For You Older Longtime Hunters

The older I get the less I need to pull the trigger. I still get a lot of enjoyment out of hunting but less and less enjoyment in pulling the trigger, especially on my ranch. I don't have a problem with my friends/lease hunters killing animals on the ranch, I realize it has to be done to control population for a healthy herd. I haven't killed a Doe in a very long time and will never again unless it's a mercy type killing, I let my hunters take care of them.

I've been hunting a long time (45 years) and have fulfilled about all I've wanted. I've hunted all over Texas, Mexico, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming, I've killed a lot of good quality animals. I'm just not sure where to go from here, still love to hunt, not saying I'm not going to kill again, just that it's just not that important to me. My Dad went through this in his late 50's and at the time I didn't quite get it, I do now.
I had 2 long term goals I wanted to accomplish and was able to do that this year, got no more goals and no real desire to set new ones. Maybe one more real nice Mule Deer is about the only thing close and will probably book that hunt this year, but after that I got nothing.
I started taking a camera with me a few years ago when I sit here at the ranch, so I have that here. I still love to sit and watch the animals.

Anyone else getting to the point that pulling the trigger is no big deal anymore?

I understand, especially on whitetails that I grew up hunting on the family ranch where I lived. I killed my first one 55 years ago while hunting by myself and still enjoy going and looking for an old mature buck but don't have to kill one as I once did.
I have found that calling predators in the daylight is much more challenging and therefore rewarding. In the last few years, I have been spending a lot of time chasing lions with hounds in some of the most beautiful country in the Southwest. At this time, I would have to say that is the most challenging and fun hunt that a hunter can experience. I wish I had started hunting lions many years ago as I am not sure how many more years I can do it at age 62.
But any day in the woods hunting anything beats a day at the office.
Adios,
Gary

Yes Sir...

But we have a extensive Management Plan ...if I'm itching I will shoot a Doe

Last year, I pulled a shot (purposely yanked my rifle upward) at the last second, while the gun was pointed at a nice buck about 50 yards from me. I have never done that before. I already had a good doe at the processors, and he had told me he has unclaimed deer in his cooler. So, I suddenly decided to buy the unclaimed deer meat, while NOT shooting a second deer. I don't know how I'll feel this year. I love hunting. I love to use my collected rifles. I love to look forward to my hunts and to sitting up in a tree watching the day's progress and the happenings in the woods. I also love to cook my own deer meat.
So, what's the answer? I don't know....I guess I'll learn it when I'm sitting in the tree again this season (late January).

I guess i'm on the other side pf the fence. I turn 50 this May. I have shot a few deer, nothing that screams "omg". I love to hunt and still look forward to it every yr.

With that stated I may need to save my pennies and do a "guided south Texas hunt". Since my wife started hunting with me I let her have first dibs at deer.Oh btw I love venison, that's the plus. I still have the itch to deer hunt. It's a passion and an addiction!

I have not lost my drive and passion to hunt. It is worse now than it has been in my 50 years of hunting. I shoot what I like and put them on the wall. I still have a lot of empty wall space for WT and MD from Texas and out of state.

Im not old, but I have been pulling the trigger for about 25 years or so. I haven't lost any drive for pulling the trigger, but am much more willing to wait and let younger bucks pass. There was a time I would shoot a deer just because it had a drop tine, or just because it had 10 points etc. don't feel that way anymore, more looking for a good mature deer.

I killed my first deer in 1968 and have taken well over a hundred over the years. I still hunt a lot and will shoot a doe or two every year for the freezer, but I rarely pull the trigger on a buck. Its more about the going, doing, watching and enjoying. Shooting is way down the list.

Don't get me wrong guys, I still love to hunt and look forward to it every year, just find it harder to pull the trigger. I find it especially hard to pull the trigger here at the ranch. I think for me it's one of those things that has to build up over a few years. I shot a buck on my ranch this year, it was the first one since 2009. I could easily go several years before I do it again,,here. It doesn't bother as much to do it somewhere else.

Yep, getting harder for me as well. I still get pumped over the biguns, but I have to make myself drop the doe. Its gotta be done and not many do it. When I first started hunting dad and I had to travel, because there weren't any deer in the county I reside in. When they were first sighted, she was protected and the bucks were too. But now they have a good toe hold and need controlling. Proof in that is how many we lost a couple years ago during the worst part of the drought. When you watchum starve to death, or the yotes take um down, cause they don't have the energy to out run um, it WILL change your mind about it.

I will always enjoy the life at camp, gotta pass that along to the kids and grand kids. The family group is what this country was founded on, and satin is buzzy attacking it. Anyway, thats my take, and I do a bunch more crappie fishing than hunting nowdays...

I am almost 74,I hunt most week-ends. Love going out during the year to fill feeders etc. I guess age has got me to look for better bucks now than in the past. Don't mind shooting a doe for the freezer at all. Never hunted South Texas so that is on my bucket list.

I won't change my mind about me killing Does, but I have plenty of folks here to take care of that for me. I won't let them get over populated to that point.

For me it's enjoying the outdoors and the group of buddies around the fire.
Shooting a deer is just a bonus.

I have not shot anything larger than a spike WT, a WT Doe or a spike or two year old Axis in many a year. I shoot those just to make sausage and fill the freezer.And the main reason I only shoot those is because they are about all I can load. Before and during the season I go out just abut every afternoon and sit and watch the deer. I have people out to try to manage the WT but it seems like I am getting father behind each year on getting it where it needs to be.

Thats just it. Pulling the trigger isnt fun. Never has been. Too easy. Bow and arrow for me and I promise it will never get old. Doe or buck. I love it! BTW im 47. I dont have anything against gun hunters. Rock on!

A good read John. I haven't reached that point yet since I'm on my Mule Deer kick. As Kayla grows up I'm hoping to be more of an observer than shooter. For now, I'll keep touching the trigger .

I am kinda in the same boat but since we eat venison year round I do still harvest deer.

My grandad and now my dad have said the same thing. As long as your passing along your wisdom and stories to the next generations then you've done your duty as a man and hunter.

i dont shoot much anymore either but i still like to hunt. im more about hunting a quality deer now, aka big old buck. im only on a small tract of land but nobody around us hunts so we have the luxury of letting deer grow. like the buck i took this year, we let him grow up and this year i picked him to harvest, he gave me a challenging hunt.its pretty cool trying to get particular deer. we have tons of game, its nothing to see 15 deer 5 hogs and 20 turkey on a sendero and feeder at one time

I know exactly what you mean. I still love to hunt. Have I slowed down on the trigger? Yes. I've taken just 4 bucks off my place in owning it 10 years. Let some deer walk my 30 year old self would have said I was nuts for doing. But I reserve the right to shoot one when the feeling hits.

Still would love to kill another ram or two before I am too old to make it up the mountains anymore. And would love to take a big mountain mule deer. Oh, and a really nice buck with my bow (only been trying 35 or so years).

So I have slowed down for sure. I am way more of a watcher than a shooter now and have learned to slow down and enjoy it all. But am I done? Not unless He calls me home.

Interesting discussion, and I'm pretty much with you guys. My hunting focus is more on coyotes and pigs, with an annual spike or cull for the freezer. And every now and then I'll see a special buck that I'll take.

The really nice 8 point that the grandson shot was right in front of me at 30 yards on the afternoon before. Gorgeous animal, but I wanted to save him for the grandson, and it worked out. The grandson was thrilled, as was his mom, dad, sister, and my wife. He did the entire skinning/de boning with only a little direction from me. The meat goes off to college with him, and he'll probably feed his fraternity brothers with it. That means he'll be back here for more meat pretty soon.

So, I guess that I've come to a place in my life where it's not all about me and my hunting. I'm comfortable with it.

I could have written that. Just switch the authors name. Still love watching the animals. I will admit to still getting excited before the trigger pull though.

We're short on does, always have been. This year they are particularly scarce. I've been on point now going on close to 40 hrs now. Haven't seen a single doe. Seen 4-5 legal bucks. We've never taken a doe on 400 acres, and won't be doing it anytime soon.

The does are somewhere. Mother Nature gives us a birth ratio of 105 males to 100 females. The bucks you are seeing came from momma does.

Right now all I'm seeing is bucks, and not many of them. Acorns are on the ground, so my corn feeders are almost completely ignored. The does are in the thick woods, looking for acorns. The bucks are roaming and checking their scrapes, so I'm seeing some of them at odd times. I was covered up with bucks and does prior to the rut. Now you'd wonder if I had any deer on the place.

Stompy,

I have been wanting to reply to your thread here for a couple of days, I had to go find it. I agree 100% with your thoughts here. I am 50 now and just getting out into the woods, listening to the sounds, watching wildlife and the peace and quiet mean more to me than harvesting a deer. I have not shot a buck in over 15 years, still take doe for the freezer and will knock pigs and yotes down but pulling the trigger is not what the experience is about for me any more.

Now if I see that 150 incher I will not hesitate to take that deer but just being in the beauty of mother nature is what is all about for me.

Excellent post and thoughts amigo.

4W

Watched my Dad hunt hard and then around age 60 same thing happened with him - picked up a camera instead of a gun.

I am now 62 and been at it since age 6. I was blessed 6 years ago to shoot a Boone and Crockett book deer - I still hunt hard and love it but get just as much enjoyment helping other hunters on our lease take their best deer. I have passed on some 180-190 inch deer so one of our other guys could take them. So it is not all about killing a buck for me anymore - just as much about camp and the strategy to keep growing and finding big deer.

This season marks my 20th year deer hunting.

I've killed a lot of deer and have put a few nice ones on the wall. I love to shoot but killing a whitetail with a rifle holds little appeal to me now. I took my gf a few weeks ago and she killed her first deer in about 10 years and we took her 10 year old boy out Tuesday and he got his first one. Would much rather see them shoot than me

I enjoy hunting mule deer, went to wyoming and Colorado this year. My hunting, God willing, will be for things to add to my collection for the foreseeable future. I'll chase whitetails with her and the kids


I'll still be after the ducks though

I started out taking my Grandson when he was 4 or 5. Then he had a friend. That friend has now grown to 4 teenage boys that need to get out of the city and into the brush. Those guys are all now 17. Now a 16 year old girl has showed up and I take her between times that the boys hunt. Not much room left for me on my small place. That's OK.

I know exactly what you mean. I'm 73, and killed my first buck when I was 16. Hunted but never shot pronghorn or muleys. Got a solo fair-chase bull elk in New Mexico's Jemez Mountains and a huge javelina out at the Black Gap WMA. The cost of quality leases drove me away from Texas deer hunting many years ago, and I now hunt with a good digital SLR and long lens. It's just as much fun and a lot less noisy, expensive, and messy.

I let my 10yr old pull the trigger now. Don't get me wrong I will still shoot a big mature buck, but I really enjoy watching my boy grow up and be a good Hunter as well as a great shot. I really enjoy being at the lease we have worked very hard to get the deer where they are now and it's paying off, but like you guys I don't pull the trigger as much these days I take a video camera to the stand now days.

John I haven't took a deer since 1995. Pictures after that. If I can shoot them with my camera I can shoot them with a rifle. I would if given the opportunity take a B&C type deer but that is rare on low fence hunting. I love to rattle them up and go boo. I am 59 and been hunting since I was 8 years old. Done it all. Dove hunting and quail hunting are what I enjoy best. Been pheasant hunting and really enjoyed that too ..... just too far from me. Always enjoyed rabbit hunting in January too with snow on the ground.

Deer and Quail leases got out of my price range long ago. So I mainly dove hunt. Hope to get to go quail hunting and maybe pheasant next year or this year if the opportunity comes along.

I don't shoot whitetail anymore but enjoy taking people and taking pictures, scouting. I get just as excited when someone in the blind next to me shoots a big buck as when I shot one. Maybe more excited.
My goal is to shoot a huge mule deer and I guess I'm going to have to spend a fortune to do so. I really enjoy pronghorn hunting and am going to do a lot more of it, and upland birds. Especially now that we have a few quail again.
Stompy you forgot to list Nebraska as someplace you've been! Coldest hunt I've ever been on for sure. But we had a blast.
I also have a grandson now and in about 5 years I plan on him being my partner in the blind.

I hear exactly what you are saying. I love hunting with the camera and video camera these days. One thing I would suggest is to put down the rifle and pick up a bow. Having the animals up close and personal really changes things on the intensity scale. I was a trophy hunter from the get go, long before it was popular. I was just born that way I think. I always set my sights on something bigger than I already had and like you, I had no problem going years without shooting anything. So much so, my buddies would tease me about wearing out my bullets putting them in and out of the rifle because I never shot. I worked my way up trying to get a buck that would score another 10 pts higher on the B&C scale. Once I killed a 189" low fence monster, I had to ask myself if I was ready to give up whitetail hunting. This was in 2003 and what were the chances of killing a 190+ low fence deer. I came to the conclusion that I needed to pick my bow back up and start over. By start over, I mean hunting with a goal in mind but putting the fun back in it. If I had a trophy to chase great, if not, I tried to find an old cull buck to chase. I hunted A LOT and I still didnt kill anything some years. The other thing that gave me great pleasure was getting newcomers or kids into it. I would sit with them and teach them about deer hunting. When it came time for them to pull the trigger, I would be shaking way more than they were. Just some things to think about. Good luck to you.

Yea, I did forget about Nebraska, don't know how I forgot about the coldest place on earth.

It's not about rifle or bow, it's about killing deer. Still love to hunt, and I still spend a lot of time in the stand. Just don't enjoy the killing part as I use to.

I still take a couple of axis for venison. They have to be controlled more and more. They're taking over, but very tasty. I'm pushing 70 now and have regained my momentum by getting very serious on the hogs and varmints. I trap year round and start calling when it cools off. I find that there is much more fun hunting and trapping coyotes and hogs than deer hunting ever was. Maybe I forget.........

I feel quite the same. I'm in my 40s and have shot a lot of deer. I even shot a really nice 10 pt this year. But like some of you, my wife likes to hunt and I let her take first pick of anything. I also enjoy taking the kids and let them have the fun. It warm my hearts when my youngest (6) sees a deer and it excites him beyond belief that he "saw it first". Most of the time I have already seen it and just wait for him to see it and then act surprised when he says "deer".

I find most of my enjoyment is now spent talking with hunting buddies, sitting quietly in the stand with my wife and/kids, or just watching a nice buck meander through on a cool evening. Hunting is no longer about killing, in fact, it's become quite the opposite.

I no longer shoot many deer but don't care for the camera angle. To me that's about like kissing your sister.

thats funny

I still love hunting deer, but I have been going more and more back to hunting small game. Dove, squirrel, and rabbit hunting is a lot less physical work and gives me a joy that is at least equal to deer hunting. It's also cheaper and a lot more hunting opportunities if you know where to go.

Perhaps because I came from a non-hunting family, and the early years were so sparse for me, but I get as excited as ever and doubt that will ever change. I think some of those guys who get burned out had fathers who had them taking deer at 7 and by their early 20s they had 30-40 deer under their belts.

I still get excited. I tell me wife the day before opening morning is my Christmas Eve. It's one of the great enjoyments in my life. Will never change.

The last deer I shot was about 35 years ago. I sot a deer or two every year from age 5 to about 11 Then my parents' jobs took us out of state. I went hunting in Virginia around 18 with a shotgun and there were dogs moving the deer. I saw one doe but let it go.

I started going again a few years ago to small places owned by friends. Even let a young 6 point go about 3 years ago. See very few deer the places I have available but this year I set up a stand and blind and have been bringing in lots of hogs.

I'm in an AR county with a no doe season except for Thanksgiving so it will be a medium to large size buck or nothing again this year. Game cams are not encouraging.
wish me luck.

I'm willing to admit that, at 26 years old, its still about the kill for me. At least as far as having a successful season. I've passed on deer this year, and considered those successful hunts, but I would be pretty bummed if I had another season like I did last year that ended with no deer in the freezer.

I am 29 and married with a newborn so I was much quicker to the trigger than I normally am. It was the first buck I have killed in 8-10 years. I shoot the occasional doe to give the meat to the rancher and keep at the deer camp. I dont have to see something in order to consider it a good or successful hunt. I do know that the day I stop shaking and breathing hard (buck fever) whenever my gun goes out the window; I will stop hunting.

When you reach our age, you begin to understand completely the saying, "I don't hunt to kill, but kill to have hunted."