When it comes to hunting and in Machivellian style, are you moe a "Means to an End" or "End Justifying Means", kind of person? In other words, do you incorporate certain tactics and strategies to satisfy the conclusion of harvesting a buck or do you do your hunting thing, strategies and tactics and if they yield a harvest in the end, so be it, if not, you've still had fun in the chase and pursuit along the way.
I'm more the latter of those two. I stay pretty regular and consistent in my approach and if I get fortunate enough, good things may come of it, if not, I generally enjoy the ride..

What about you?

Pursuit all the way DQ. If it ends up working out great, but I love being out of the city and in the woods. That's what its about for me.

I go hunting more often than not to try and kill something. I’ve had great hunts where I came home unsuccessful, but it would have been a better hunt if I had killed something. I’m talking more about adventure style hunts more than a Texas deer hunt. On those, I’m much more ambivalent. One of the best hunts I’ve had in Colorado I was elk hunting and didn’t see an elk the whole 7 day trip. But I don’t want to repeat those trips if I can help it. I go hunting to bag an animals and it’s very mission driven.

Bird hunting , I want to kill birds, if it is a bad hunt it’s just a bad hunt.

That is what the peta types do not understand , the pursuit . Being outdoors . They say if you are just going to eat it why do you " trophy hunt " for a big buck . They do not understand there is little pursuit in getting a little young doe . The big buck is a challenge you have to work for and do not always get .

The last couple years I’ve been happier putting others on animals, and I definitely realized that this past deer season while guiding! I get excited when I shoot something, but I’m equally if not more excited taking someone else along and seeing their happiness when it all comes together!

If I take a bow or rifle then I am going hunting and plan to kill something... if the opportunity arises on that trip. I took my weapon of choice for a reason not a joy ride. If I am there for the scenery then it is just a vacation. I can take vacations year round without any restrictions or expectations.

If its just me, the pursuit...I didn't kill anything in TX or OK on our places this year just because the deer seemed to have suffered at both places

But if I am taking a kid, were on a kill mission usually...doe, pig, buck, yote

“In our rather stupid time, hunting is belittled and misunderstood, many refusing to see it for the vital vacation from the human condition that it is, or to acknowledge that the hunter does not hunt in order to kill; on the contrary, he kills in order to have hunted.” Ortega y Gasset, Meditations on Hunting.

By now, a very trite quote, but still true.

We as a hunting community have got to stop tip-toeing around the fact that we go hunting because its fun and we enjoy it. There still are a few people in the far corners of society I'm sure that survive solely on hunted game, but that is the 1%, at best.

We have to stop justifying our passion as " oh, well we do it for food" or painting a picture to the non-hunting public that we are remorseful in the act of killing a game animal. Because then they get the idea that hunting is ok only if its done for food or that as long as the hunter is sorry for the animal we will allow it. That is why the term "trophy hunting" has such a negative connotation whereas majority of the hunting that takes place is trophy hunting in some facet. If you mount a pretty Duck, or keep a Turkey beard, you kept a trophy. That 8 pointer you Euro mounted is a trophy.


At some level we probably will reconcile our "why do we do it" to ourselves at some point in our lives but we need to be honest with the answer....which by and large is "we do it because we like to"

When I was younger and paying for a lease it was all about filling tags to justify the price although I also enjoyed the hunt. Now older with my own property I enjoy watching and managing the game with an occasional kill.

TxTrophy and Broncho hit the sweet spot. I agree 100 percent. Looks like so far the Ranchman is in the minority and needs to figure out if hunting is a luxury/vacation or a task/duty. It is meant to be enjoyed and not just killing in my opinion.

You need to read what I wrote very slowly again.

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.

Meditations on Hunting by José Ortega y Gasset

And as with any sport, the greater the challenge the greater the win.

And this sentence pertains to a man like me, I hang with hunting guys...we talk

They are for the most part bow hunters who continually ride my A about rifle hunting

1 of which has went w me hunting, I don't like bow hunting...I don't enjoy it

Ive owned 2 bows and have tried it, I don't ENJOY IT...I don't shove my beliefs down them but my friends do on me

I had a falling out recently and it was over this with 1 who never let up

I enjoy watching and going and knowing I could if I wanted to but am picky, probably pickier than most

I don't shoot deer at 1000 yards, I do what I enjoy doing but if I wanted to so be it

I don't piss on calibers either, this community believe it or not is small and probably getting smaller by the day

Any man or woman doing it legally should be left to do as they please

Even split for me I enjoy hunting but enjoy processing and the end product as well.

I did and what is your point?

You read and interpreted what you wanted to from what I wrote. Which is far from who I am and the reasons I hunt.

Not looking for a fight here STX but you wrote it and you blame my interpretation? Maybe you should proofread what you write cause my interpretation is exactly what you said.

I am a big Bowhunter but I didn’t start out that way. Couldn’t stand bowhunting actually. If you have tried it and didn’t take to it, that’s perfectly fine. Enjoy your hunting as you see fit.

I’ve noticed that hunters are real quick to jump on other hunters for not “ hunting “ a certain way or the same way they do. Bow hunters dog rifle hunters. Rifle hunters hunting food plots dog guys who use feeders. Guys who shoot O/U shotguns dog guys who shoot pumps. And it goes on down the line.

It’s all about their own inadequacy where these feelings come from, as if they are being cheated out of something by using a rifle while they use a bow. I personally choose to hunt with a bow during general season for my own enjoyment, not because I think I’m some morally superior hunter.

As long as your hunting ethos is ethical, not selfish and is sustainable, do what you see fit and piss on the others.

My youngest boy loves to hunt but will not bowhunt. Flat out won’t do it. Tried and he doesent like it. And that’s ok. I don’t belittle him with the “ it’s not really hunting” talk like so many others.


To your friends, you could always throw at them “well, if your not shooting them with a recurve or longbow, your not really hunting “ and see what they say

I can personally vouch for the guy, he loves to hunt more than any person I know.

It’s not a job or a chore for him. It’s 100% recreational and he truly enjoys it.

I can’t think of any reason to hunt other than recreation.

I love the pursuit and the hunt but I love a successful hunt much more.

Exactly. But there is always the do-gooder hippie type that will say he hunts because he is interested in the organic, grass fed meat and derives no pleasure from the pursuit or the kill and certainly not the trophy and he will be labeled as the poster child of the responsible hunter and what the rest of us should strive to become

The is one short sentence that is there that says a lot. You are basing your whole interpretation off of the rest of what I wrote and the sentence changes the context of what I wrote. Many feel the same way I do about hunting just don't want to say it out loud or in front of others. They are going hunting to kill something....that something is up to them to decide if and when they kill it....not up to me or anyone else. It is the same for me. No one enjoys their time hunting more than I do...and I have had seasons with unfilled tags. I strive to learn more about hunting each trip...unsuccessful trips teach me a lot more than successful ones. I watch nature and learn from what I observe...been doing it for 60+ years. There is not better teacher than the great outdoors...you just have to pay attention. I hunt nowadays for a specific deer I have picked out and hunt for that deer. Sometimes I win and more times that deer wins. Last season I got that deer and this season I did not get that deer....that deer won..... "If I take a bow or rifle then I am going hunting and plan to kill something... if the opportunity arises on that trip". If the opportunity does not arise on the trip then hopefully I've learned something to take back on the next trip to make it successful. I do not and have never judged a successful trip by the animal I took...the have been far more unsuccessful trips than successful ones when it came to killing an animal on the trip. I am comfortable with that. People who I have hunted with know that.
Those who I have hunted with know who I am and what I am about when it comes to enjoying the great outdoors. I am about having a great time and fun...but a serious hunter when the time comes. I have taken time out of a short season to help new hunters on a lease learn the place. I want them to be successful...their interpretation of a successful hunt or trip is then up to them.

I think we are all on the same page. Sorry guys if this got off the rails but I kinda read what I read. I carry my Nikon and my gun in on every hunt. Maybe the camera has mellowed me a bit but I snap pics more than I shoot, with the exception of pigs and yotes. If there is a buck I want to harvest by all means I am there to kill but if that doesn’t happen, I’m all good. I am sure all of you are the same way. STX I’m sure you’re the same way. Your post just came off way more serious than I imagined of you, If I read that wrong I’m sorry.