Did you ever lose your huntng medicine?

[Thumbcocker]

I don't know what else to call it. The feeling you get when you have hunted a patch of ground enough and your head is on straight enough that you can feel when and where the critters will be and he sights seem to steady themselves and the shot is like a poem.

That is how my hunting on the family land ususaaly is. But this year I lost it. I had my head filled with work, moving, and family conflicts. MY hunting became like a chore and I couldn't concentrate. I missed a 30 yard shot at a nice doe with a Ruger .44 that I had hit soda cans with at 100 yards at the range. I felt like I didn't belong there and should have been doing other things. Like I was being selfish for taking the time to hunt. One of the great loves of my life became a push to get a critter. :cry:

I'm not sure where I lost it. During bow season I got a nice doe and a turkey. The bow practically shot itself. Somethng changed along the way.

Have any of you ever expereinced this? How do you get it back?

Thanks

[frankenfab]

Sounds like you already have it figured out to me. You have to be at a a point where you feel like you have done a reasonable enough job of taking care of what needs to be done, and deserve some free time for hunting.

I spent what I felt after the fact was too much time in the woods the last year I hunted, and took a couple years off since then.

[slide]

You got too much on your mind. By your post sounds like plenty. Don't push it. Go if you want and don't go if you don't want to. In time it will come back to you.

[canyon-ghost]

Slow down, take some time to do nothing but breathe! Not everything in life is about work, ambition, strife. Remember to take your natural state with you, gotta take medicine.

[Blammer]

yea I've gone hunting like that a few times. I usually just start walking. Not hunting walking, just walking, enjoy the sights and maybe see something. Sure I have my gun with me and it's the season but I'm not out to get something I'm just out to get away.

Amazing sometimes how far I can walk and not know it. DOH! It's almost dark and I"m HOW FAR from the TRUCK! Suddenly I've forgot about a bunch of things that were bothering me. :)

[lead chucker]

I think I know what your talking about. Most of the time when I'm in the woods I forget about every thing. Some times when i take time off work I no I will be that much further behind when I go back and that is always in the back of my mind. Life is full of stress that's for sure. We all get through it one way or another. Hunting and shooting are a stress reliever for me most of the time.

[Reload3006]

I lost my huntn want to for several years. I guess we let life get in the way. Reckon its normal.

[waksupi]

I have days like that, that I know I may as well just go home within a few minutes of leaving the vehicle. It just doesn't feel right.
Other days, I know I'm on my top game, and can kill something. Usually when it is raining or snowing, or way below cold. Follow your instincts, if your head isn't in the game on a particular day, go do something else until you feel it is time to hunt.

[TXGunNut]

Life is short. Hunting season is a whole lot shorter. You'll focus better on work after you walk away from it for a few days. Sleep in a tent, brew coffee in a big blue pot, hang out by a fire with hunting buds, marvel at the stars and nature in general. Nothing like a few nights in a primitive camp and a few days good hunting to get things in the proper perspective.

[Ronbo256]

I know exactly what you mean, when hunting becomes "why am I out here, I should be fixing the blank blank, or all you can think about is something that isn't going right at work or home" I reached a point where hunting became like a second job, then I had some health problems and I haven't gotten the bug back, I haven't been in the woods to hunt in over 12 years. I keep saying next year, but I just haven't gotten the urge back. Maybe next season ...

[Harter66]

I know that feeling too. I think mine has more to do w/liking to be w/the Mrs now.

[tomme boy]

I have lost the will to hunt also. It has been 3 years since I have gone. I still don't know what happened. I have been hunting since I was 6 years old. By myself since I was 16 and able to drive. I am 40 now and I just cannot get myself to go. I lost a few friends that I used to hunt with. My old lady tells me I need to go kill something to make myself feel better, but I don't think that is it. I really enjoy shooting. Always have. If I loose interst in this, I know I will go get some help. For know, I will just shoot more.

[leadman]

tomme boy, at 40 you still have many good years of hunting to do. I'm at 60 and don't know if I can keep doing it physically.

Do it now while you can and enjoy it.

[tomme boy]

Thats one of the problems is I have a body of a 70 year old. Too many 4 wheelers, 3 wheelers, dirtbikes, motorcycles. Crashes and getting hit by a car on the bike, let alone to shot in the leg and stabbed in the arm. I am now paying for the good times I had in my youth.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

For me, the last 2 years have felt like that, not because of head space issues, but discouragement that every time step out of the truck I see wolf tracks everywhere and no more deer

[Bullet Caster]

I agree with Blammer and TXGunNut. I have to get away and quit worrying 'bout "stuff" and love to walk through the woods and get close to nature. And of course, there's nothing like sleepin' in a tent and gettin' with buds over a nice campfire. It seems to rejuvinate my soul. Thumbcocker, you just need to let "loose" and get back to nature and don't worry 'bout anythin' and I'm sure your "medicine" will return. At least I hope it does. I haven't shot a deer since the early 80's and when I feel it's time to return to hunting, I will. As the old addage goes, "to thine own self be true". If you need a quick pick-me-up, go and read the post by Recluse about Ben, his young friend and the letter I got. BC

[David LaPell]

This is how I have been feeling this past year while I have been dealing with this injury to my arm. I had to sit on the sidelines but even if I could go out with all this pain and not being able to tolerate keeping the arm in one place would probably not let me sit there. I also just really didn't feel like going out. But I do know what you mean, I was part of a hunting club for years and I got tired of covering the same ground over and over again. It seemed like I was getting bored. Not sure what it was though.

[stubshaft]

I can appreciate your feelings. I was down in the dumps and not having anything better to do I grabbed my Guide Gun and headed to a Ranch I do predator control on. I figured if nothing else I would just take a walk in the woods and get my mind straight. I followed an old riverbed for a couple of miles and sat down on a small pile of rocks to rest. I was just sitting there daydreaming when I heard the sound of rocks tumbling. I slowly turned to watch the riverbed and saw a small sounder of hogs working down the trail toward me. I sat motionless with the wind in my face and just watched them. After about five minutes they passed about six feet away from me. I raised my gun and aimed at a nice plump sow, lined my sights up and mouthed a silent "bang" then lowered my rifle slowly. They continued on their way never giving any indication that they saw me. I figured that hunting doesn't always have to be about killing. Got my medicine back that day.

[Uncle R.]

Nice thread. It's good to know it's not just me.
When I was a young man I watched my dad lose the will to hunt. To him it just didn't seem important that he bag the big buck. To me it was incomprehensible that he could feel that way.
<
That was twenty - no wait thirty - years ago or more, and these days I find that I understand how dad felt. I do still enjoy some time in the woods and the company of my old buddies, but it just doesn't seem to matter much if I bag that big buck.
<
If I've found any solution it's been to take a boy hunting. It still doesn't seem to matter if I score, but in the last few years I've seen my boy get his first deer, and his first buck, and his first trophy sized rack. I've watched him grow in knowledge and skill as a hunter and learn to be a "man among men" in the hunting group.
<
He's done well so far, done better in many areas than I did at his age, and I'm more proud and happy with that outcome than I could ever be with another deer.
<
Uncle R.

[btroj]

I go deer hunting each year. This year I didn't get a shot. Didn't seem to even care. It is jus nice to be out in the woods, no work, no politics, no hustle and bustle of life. Just me and nature.
I hunt to relax, I try not to take it to seriously. I don't want it to become work.

I haven't lost my mojo but my need to kill has diminished greatly. I suppose you could say I have matured.

[firefly1957]

yes It can happen because thoughts are elsewhere or I do not feel well . On my families property I no longer care to hunt or even be because of troubles and harassment from neighbor. Law enforcement is useless on this as during season he stays on his land and we do not catch him placing dead animals and scents on our land preseason and LEO's will not file a complaint on ORV and foot tracks alone.

[Wayne Smith]

If hunting is about killing, it's not hunting, it's killing, and the 'must' and the pressure is on. Stubshaft has it right. Enjoy being outside, enjoy the woods, nature, and take a gun along. No pressure to kill, just to enjoy. I can get meat at the supermarket cheaper than I can kill and process it. If killing is the point you are missing most of the experience.

[btroj]

I agree entirely Watne. It is about getting out. Itis about spending time with family or friends.
I actually find the kill somewhat a buzz kill, it means I am done hunting.

[Reload3006]

We all let life knock us back. I enjoy being out side and its never been killing an animal for me or catching a fish. I consider being outdoors to be the motive I enjoy gods creation. If I happen to get an animal or catch a fish its a bonus. After my Dad died and then a year later my son was killed in an auto accident. I lost the want to. Its coming back, I do apologize to my two other sons but I just lost the want to. I did it anyway because I didnt want to neglect my other boys but my heart just wasn't in it. The whole time out there I was looking at what all needed to be done instead of sitting here hunting. As the years have passed and the pain has lessened I am enjoying the hunt again.

[Thumbcocker]

I think there are two different ideas being expressed here. I fully understand how one could reach the point where killing isn't an issue. I think it was Ted Trueblood who wrote about an old many carrying a broken rifle into the woods so he wouldn't have to explain what he was doing.

What I was referring to is the sense of being part of the enviornment at a spiritual level. When things are right and I am on the land it is like I can feel a door close behind me when I get there. Like I am not outside at all but in my home. Like the woods are my living room. What I experienced recently was a feeling of not belonging and not being "at home". That is my "hunting medicine". When I am at "home" there is a sense of peace that doesn't exist anywhere else for me.

[jmsj]

Thumbcocker,
I think I understand where you are coming from. Every year we are lucky enough to get to hunt a cow elk on a large ranch for no trespass fee, we only have to pay the state fees. This year I wasn't really in to it but the meat really helps us out financially. For the first couple of days we glassed from high ground and we did not see a cow elk on the ranch. I was really thinking I had better things to do. The thing that made it worthwhile was my father was with me and we got to talk about things.
Finally I decided to take a hike alone to meadow on the border fence where I had seen small bunches of elk in the past. The farther I walked, picking the quietest path, listening and senting the wind, the better I felt. The closer I got to the meadow the more my senses were hightened. I was feeling like a natural predator of the land and not a interloper. When I got to the meadow I saw one lone cow. The elk was harvested, thanks to God was given and the meat was put up for the year.
I guess the reason for relaying this is, I'll bet your situation is temporary. Things will change, you will get yourself right and hunting will go back to be the spiritual experience it was before.
Good luck, jmsj

[white eagle]

man don't sweat it you'll get yer mojo back

[CLAYPOOL]

Are any/all of you on "Blood Pressure Meds", because it also takes some of your "Drive" away, plus it also "Nuters" (sp) you and a added bonus...

[rr2241tx]

Oh, Lordy! I thought this was going to be about getting to deer camp without the Jack Daniels.