what is hunting to you?

[1eyemountainmen]

I have been watching a few hunting shows off of the T.V. Now, I grow up in Tennesee and can remember the pre-3 wheeler and pre-4 wheeler days when there was alot of walking and if you did shoot a deer. It would take you all day to get it out. Anyway, back to the T.V shows. I was wanting to know what you fine people think hunting is? It seems that going to a treestand or hunting blind at the edge of a planted field and waiting for a deer to walk out and shoot it. Is that hunting???

 

[roundball]

I was wanting to know what you fine people think hunting is? It seems that going to a treestand or hunting blind at the edge of a planted field and waiting for a deer to walk out and shoot it. Is that hunting???

I think "hunting" is to a person what he/she wants it to be;

I believe hunting means significantly different things to different people;

I believe hunting means significantly different things to the same person at different times of their lives;

I do not believe there's a single, simple answer to this question that applies to all people at all times.

 

[playfarmers]

My hunting may be sitting one day, and stalking on another day. I prefer still hunting the most.

 

[Walks Alone]

...It seems that going to a treestand or hunting blind at the edge of a planted field and waiting for a deer to walk out and shoot it. Is that hunting???

Since I read your question as one asking for personal opinons about this particular senario... mine is its not even close.

To each his own and certainly your personal choice, but that is just not for me whether firearm or archery hunting. Spot and stalk and usually a long drag is my way. I grew up on a ranch in the Rockies, and that's just the way it was done there, so that's how I learned to hunt. And if we used an ATV at all, it was the four-legged kind that runs on hay.

 

[KyFlintlock]

Hunting is many things to me....and it changes depending upon who is along with me.

I took a newby this past deer season in Ohio, his first deer hunt. He had a hard time sitting still, he got up from where I put him...but we finally managed to kill a few does that day. I made him carry his small doe on his back for about 1/2mile...and skin/debone it himself after we took it to the check in station. He got the whole deal....something that I don't see many folks doing these days. To me processing the game is also an important piece of the hunt.

No prob if you don't have time or the place to do it, but for me it is closure on a great day afield.

Good luck
wess

 

[shmrck1]

I mite stray a bit off topic here but since you
ask the question of "what is hunting to you" I
will answer as it applies to me.
The main reason I hunt these days is it allows
me to spend 3-4 or 5days with my son, who at 30
years old I call Bubby(his older sister could
not say baby) although he goes by everyone else
as Ed. During that week we hunt, eat and drink
together. And most times harvest a deer, but
trust me that is not why I hunt...Any dad that
has ever hunted with a son knows or will know
what I am saying... Also have a 14 year old
grandson that joins us for at least two days of
the hunt and that is even more special.
Although I hunt with nothing but M/L,
they hunt with whatever the law allows (slug
shotguns etc.)
I can't speak for my son or grandson but
to me it is not about the harvest of a deer but
the time with Bubby&Keegan....
It's not about the kill, it's about the
hunt.IMHO
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

I used to know that answer in black and white, but now it is sorta grey. Depends on where and when you were brought up to hunt it seems. I was brought up hunting in the 50s initially (actually my Grandad took me with him bird hunting in the mid 40s when I was still a babe). We hunted in Arkansas Ouachitas, Ozarks and in Penna Appalachians and Alleghenies. Deep woods, small farms...mostly small game and birds, but I learned to deer hunt in PA 'the old way'--by stalking them in the woods, by reading sign, by stealth--and on foot! We were trained to think of hunting over bait, feeders or salt licks as not only unethical but illegal. Not fair chase. Fast forward to Texas in the 70s (and today). Deer stands, feeders, fenced in herds....everything I grew up hating! BUT, the Texans are raised to think that IS hunting! That IS ethical, legal and proper. Imagine my surprise when I went on my first Texas quail hunt --where we rode around on the back of a pickup and ground-shot birds along feed-strewn baited roads! Not only was that considered unethical where I grew up, but illegal too! "Don't let'm flush! Shoot! Shoot! What are you doing?" they screamed as I waited for a covey rise to wingshoot the birds! We slaughtered whole coveys--another no-no where I was raised--you always left a seed covey for next year! I hated Texas then--mellowed out these days...it depends on how your raised. It used to be black and white--now sorta grey.

 

[tg]

I have hunted the Oregon costal Mts for Blacktails since 1964, hunting to me is putting what I have learned of these animal whild always learning more into a method of trying to determine where and what approach will get me close to one via still hunting/stalking in the thick terrain here, the added challenge of doing this with a flintlock smoothbord dressed in 18th century gear is icing on the cake, the experience far out weighs the end results of the day as to having a deer hanging or not.I have often let does and forkhorns pass so as not to end my season early, by the same token I do not really hold out for a trophy, when the time feels right I will take a doe if that is what I see looking down the top of the tube, or I may not kill a deer that day and not see another for the rest of the season, Many of my friends shake ther heads at my hunting "concept" but I find it rewarding and have venison in the freezer often enough for my tastes and needs.

 

[Halftail]

What Hunting means to me....Cold Mornings,Frost on the ground and trees,The smell of fresh coffee and Breakfast on the camp stove,Crackle of the fire in the woodstove,Pouring out a new fresh charge for a new days hunt,The heft of my muzzleloader in my hand as I walk to my stand,The cold wind on my face,The other game I see in the woods,Sometimes the kill of a whitetail buck,The "Gang" waiting back at the warm camp after the day is done,Sharing the "tales" of the days hunt,Getting up the next morning and doing it all over again...........

 

Hunting to me is watching elk from a mile away(dont want to disturb them)for three days to see where they are bedding.Then on opening morning get up at 1a.m.have some coffee and a light breakfast,get my gear on and walk from camp at 3 a.m.Head down the trail into the bottom of canyon and up the other side and hopefully be where we saw the elk come out of the timber.If all goes to plan at 7a.m.we are quartering a couple of elk and are heading out of the canyon at 8a.m.with a 100lb pack of elk meat.This is what hunting means to me.Not everyone hunts this way but it is how my family has done it for years.

 

[jtmattison]

I prefer still hunting but if there are a lot of hunters in the woods I will sit and let them push the deer to me.
If I had a private ranch with high protien feed fields and elevated blinds, that is where I would hunt but I am forced to hunt public land.
But right now I'm talking deer hunting. When I move back to Alaska it will be spot and stalk hunting for big game.

HD

 

[Slamfire]

Now that hard arteries restrict my movement, yes, sittin' in a tree stand, back of the house, is huntin' to me. :winking:
I don't often shoot anymore, I'm lookin' for a stove up ol' deer, that ain't interested in the rut, has no teeth, and can't run. :grin:

 

[meathead]

I hunt because I have to! It's in my blood. Hunting to me is still hunting a timbered ridgeline in good looking country, and spotting a quality animal now and then. Doing this with a traditional muzzleloader, with iron sights, patched ball and loose powder is a pure joy that over shadows any other form of hunting.I rarely hunt the same place over and over as the adventure of exploring new country is as much fun as spotting critters. I will take one now and then, as I am past the point of having to fill the tag! I hunt solo as finding a good hunting partner is next to impossible.And at the end of the day, I enjoy a cold beer or two and look forward to the next day I can get out. Meathead

 

Interesting question. I recently read an article about the five stages of a hunters life, according to the author. The most interesting was how for him the last three stages overlapped. I believe I'm in all three of the last stages also.

Most importantly hunting is spending time in God's creation observing, learning about and enjoying everything he made, flora and fauna. Giving thanks to Him for the privelege of living in His world. When circumstances allow it's spending time with my son who hunts which sadly isn't often enough. Hunting is pitting my skills and ability against an animal who lives under life and death circumstances every day. Sometimes I win but more often I lose. Whichever, it's always great.

These days I mostly hunt alone and with a flintlock so hunting is also experiencing a small part of what the pioneers and settlers experienced. Sometimes I hunt in my period clothes carrying the stuff the longhunters of old would have carried on a day hunt. Kind of a very short trek. Those are special days whether I get anything or not.

As with a lot of us I don't have to take game to have a successful hunt. Often times knowing that I could have taken game is enough. Beating them at their own game, if you will, and watching them walk away never knowing I was there.

I've taken about as many deer from the ground as from a tree stand but the earth is becoming my stand more often. Maybe it's the years or perhaps getting closer to the quarry and being on their level. I always did like hunting from the ground better but there are advantages to a tree stand. Those advantages don't seem nearly as important anymore. Still hunting is my hands down favorite. Then I really feel as if I'm "hunting".

I watch a few of the hunting shows and some seem a lot more like shooting than hunting to me. As Mike said, where and how you were brought up is going to determine how you perceive various hunting methods, at least to some degree. I have to agree with that.

Then there is much to be said for what Ortega y Gasset said. "I don't hunt to kill, I kill to have hunted".

Vic

 

[biliff]

The T.V. shows are doing what works for T.V. and the show's sponsors. It's a heck of a lot easier to film a show from a blind than it is to try and film someone still hunting deer. If your show's sponsor makes ATV's you're also going to be putting some footage of those in there as well (or inlines, or scent blocker, etc..). I guess its better than no hunting shows at all.

So back to the question: What is hunting to me? Damned if I can articulate it, but my wife says I get cranky and hard to live with if I don't go once in a while so I guess it just makes my life better in some way.

 

[1eyemountainmen]

I posted this question as just a question. I did not want to make anyone mad or upset. I love to still hunt but, I have been in trees. I am hunting bear here this spring and I'm using a bait. I think hunting may be one of the last things a person can do that shows him or her all three things at one time. Most of the people on this forum look back for/at the past. We all live in the now and enjoy the great outdoors, "however you want to is o.k by me." We also look for the next year for the one that got away or will be bigger next time. I think I have never been closer to God then when I am hunting. As I said I was just asking a question and never wanted to make anyone mad. :bow:

 

[SavageArcher]

What hunting is to me is a chance to shed some of my civilized exterior, not ethics or morals mind you. I can shrug off the stress and bs of modern living and try to use my senses for a far more ancient purpose. To try and outwit and out murenuver my prey enough for a clean kill if I'm so fortunate. However a succesful hunt doesn't require a kill to me anymore as long as I have rewarding memeories of my time out.

 

[rebel727]

I grew up hunting across soy bean fields where 300 yd. shots are the norm. No stalking there. So for me back then it was mostly for the meat but it did teach me patience and the importance of making a good shot. Where I live now I can hunt woods and while I still hunt from a stand(never learned to stalk) I like being out in the woods watching the various forms of life scurrying about and just enjoying nature. Once had a bird momentarily light on my rifle barrel. Doesn't matter if I make a kill or not I enjoy every minute of it. I just don't get to go much anymore

 

[peeweet]

An elk bugling at sunrise,A big muley skylined just before dark,Antelope speeding away because they spotted my grey hair shining or one of my kids,The fire crackling at night in camp and hearing my kids snoring in the tent. These are the things hunting means to me right now,we will see what tomorrow brings! If I pickup some venison along the way,well BONUS :grin:

 

[Elkinde]

Perched in an aspen tree with my bow in hand at the edge of a marsh that is gold and red with canary grass and golden rod and red dogwood, all covered in glistening frost during the first full sunbirst of the morning. Wisping sounds distant from a form emerging through the trees revealing a healthy whitetail buck with steam rolling from his nostrils, confidently strolling through his home. My heart pounding, all senses poised, awed by the pure beauty of the moment seen by God and I alone. The passing of the moment, the burning into memory. The tale of another hunt. Individual, soul lifting experience. Didn't need a kill, but got more from it than a hundred kills.