latest and greatest equipment, hunt on primo property and have every buck named.
Although without the internet I wouldn't be enjoying this forum lol??
We had a lot of drinking with the group I hunted with for years. I was coming in for lunch and seen one of our “hunters” sitting in his tree stand with a six pack and a gun. Then one evening I was laying in bed and I could hear two of the “hunters” under my window talking and smoking marijuana. That ended my gun hunting.
As for bow hunting, I had a heart attack and didn’t want to be in the woods by myself at my age.
I had many good years gun hunting, but that has really changed, so I don’t miss it, but bow hunting is something that I really miss.
“also the trespassing shooting that happened in rice lake“
I was close enough to that incident to have the chopper that flew the SWAT team in buzz my tree stand. The initial report on the radio stated that someone was randomly going around shooting people in blaze orange. We assumed it was some crazed animal rights activist. Our group was driving around, horns blaring trying to get everyone out of the woods. Sad day. My uncle knew all of the victims. I know that a few members of our group considered hanging it up after that.
Yes, thanks Frenchbrit, I am not exaggerating when I say these things. As for Dodger, Sorry to hear of your pain. In cases like yours , I see no reason to decline you from going on public land with an ATV. It wouldn't bother me a bit if you drove by me on public, but dont you dare pass me up if I'm dragging one. Snicker.
CWD management was the starting point to no more deer hunting.also the trespassing shooting that happened in rice lake.just lost interest in gun deer hunting after about 2005.plus the older you get the cold becomes a lot more to tolerate.I remember hunting in the shirts a couple of years.my first year was 1984 til 2004 was my last time.I just like summer and being on a boat fishing it's warmer!!!lol!!I really miss it though.I miss opening day and those first couple of shots of the season.the adrenaline pumping was so addictive ,and sitting up in the tree was like the best meditation ever.someday I will go buy a license and hit up all the farms and places I hunted back then just to see if any old deer grounds are still open to hunt that will be a hoot.kind of a one last time tour of Wisconsin that would be super fun.
It hasn't killed it for me yet but it's getting close. I hit 60 and the doc said I have an irregular heart beat. Multiple surgeries on my back, neck and knees made it impossible for me to walk very far.
I'm blessed that a landowner allows me to take my four wheeler close to my stand and pull any animals out. The DNR also gave me a mobility permit to cross a small piece of property with the four wheeler.
Good luck to all,
I hear ya gimper, it sucks when u get to the “work” part of hunting. Lol. I butcher more deer nowadays than when I was younger with myself, wife and son hunting. When I was young I really liked butchering deer with dad in the garage. We’d always have an electric skillet going cooking small pcs as we were working. I don’t hate it now but it’s just more of a job. I suppose it’s a good problem to have though!
Partly, for gun deer, it's the 9 day hurry up rat race. If the gun season were a month long and a little more relaxed without the goof balls making questionable to horrible shots ( some past my head ) , "cause they might not get another one," the gun season might be a little bit more enjoyable.
Overall tho, for any big game hunting, I HATE cutting meat. Hate is a powerful word which is why I'm using it here. Boning out front shoulders is worse than getting the rulers on the backside back in elementary school. And I'll be in a pine box before I trust someone else to cut my venison.
My wife and I were hunting public land in Central Wi.surrounded by farms, When a group of 8-10 local High school students opened up on a deer!We dived to the ground as slugs hit all around us! They all had local team jacket with orange vests! I heard them say too small,lets go back to the Farms !By the time I got to the crest of the hill they were going away leaving the little yearling laying there! My wife put her tag on it because there was no way I could catch up with the kids! Next day I came back alone and after a hour got a soker and went back to the truck to change socks.I was back in the cab when I heard the door handle rattle,it was some of the same bunch checking for locked doors! They took off like a bat out of hell as I kicked open the back of the cab! Reported it to local cops,but Never heard a word back! This was back in the early 90's probably worse now!
