As a hunter education instructor we taught that hunters can go thru stages in their lives. Level one is the excitement of hunting for the first time. The sounds, the mountains, the smells, the gun or bow, the not knowing but soaking it up, is all part of what causes the next hunt to be a sleepless night in anticipation of the season opener. Level two is bag limit level if you can legally have 10 rabbits you are trying your very best to get 10 rabbits, or three pheasants or a limit of ducks or trout, etc. Level three is the method level where you go from one caliber to an other or one gun to another, or a gun to a bow. Level four is the trophy phase where the sportsman only harvests trophies. If it is not big enough he will not take it. level five is the top of the game level where it is all about the experience, the friends and comradery, the location, the mother nature beauty, the weather. Level five hunters don't have to harvest to be satisfied. It's almost spiritual it's when the passing of the torch to younger hunters most often occurs. I'm 64 now and I have been hunting since I was 11, my sons and daughter since they were seven. We have hunted for food, for fun and for the heritage on the same mountain as my great great grandfather. I do believe in stewardship. I have passed on many animals and I do not fault another hunter for anything in any of those levels that is legal. To me it is all a part of participation. My suggestion is for every hunter is to enjoy every level and try to experience them all. By the way some people fly through the levels, some people skip levels. some stall out in certain levels and some people quit hunting all together with out experiencing multiple levels.
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