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What does Deer Hunting teach you?
- Thread starter troydrex
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Rick Richard
Well-Known Member
Sweet Baby Ray's.
One of my favorites, right there!
Speedy recovery buddy.
Rick Richard
Well-Known Member
You mean like this. Last December in the middle of town crossing the street from Pizza Hut to Walmart…and on my way hunting.
Small Lady
Well-Known Member
That's me to, if I have to sit still for an hour, it must be something great.
Went to a movie in a theater last weekend, but had to get up twice and go outside for a few minutes and run around the parking lot.
I admire those who can tree stand hunt.
Sitting up in a tree for hours, would be torture for me.
I need to be walking, even if slow and easy.
comfisherman
Well-Known Member
Taught me I don't like venison...
Every few years I forget and go thwack one, only to be reminded why they usually become sausage.
Not a real profound a lesson, but a lesson none the less.
Every few years I forget and go thwack one, only to be reminded why they usually become sausage.
Not a real profound a lesson, but a lesson none the less.
I would have to agree with Crashlanding and Small Lady on this one. Where I hunt you can see long distances. We spot from one hilltop for no longer than 30 to 45 minutes. I would say it taught me that I should improve my shooting skills and move while being alert.
Louisiana Reloader
Well-Known Member
Lots of good feedback and reflection from everyone. Deer hunting has been a big part of my life over the past 40 years; since I was about 13 years old and first started to hunt deer (I started at a much younger age hunting ducks with my dad). Deer hunting has taught me so much about life and how blessed we are, and also how spectacular the whitetails are in my area (as I know they are for all of us). It is only when I stopped worrying about "numbers" and started focusing on quality and the enjoyment of the hunt did I see and learn how truly amazing deer are. I am very restrictive about what I shoot and being that way forces you to learn so much about deer and seeing how they behave "in their element"—be it feeding, traveling, bedding, being spooked, and so on. Watching how deer behave has made me so much more of a better hunter and has really allowed me to enjoy my hunts more. Additionally, I think we all should have the utmost respect for these amazing animals and commit to a clean, quick, and ethical kill. Part of this is always double checking your rifles' zeros just prior to hunting season to ensure nothing has changed from the prior hunting season. Just as important is taking wise, ethical shots. Where I hunt my farthest shot is a little over 300 yards. I want to say that I have NO problems with long shots. There are many great people on this forum that are responsible shooters who have the right equipment capable of long shots and who routinely practice long shots and are familiar with their equipment. It is those who don't routinely practice at extended ranges that end up wounding and not retrieving their quarry by taking long and irresponsible shots that upset me the most. This is a great topic and thank you all for posting and sharing your words of wisdom and what deer hunting means to you. I think it probably means something a little different for everyone and I am just thankful and blessed that God put whitetail deer on this earth for us to all enjoy.
VTbluegrass
Well-Known Member
P*** poor preparation leads to p*** poor results
Also more serious…
The past three seasons I have missed hunting with my wife on a regular basis. In the season of life with small kids she has stayed home so I could hunt. So I have learned to appreciate both time I can go hunt and time we can be together.
Also more serious…
The past three seasons I have missed hunting with my wife on a regular basis. In the season of life with small kids she has stayed home so I could hunt. So I have learned to appreciate both time I can go hunt and time we can be together.
When I was young it was hard to sit still in a stand for longer than 2 to 3 hours but now it's not so hard anymore.All day may be hard as I get stove up and have to move around to loosen up but sitting there I get a lot of thinking done,get a lot of problems figured out.
Now it's hard to be alone in nature as there are millions of hunters around me as I count the orange dots in the Montana hills doing the same thing I am doing.
Now it's hard to be alone in nature as there are millions of hunters around me as I count the orange dots in the Montana hills doing the same thing I am doing.
Bang4theBuck
Well-Known Member
Hunting has taught me many of the lessons mentioned above some.very pointed examples that I have to agree with:
1. The woods (outdoors) is my cathedral- you would think that sitting for hours in a stand or on a bucket ice fishing and being alone with your thoughts would drive a person crazy- for me it is the ultimate 'centering time' re-center on all that is right and good.
2. Poor prep equals poor performance- pretty much says it all.
Plus a couple other lessons:
1. Being decisive- before you step foot into the woods, decide what you are going to harvest (min size / quality) and when that opportunity presents, seize the opportunity. Then celebrate the success, be it a plump squirrel, or a 350 inch bull elk. We have also learned as a buddy group to make it known to our forces and hunting parnters what we are after before we go.in the woods. Then we celebrate each other's opportunities that were seized!
2. 80% of hunting, as in life is showing up. You gotta be there, whether it is for yourself or for someone else. It's hard to put on the effort some days, but it almost always means the most when you do.
3. Not sure how to summarize it, but I've learned.over the years that the minute you step.in the woods you are essentially hunting, amd the animals don't follow any sort of script. I've had deer walk right in on me when I was climbing up a tree, or getting settled in. I've fallen asleep in the stand and found out various ways that I slept through my opportunity. I've also waited to chber a round when I first get in the stand, and then when Mr. Big walks in, youve got all that noise amd fumbling around has to happen instead of jist safety off and bang..You have to be prepared from the minute you step foor in the woods. Your chance may come when you least expect it, amd without any warning. Success often depends on your readiness and decisiveness in that moment.
4. Lastly, if you spend the extra effort bringing yourself back to civilization instead of 'bringing the outdoor experience into the home', your significant other may appreciate your hunting habit more. Examples:
*Bring the animal home in a cooler, not a bloody mess in the bed of your truck.
*Be sure the last thing you do before leaving camp is a shower and a shave.
*. Butcher somewhere other than the kitchen counter.
*. Make extra effort for the field harvested meats to be prepared in an extraordinary fashion, even though backstraps fried in a pan, and eaten with just your bare fingers is awesome, this is a little too 'caveman' for some.
These are not rules, just suggestions and things I've learned about our household dynamic.
I could go on all day about the things hunting and the preparation therefore have taught me, this is just a sampling.
1. The woods (outdoors) is my cathedral- you would think that sitting for hours in a stand or on a bucket ice fishing and being alone with your thoughts would drive a person crazy- for me it is the ultimate 'centering time' re-center on all that is right and good.
2. Poor prep equals poor performance- pretty much says it all.
Plus a couple other lessons:
1. Being decisive- before you step foot into the woods, decide what you are going to harvest (min size / quality) and when that opportunity presents, seize the opportunity. Then celebrate the success, be it a plump squirrel, or a 350 inch bull elk. We have also learned as a buddy group to make it known to our forces and hunting parnters what we are after before we go.in the woods. Then we celebrate each other's opportunities that were seized!
2. 80% of hunting, as in life is showing up. You gotta be there, whether it is for yourself or for someone else. It's hard to put on the effort some days, but it almost always means the most when you do.
3. Not sure how to summarize it, but I've learned.over the years that the minute you step.in the woods you are essentially hunting, amd the animals don't follow any sort of script. I've had deer walk right in on me when I was climbing up a tree, or getting settled in. I've fallen asleep in the stand and found out various ways that I slept through my opportunity. I've also waited to chber a round when I first get in the stand, and then when Mr. Big walks in, youve got all that noise amd fumbling around has to happen instead of jist safety off and bang..You have to be prepared from the minute you step foor in the woods. Your chance may come when you least expect it, amd without any warning. Success often depends on your readiness and decisiveness in that moment.
4. Lastly, if you spend the extra effort bringing yourself back to civilization instead of 'bringing the outdoor experience into the home', your significant other may appreciate your hunting habit more. Examples:
*Bring the animal home in a cooler, not a bloody mess in the bed of your truck.
*Be sure the last thing you do before leaving camp is a shower and a shave.
*. Butcher somewhere other than the kitchen counter.
*. Make extra effort for the field harvested meats to be prepared in an extraordinary fashion, even though backstraps fried in a pan, and eaten with just your bare fingers is awesome, this is a little too 'caveman' for some.
These are not rules, just suggestions and things I've learned about our household dynamic.
I could go on all day about the things hunting and the preparation therefore have taught me, this is just a sampling.
trapper1954
Well-Known Member
Well there's deer hunting then there's deer hunting. The guys I see here are dressed for it but sit in a box blind and stare at a corn feeder. Not the experience of hunting in my book. Anybody out there ever read The Archers Bible by Fred Bear lots of good info in there. Ive been fortunate to have been able to hunt on foot my whole life and I thank God for that gift. I have a picture of me at 3 or so sitting on a buck my mom shot with her 1899 303 savage. Still have that ole relic and the picture rests with it. At that young age when my mom wanted to go hunting we went, sometimes sneaking down a ditch in an oat field and sitting till dark. I've hunted with bow and arrow, black powder, and stuck on single shot center fire Ruger #1V. I think hunting the way I did tunes you to the natural world and you see that there's predator and prey all around you hawks, snakes, fox and the little cottontails got problems always. It teaches self control and sharpens the senses, it teaches a person to strive for perfection, it teaches without success there's no food for the table . It teaches you to share your bounty with the elderly who cant do what you can. It teaches survival skills like jerky & dried sausage and I strongly urge all of you to teach a child what you can. And for you-all who are going out this morning, I keep a small feather with 3 tiny glass beads on 6 inches of nylon fishing line on my favorite rifles so I always know the wind.
I am poor, too poor to do drugs and really too poor to hunt deer, but I persevere, deer part, not drug part, the rest is just me being weird
