Since I last pulled the trigger on a buck. Have seen some decent ones but none that have gotten my blood really pumping. Have take down a few coyotes and 1-2 hogs in those seasons. After 45+ years of primarily hunting whitetail in South Texas and probably harvesting 75+ over that time, the need to or want to kill is simply not what drives me in my early 50s as it may have in my teens/20s/30s. Am I in the minority with this, what say the forum?

I have shot one deer in the last 8 seasons, not a trophy but a personal best for me. I let my son shoot all the deer and get just as excited. I guess I am not as mad at them as I used to be and get as much enjoyment from just being in the woods.

Nope, just entered a different stage in life/hunting. Neighbor and I drove to check my feeder last night almost got to it and there were 10 hogs on it. There was no fire drill to grab guns we just sat there and watched them.
It's normal what your experiencing.

I’ll share my perspective as a 25yr old.

We’ve had our ranch for 12 years. When we bought it, it had been so overhunted that we didn’t even have camera pics of a whitetail the first two years. Slowly the deer started coming back and to where we felt like we had a big enough population to hunt. We managed for 4.5yd old the first 5-6 years and shot some good deer for that age class. Four years ago we shot a 7.5 yr old buck that we had had pictures of since he was 1. Really sold us to the idea that there is less pressure surrounding us than we thought and we shifted our management to start increasing ages to 6, 7, and 8 year olds. Because I’ve had the opportunity to grow up and watch this ranch go from zero deer to regularly holding 140” mature deer, the driving force for me is turning on cameras in august and seeing how our deer look and wondering just how big can we grow them. It’s fun to shoot our mature deer and I get excited to do it as I’ve only shot five over the last 12 years, but I get the most excitement out of seeing our deer grow and the constant improvement in the land and our management practices to hopefully turn out something bigger.

I can not even remember the last season I did NOT kill a deer....if there was one season I did not kill a deer in the last 55 yrs. I killed what I could kill in an AR county last year with my bow and then hunted MLD on several places. I just turned 65 and have not lost the desire to hunt and shoot deer each year. I am actually more excited about the start of archery season than I have been in a few years. My goal the last 30 yrs is to hunt one specific buck or buck that I like and then to put a new mount on the wall. I am also a meat hunter and need 3-4 deer per year for the freezer.

I have not killed a deer on my own place in 4 years but I help manage population on MLD places. Unless I see something outstanding on my place i probably won't shoot anything this year.

I'm a meat hunter not a buck/trophy hunter. Don't remember the last buck I shot.
Thought about a few spikes but there was usually a bigger doe.

My Dad was an avid hunter for many years and killed a lot of them. When he reached his mid to late 60's he put down the gun and picked up a camera - he told me he had no need to kill another deer but still loved watching them and his new "gun" was the camera.

Now that I am 68 I still love the entire process of hunting but the drive to have to kill a big deer has certainly diminished some - my focus is turning to my grandkids.

I’ve killed one “trophy” allocation WT in last 10 years but I typically shot a cull, does, a pronghorn and mule deer every year. This year probably just be Couple mule deer bucks, pronghorn and WT does. I turning kids loose this year on on WT’s.

My goal is to shoot one doe a year and a buck if it really gets me pumped up. Have shot one buck in the last 10 years, passed on plenty of legal ones. I'm 48 and just enjoy getting out in the woods. To be perfectly honest, there have been afternoons I was tempted to take a deer in the last half hour of legal light and what's running through my mind is, "man, this would really delay happy hour back at camp ..."

I always WANT to kill a deer but I want it to be a really big one. Killing anything less than really big just means that I no longer will have a chance at the big one I want and my season will be over. My goal is usually the very biggest buck that I think is on the property. Anything less than that doesnt excite me.
What DOES excite me is the hunt itself and knowing the big one could step out at any time. I dont have to kill to get that excitement.
What DOES excite me is the preparation I put in to help myself and the others succeed. I LOVE THE ENTIRE "PROCESS" of scouting and making decisions about setting up and then the actual work of putting a plan in place. I hunt large properties where we all hunt community property and I am in charge so I am in on all the stand/feeder/setup decisions so there is always thinking and planning and working etc. Whether its me or not, whenever anyone kills a deer it is always gratifying to know all the work that went into that success.
So, I guess, yes, the desire to kill is still there, but there is so much more that drives me to do all the things I do involving the entire hunting experience.

Will be 60 this year, started when I was 7. It takes a pretty big buck to get me to pull the trigger. I will take a management buck from time to time off the ranch. My enjoyment now is just watching wildlife. I'm fortunate that I own and live on the ranch, so I can hunt just about anytime I like.

t age 70 I still have the excitement of the hunt and all that is involved with such. I can watch a group of doe and still get a certain amount of excitement. The bigger thrill is to get a nice buck . In more recent years I think I have more patience and ability to wait for a better buck to show up opposed to just taking a buck. The doe generally fulfill the need for sausage, burger and the other items.
So yes the excitement is still there.

As I read this, I am thinking the crowd answering is very based toward the mature age group.

Think of it this way, we all know there are bucks out there who breed prolifically in their early ages and then just kind of get burned out and don't do much breeding at later ages. Then there are bucks that may breed one or two doe a year for many years and they continue into maturity breeding.

We humans are much the same with our activities. Some are way over active in youth, adulthood and by maturity are kind of burned out. Some plod along steadily and continue marching toward end of life. This thread just reminded me of buck breeding habits.


I too enjoy shooting deer still. Happy to take a doe as much as a buck, the buck has to be the right one, and as STX said I have found myself hunting a single buck the last couple years (unsuccessfully). I would be as happy shooting a naggy mature doe with my xbow as I would shooting a buck tho. Those old maids are tough ones and make hunting challenging. I hope to take several doe this year and maybe a nice mature buck. We will see. But for sure i enjoy the hunt as much as anything. And shooting is fun too. Esp with the xbow, tracking can be a fun challenge.

Prior to buying land in TX, I hunted central WI, living in TX. I went quite some time, 4-5 years before I dropped the boom on a real nice 12 point the last time I was in WI. I don't need to kill, I have a closet full of racks from my younger years.

Hunting my new place in TX is different for me. I feed all year and the place is infested with deer. It's my duty as a landowner to try to make a dent in the herd. That being said, I have yet to shoot a hard horn buck. I've shot some stags and a doe, but no hard horn bucks. That may change this year if I see that one dandy 10 pointer opening weekend.

I'm 39 and haven't shot a whitetail buck since 2013. Even went to Saskatchewan and spent a lot of money to not kill one. Plenty of does for meat and I refuse to shoot one that doesn't get my heart going.

As I’ve gotten older I am not as hell bent on going hunting every single available minute, but when I go, I go with a purpose. I target mature animals only but the size of a Deer’s rack is secondary after thrill of the chase and methods used to take him. To be honest I’m not interested in trophy leases ( for whitetail ) and have passed on some places to hunt that produces 180-190” deer.

Still love to shoot deer and am very happy to shoot a doe with my bow as I get a lot of enjoyment from shooting animals with a bow.

I did get burned out on whitetail hunting but there are a lot more animals to hunt besides whitetail and shifted my focus to mule deer, elk and other critters that roam the woods. I hope to never lose that passion

I'm getting there with you. I have a couple of bucks that I'm interested in and don't plan to shoot anything less then them. I will take a couple of does for meat and to manage population. I'll shoot every hog I can. Otherwise, I plan to do a whole lot of looking.

You Sir are about as dedicated a hunter and lease manager as I have seen. You clearly love the process which is what I have always enjoyed too. For me the work during the off season is just as fun as the season and I know you are the same. I know of nobody who works at it harder than you do -

Great topic DQ. David knows me and I much like all of you at 56 years old, I so much enjoy what we all experience in the outdoors. I love taking my camera to the deer blind. Unless a giant walks through I’d rather take pics of my hunt to share with others than pull the trigger. I love blackstrap like all hunters but I don’t need to pull the trigger to have a great time in the woods. And that’s not an indictment on anyone who harvests deer every year.

There's always a cull that needs killin'.

This thread reminds me of the Six Stages, as presented in Hunter Education. Evidently, there's some "science" behind hunter's evolution. I'm somewhere in the last few stages, depending on the animal I'm hunting.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hu...sponsible-and-ethical-hunting/six-stages

I enjoy watching as much or more than putting one down. However, if I see one that makes me say old man, I will take it.

I will be 54 in a couple months and I still love to hunt as much as ever. But, I'm just not that mad at em anymore.
I've killed a lot of deer since the first one when I was 7. Now, it is more about the hunt for me than the kill. If I see a deer that I really like then the hunt is on for sure and I'll gladly take him if the opportunity presents itself. And if it doesn't, I'll fill the freezer with some does and cull and or management bucks and maybe an axis or two........or maybe even a cow elk.

I like the feel of driving down, hanging out, sneaking out to the stand and the excitement of waiting for the sun to come up.
I really couldn’t care less if I shoot a deer. I’m less likely to shoot a deer in the evening. When I was younger I shot more, it has got less and less every decade.

I hunt with an AR 6.8. Mainly in case I see some hogs or coyotes. But it does work nicely on deer as well.