I've reached that point in my hunting career where I no long see decent animals and don't automatically pull the trigger! I've had 4 really, really nice bucks the last 2 morning come by and didn't pull the trigger. I remember the time when if its brown it's down was my motto, but man has time changed!!! Love seeing my boys harvest an animal and see/feel their excitement. Don't get me wrong, I still get excited but it takes a lot for me to pull the trigger today. I remember reading about this years ago and thought that will never be me..... Guess what???

Who's with me?

With you, why I love my camera

I call it catch and release hunting!

yep, same boat. I like to go out and just watch what is going on, then knock down a pig IF its not to dark.

Happens all the time. You wake up one day & you're not mad at the deer anymore.

Yep, welcome to the club! It's nice to just sit and take a few photos, Baker

I still love to watch the deer but haven't killed one in years. Places I've hunted recently really didn't need any does taken off and I haven't seen that special buck that would make me pick up the rifle. That being said I would like to have a doe and a hog to make sausage.

My Dad was hardcore hunter - he wrote an outdoor column for the newspaper and was eaten up with it all. One day we went to the lease and he had a camera in his hand and spent rest of his life taking pictures only. I am 61 and not to that point yet - I am still mad at them - time will tell but I could see grabbing the camera one day too

I'll be 72 in 4 days with no real health problems. A couple of years ago, I saw a real monster on my place that I had never even seen on cams. It was an easy shot. I lined up on it and decided that it would be a shame to kill the best of the breed. I now take four 16 year olds and don't really have a place left for me to hunt. With those guys around, I don't have to even gut a deer, much less cut it up and get in an ice chest. I often laugh about maybe not remembering how to gut a deer.

I am now hunting for a specific deer that I've seen a couple of times but haven't had a good shot. And, I may or may not shoot it. Not really sure. I kinda understand the Indians who counted coup on another one but didn't kill him. Being retired, I can hunt anytime I want to but just don't seem to get around to it like I used to. It's only a 70 mile drive with a house, ponds, etc. I know the time will come when I can't physically do it.

I have one buck on the place with a broken front shoulder. He's about 3.5 YOA, 10 points and about 16 inches wide. I've told the Kids not to shoot Gimpy.

Yeah, I've changed.

+1

I still go with the same drive and passion about hunting I had 45 yrs ago. Still pull the trigger when I see something I like and what I don't like. I have started hunting Mule Deer the last 8 years now and really look forward to that annual trip out to West Texas. I have also gotten back into photography the past 10 yrs. This year I tagged out early in archery season, so I am stuck with using my camera to hunt. If I had not tagged out then I would have shot this buck. Instead I got to witness a fight and get it on camera.

Those are some great photo's ranchman. I especially like the first one. Thanks for sharing.

Agreed. That's one dandy of a buck and that first picture is simply stunning.

awesome pics!

I am 72 and still get excited...we don't have a lot of deer on our lease so when I see about any deer I still get antsy.

stxranchman, that is the best picture of a buck (the Sheriff) I have seen in a long while. Thanks for sharing.

ya'll need ta update on de threads. they giving permits ta hunt deer at night. i feel bad, consentrating on de hogs an now, tis legal ta Choot deer between de lights. times tis a changen, one day its let deer walk, bigger racks, now people complaining too many deer. Edit: time ta take de flip-flops off, & pudon me tennishoes, i need more duck tape.

As usual outstanding pics from STX. I quit killing anything but cripples and hung in fence deer 24 years ago. My wife has taken over those duties. The day I quit getting buck fever when I see the biggun's is when I'll give it up and that won't ever happen.

I have changed, but not that I don't want to kill deer. I used to be ready to shoot the first 8pt that came out. I like watching them and trying to manage what we have and let our deer mature. Im still hunting just not for the same deer I was when I started.... well really ive always been hunting for the same deer just was never patient enough for him to come. Now I am.

You need a bow

I couldn't agree more - and the more everyone has that attitude the better hunting it will be. Take out the culls for venison but let the good ones get to 4-1/2+. I have a couple of tens on the wall so now it takes something a little better. As Fred Bear put it "hunting is not all about the kill..." I appreciate every single hunt no matter what the conditions...or result.

I still have the fire, but I'm a helluva lot pickier than I used to be. I've hunted the same land for 18 years now and have a pretty good feel for what it's capable of producing if the conditions are just right.

Yep, I've passed on a good 8 and a nice 10 already. Both are older and definite shooters. May get em later but I watch em more than I used to.

I will pull the trigger but not like I did at one time. I get to go on a meat hunt on a friends ranch in the hill country and don't hesitate there but that's about as far as I go and its more of letting the kids shoot.

I guess Mother Nature and Father Time are having their effects on me....

It's not the forced march we used to do in our youth. Sometimes we laugh at how hard we would hunt and fish and only sleep a few hours a night. Some nights we would not sleep. It would kill us if we tried to do it now. We still love the hunt, but pass good bucks most people would shoot on sight. Shoot does and spikes for meat. I am sure if a record book walked out he would probably get shot. Pigs are another story. They all get shot. We get more excited about what we are going to cook and eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner while at camp. Sleep in half the time after setting around the camp fire until 2-3 in the morning just talking and looking at the stars. Our boys hunt with us when they are not busy with life and other things. When they were young they were with us every weekend. They don't have the fire we had at their age. I don't push them, just tell them to come on anytime they want. They know we hunt every weekend somewhere starting Sept 1st. I watched my uncles and older brother go through the change and could not really understand. Now I do.

wfhunter, you pretty much summed it up for me too. I still get up early though if I haven't tagged a buck. I love a morning sunrise.