There must be something wrong with me

[BUFF]

I used to love to hunt. Everything that was in season was on the menu. Deer, quail, pheasant, squirrel, hogs. I would take days off work, travel great distance and spend lots of money to do it.

I've been sitting inside watching it rain all day and watching various deer come up to my feeder not 200yrds from my house. Yet I can't seem to find the desire to shoot one. It's an easy shot. 200 yrds with my Win mdl 70 .270 wsm from the upstairs spare bedroom. It's even leaning against the wall upstairs. But all I did was come back downstairs and microwave a burrito for lunch.

Maybe it's just the knowledge that i would have to process it. They're more fun to shoot than to process. That's when the work begins.

I was frustrated last year when I spent all season trying to find one and didn't. Now I can't get motivated to kill one in the back yard. Some thing's wrong.

[Archer 9505]

A friend's Grandfather used to hunt like that. Sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee looking out over the corn stubble field out his back window; 30-06 propped in the corner. I think he was in his eighties? How old are you. Not being judgmental, I'd do it myself if I wanted venison bad enough, but lets not call it hunting.

[BUFF]

I'm only 37. Been hunting since I was old enough to follow dad. There's 2 out there right now. But I'm sitting downstairs watching Mickey Mouse club with my 2 yr old. How lame is that?

[BUFF]

Sorry, there were 4. Now just 3. One shot at 238yrds. I feel better.

[jason_iowa]

Take it to a butcher.

[buck460XVR]

I was frustrated last year when I spent all season trying to find one and didn't. Now I can't get motivated to kill one in the back yard. Some thing's wrong.

Maybe it's because shooting one out your bedroom window is not your idea of a hunt. Most modern seasoned hunters are motivated by the challenge of the hunt, not by the kill.

[Deja vu]

next time try it with a hand gun. You will have to sneak up on them a little and use at least some hunting skills.

p.s. Find a butcher that will do game animals.

[BUFF]

Very true. But it seems like I've lost that thrill. Not sure why. Seems like I enjoy it less and less every year. Maybe it's because I expect results of some kind. Not necessarily the kill, but being able to enjoy all the other things that hunting has to offer. Being cold, tired and wet are no longer my idea of fun.

I do bow hunt, but have not been successful. I started bow hunting so I could have a longer hunting season. Rifle season here is only 11 days.

Game processors charge about 85-90 dollars a head around here. Besides I've been doing my own for a long time. But it makes the kitchen look like a crime scene when I'm done.

[MTT TL]

The problem is the microwave burrito. If you did not have anything to eat this "problem" would solve itself.

[BUFF]

The problem is the microwave burrito. If you did not have anything to eat this "problem" would solve itself.

Yes sir. I ate so much chicken this year cause I didn't put any venison in the freezer last year that I vowed not to let that happen again. Which is the reason I went ahead and put one down today. Didn't really want to. I like watching them. But I've fed them enough corn for the last 3 years to feed out a herd of steer.

I've been hunting public land mostly since moving to Kansas, but seems like every time I go out some jerk ruins the "experience" part of the hunt.

[BIG P]

Well there must be something wrong with me too,used to walk all over the mouintains in search of the one deer.Now I sit on power lines & large cutovers with a yard chair & a tripod my favorite long range rifle.NO berritos for me. But a couple bambi & biscuits & a large coffee yes sir.Try to shoot the smaller to med. ones close to the trial so I can get the jeep to them, those bigguns ware me out I aint 37 anymore not even close.Not a bad way to hunt just different.The old back & knee's cant take it anymore.And I still manage to take 8 or 10 a year.We can take 12 here.

[603Country]

BUFF, I know how you feel because a few years ago I went through that same lack of excitement about deer hunting. I don't know why I felt like that then and I don't know why the hunting feeling came back, but I'm back in the groove now. It might be that I got the excitement back due to hunting coyotes and pigs. And since I've gotten older, I spend more time in nice hunting blinds (roof, windows, heater, coffee) with a good book. There's no need to be miserable to hunt, unless the hunter feels like if he didn't work hard and get cold and wet he didn't really 'hunt'. I'm way past feeling the need to suffer. Anyway, get a coyote call or two and get out in the woods and hunt the wily coyote. That'll get your blood pumping again. And, once you send the bullet toward the coyote, your job ends. No messy cleanups required.

[scwhitetail]

For me, hunting isn't just about killing. Sure shooting a big trophy buck makes the day a whole lot better, but the great thing about hunting to me is the challenge. I won't even hunt my friends farm because it is too close to the city, and frankly it just feels to easy. Also, for me, hunting gives you time to get your mind right. No one is there to bother you. Just me 20 feet up in a pine, and a gun. My uncle has some large deer wander up on his property from time to time and I know that he doesn't even shoot them unless he is just really wanting some meat. Heck, I don't even like permanent stands. It takes the sport out of it. Now, if you were 80, or could not physically hunt, I'd say shoot em all day long. But if you're able that just seems more like shooting not hunting. That's probably why you have no desire to shoot one.

"I've been hunting public land mostly since moving to Kansas, but seems like every time I go out some jerk ruins the "experience" part of the hunt.

I've been having the same problems here in South Carolina. All the public land is overrun with jerks who think that they own it. That's the main reason I haven't been fishing lately too, some drunk always gets mouthy and ruins it for everyone. With the hunting it isn't as much people being jerks as it is just inconsiderate. They walk in on you at like 9:00, even though you are parked right next to well worn trail. I mean come on, have some respect for those who get up at 4:00 AM and don't ruin their hunt.

[bswiv]

Interesting thread...............

I've noted over the last few years that I too am not all that interested in being miserable while hunting.....or chasing gators......or fishing.

After thinking about it I realized that it was not so much the being uncomfortable as it was the fact that part of all three activities is learning what is most likely to lead to success. And I've found that the really miserable days seldom produce.

Kind of come to the conclusion it is part of the learning curve.

As for the excitement of the kill.......it is still a blood pressure raiser but the greatest satisfaction comes from sharing the meat with folks. Nothing like a venison fry at work or a hog on the grill surrounded by a bunch of friends on a cold evening.

I think that sharing thing strikes at something primal in us............

[devildog66]

I think that most hunters lose the "blood lust" as we get older. Maybe if you had someone to mentor in the ways of hunting? This adds a new element to your hunting and you pass the legacy on to someone who otherwise might not have ever started. And there is nothing wrong with not wanting to sit out in the elements after a time. Cold hurts!

[mapsjanhere]

For some it's the microwave burrito, for me it's 300 lb of elk still left in the freezer ...

[Jo6pak]

Maybe it's the fact that sitting in your home and shooting deer out the window is not hunting. Might as well just put out some paper targets to shoot, and buy your meat at the supermarket, or maybe start "hunting" cattle

[Art Eatman]

There is a common progression for one's attitude about hunting which has been written about many times. It's a regular thing for those who begin at an early age to be very eager. This continues for some twenty years or so, and then a more relaxed attitude enters the scene. For some, it's to be more picky about only shooting a trophy buck and not judging success by the kill itself, or for the meat.

With age, it's common to help other folks get their buck. On a walking hunt with two or three other people, take a less advantageous position, letting a younger hunter be in a better position for a shot.

Finally, for the older folks, hunting the campfire and swapping tales of yesteryear is as much fun as actually killing a buck. As noted above, when the shot is taken, the fun's over and the work begins.

For me, the social aspect around a campfire was always as important as the actual hunt. My "gang" members are mostly dead, now, and the younger folks I know don't seem to have the time or money to get to hunt camp...

[hooligan1]

Gentlemen this very thing happened to me several years ago, ( I have been waiting a long time to tell this story) I myself have hunted everything a person could legally hunt, in the state of Missouri, since the age of 12. I have hunted deer since the age of fifteen. I have taken countless deer turkeys dove and squirrels, heck it's all I ever did. Hunt, Hunt, Hunt, and then Fish, Fish, Fish,.....Not long after my sons were old enough to start hunting and going with me, I had a regeneration of enthusiasm,, I was really a stone cold killer for years, I would just go and kill whatever it was I hunted, with no real excitement,,,,, And then it hit all of a sudden, my boy's(and later my daughter) really dig this stuff and from then on (and I pray everytime we go out it stays with me) I get this rush of adrenalin, that is more powerful than it ever was,. For years on top of years it was a one-shot one-kill season for me,,, hell now I get so excited I miss alot now.. hehehe

Taking my children hunting and fishing since their early ages, has made my life more rewarding than it ever could be without it.

I have a saying,, "take a kid hunting and fishing and you'll never have to hunt them down to take them fishing!!"

[sc928porsche]

Yeah, as the years have passed, I don't enjoy the cold as much, nor the hiking up the mountains or through the brush. Parts of me hurt a lot more than they used to. I can remember just throwing a sleeping bag, a couple of tarps, some wood cutting gear, rope, shovel, and a couple of buckets into the back of the vehicle and heading out to go hunting.

Now, its hook up the trailer which is loaded with chainsaw, axes, ropes, lanterns, folding banquet tables, outside 2 burner stove, folding chairs, well.........you get the idea. So now I take all the comforts of home with me. The 4x4 gets me out away from camp to where I can walk shorter distances to where the game is.

I used to chuckle to myself about how the older hunters were such sissies, but now I am one of them. Still, the allure of the hunt has not lost its flavor. It just dosn't have to be as uncomfortable!

[Deja vu]

I guess I have never gone though that. I did have about 8 years where I did not hunt but it was not because I didn't want to. I was living in the city and was a salary worker working my butt off 7 days a week.

The past few years I have been getting more and more in to alternatives to rifle hunting. Been doing lots of handgun and a bit of archery.

I all so stopped using my big guns much of the time. My favorite deer rifle is now a 357 magnum. I still carry the old 45/70 when I am in unfamiliar grounds because, while they are rare there are still a few grizzlies here in Idaho.

I think the idea of teaching some body else to hunt would really help. I like to take my oldest boy (now 10 years old) hunting. He has not showed an interest in shooting animals (he does enjoy target shooting) but fortunately he does like to spend time with the old man.

p.s. I all so like hunting with my father. My grandfather passed a few years ago and I kick my self every time I think about not going on that last hunt with him because I was "too busy" I wont let that happen with my dad!

[shootniron]

Good grief, what a timely thread...at least as it applies to me.

I have had the same experience as you for the last 5yrs. Hunting in my area has turned into such a hassle that I had decided that it was not worth it, especially combined with the other time consuming things in my life in the same time frame. Teenagers and sports activities that tend to take up every weekend or at least a part of it that interfered with going hunting. Also, at 50yrs old, that cold weather is not nearly as comfortable as it used to be. I have hunted many a cold, wet day and had pretty good success and never thought twice about it...not so much anymore.

But, alas, I have been rejuvenated . Last Saturday morning my 17yr old son killed his first deer and I was in a box blind with him because of circumstances beyond our control put us there and I am so fortunate that it worked out that way. I was truly blessed to have been present for this right-of-passage in his life and mine. This Saturday we were not able to go hunting because of another sports event, my son was blessed to be selected to play in a state allstar football game about 100 miles from our home, so that event precluded our hunting yesterday and he had about the best game he has played in his 4yrs of high school football...so it was worth it. However, I am eagerly awaiting next Saturday morning...WE WILL BE THERE.