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.
I am 72 hunted public land for 40 years,20 years ago had enough!Almost got shot ,twice, my uncle and hunting partner was shot!Starting in the 90's never ran into so many ignorant,selfish idiots in my life! Pheasant hunters run right over you,late coming deer hunters camp right under your stand! See 3 guys in parking lot loading 15 round clips in their AR,s did it for me!Knocked on a lot of doors and found 13 acres of Private land in suburban area just bow hunt now but see more deer than ever !Must be EXTREMELY careful,courteous,and know how and where to shot,NO marginal shots ! Know local Reg's.and property boundaries! Took time and effort but hunting is a joy again! I share harvest with land owners,and have become Great Friends,also keep an eye on property when they travel,it can work both ways !Grandad
As far as what killed it for me, I've hunted private land for bow and public land for gun. I haven't had much issues with public yet knock on wood, but i am always so worried. Worried driving out, worried walking in, worried sitting there, that it zaps the fun away. I am looking at a small piece of private this week. Hopefully I can find my peaceful hideaway for me and my young son when he gets older.
I still deer hunt, but have been blessed to have the ability to hunt private. My last two years hunting public were...eventful. Had a group of Asians walk through where I was set up, which in and of itself is completely fine...especially considering how quiet they are (kind of spooky), but what i had an issue with was when one of them shot a small game load from his shotgun up into the air not far from me. As I heard the pellets falling I stood up and this dude apologized (good on him) but had to do it because his friend was lost. ???
The last straw was when I got to the spot I used to park and a guy who hunted there pulled up a few minutes later...with 8 other guys in his van. OK, whatever. Lots of room. But when his idiot son in law came right through the area I was set up, 15 minutes before shooting time, dressed like the michelin man and carrying a metal folding chair that was banging on every twig and branch and then sets up 40 yards directly behind me...that was it.
Maybe just as well...dragging deer out of there sucked. Now I can pretty much drive right up to where it's dropped if it isn't muddy. Although I do miss actually being in the woods. A lot more activity to keep you entertained than looking at cut farm fields.
Loss of private hunting land hurt, but did get deer baiting on public and had no complaints. I'm a meat hunter 1 or 2 deer is plenty. No baiting has hurt my success.Big woods takes a lot of time I dont have with family, kids football, basketball, etc. My kids have entirely lost interest in hunting going from agriculture areas with lots of deer to barren forest with few deer. So we do grouse hunt to fill in the gap, and we fish a lot also. I'm ok with no baiting for the health of the deer herd if that's what it takes and still gunhunt opening weekend as there is no better place to be enjoying nature and may get lucky to get one. My biggest gripe is that food plots is not considered baiting? Without normal harvest like farmers, what do you call it?
Not sure if this thread is specific to deer hunting but I gave up duck hunting after the private land I once hunted was sold and public land was my only option. Too many clueless, disrespectful or otherwise bungholes out there for me. Nobody works together anymore to ensure everyone has space and a good opportunity to enjoy the hunt.
I own land and have family on both sides with good hunting land. I count my blessings every time I'm in a stand and don't have to compete with 15 other guys for the spot or have some jerkoff set up shop within 50 yards of me. Someday I may not have access to that land for whatever reason. At that time, I will hang up the guns for good and go fishing.
Gun hunting used to be the big event of the year for our family. We used to have a dozen or more family and friends hunting in the National Forest of Forest County. Over the years we shot a lot of bucks and maybe a doe or 2 a year, everybody seen deer and probably every other year somebody got a wall hanger. This year we are losing another long time hunter of the group and are down to 6 of us and probably only 3 guys after the first weekend. We have only shot one buck in the National Forest the last 4 years and that was a spiker. The only way our group is getting deer is off the 40 we bought a few years ago. Deer hunting on public land up there is getting to be a waste of time, that is what is killing gun hunting for me and I feel bad for my 3 grandsons coming up. Bowhunting on private land is still a lot of fun but if it was not for my son's wanting to gun hunt I would for sure give it up gun hunting.
great point on land access. the dnr combatted it by offering all these different tags, weapons, seasons, eliminating age limit, etc. all it did was make it easy for someone who has land to hunt it all fall. if they had one or two tags, maybe more people would have a chance to hunt those areas. they recognize the drop in hunter numbers but have no clue of the reason behind it.
tv also ruined it. after the outdoor channel was started it slowly got worse. everyone is trying to copy the drurys and lakoskys.
Not really fair since I continue to deer hunt, although not as much as I did 20 years ago. From talking with many fellow hunters and from my own observations, the number one reason people are quitting is the lack of available land. No longer do neighbors let neighbors hunt on their land. No longer is it beyond a Powerball's chance in H.LL does any landowner let you hunt if they have good land (too many bowhunters, aka string relatives hunting now). The MFL-Closed program took more than a significant bite out of the available FCL that once existed in my neck of the woods. The result is the remaining hunters get more concentrated on the land that is left available. Allowing crossbows and allowing 4 year olds to hunt is the State's way of staving off the loss of hunters, but it doesn't address the core problem.
So, in my case, I no longer enjoy rifle hunting public land. I took a break from it for a few years due to my frustrations with gang after gang pounding the available public land on opening day. Came back to try it again about 4 years ago, only to have a deer drive go right by my stand at the opening bell Saturday morning. I have hung up rifle hunting public land, and now sit the entire season on my little piece of woods with little chance to see a mature buck, so I just sit to enjoy nature basically. I would rather do that than fight with other guys. Sure, there is less hunter density on public land in the far north, but in many areas I believe this is the number one reason people have quit the sport. The second reason is the lack of deer as compared to 25 years ago also, but I digress.
