I've reached a conclusion

I must be a bad person and even a worse hunter! I have heard it said a thousand times on so called hunting shows that " It doesn't matter if I kill anything, experiencing nature makes for a successful hunt and that's what you should enjoy. Well, maybe on opening morning and even a few weeks in, I'll agree to that. But at some point, I want to kill something! I want to put meat in my freezer and if possible, a nice rack on the ground. If I don't get the horns, then I am disappointed. If I get no meat in the freezer, then I have "Not" been successful! Doesn't mean I haven't had a good time, but I can see sun rises from my boat with a rod in my hand. Or go bird watching. I love to eat deer meat-squirrel,rabbit,duck,fish,dove and even frog legs. I do enjoy nature as well as anyone, but I love to pull the trigger! Anyone agree or am I being insensitive?

During deer season I get disappointed if I don't get a buck or enough meat, but a few weeks after the end of season every year I look back and think, "who cares, I hunted hard and enjoyed my time afield this season." So, yeah I get disappointed but that feeling doesn't linger, and it doesn't end up being what I think about when I look back on that hunting season. That said, I've always gotten at least 1 doe/cull for the freezer, so a deer-less season might make the disappointment a bigger issue for me.

I don't hunt for the kill, I hunt for the chase and the memories. I would pick beef and chicken over venison every time so I don't care to fill my feeezer, and if I don't see a buck that I want to put on my wall I don't shoot.

I hunted some places for a long time and never saw anything I wanted to shoot, so i didnt, but I loved being out in the woods every time.

I hunted harder and spent more time in the stand this year than I ever have before, and this was the first year that I went without pulling the trigger. I have been disappointed since thanks giving. It's making me wish November would come faster so I can have another go at it. It's also making me want to work harder to increase my chances. I enjoyed the time I spent out in the field but yes I'm upset and disappointed. I'm probably just a sore loser though.

Oh,don't misunderstand me. I love the woods and hunting and all that goes with it.Its in my blood and has been for childhood. I guess my point is, I hunt for a reason and its to try to take game. I enjoy all the benefits that go with it, but I still like to be successful at the end of the season. Its why I am there. Otherwise, I would just take binoculars to the woods and observe.

If you are on a bad lease or bought deer less property then yes, you should be disappointed and time to move on. And do more homework next time. I don't have to kill anything personally but I would like to see some deer and game at least. Camping at a state park is much cheaper if you have no game.

I have no experience with public land if that is what you are hunting.

If you see game that you can shoot but choose not to and then complain 3 weeks later that you didn't get anything, that is on the hunter.

Which are you referring to?

I don't have to pull the trigger to have a worthwhile hunting experience. At least for me, there are a lot more important factors involved in determining whether or not a hunt was "successful" than simply killing, or not killing, an animal.

I dont feel the need to pull the trigger. I just like being out in the woods. That excitment of "what will come oout next" is what keeps me going.

I truly believe people go thru various phases in their hunting life and development. I did a quick query and found several websites that give a pretty good description on 5 various phases. The TPWD also had similar that listed 6.

1. Shooting stage
2. Limiting out stage
3. Trophy stage
4. Method stage
5. Sportsman stage
6. Give back stage

I reviewed my 52 years of deer hunting and I find these to be very true. My attitude and hunting has changed a lot in that timeline ...

I never went through 1 and 2 but know plenty that are still there

Finally, this explains a lot about the "Big" saga.....

"I don't hunt to kill, but kill to have hunted."

haha, I assure you, he is (still) one I want to put on my wall, I just need the chance

You should read...



He speaks about very much enjoying the kill...and I couldn't agree more. I enjoy it immensely, and although I don't have to kill everything I see, I would be lying if I said I don't enjoy it.

I went 17 years between buck kills and still never had a bad day in the woods. I don't crave venison, but I do crave being where deer roam. Just love the hunt, not necessarily the kill. Personal opinion here. Not judging anyone who likes venison and other wild game.

I think there is a difference between enjoyment and being successful.

I enjoy being in the field - almost always (there were a few weather related or equipment malfunction related outings I did not enjoy). I also enjoy the adrenaline rush when my quarry comes in range, the trigger breaks over and recoil is felt, the smell of burned powder, feeling like a provider and giving thanks over my quarry - these things I enjoy.


Success happens when I achieve the goal I set out to accomplish (horns on the ground, meat in the freezer, giving back and helping another hunter enjoy their experience, and/or a day where limits are reached).

With regard to the OP's last statement,

In my opinion, as days get shorter there is a tension that builds up in the hunter. The tension is as primal and instinctual as human nature can be. Somewhere in the recesses of our brain there is an alarm going off. This alarm is saying that winter is coming and it is unstoppable. The primal urge can cause those that are tuned in to nature - God's perfect order - to feel the need to kill; to provide sustenance. Satisfying that urge is enjoyable for me - be it pulling the trigger or flinging an arrow.

I too love pulling the trigger because it is the culmination of all of the above for me.

All that being said, I am not a go out and shoot sh!t because its there kinda outdoorsman either.

I am usually tired of the loading/unloading, 3:30 alarms and heat waves by mid December. Unless I whack a big one, then I'll just go out and sit with a pair of binos and count down the days until next season

I love venison, and I'm disappointed if I don't put something in the freezer. I do enjoy all the other facets, but if there's no deer on the ground it was not a good year. If I wanted to see wildlife only, I could just go to State Parks. If it was just about the shooting, I could go to a range and kill lots of paper. I like being outside, preparing, attracting, shooting, killing, and eating deer.

Hunting is part of who I am I will always do EVERYTHING I can to put meat in the freezer and a rack on the wall. If I am not successful in that then I will figure out why. The challenge is never over for me. I love to hunt and am never disappointed in nature and what God gave the sportsman. I hope this doesn't sound like a lecture it is just how I feel.

I always liked to see deer and spent more time shooting them with camera, then with a gun. But I was always upset when the pigs didn't come in and so I could unload on them with my AR.

why havnt you pulled the trigger?

or are you just speakin in general

I might get blasted by some on here. And I don't want to start a flaming war so please don't. This is just my story and I am not making a judgment on anyone else. Two or 3 years before the timber companies started leasing land here in LA, people began to put out corn which totally changed the deer movements. It became harder to hunt the way I enjoyed hunting (finding the sign and taking my old Amacker climbing stand as deep in the woods as I could). When they leased the land, I was told where I could hunt. And if you wanted to see deer you had to plant a food plot or put out corn to compete. I hated it and got out of hunting for a while. BUT-I LOVE venison. So, I got back on a club and even though I love to watch the wildlife I hate looking at the same scenery every time I go out. I now hunt just to put meat in the freezer. Even when I kill a nice buck, what have I done. Just made a good shot. IMO I didn't go out and find a good buck by its sign, figure out how I could kill it, and patiently wait for it. I threw out something for it to eat and it found me. I find no satisfaction in the size of the deer so I am satisfied with a doe or a buck. So I pay a lease for putting 2 or 3 deer in the freezer, not to hopefully harvest a big buck. I know this goes against the grain. It pains me not to be able to roam the woods and find a certain deer and try to figure out how to kill it as I did for the 1st 25-30 yrs. of my life. But this is just me, not judging anyone else for what they like. So-I hunt to pull the trigger and if I don't, I have not been successful.

You should try hunting public land, you might enjoy it much more

I am 67 years old and have deer hunted since I was 10 years old. I grew up in the North East and until I moved to this wonderful state I stalked and / or ambushed deer. Never Knew what a feeder was. I love to hunt and my only regrets are several years in those 57 years that I didn't get into the woods at all as work and life demanded an alternative use of my time. I've killed about 50 deer and most were meat kills. I only have about 4 racks worth mounting. I agree with the stages that PMK posted for as a kid and young man I had to kill something and as many as I could. We do change over time. I finally have my own place. I have had it for 5 years and I have taken 3 deer. I have plenty available but I am more concerned now that my grand kids, family and friends feel that wonderful rush when they harvest one. We only take one deer for meat as it is only my wife and I and we usually wait for a nice buck to satisfy that need. I spend every day in a tripod stand or blind from October through December and It's obvious to me that I love to see the deer as much as harvest one or I guess I wouldn't be doing what I am doing. I am managing my property to attract and maintain as many deer and quail as practical on my small place. Don't remember the fellas name, he was a Spanish hunter and philosopher who said " I do not hunt to kill but I do kill to hunt" The kill is now really secondary to the pleasure of being there!!!!!

I like to kill stuff. I like to eat meat but more to the point I like to kill stuff. Hunting is about the pursuit and the kill for me.

I can remember a few days when I was bird hunting and weather would turn extremely cold, high biting winds, freezing spit, and not locating birds. Durn that gun got heavier the colder my toes became and several times I would have shot a meadow lark but I couldn't find one of them. Otherwise I have been ok enjoying the outdoors.

This describes me as well. I just enjoy being in the outdoors, have killed a lot of nice animals over the years and don't need to pull the trigger to enjoy hunting.

I'm somewhere between 1 and 3. Limiting never mattered to me. But I'm not real likely to let a good buck go very many times. I did it on one good buck this year because I had a better one on camera, and regretted it at soon as he was in the brush. Never saw the biggun.

I still think alot of guys put too much emphasis on managing for big horns, and that would take away some of the fun for me. But everybody is different, and enjoys it differently. But I don't like having to dissect every facet of a buck before I pull the trigger. I'm in the "If he gets you excited, shoot him" camp.

To answer the OP. If I don't get atleast a deer or 2 in the freezer, the season is not a success. Whether I get a buck or not doesn't on its own determine whether it was successful, but I put in too much time, work, and some money into hunting to not occasionally bring one home.

If I went fishing 20 times in a row, and didn't catch a fish, I'd have a hard time going the 21st time.

i think the "i just enjoy being out there" or "i don't have to kill something to have a good time" is a bit overused.

not saying that their aren't people like that, but I think people have been conditioned to feel they have to say that to be more PC ( just like the "i feel remorse for what I kill" and " re-iterating the point that they hunt for food")


I hunt because I get a rush from killing something. I get jacked up when i'm about to take my quarry.....be it a doe, buck, hog, etc. I get the same rush from guiding a hunter but the fact remains that something has to die to get me there.


I spend a lot of time out on ranches and I do enjoy "just being out there" but at that point its just that.....and not hunting. I do not feel the need to constantly chase that high like some do but that is the reason that I hunt. its the reason I fish too.

I like to kill. I understand this part of me and sleep well most nights.

If it were not for the hogs, I would probably be disappointed years that I don't kill a deer, but it doesn't bother me anymore when I don't, when I do it's the icing on the cake for that season.

At this point for me it's the time with nature, family and friends. But I do enjoy killing my quarry.

I bought a ranch so I would not have to put up with "lease" problems. That was 17 years ago and I consider myself very lucky..I have killed a deer (Buck or Doe) on opening day for 17 years. I have a nice 10 point mounted in my cabin, along with a blackbuck and an axis. The neighbor has game camera pictures of a black bear on his place.
The grandsons are still at phase 2 and that's O.K.
My biggest hunting disappointments were on leases with ridiculous rules and owners who were "day leasing" when I was not there. Been there, done that !

I'd like to see all of the folks who claim they "don't have to shoot something to enjoy hunting" to just go sit all season without a gun or bow.

I do it with a camera. Got lots of trophies and didn't kill a one. Don't get me wrong, I love to shoot a nice buck, but I get certain amount of satisfaction in getting a good image too.

haha, well that wouldn't be hunting now would it. i took mine with me every time from 2003 to 2014 and never pulled the trigger, watched tons of deer, just never saw anything i wanted to put on the wall or wasn't able to get a good shot with my bow.

Yes sir it is disappointing not to take a deer, especially if I have hunted for days and not see anything. If I don't shoot but am seeing some game that is a different story.

I only have 47acres but have deer and hogs and have owned it for the last 30yrs. i only take one deer a year but its enough for me and wife but i would take venison over the best beef and i hunt for the meat not the horns. That said i have no problem shooting a big buck but hunt for meat first and horns second and the fun of hunting a close third.

Reaching for the camera first is so going to give me heartburn one day.

Rifleman,

Me too brother. Me too.

That is why I have my camera setup on a tripod beside me where I can still get my rifle out the window for a shot if I need to.

I only have time for one or the other a lot of times.

That is why the binos go up immediately when I see a buck and make a quick judgement call to tell me what to do next. If I don't know the buck from TC pics, then the rifle goes up. If I know the buck from TC and he is on the shoot list, the rifle still goes up. If I know him and he is not a shooter, then I start taking pictures. 1 buck AR county and I have tagged out, then I am taking pictures only.

My father and I have both had heartburn because of this exact thing

To answer passthru, just because I have a gun or bow doesn't mean that I am going to shoot or have to shoot. I have gone many years without killing a trophy and didn't always get them on camera but every year I had opportunities at a trophy, just elected not to shoot. Sometimes it is more about the anticipation than the finality. Different deer and different moods determine the outcome, not my need to kill something.

It's rare that I have time for binoculars too. Camera sits in my lap and on.

I cannot come on here and say that the hunts where I have been unsuccessful were just as enjoyable as the ones where I have been successful. I hear people say that too - but I simply don't believe it. Not that I don't enjoy every time I go out, but I am hunting - not nature watching. I have been on several out of state/country trips - and it's just plain disappointing to come home empty handed after investing so much time, money, and sweat.

Now, with deer hunting on my own place, it's a little different. I am very selective and don't need to shoot one every year, but I still am focused and trying hard to take a good mature deer. Yet, sometimes I will pass a good deer up. It's complicated I guess.

And, yes, the camera has played a big role in saving several deer's lives.