I'm more casual about it as I'm in my 60s. I have killed a lot of deer. I'm looking for more unusual experiences hunting other animals going forward.

Through much nicer glass.

Well said. Makes a difference, doesn't it?

Especially in low light or even dark.

you need to make a trip to DSC or SCI.

they have hunts for all kinds of animals you can't even imagine.

I am definitly not as blood thirsty if you will as I was in my younger days. I still have no problem shooting deer and will on my own or with folks, but that is just how we do it. We eat deer meat year round and need a certain amount of it.

Have a little new drive, I have never killed a deer on a piece of land that I personally own, have the chance now, but waiting for the one I want it may take a few years. I'd also be stoked if my little boy got him, but he isn't ready yet. I enjoy hunting with my wife and my kids, and I didnt get to sit with them, but being there for the recovery of my nephews first deer each was great to me, hope something we can all enjoy together for years to come.

With regards to hunting, I guess I am wired different than most it seems. I am still as passionate about it at 65 today as I was at 5, 60 years ago. I still enjoy the hunt as much today, if not more as time slips away. Just yesterday evening I killed a buck on my new place with my bow. With all the rain last week, I was disappointed I could not get to my place to hunt opening morning. This morning, I can't wait till my next hunt when I climb back into a bowblind to start the quest again. Whether it is a doe or buck, I still get excited about the next hunt. I sit in deer blinds year round either hunting or taking photographs. I fill feeders, build pens, clear shooting lanes, look for sheds, look for sign, plan for the next hunt, scout, pattern a deer, setup for specific deer, etc. all year long. I have killed a whole lot of deer during my life. I eat venison almost everyday, so I hunt to fill the freezer also. I have a home full of mounts to remember those hunts by. I have a computer full of photographs from scouting and hunting trips. I try to learn something new about wildlife or the land I hunt every time I go out. Every time. Knowledge comes from experience. Experiences make memories. Memories die with you, they can never be taken from you.

I am still very driven to hunt, but when I started pulling the trigger at 10 years old I would have shot the very first legal critter that stepped out that my dad would allow. Now not the same.

I am still driven to kill something when I hunt. When I don't, I can live with it and it fuels the fire for the anticipation of the next hunt. The kill does not define me or why I hunt, it is just part of the desire to hunt and the experience.

I’m with the folks that just aren’t that mad at them any more. Back in my younger days, I’d hunt 4-6 times a week. My goal was to shoot a limit of whatever I was hunting. Up at 2:00 AM to duck hunt, deer hunt from dawn until dark, follow bird dogs around for hours hunting quail. I’ve killed a truck load of game, and have a room full of mounts (from ducks to pheasant to antelope to bear). I’d rather take a kid hunting these days and experience it through their eyes. I’ll still go to muzzleloader deer camp this year, but would like to see my brother shoot a nice buck instead of me shooting one.

I do have some bucket list hunts that I am still excited about. Nilgai (scheduled for November), elk, free range axis buck, and a few others.

One does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, one kills in order to have hunted...If one were to present the sportsman with the death of the animal as a gift he would refuse it. What he is after is having to win it, to conquer the surly brute through his own effort and skill with all the extras that this carries with it: the immersion in the countryside, the healthfulness of the exercise, the distraction from his job.

Jose Ortega y Gasset, Meditations on Hunting
Spanish philosopher & politician (1883 - 1955)

The five stages of hunter development are:

Shooting Stage - The priority is getting off a shot, rather than patiently waiting for a good shot. This eagerness to shoot can lead to bad decisions that endanger others. A combination of target practice and mentoring helps most hunters move quickly out of this stage.

Limiting-Out Stage - Success is determined by bagging the limit. In extreme cases, this need to limit out also can cause hunters to take unsafe shots. Spending time with more mature hunters helps people grow out of this phase.

Trophy Stage - The hunter is selective and judges success by quality rather than quantity. Typically, the focus is on big game. Anything that doesn’t measure up to the desired trophy is ignored.

Method Stage - In this stage, the process of hunting becomes the focus. A hunter may still want to limit out but places a higher priority on how it’s accomplished.

Sportsman Stage - Success is measured by the total experience—the appreciation of the out-of-doors and the animal being hunted, the process of the hunt, and the companionship of other hunters.


I find all these interesting and think 'Managing Stage' should possibly be added, where you work to preserve or enhance the land and stock that you have. I also think you can exist in multiple stages at the same time.

Early in life I viewed all my hunting endeavors as a contest. If you do something enough to get even marginally good at it that thing will lose a little bit of the original challenge. Such it was with me and hunting. I went from relaxing about the killing to eventually avoiding the kill.

I must add that I don't begrudge others the love of the kill. In fact I've learned to take a lot of pleasure from watching others get satisfaction afield in whatever form that takes. Taking a kid or first time hunter afield is probably more satisfying than the actual killing used to be.

Bird hunting is my exception. I love it. Mainly I love my dogs and they love it. When I was younger shooting a limit was a primary focus whereas today I generally shoot a bird only when my dogs make the find and handle the birds correctly on the ground. Wild flush birds get to fly away. I know almost as many bird dogs as I do bird hunters and am just as happy to see the dogs every fall as I am their owners. A lifetime of bird dogs has lead me to memories beyond count and a knowledge that all wonderful things end too quickly. If you want to relearn a love of the outdoors get yourself a pup!

I almost posted this

For me, my focus is shifting more onto teaching my kids about hunting and trying to do more bow hunting for myself.

Reading this post and all the responses sure did me some good. Over the last couple of years i can relate to most every thought expressed. I still thoroughly enjoy the outdoors and find many different ways to fulfill that joy. But they have and are changing dang near all the time.

I hunt more further from home.

For sure.

Well said sir... very well said indeed.. thank you..

I don't think my view of hunting has really changed much. I've got more experience and hopefully wiser. I really started hunting in my 30's although I'd been around guns since I was eight. Now, I'm 60... that's a bit of distance there.... But the things I love haven't changed much. I love the smell of the open ground and the look of the land as it first wakes up. I love the hikes with pack and rifle, being places that eyes have not seen and where foot has not stepped in decades.... or longer. I love tracking a deer, to see who will out smart whom..(I've lost at that more times than I want to admit). This is what I get up for...

amazing all of the different views and perspectives about hunting - truth is we are all different with different backgrounds and upbringings. None are better or worse than someone else's experiences -

Beauty of all this is this: we were blessed to be born and grow up in the USA where we all get to do whatever we want to do - simply this - there is no right or wrong on hunting how you want - God bless the USA

Of the loose crowd of a dozen +/- guys that eventually became a core of 5 of us thru more than several Lease's, is now down to just me at 77 years old. All the rest of the guys are gone but one and he is barely living on a CPap machine...he was a tough Hombre and could sleep in a snow bank if need be.

When I went on my first Deer Hunt, with my crippled up grandfather, he used the drive from Dallas to Llano to make me understand that Hunting was a bonding activity with other people. Looking back at who I have shared a campfire with, they are all fond memories of the high jinks we pulled on each other, shared the specialty foods some of us were known for ... yadda yadda.

I took my 2 sons to the range 1st in their teen years, then dove hunting a time or two, then to the deer lease, but they had their own agenda's and lives to live... and they are more bonded to their mother than they are to me since I was the Sheriff at home when they screwed up ... I can only guess that this is Ma Nature's way and why I am determined to make a successful Hunt at least One More Time, even if I have to Hunt alone and toast all those names of people I still miss...from Randall Weems aka Crazy Horse & his knee length Hog tusk necklace to my AH BiL...

One of the things my Grandfather made sure I understood on that 1st trip was that Father Time waits for No One...
Ron

Enjoy watching grand kids hunting and shooting. Me, i would maybe shoot deer if it tried to attack me. Pigs are a different story. DRT

^^^ I never had quite as tight a group as it sounds like you had, but I know the feeling of losing hunting buddies and I try to toast them too. Hell, I even talk to one or two of them out loud occasionally.