Somethings wrong! Am I a TRAITOR?

[222]

I know the struggle for me isn't the kill but I know the work I have to do to put it up and I have lost my ambition to process one after the shot my son put 2 in freezer for us. A couple in church need meat so will probably shoot a doe or two for them. Either I am getting lazy or working two jobs and in my mid 50s has me worn down.

[richhodg66]

I killed two deer this year and processed them myself, like most years. I'm not quite as in to it as I used to be, but we eat venison, a good bit of it.

I have found myself not liking to kill anything without a good reason. A couple of years ago, we had a possum get up on the porch and eat the cat's food. Wife wouldn't have it and demanded I do something, so I got a .22 and shot it. Can't believe how bad I felt for a good while afterwards. He really wasn't causing a problem, the cat would have left him alone, he was just hungry. Besides that, I hear they eat ticks now and are resistant to rabies. Possums get a pass now, in fact, I kind of like running across one here on my place.

Coons and coyotes are the only things that get shot at on sight here now. I still enjoy hunting and have really gotten to where I'd rather squirrel hunt than anything, but a huge part of it is sitting and watching the woods.

[oneofsix]

I have found myself not liking to kill anything without a good reason. *snip* I still enjoy hunting and have really gotten to where I'd rather squirrel hunt than anything, but a huge part of it is sitting and watching the woods.

^this-


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J120AZ using Tapatalk

[trapper9260]

This is not about hunting,but this post remind me of the last steer that my dad and I done up. He was the one that taught me how to do them up.I told him he dose his part and I will do my to put the steer down .He try to do his part and the steer just stand there and look at him and shake its head and look at him. He said I can not do this anymore. So I told him hold this for me and I will do it and then i will ask you for it.So I did what he was to do and then he gave me what I had to do and I finish the steer. I end up did up the whole steer my self also cut it up for the freezer.That was the last time for him.I do not know if i will get to that point in life, in the mean time i just keep doing what I always have. I draw the line and have the vet take care of my coydog for me.My coydog earn it to be put to sleep.

[mold maker]

As I gain maturity, I get just as much, or more pleasure out of tiny holes, close together, at a great distance, on paper, as seeing an animal fall at the crack if my rifle.
I now have issues walking and it's easier to traverse the mowed grassy range, than the habitat of the dear.
Stored in my memory are enough successes afield, for me to enjoy for the rest of my life. I still strive for accuracy with the same eagerness, but for different results. There are still open wooded areas nearby if I feel the need to commune with nature, but I feel much less need to as old age quietly creeps up from behind.
BTW I never took a life without giving thanks for its loss.

[Texas by God]

I passed up two nice bucks yesterday evening as my wife and I watched them frolic with 8 does. This morning I took a cull 3 pt when he came within handgun range. I like meat.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Geezer in NH]

Nope, that is how you do catch and release in hunting.

Personally I empty the chamber and dry fire and say bang. I hunt for pleasure and meat if I do not need the meat I do not kill, but I do count coup like my ancestors did in war.

[RED BEAR]

Had almost same thing had a good buck walk up on the other side of a gully maybe 25 yards away just couldn't shoot it that was almost 20 years ago and haven't hunted since. Have no problem at all with other people who hunt. Most of my family does. It just not for me.

[GEOMETRIC]

That is pretty common as we grow older. I still hunt but am getting much more selective these days. I generally let anything less than an 8 point with a decent rack walk. We have tons of wild hogs & the wildlife dept. wants you to kill all you can. I will pick out a nice young pig & leave the old brood bores alone. If you kill one what are you going to do with it? The sows are the ones that create the over population. Killing a few old bores that are too rank to eat won't change anything.
I would really like to go to Africa but all I want is one nice Cape Buffalo. The plains game is great but unless I can keep the meat, I don't want to shoot it. Likewise, I have no desire to kill a bear or an elephant unless they need to be culled for management purposes.

[Motor]

It's like Captain Curk said on Star Trek one episode. Went something like this: Yeah we (humans) kill but "today" we choose not to.

I've been hunting since 1975 and have never taken a deer with a handgun let alone a handgun that I cast the boolits for and loaded myself.

A couple weeks ago I had a yearling doe broadside at 20 yards and let her walk. Nice thing is my 18 year old son let her walk about 10 minutes later. Sometimes it just feels right to say not today.

Motor

[winchester 71]

I'm 71 now and honestly hunt better, know what to do in difficult situations, get a elk every year and I will NEVER QUIT!!!!!!!!!!!! go eat mad cows and leave the elk alone makes my heart sing!!!!!!!! I guided hunters for over 20 years and QUIT............couldn't stand stupid people any more now, its just enjoyable to go hunting again and will continue till I croak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[smokeater]

I am 72 and grew up hunting with family members and neighbors. Loved the comrade of hunting whether we saw or killed anything. But today hunting seems to be all about the kill, the quantity of the kill and the latest super sonic knock'em dead in their tracks firearm, then add in all the regulations, plus age limitations. I still hunt even though it gets harder every year both from age and the availability of a place to hunt, however, I am beginning to enjoy more and more going to the range either by myself or with the wife or friend and just punching paper and blasting plastic bottles or rocks. Afterward, we most always stop by the Huddle House or Waffle House and have a hamburger and then go home and clean the guns while listening to talk radio. Sure do miss the old days but I realize they will never return. I feel a bit of sadness for my kids and grandkids that they will never know what life was like back in the 50s and early 60s just like those older than myself had in their own youth. I guess what I am trying to say is that I miss the simpleness of life that I grew up in. Neighbor watching out for neighbor, each helping one another, sharing with one another.

[500Linebaughbuck]

I feel a bit of sadness for my kids and grandkids that they will never know what life was like back in the 50s and early 60s just like those older than myself had in their own youth. I guess what I am trying to say is that I miss the simpleness of life that I grew up in. Neighbor watching out for neighbor, each helping one another, sharing with one another.

i miss that too.

[Streetwalker]

The last deer tag that I drew was for a muzzleloader hunt, my preferred method for hunting deer and elk. I passed up a number of smaller bucks in hope of finding a truly big one which I eventually did. I couldn't get close enough to the big one for a good shot but did find a real dandy on the last day of the season. He was less than a hundred yards away and totally unaware of my presence. I watched him for awhile as he chased does and ran off smaller spike and forked horn bucks. I had the hammer back on the old .54 Deerstalker with the sights on the big buck's neck. It was such a beautiful sight to see, so quiet and peaceful in the mountains on that cold, sunny late October morning. I felt so lucky to be alive and lucky just to be there. I felt moved to let the hammer back down and let the big buck do what big bucks do. I quietly slipped away with an unfilled tag and went home thanking the Lord Almighty for allowing me just to be out there in my beloved mountains and be able to hunt those magnificent mule deer!

[Hickory]

Ecclesiastes 3


1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

[smokeater]

Hickory,
When I was in high school, every time we had Student Assembly, our principal would always read Ecclesiastes 3 as that was his favorite. Sure couldn't get away with that nowadays. My! My! Over the course of his career I wonder how many seeds were sown from his reading of Ecclesiastes 3.