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Confession of A Hunter

I can’t say that in 40 years of hunting that I have killed to eat. That I needed the meat . I’m fortunate to have never truly been hungry or even had a concern of where my next meal was or if there was going to be one .

The most accepted reason for hunting or killing animals is that it provides food . The second is to keep a population in check . I confess I can’t relate to these ideas .

My number one reason is for adventure . My number two reason is to get close , as close as I can get to a wild animal. Just to be in his world just for a few seconds is something indescribable. The third is the camaraderie with family and friends . Eating wild game is not even on my list . I don’t waste the things I kill , the meat is something I use If I choose to kill . Someone once said to me , “A deer looks better alive than it does dead” . I never forgot that .

On my next adventure I hope to get close , close enough to hear him breath. Then I will get to tell my hunting partners all about it. The animal will likely live but I will still be renewed .

Why do you Hunt ? Does hunting help sustain you , or does it renew you ?

LTL, pretty much ditto what you said.

I have been so close to deer that I could have reached out and touched them. Pretty awesome.

I have also had at least 10 deer within 10 yards of me and another 10 within 20 yards of me all at the same time. All of this happened in January while bow hunting while on the ground. The 20 deer were staging in the edge of the woods waiting till one of them decided it was time to go out into the alfalfa . They were all doe, fawn, and small bucks. If one had been a deer I wanted to shoot there is no way I could have made it happen. Thrilling is all I can say. If a deer hunter can get something like this to happen just once in a season it would be an awesome season.

Treestand therapy is my #1 reason to hunt. I would say meat and horns equally drive me to be out in the woods also. I love venison and the feeling of seeing a mature buck on the ground is like no other.

Little Jim one of my most memorable hunts, I never took the recurve off the hook. I had deer all around me with a doe so close I think she was leaning on the ladder stand. She had another yearling with her and this little six point was interested in both does. Well that doe kicked his butt from one end of that corn stubble to the other! It was a blast to be a part of it.

I too don't "need" the meat and enjoy seeing them more in their world as I have gotten older. Love to eat it but don't necessarily need it. (except for the back straps and inner loins!)

LTLJimmy,

I have to agree with much of what you say. When I first started, it was not about the hunt, it was about being outdoors, in the woods with family and friends. I grew up absolutely loving deer but, never had anyone to take me hunting. I have to admit, before 1985, I knew nothing about hunting.

My late brother in law, on my wedding night, told me we are going to take you deer hunting. Boy that they did! My first deer camp, the night before everyone in camp kept coming up and rubbing shoulders with me. I was,"what the hell, are these guys queer or what"? Finally after a few beers, and settled nerves, I asked what gives. They said you are new guy in camp, we are trying to get your beginners luck to rub off on us.

The next morning, at first light, I saw a dandy eight pointer walking right at me, I sprawled out in a prone position, laid the double barrel shotgun across a log, (Mark gave me an old double barrel, figuring I wouldn't shoot very far and hurt someone) waited until the buck turned sideways and squeezed the trigger. Missed him clean at 75 yards. I WAS HOOKED! Within seconds, it sounded like a WW II fire fight as guns were going off all around me. What I found out later was there were four bucks in the group and when I shot, each of the other bucks ran right at three of the other guys in my group, all in different directions. Go figure. I saw 19 deer that first trip, and had the time of my life. Lost Mark, my brother in law, two years ago now. I'm the last guy standing out of that camp. It has been hard and I miss them tremendously. Not ashamed to admit my eyes get watery to this day.

Mark was the safest guy you could ever hunt with, he had a hunting accident at age 16 and lost a leg to a point blank shot from a 12 gauge. Mark never wavered from his passion for hunting and just plain dealt with it. He was one tough SOB! He taught me everything, most of all safety first.

When the recession hit in 2007, not 2008 like the Republicans like to pass the buck on. I, for the first time in my life, found myself hunting to put something on the table for my family. If it would not have been for venison, we would have gone without meat for the better part of five years. Now venison is a staple of our diet. We are all healthier for it!

So to make a long story short, it serves both purposes for me and bow hunting has kind of become my religion. I say the Lords Prayer every time I get on stand and thank God above for family, health, being blessed to live in the United States, and for sharing the act of hunting with me. Even ask Mark to show me the way!

My Pastor has come to visit me a couple times asking how he can get me to church on Sunday? How he can get me into the house of God? Every time he gets the same answer, I say, "Dave, I step into the house of God every time I step into the woods. I reach out and touch his face every time I harvest one of his creatures". "No man made building will ever get me that close to God". He usually shrugs and says he respects my perspective. So, God Bless, healthy living, and many years of hunting with family and friends to all of you. For in the eyes of our Creator, we are brothers in this thing we call deer hunting. Attached is a picture of Mark.

If I spent the money I spend on hunting on food I wouldn't NEED to kill for food either;)

Nice story 10orbetter, you brought tears to my eyes.

Adventure, close and camaraderie, yes. I don't think that even most "meat hunters" hunt solely for the meat. As others have said, when you add up the license, gas, arrow/broadhead/ammo and other costs, the price per lb. gets up there. Of course, it doesn't always have to. Some only have to factor in the license and can walk out their door and shoot a deer. All that said, wild game is priceless in some ways, too. You can't legally buy it. It's special. All of my kids had wild game and fish from the time they were first able to chew, and it's still among their favorite meals (fried loin still is one's favorite). The long and short of it — both the "sustain" and "renew" parts are important to me.

10, great story!

Being close to wild game and in their element is many times magical. I prefer a vigil in a cedar, pine or natural ground blind — or slipping along as quietly as possible through a creek bottom — to sitting in a condo or commercial blind, many times over.

Some research says hunters are born, not made. I believe that, but I've seen some made, too. Good mentors, and good spots, really help!

Awesome story 10.

NAZ, nothing beats the pines. There is just something magical about being tucked down in a swamp north of 64 and seeing a snowshoe hare come cruising through. It's the smell, the sound of wind through the pines, a grouse sunning himself in the early AM, the flash of a buck sneaking through, the softness of moss covered muskeg under your boots, and the deafening quiet of being in the pines. Tucked in among the shadows of the pines really teaches you to see, not just look! It might be the most magical of all hunting places.

Well, I certainly can relate to tree stand therapy. I eat it. I like the hunt, but the animal in me likes the kill as well, and I often question why? I don't think it's weird when you seriously sit down and get honest with other hunters, after all, isn't the kill the end result?

I take almost a month off at the end of October. I hunt hard, but what I'm really doing is observing, and waiting for that right deer at the right time. I have aspirations of a certain deer in my mind, and I'm always chasing that dream, and rarely achieve those lofty sights. The preparation and practice, the chase and sightings, the early mornings or all day hunts are what I live for, but the culmination of the hunt ending with the kill, the processing, the bounty is much less important than just observing deer doing what deer do.

Strange!

The reasons that people hunt are individual and complex. Some hunt mainly for meat, some hunt for trophies, others hunt for the camaraderie, and perhaps most of us on here, hunt for all these reasons and then some. Lots of us here also hunt for the never ending challenges that hunting can provide. Be it through the use of traditional equipment, holding out for a trophy or enjoying success over a well thought out food plot, there is always another level of challenge one can create.

I concur with "LTLJimmy's" desire for adventure as being another primary incentive for hunting. I too seek that adventure and have enjoyed hunting waterfowl, turkeys, and a variety of small game, and also have been fortunate in harvesting elk, moose and bear, and of course whitetails in a number of states. But I think "10orbetter" perhaps unknowingly summed it up best by the fact that most of us hunt to create friendship and memories. To me there's nothing like sitting beneath last year's head mount while dining on the backstrap it provided, or perhaps sharing fresh tenderloins while helping your hunting partner(s) butcher their deer. I guess I'd be defined as both a trophy and meat hunter, but as of late, I've most cherished the time I've been able to spend in the blind with my Dad.

I myself endorse every aspect of the hunt, and for that, is why I hunt. I truly enjoy and respect the meat that hunting provides and I utilize as much of the animals that I can. Ribs, neck etc. all get used. I'm on a continual quest to learn new recipes and perfect the ones I already know. Suet from harvested animals is saved and later fed back to songbirds. Butchered carcasses are placed back in front of trail cameras to get pictures of eagles and other scavengers. Trail cameras are monitored, shed antlers collected, habitat work performed and next years plan continually revised both on paper and in mind. I also enjoy the collectable aspect of our "sport", be it sheds, trail cam photos, harvest photos, mounts, etc.

Is there any other activity that a person can participate in throughout their entire life, by themselves, with friends, with family and / or all of the above? What other motivation could possibly place a person in areas so remote, so early in the morning, and in such adverse conditions, where we get to possibly experience both an encounter with the game we are pursuing and also experience unique wonders in nature that most others never have the opportunity to experience?

Perhaps hunting's greatest attraction is that a person can reminisce, plan, ponder, or debate about it whenever the desire to do so strikes. (If that sentence doesn't describe hunting, it definitely explains bowsite!)

Why do you hunt?

B2K well stated!

For the memories...I've never been one to think that this is a spectator sport so I've not gotten into the video thing. I depend on the stuff in my head..like the time I peed on a mature doe. Guess you had to be there.

This was my first season bow hunting. I just got my hunter safety license in before the 2013 season, and at that time could not afford a bow so I borrowed a friend's 12 gauge to at least get out in the woods and gun hunt.

This year I bought my bow at the beginning of the season and since then I have totally hooked. In my first bow season I put in 115 hours and saw 20 deer, but came up empty handed which is OK. I learned a lot and learned that I love it. I love the challenge it presents and I love to shoot. Overall, it's challenging and relaxing and fun all at the same time. How can you beat that?

Sawtooth?????

All the above, Big Game (deer) = food that my family loves, adventure, solitude, and the need to hunt for my soul. The only cost to me for the meat is the cost of the tag, arrow (sometimes) or bullet, and the cost of the wrapping paper. I know of a lot of people that spend more money doing other types of recreation and will never get an ounce of meat doing it.

It is all about peace and solitude for me along with spending time with my family and friends. I actually prefer a good beef steak over venison 100% of the time. That marbled fat is the differentiator.

I also fish Lake Michigan regularly and don't like eating salmon or trout (love perch and eyes) except for an occasional smoked one. I give away every fish we keep. That too is all about just being out.

good thread. In college one year I was out of money and going thru the bow and gun season w/o any luck I thought I'd try hunting the late season for some meat. I knew an iron worker who had some land and asked if I could bowhunt and he said sure and pointed where he had a stand. Next day I went there and shimmied out on a big bent over ash tree like 15' high and at least that curved out from the trunk. I was scared sh*^less and scooted back down. Anyway after a couple sits on the ground I ended up shooting a nice doe, I cut it up, packaged it and kept the meat in a box in the trunk of my '85 Sunbird and ate that deer w/ Ramen noodles til March. I wasn't starving but that deer was VERY important to me at the time. That story aside my main driver is the adventure. "The best stand is the first time you hunt it" has been my mantra. The adventure of finding new areas and stands and pushing my walking limits for a buck is my thing and why I cherish our public land up north.

Wausau, hopefully the herd will be better managed in the future so guys like you actually have deer to pursue with some regularity. It should never be a privatized sport. When and if it ever is in Wisconsin, then we all will have failed.

I'll bite...

I started out hunting for the opportunity... My family did not hunt. I had a few uncles who did and 1 that bowhunted. I also enjoyed the getting close deal.. hunted on buckets for years just to stay eye to eye with deer and try to get myself in the right spot. It was a challenge and a great accomplishment of taking a deer with a bow and arrow that drew my interest..Eating the deer was not the reason.. however they all were made into something be it sausage our steak.

I did not get into it for antlers.It was 100% about the challenge of primitive gear. I did have a recurve shot instinctive ..then went to a compound and still shot instinctive... to now using a peep and sight.

I hunt for the challenge of tagging a good buck..and if I don't a fat slick head will stuff up just fine. But in WI we ha e hunter greed running rampid. Everyone wants their way all the time... no one will sacrifice anything. What this does is over harvest deer in vast areas. When this happens... you loose the tag for that Fat Slick head...and if there are no mature bucks to hunt... the entire reason I hunt is taken away.

So I will pass and spend my hunting time else where in other states with less greedy hunter populations who push for rules and regs that cater to the challenge that drew my interest originally which WI hunters are no longer interested in. As if they were.... they would not allow what is happening in to take place.. they would push for rules and regs that would protect the integrity and challenge of tagging a good deer. ..instead... everyone wants their deal...it's WI. Hunter greed... and i won't be part of it.

A W, I'm wondering if you ever travel within the state? I hear your comments on how bad Wisconsin is, and you will no longer hunt hear, or spend your money here. I would like you to instead of traveling out to another state which has less greedy hunters, to instead, take a day-trip within the state, and actually see what's really out there? I trust that the fragment of land you know has either changed, or been ruined somehow, but please trust me. It is not ALL ruined. I hunt in a CWD zone. It is in farmland country yes, but it did survive. The last day of season I saw 37 deer feeding in a field on the land I hunt. Is it private? Yes, but it can be acquired. The negativity you have is going to kill you way younger than you were predestined for. It's not as bad as you make it. Have a good day and take a look over the next hill....or the next...;-)

Well said Pete-pec. Whether WI or ANY other top whitetail state, it'll always be the have plenty, have some and have few when it comes to deer spots. A lot is determined by quality of habitat and hunting pressure. Deer distribution has been, and will always be, clumpy. Find a good clump and hunt it as wisely as you can.

A fine thread . My answer is all of the above !! M y 60 years of hunting can be broken into about 8 steps of hunting reasons and satisfactions and maybe more as I get older . It seems to change with no warnings .

Showing your family circle you can do it . Showing your circle of friends . Always wanting bigger . Teaching your children . Teaching your grandchildren . Trying to find something new about Deer that no one elso knows yet . As you get older you show the Deer much more respect and let a lot of them walk . I think its a hunters way of payback to an awesome animal that we showed very litle respect when we were young , dumb , and well you know . I think the final stage is going out to hunt with no intentions of shooting a Deer . Unless its a old sway back buck on decline . Better to go quick than be tore apart by Predators . Thats part of the respect thing ;-]

I spend more time with the 12 grandkids teaching respect than anything else .

Let's just say.. I have spent time in many areas of the state..including Buffalo Cty where we use to hunt for free no will run you 3 large LOl.. Also spent ti.e in several other northern counties..and have nothing that I can say was a positive experience.

This thread is about the confession of why we we hunt...not why we guys like me gave up WI hunting...

I can't say why the thousands of others gave it up ..all I can tell you is why I got started and what drove me ....that is now gone....left still are xbows.. bait piles.. back yard feeders....Cabin shooting... and all other forms of hunter greed WI has developed. ..

That is not what the thread was for....but to confess why we actually hunt. ..I have... and some seem offended as why those of us won't waste our time here..

That's because you don't hunt for the same reasons...that's fine...your choice...as is mine

For a serious answer. I hunt for both adventure/enjoyment and meat. I seem to have the rare family(wife/kids) that prefer venison over ANYTHING. We easily consume 3 deer a year for the four of us, but we don't starve without it. Which is good, as I am somewhat selective on what I shoot as far as bucks. The doe population is way down on our land, so they are off limits.

Actually A W, you chose to make it into a thread why you don't hunt Wisconsin? I just asked a question about your reasoning. My bad. I was certainly not offended. You or the thousands of other anti-Wisconsin hunters who gave up hunting had zero impact on my hunt. I believe there are other people who might have shared your spots that are grateful you left? I hunt one farm 960 acres for free. I'm not family, I have exclusive archery rights. I am not family. I have another 160 acres that is family. I have to share with others. They want nothing. I have another spot 240 acres. I have to share. They want nothing. I give them all something of course. Not much considering, but most importantly, I am friendly with them, and will help them with anything. I just thought perhaps you were soured, and refuse to be un-angry, and it perhaps hinders you to look beyond the negativity, and that access is actually only a couple door knocks away, or over the next hill? If you are so willing to drive to another state, You might try looking in this great state you live in. Maybe then, you could talk about the good old days that could be in your future (even in Wisconsin)? Has there been change? Certainly. Of course some change we dislike, but through it all, it is what it is, and it's not all bad, and certainly nothing a person cannot work through.

Best of luck.

Antler Whore -

I am so greedy that I went out and became a falconer so I could hunt 365 days a year - legally!

Actually some of my best "hunting" comes way after folks have brushed off their bows and rifles and have settled in for a long winter's nap!

That's me with my buddy Nala a 3 year old red tail that is a guided missel when it comes to rabbits. She hunts squirrels - but loves her rabbits. This was 2 Saturdays ago.

I hunt simply because it is who I am. It defines my being and what I do.

I am more than a bow hunter, a gun hunter but a trapper, falconer, fisherman and educator as well.

I love Wisconsin and it's deer, it's diverse wildlife and the Green Bay Packers!

I cherish God, family and my friends!

BT - that is awesome. Sport of Kings.

Pat, you and I need to get together at some point. I would love love love to see that bird do what it does so naturally. Awesome!

Bloodtrail, that is simply AWESOME!! Never seen that before. Thanks for sharing.

"I cherish God, family and my friends! "

Amen to that brother!

Awesome post. Great thread too.

BT, super work! PLEASE come here and help clean up the neighborhood rabbits! Would love to take photos of you/Nala in action here (and maybe Turkeyhunter would let us tackle a couple tree-girdlers on his piece, too).

Hunters,

If you are cold and hungry outside in the snow hunting for deer, know the deer is also cold and hungry. Make sure when you are ready to return home you bring him inside with you and warm him up.

The best reason for hunting.

Lisa www.wildskies.com 970.926.0216

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