I sit here and i think of my hunting life and why do i hunt and how much the answer to that question has changed throughout my life. I started hunting when i was 12 years old and my stepfather is the person that got me into hunting and bought me my first shotgun. I had to wait until i was 12 years old to hunt because i grew up in PA and you cant hunt until you are 12 years old. If you asked me when i was 12 years old why do i hunt i would have told you because i like to kill things and then eat it. I grew up doing deer drives on public land in PA and farms that we had permission to hunt. I always looked up to my stepdad because he taught me a lot about being an outdoors man and the animals and shooting and surviving and i could go on for days. I owe that man alot for who i am today. I moved to Texas when i was 16 years old to live with my Dad. The day i left PA was the first day i saw my Step Father cry. That day opened up my eyes to how much i meant to him. So my Dad was also my idol growing up. I only got to see him in the summers so you can only imagine how i could want to move and try living with him too. My Dad took me hunting in Texas and it was totally different than what i was ever used to. One reason is baiting is illegal in PA and TX it is not. So we sit in stands and shoot deer under a corn feeder. "This is different". So you ask me when i'm 16 why do you hunt i would tell you i hunt for the sport and to shoot a mature deer and eat it and manage the deer population. Fast forward 15 years. I am now 31 and have 19 years of hunting experience and 90% of it is Whitetail hunting. Hunting good whitetail and not wanting to empty your bank account in my part of Texas dont go together. Dont get me wrong there is public land but we all know how that goes. I find myself wanting to hunt big game and public land DIY hunts. This has brought out the excitement in hunting that i haven't had since i was a young teen hunting with my Step Dad waiting for the first monday after thanksgiving to load up the slug gun and go hunt. My appreciation for the land and the animal have changed alot since my last why do i hunt question. So, now today im 31 and you ask me why do i hunt. I will tell you i hunt to get to spend time with those family and friends you only get to see once or twice a year because you live in Texas and they live in Pennsylvania (my step dad and i plan hunts together so we can get time together), Or that i love going out to the untouched land of man that hasnt been paved or bulldozed. I love watching the animals and learning and if i dont harvest one its not the end of the world. Because i was out doing what i love. Its my escape from the every day city hustle bustle. So thats why i hunt.


So..... Why do you hunt?

Because golf is boring.

True dat.

I like to eat

Because I have never found anything that gives me the same feeling I get right before I pull the trigger on an animal.

Golf is boring, I agree. I’ve tried it a dozen times too for anyone who says...give it a chance

I hunt because to me it is hard, not the killing aspect.

I could kill an animal 90 percent of the time

I hope a tree hugger googles this and reads it, I pass on many. Maybe hundreds

I check my cameras all the time, find that odd deer and I zone in on him/her

I say him/her because year we had a doe we named “white ear”. She had a mutation and she really had a white ear.

I didn’t get her but she was my trophy

I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, run, workout and hunt all for the same reasons. I like hard and I don’t know why

I wouldn’t do a caged hunt if I had Jerry Jones money but I don’t hate on anyone who does

If it ain’t hard, it ain’t for me.

That’s why I do it

I love everything about it.

Being out there, hearing the birds wake up and start flitting around.

Hearing the sound of squirrels cussing move down a long tree line, as they announce the progress of a bobcat on the prowl.

Watching a buck fuzz up, pin his ears, and do ‘the walk’ at another deer in his area.

Seeing the frost on the pasture as the sun breaks over the ridge.

Feeling the adrenaline come on as I see a deer I’m sure I’m going to shoot. Feeling it grow as you raise the rifle, not knowing if you’ll complete the action and get the shot before the deer moves on. Calming your nerves and breathing, snicking off the safety, feeling the sear slip and welcoming the satisfying crunch of recoil. Watching the bullet hit home and the deer react.

Congratulating the other hunter or being congratulated as you load God’s provision in the vehicle.

Sharing the latest family new, hunt report, or sports results over a meal with your family and friends.

All a part of it.

I am not sure why. I just have to do it.

procraft05- I can relate to that.

I hunt because it is something I missed as a kid. I was raised by my grandparents after my mother was killed in an accident. The grandparents were frugal and had no interest in hunting, but I read every book/magazine
I could lay my hands on about the outdoors and hunting adventures.
I own a ranch in the hill country, I am a certified gun nut and my children and grandchildren hunt regularly.
I am at an age where I prefer to watch others hunt and get some satisfaction in introducing "newbies" to the sport.

I recently had to ask that question. I'm 76 YOA and in good shape. I have my own place(don't live there) South of Bowie, and have hunted it for over 30 years. Also hunted quite a few other places for elk, antelope and mule deer. Hunted Africa last year Taught my Grandson and his buddies how to hunt and shoot. I enjoyed that. But, now the boys are grown and have busy lives. They still show up and help the old goat fill feeders. I kinda feel like Puff The Magic Dragon. Killed but didn't find a decent/legal buck this year. My fault and no excuses offered.

Anyway, I was laying in bed a couple of weeks ago and was going to shoot a doe for meat. I asked myself why. I realized that doe hunting doesn't offer the anticipation of seeing/taking a nice buck. I have ZERO interest in camera hunting. No interest in shooting coyotes or hogs. Kinda like kissing your sister. It's still a kiss but...

Not sure where it will go from here.

I hunt for meat. Filling the freezer with high quality protein free of chemicals and hormones. When I was growing up in CO I put in for or bought every tag I could get: mulies, whitetails, elk pronghorn, bear, sheep, goat, moose, lion. I ended up getting them all but the moose tag. I mounted a bunch of these. Then I went to Africa 5 times where I racked up a bunch of other species. Hunting for things to put on the wall lost its appeal for me. But hunting for meat is still something I am passionate about.

Like the OP I went though most of those stages you describe, probably about the same age. Now I hunt because it is what I love to do and it is my escape, my hobby. I really enjoy being out in nature and watching the woods come to life. I don't have to shoot something any longer to be satisfied. I also hunt to make certain my son has the same opportunities for memories that hunting has provided me and to show him how it is done.

Here lately as I get a little older I catch myself wanting something different. Most of my hunting experiences are related to whitetail and dove hunting. About 8 years ago I took up waterfowl hunting and have been hooked on that. I would love to go hunt other game(elk & mule deer) out of state but I find myself not really knowing how to get started. I could easily book an outfitter but I am not sure that would satisfy my hunger(ego) and I am not sure I have enough time(young kids) to learn it on my own.

I spend a significant amount of time and money hunting, here lately I have been questioning some of my motives for the first time ever.

It is in my genes and I like to.

I like shooting stuff..

x2

Ive never tried golf, and probably never will. From the outside looking in the only positive I can see about golf is cold beer.

I like the sound they make when they hit the ground.

Why do I hunt? When I started some 60 or so years ago it was because it was what everyone did. Grew up on a dry land farm and every rabbit meant that some of our crops would be eaten if we did not hunt and kill them. It grew from there to something I loved to do, hunt and kill. As I grew older the game changed but there was that desire to kill some game. It grew from rabbits, dove and quail to dove, quail and deer, still had to kill every time it seemed. My hunting desires changed to add elk and antelope but still felt that there needed to be a kill, to have a successful hunt. Then as I aged, I started changing, the kill was not as important. It seemed that life, whether mine or the game I hunted mattered more. I grew from the need to kill to the want for a good hunt, whether there was a kill or not. Just as long as there was some game to eat I was satisfied. Then a round of fighting cancer really changed my perspective of life, now a hunt does not have to have a dead animal for it to be a good hunt. On our last lease we were on for a little over 4 years I never fired a shot at a deer, coyotes but no deer. I carried grandsons and let them shoot their deer my youngest son when he came back from Iraq and let him shoot a deer. This made it a "good hunt" . I still enjoy getting out into nature and seeing game animals, I still enjoy shooting my firearms and I still enjoy eating wild game. I just have lost the need "to kill".
Durwood

lol on all the golf haters.


Golf is fun. The entire lifestyle of it I could never get into, but in and of itself it isn't a bad game. What I have a hard time understanding is following professional sports to the extent of large scale traveling, memorabilia, season tickets, etc.


I like to Golf (only do it maybe 1-2 times a year ) I like to fish, like to snowboard, like to wakeboard....but I love to hunt. I would never spend the time or money I do hunting on any other hobby...its my passion.

I think 90% of the fun I have hunting is in the strategy, setup, and learning/implementing wildlife management. I had a blast this year. Saw tons of deer, but didn't take any myself.

I enjoy having friends/family come hunt with me and share the thrill of their success. There were 5 does taken on my property. Neither my father nor I got one, but we still considered it an excellent season.

There is nothing quite like sitting in a deer blind watching the fruits of your labor pay off. Seeing the deer grow and multiply is an amazing feeling.

I hunt because I am a hunter.

The same reason a bird flys, a fish swims and a dog barks.

Golf is not boring when you are good. Once hunting season is over the golf clubs come back out for me.

I hunt to get that adrenaline rush of spotting that animal for the first time and if it is what I want my heart really gets pumping.

That is what I hunt for

To add to my post, I’m 37 and have spent many hours in the stand

I’m not there yet but I can feel in my gut the want to kill getting weaker, I’m not there yet but I’ve recognized it

My daughter who is 12 just got into it last year and got her first kill.

Honestly, it was like her birth to me. She is my oldest, my baby girl and her face and excitement really changed me. Money couldn’t buy that.

If taking her and letting her do it kept me from ever doing it again, I’d do it

I’m real curios what 2019 brings to her and if she wants it like I did

To Kill