Why do I keep deer hunting.........

[Pb2au]

So,
I must be the most dedicated deer hunter in the world.
I grew up hunting grouse, quail, small game in general. My dad also trapped, so I learned that too, which was good.
When I was about 15, my dad and oldest brother decided to give deer hunting a go. I of course being the youngest and idolized them both, was on board.
Not really knowing what we were doing, we set out to learn the art of hunting whitetail deer in Ohio.
Fast forward 22 YEARS.......
I still haven't got one.
I go every year, I see them, I've tracked them, i have shot at them, but I have never connected. I have killed saplings in the line of fire that I did not see. I've drew down on them, breathed, pulled the trigger on my trusty old cap and ball muzzle loader only to have the dreaded "POP!' but no blam. i have simply missed. I've frozen for hours in the perfect stand that the day before was truly and honestly SURROUNDED by practically suicidal deer, only to have them evaporate the next day, and the next, and the next.....
I have still hunted them only to somehow find the one twig in the forest that I did not see sneak under my boot and break with a sound as loud as my 50 cal muzzle loader.
I have been rained out, sleeted out, and flooded out once. (that was pretty scary).
I have found the most secluded spot in Ohio that I was certain that no one in there sane mind would even think about going to, and on opening day find a drunk orange army ding dong sitting in my spot smoking.....
My oldest brother connected with some beautiful deer that were fine eating. I took off work to help him track one he arrowed, what a moose that was. I have cleaned and processed his and enjoyed every minute of it.
But nay, never have I made the connection. 22 years. and counting.......
So, why do I carry on?
I really just like getting out there, in the cold, in the quiet, listening to forest, getting snuck up on by a coyote. ( that happened last year, and he was about 1/2 second from some 50 caliber medicine). I like doing it right, having everything come together only to see a group of does with their fawns from this year. I still say I did my part by getting that close to them, even though they carried on with knowing i was there.
I have lost my oldest brother 2008, so he is now taking game in the next hunting grounds. I still have Pop, and we still go every year.
I have good feeling about this year, wish me luck.

[x101airborne]

LUCK!!! It sounds to me that you know the REAL pleasure of hunting. Getting game is secondary. Congrats and go get a big one.

[Dennis Eugene]

What luck,you don't need luck your already a winner! Enjoy every minute of it. Dennis

[Blammer]

If you're like me you really just enjoy getting away from the stuff at home and getting out there. I enjoy all the other things I see in nature that I don't normally see. I was out muzzleloader hunting and where I would up sitting I got to watch a spider make his web. It was very interesting and quite enjoyable.

[Roundnoser]

Your post shows that you get so much more from hunting than connecting with a deer. Although making a clean kill on a deer is exciting, it is also anti-climatic. After the initial excitement wears off, I feel a little sad. I don't like killing anything, but it is afterall a possible outcome of the hunt.

I think your memories with your brother and your Pops is so much more valuable than the deer. Keep going, and keep making memories with your loved ones. In the end, it is really the only important thing!

[gds]

You actually have it figured out. I did not get to hunt as a kid living in Idaho and Oregon, so I had no clue what hunting was really all about. Back several years ago when I first tried I saw a doe and could not get a shot off at her. she was only 20 feet in front of me in a thicket and I was shaking so nervously that I could not see her thru my 4x scope and was to focused on her to use my iron sights. She ran off. Saw a little button buck several weeks later and took a shot at him running, completely missed, novice mistake. I got so frustrated I did not try again for over 10 years. Got hooked up with a friend that taught me some things and really took me under his wing. Shot my first deer on the last day of the season in 2009, I was 35.

I have lost a few, both times my fault, but I have learned a lot of things being in those woods, and enjoy the chance to watch a few deer play around the corn pile. Now my 2 oldest have harvested a deer a piece and they enjoy the time spent in the woods with their dad.

[Brasso]

I've been hunting deer since 196?. Still haven't got one. I've taken caribou in Alaska and after the shot the work begins. I can put my crosshairs on several legal deer almost every year and whisper "Bang". If I pulled the triger I would have no reason to go out again tomorrow.

Sam

[leftiye]

I didn't have it nearly that bad. It does really matter if you are taught to hunt deer by a veteran who knows the ins and outs. My dad was a gun hater after Korea. I've gotten a few deer over the years, but i've experienced the "work your orse off all year getting ready only to not see a deer" thang a lot of years. I worked so hard at bow hunting (never did bag a bow LOL) that I just quit one day when I drilled a deer and my first reaction was "Whew! Now I can go home." In Utah, the state has done so much to ruin hunting that I've given them their way, and quit.

[**oneshot**]

You will get one this year, just stop trying so hard to get one.

[Jal5]

Keep trying and keep enjoying family and friends which is the best part of the hunt!

I hunted for quite a few years without getting a deer until a friend taught me about scent control. Now I am just about a fanatic with cleaning clothes and whatever I bring into the woods and spraying down with scent control stuff. I see a lot more deer close up and I usually do tag a deer each year. In Ohio I have hunted the entire season, bow-shotgun-muzzleloader. Each one is unique and has its own challenge but the scent control is key over the entire season.;)

[jixxerbill]

do what everyone else i know around here does....tell the story like this,"i saw a bunch of deer over the years but i just hate shooting at the smaller bucks, im hunting horns!" lol..me if it has horns that i can see with my naked bad eyes , its fixing to get a bullet slung at it!!! ive tried baking,boiling,frying and once i even tried to bar-b-q horns, they still tasted bad...

[runfiverun]

i have done the math, and i travell between 7 and 9 miles for each deer i see.
yes that counts the does and fawns.
i can't shoot either.
our doe to buck ratio is something like 20 to 1, so several go un bred each year.
so seeing a larger deer all alone makes you waste an hour or so trying to pick antlers out while it meanders about in the brush.
during that time i'll usually see some squirells eating and burying pine cones,some clarks nut crackers [birds] doing the same thing.
some finches,ravens,blue jays,camp robbers,robins,and magpies.
and possibly/maybe some grouse,porkupine,badger,skunk,or a coyote.
lots of the time all i see is more trees.
it took me about 10 years to get my first deer.
and then a couple of dead quakies,some killed dirt,some empty mountains and a few seen it but too late encounters took place between the first and second.
then quite a few years of not even bothering to go or even owning a rifle with a scope on it fell in there.
why bother? there's nothing to see and it's a waste of money.
then realized i just kinda enjoyed walking around the woods, so i went for walks in the woods with no deer tag no rifle no season.

[mt bwana]

i have killed a buck every year. hunted harder than most hunters around mt. now when i go out also have no gun no ammo no tag but i still love going huntin.

[atr]

Deer Hunting
just enjoy the hiking and hunting....you can hunt without killing anything....you shoot something and then the real work begins.....I love to "hunt" but I don't always shoot something.

[Baja_Traveler]

It's great to see all the replies that echo my experience! Count me as another in the exact same boat, but you know what - I don't care! It's not the gutting of the deer that you remember on your death bed, it's the memory of being out on all those beautiful hunts, and the more miserable you were, the better the memory will be...

[smoked turkey]

Success at hunting isn't about the killing part. It is a nice reward for all the effort that was put into it. But as so many have said you have been successful alright and moreso than those that are pressured so much to perform for their buddies that they miss the really important part. My son and grandson will be here tomorrow for the youth deer season. I am hoping that my grandson kills a medium buck. If he killed the monster buck, he would have nothing to hope for and shoot for in the seasons to come.

[badge176]

One you down a deer, the FUN stops and the WORK begins.. I almost alway buy a 'bonus' or management' antler less tag so I can stay out in the woods for the rest of the season sitting still, listening, and watching the quite beauty. If I don't have a tag I COULD fill, I start pondering all the stuff that needs getting done around the house, feel guilty and end up driving home...

[FergusonTO35]

I would get a deer every year if I worked harder at it. As it is I get one about every three years. I refuse to shoot anything that is less than average size, nor will I take questionable shots, or anything more than 150 yards away. The only day I get up before dawn to hunt is opening day, the rest of the time I go late morning and afternoon. Hunting is strictly pleasure for me, and bringing a deer home on occasion is an added bonus.

I know guys who will shoot any deer they encounter, even if it is 50 lbs. and barely out of spots or 200 yards away in thick brush. They don't need the meat, they have just reduced hunting to a mad dash to kill something.

[afish4570]

Along time ago my first wife used to say, "Don't come home until you get your deer". Her Dad and I hunted for years. I usually did get a deer and sometimes a buck and doe. Been hunting 50 plus years and the memories of the hunts and our experiences stand out just as much as all the deer I shot. Now I try to encourage the younger hunters and help them as much as I can. One of the reasons I always did fairly well was that I spent plenty of time hunting. All the honey do stuff was done (or done much later). Took a few vac. days to add to weekend or days off too. Most important too is hunt where there are deer. TV, ball games, video games are not in my vocabulary. Also hunting with a good bunch of dedicated hunters is a good influence. Alittle piece of advice. Not a bad idea to have two guns ready to hunt incase one is dropped or fails in some unforseen manner. Buy or reload your ammo months in advance so you can make ready at your leisure. afish4570[smilie=2:[smilie=2:

[WilliamDahl]

I haven't hunted deer in I don't know how many years... They are so common around here that I can usually see a few on my drive home in the evenings, often not more than 20 ft away from me as they are waiting to cross the street... Mostly does and small bucks -- not worth the effort of harvesting in my opinion... These days, I just hunt hogs... They do a lot of damage, there is no limit on them, and you can hunt them year 'round here... Plus, there is the added excitement of them possibly turning on you after being hit... I've never had a deer head towards me with the intent to do some serious damage to me after I shot it... Hogs will sometimes do that...

[Junior1942]

What luck,you don't need luck your already a winner! Enjoy every minute of it. Dennis+1 on that!

[starnbar]

We go every year and i see deer sometimes i shoot sometimes i just watch em till they are out of sight. The only animals i shoot on sight are yotes and that lyman cast in the 308 drops em quick.

[pmer]

Good luck and many more memories too.

I hope you find a good spot between their beds and their food and catch one for a nice evening shot.

My season starts tomorrow and my area is considered an intensive harvest zone. I can get up to five tags. I usually buy a Firearm and a muzzle loader license plus one bonus tag. The only copper I'm taking with is in the form of gas checks :mrgreen:

The wolf hunt is on for my state too but they're not in my area.

[pls1911]

I think someone in your neck of the woods needs to buddy up with you and get you some venison for chili or jerky...

[PS Paul]

Most all the responses have it right: the deer is just the icing on the cake, you know?

BUT, one can look at it this way. You might recall Mel Fischer, the FL treasure hunter who, after 20+ years of looking and losing a son to drowning while looking, finally found the Atocha and the hundreds of millions in gold. Every day while looking, he simply stated, "Today is the day". Well, this season is the season and it is the PROMISE of the deer and the REALITY of the time outdoors with friends, loved ones and beautiful places that keep brining you back!

[white eagle]

sooner or later it will happen
I went for the longest time myself dry
but as we all know its not really the kill but the experience we seek

[OnHoPr]

A few months ago I found a picture of me at Xmas holding a SxS just before my second birthday (did a little look but couldn't find it). I've deer hunted all day in ice storms, heavy rains, 35 mph winds at 15* in open fields, sun tan lotion weather, deep snow, 0* degree stuff, and beautiful weather such as when a heavy snow bows the pines with no wind and 30*, along with sunrises and sunsets with just ground blinds. You get to see many creatures in the field from chickadees and wrens to goshawks and eagles (some of them like fawn bleats), and from chipmunks to bear. I don't hunt The Bucks of Tecomate, I hunt some of the hardest hunted public land in the country. I still enjoy hunting. I suppose that it has been hard wired into us for thousands of years. Here's a pic of my second cast boolit deer from a 2010 and a pic of last nights supper with venison steak (from last years MZ season), Idahoron bake potato w/ sour cream & chives, home canned corn, brussel sprouts from the farm market on a stalk with cheese sauce, beefsteak tomato from the backyard, a couple slices of bread and butter, and a hot cup of milk with nutmeg and honey from an independent honey producer.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_20686509541716bec4.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=7246)

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/imagehosting/thum_20686509541a51e785.jpg (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=7247)

[Murphy]

Pb2au,

Thanks for this posting. I was beginning to think I was the only one who suffered from these same symptoms for years.

Crass as this may seem, huntin' deer and chasin' wimmin is about the same. We spend a ton of money, buy new clothing we normally wouldn't wear. Go places we usually don't, put on scents we can't afford, and even go so far as to buying new footwear and bathing. And, its usually best to take along a firearm in both cases.

That being said, after you score the 1st time...its pretty much all down hill. Hang tough, you'll get there.

Your friend,

Murphy

[45sixgun]

I'm a public school teacher and I see two classes of students every year: those who work their butts off with mediocre results and those who skate through with high scores not even breaking a sweat. I have always felt and taught my students that the former group are the real winners. That's because they are building that most important part of who we are as humans––our character. Your post is clear evidence that you've got character....and that's worth far more than a big trophy rack on the wall. I have family and friends who have the trophies but precious little character, and I'd prefer a day out in the woods with you anytime. Keep at it. Providence is smiling. Sorry to hear about the loss of your brother.

[WilliamDahl]

Nothing quite like sitting in a tree (or elevated blind) with friends, drinking beer, and watching the deer (who know that you would rather drink beer than shoot them). It's funny though... If you forget to bring the beer, the deer don't show up...

[Thumbcocker]

Anyone else think that this is sticky material?

[johnny-appleweed]

Hunting 101--- It is not the Destination you seek, it is the Journey.
Most of my friends say I am nuts but I think it is attitude when you seek the elusive white tail. If you go through the woods with killing on your mind you will see less game. (You are a predator) If you go through the woods with a smile and enjoy the fresh air you will see more. (You are not a threat) So go and hunt. But first and formost ENJOY YOURSELF!!!

[Finarfin]

Practice makes perfect. You should be getting really good by now. Don't give up!