In my younger days, hunting trips was all about the Harvest. Now, I enjoy the experiences and memories more than the harvest itself. Whether sitting in the peaceful outdoors watching the Sun rise or listen to the stories of the ones that got away, I look forward to these times each and every year. My Dad told me years ago that the fun ended, and work began after a harvest. There is some truth to that, but the ability to get out and experience the adventure creates memories of a lifetime.
As the new Hunting season begins, what do you look forward to?

In my seventies now. Watching a sunrise, grilling steaks and sitting around a campfire talking to lifelong friends
is more important to me than taking a big buck. However, I will take a big buck, and I put in way more pre-hunt
effort with food plots, feeders, stands than I ever did when I was young. But you asked what was important
to me now and I gave an honest answer.

Both are exciting to me but also can be mutually exclusive. Don't have to have both to be fulfilled and satisfied.

I have had some hard, "unsuccessful" hunts that garnered fond memories of experiences that were both pleasant and unpleasant.

And then there are those hunts where a harvest WAS the experience.

I wonder if the experience is appreciated more when we approach the day where we have more hunts behind us than in front of us,

I have hunted for 30-ish years; in my 40s now. Am I at that point? Close. 30-ish seasons behind me and am hopeful I have that many in front of me.

I am at the stage where I have taken many animals and now I am more interested in seeing my grandkids experience the outdoors and hunting. I do still enjoy messing around at the deer lease - setting cameras, checking feeders, etc.

I remember my Dad in his 60's putting down his rifle and picking up a camera. He spent some years still on a lease but just carried a camera to the stand - I can see doing that one day

About the same, you need a little of both.

A little of both. Each are enjoyable in their own way. If you totally don't care about the harvest, you may as well quit wasting money on licenses and tags, and just pick up a camera. I enjoy eating wild game, but I'm older now, have enough money to enjoy many different foods, and no longer need my family to subsist on as much wild game as I can stuff in the freezer. All about balance in your life!!

In my mid 50s and say Amen to this Mr. T!

I'm not nearly as mad at em as I used to be. I truly enjoy the hunt MUCH more now than I used to and couldn't care less about just killing a deer. Killing 'the' deer is now the goal! lol

When you get old enough to have memories of hunting with friends and family who have since passed, you sometimes find it difficult to remember the deer you took with them.

It's the experience by far that matters most.

I have to say both. I can certainly enjoy a hunt and the outdoors without a kill but I like venison, hogs, fish etc. making sausage is a hobby if you will, so I like to succeed as well.

I started hunting by myself in 1980 at the age of 12. I was with my Dad and uncles and grew up with their knowledge of hunting and am blessed to still be hunting with them today. Its the same family ranch and we poke fun at each other and talk about the "good ole days" every time we're together. We make each other laugh and cooking some of the best damn food you will ever eat. This is what its all about for me now. I'll go out hunting looking for that "Muy Grande" but if he doesn't show then a fat doe will make me happy. I don't need to kill a buck to have a successful season.

The whole experience is what I enjoyed.

Family hunts were always the Best! I do MISS those day!!

I came into the thread expecting the vast majority if not all replies to be the experience. While it seems that is the majority, it's much thinner of a margin than I expected. Guess that tells you what I value, remember, and cherish in and of itself.

Harvest is the worst part if you'll hear me out

I love the experience, the preparing, practicing my shot, trimming the trees, making sure feeder is running right, lets move the stand this year, add a camera here, throwing up the binocs at 300 thinking he is the one to realize he needs another year...

I love all that and once harvest, its over for me for that area

And that's why its my worst part

Experiences are great but they are even greater when you got meat in the cooler. With that said I’ve had many great hunts where I didn’t kill anything. I just enjoy the outdoors.

The experience is more important than the kill to me. Be it hunting or fishing.

It depends on what I’m hunting. I could care less about killing a deer, I let my boys take care of that. I love to go to camp and have a good time with my buddies and our sons.

If I’m bird hunting it’s all about the dogs and the killing. It’s not much fun walking and watching dogs work hard all day and not find anything. Those miles aren’t near as hard when you’re pointing bird every few 100 yards. I get just as excited over great dead bird work as I do over the points.

I’ve had awesome hunting trips where I didn’t kill an animal but I’m in the woods with a goal to bag an animal so that’s part of the goal. I am not to the point yet where I’m not putting in effort to make a kill

I also enjoy the gutting, skinning and butchering of an animal so that’s not work to me.

I lost my desire to shoot a whitetail a rifle and am not fired up about doing that, but I love to bowhunt them and am really fired up about taking them with traditional equipment, IE a recurve or longbow. I’m very excited about this upcoming season to get some kills under my belt with my Kodiak.

Sometimes you gotta change things up to keep it exciting.

Most years, these days, I’ll put two doe in the freezer, but always the experience is as important as filling the freezer. Got some great memories from the past, and I sure wish I could hunt with Dad just one more time.

And I try to save the best Bucks for the Grandson.

About even for me. I sure don't work hard all year at the lease trimming, cutting, feeding, bleeding, sweating, etc. just to watch Bambi come and go. I love hunting with my wife and see her get excited with a DRT shot.

The experience is the prime motivator for me, but meat is a close second.

That's a tough question. The best time I ever had hunting was on my first elk hunt with one of my best friends last year. It was hard, cold as all get out in the morning and hot in the afternoon. We hunted from sun up to sun down for 5 days. Got close a few times but in the end we came home empty handed. I'm sure I'll remember the details of that hunt for the rest of my life. Now, how much better would it have been if we'd bagged a nice bull right at the last min? LEGENDARY!

'Met some (young) guys from on here at a DIY elk hunt that have become very good friends. We didn't kill a dam thing. I, personally, smelled a couple of bulls just once. I was walking "drag". I didn't see hide 'nor hair of a single elk. 'Wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

I make more sausage than most everyone on here and it probably cost $50 a pound. After Wurstfest I hunt like fiend. If it was only for those eight deer I am a part of killing, it would not be worth it.

Went on a couple of costly mule deer hunts in Utah and Wyoming. Would not trade those experiences for anything.

I can afford targets. I am not always able to experiences worth remembering.

Just wait till lil Hud starts hunting.