He is saying when it comes down to the bickering it truly has nothing to do managing deer per say. If you look into it deeper reasons for the bickering... he is correct truly has nothing to do with deer management. It's an outward projection of something else

I really should've separated these two statements better. My management statement was more directed towards the spike debate, AR's and such, (subjects i felt fall under management)..those type arguments have validity from each side, I'm sure. I just get tired head from em pretty quick. I was just trying to think of stuff that "takes the fun out of hunting" for me personally. And on that note trail cams have made it better for me in my situation, and I have good friends who quit using them for their situation.. To each is own.

I am absolutely obsessed with hunting.. I reate to the professor. I am alone. I have 3 brothers who do not hunt.. not one male on my moms side of the family hunt.. my inlaws dont hunt.. and only a few of my friends dont mind hunting.. but dont make an effort really. Some family on dads side hunts but they live 400 miles away.. just gets sad sometimes.

i dont see how hunting can get to be no fun. i use cameras jsut to see whats thier, not really to plot for the kill jsut to see the activity. heck sometimes i sit their and not shoot jsut watch the deer if the pigs show up well they get no free pass. not like i am going to put a dent in thier population cant eat that much

I love to hunt, sometimes I obsess over bow hunting probably more than I should. I would say the business side of hunting has taken a lot fun out of it for me. Hunting used to be affordable, now its getting to where generations of hunters are being lost because family's simply can't afford to hunt.

I agree, the business side is what takes the fun out of it for me. I grew up in Ks and worked for many farmers and got great access to hunt. Now, some of them can't let me hunt because they have leased their land out to out of state hunters. I still have access to several thousand acres of prime whitetail country, but I liked it more when I had several more thousand acres of access!

I think more folks can afford it, hunting just gets prioritized out. My bro is a perfect example of that. He has the $ to be on nice leases and yet wastes it on other whims to try to act high society in BFE.

Nice

pretty much the reason I do it.

like catching a bunch of 15" specks....eventually, after you hook another one, its like "come on, where is the big one?"

how many people who complain about the cost of hunting have $2500/month mortgages and drive $60k diesel trucks.


I'm willing to bet quite a few

LP I agree 100%. I guess that is why I get so worked up about the HF issue. Used to be if a guy had several good bucks on the wall you knew he was a man to admire and learn from. I couldn't wait to hear the stories. Nowadays I am afraid to ask. And that's a shame.

They've got 1/3 of the mortgage and his wife can't keep a vehicle very long. It eats at me bc my nephew loves to hunt and the only time he goes is when I break down and take him.

That sums it up perfectly.

Ding,ding,ding. Folks we have a winner!

Yeah, or they will tell you they bought that trophy on the wall from some guy on Craigs List.

for me I just got bored with rifle hunting there was no challenge to it, so I switched to bow hunting

I quit drinking and hunting with drunks, that took a lots of fun out of things.

The only thing that has taken the fun out of hunting for me is the drought and my feed bill.

hogs have taken a little fun out of it. My old buck feeder turned in to a pig lot for a while and they haven't readjusted.

This is an interesting thread because it's made me think a little about things I don't like, and PEOPLE. I alluded to them in my first post-guys who act like they've moved the stars when in fact they didn't do a blessed thing another person couldn't do with the same money. Posers I guess. Those were the kinds of guys that began to overrun leases I had been on, and their constant strutting made me want to puke-not the fact that they shot something big. In fact, most of the trophies they were shooting were from high dollar paid hunts where they were taken to and from the blind and pampered in every possible way. In terms of the various leases they weren't shooting anything the rest of us weren't able to. Which brings up another thing that is personal to me-if it's too easy it just isn't fun!

Lest anybody think I was bashing trophy hunters, I'm not! I do however bash anybody who tries to define to me what a trophy is. The first time I shot a deer at less than 10 yards, having had to switch to left hand shooting while trying not to spook the thing....that deer was the best trophy I've ever shot!! He was a medium 8pt and I got severely ragged by the guys in camp. Those guys never put a drop of sweat into anything they did, let alone walk to the back part of the lease where it was so rugged and harsh. But I did, and I also carried that deer out of there. I should have had him BRONZED, lol! Anyway, I digress..

This is a multi-faceted issue for sure. Hunting is very personal for all of us, and what we get out of it can vary quite a bit from person to person. I just don't want anybody to think I'm coming down on anybody here on the forum. I solved my issue by getting away from those people and learning how to maximize my personal enjoyment of hunting the way I want to. I have nothing against what another person does per se, I may not want to see it, but I respect everybody's freedom to DO it!

the price increase of everything from corn to diesel to lease prices

Trying to decide which lease to go to and which stand to hunt...

thats all relative to where you hunt. not whether your place is high fenced or not.

i know guys who hunt low fence places in maverick,webb and la salle who shoot 160+ deer every year. does that make them better hunters? no, it just means they hunt in a place that has big deer. I know of more than a few high fence ranches that don't have a 160 B&C buck on them

like bass fishing, some guys fish their whole lives to catch one fish over 10lbs. Then you have some guys who live in great areas who catch 3 or 4 a year over ten.

If you consult with me first it will be more fun....hunt the woods