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what do you get out of hunt?

Just curious what others get out of their hunting experience. Ive seen lot of people respond to topics that concern deer population, antler size, baiting, plotting and so on but only a handful have talked about why they hunt. As Ive stated before I hunt for the pure enjoyment of being in the woods in the fall. I enjoy all aspects of the hunt, family, friends, tradition and so on. I think the best part of it for me is just sitting in my climber and enjoying what nature has to offer. I always see deer throughout the season but it is just the tranquility of being out there to enjoy that is what does it for me.

I hunt for 3 or 4 straight weeks of alone time. I settle my brain, and enjoy the waiting for the right one. The smell of wet decaying hickory leaves is a fragrance that trumps lilacs. I do enjoy venison, so of course I enjoy taking a couple deer with the bow, and strive for a close quarters quick kill. It saddens me when winter comes, and I have to wait until the next season.

I hunt for the quiet, the time it allows me to clear my head and organize my thoughts. I hunt for the challenge of getting close to any deer and the thrill of killing a target deer.

I also now hunt for the enjoyment of spending days afield with my youngest son. My firstborn and I are like two peas in a pod. We've always had the kind of bond a father and son should have. My youngest is different and to be honest he literally hated me for about the first six years of his life. It was heartbreaking. I tried every approach to get him to warm up to me and nothing would work. Once I realized he enjoyed tagging along with me on short hunts we found our common ground. We are still two very different people (to put it simply, he's pretty liberal and I'm very conservative). It's like sheriff Clark and Hillary becoming friends, but hunting together has almost singlehandedly helped create that same kind of bond I've always had with the oldest. The last two seasons with him have done more for our relationship than I could have ever imagined. I'm fairly confident that withou hunting, we would still not have the kind of relationship a father and son should have. Now we are even starting to plan out of state hunts and even a spring fishing trip!

Hunting for me is a chance to take a break from reality and surround myself with silence (usually..). I typically hunt public land, and actually prefer it most of the time, since it allows me to hunt the unknown. While I will usually set a few trail cameras up throughout the year to get an idea of what's running around the woods, I get more of a thrill hunting in a new, public spot based on deer sign because it allows my mind and imagination to wander hoping that a monster buck could come walking through, rather than knowing that no such buck exists on my camera. When it comes down to it though, I am a meat hunter primarily and a "trophy" hunter second. You can't eat the antlers (at least I don't want to...)

I am a multiple state landowner and hunting to me it is improving my properties for wildlife habitat, agriculture, and aesthetics. That includes creating "food plots" in abandoned farm fields, eliminating or minimizing erosion, sound timber management for wildlife of all kinds, and cleaning up old dumps etc. I kill one deer per year in total, usually a buck of some sort, may be a spike. Hunt with a stickbow and have for almost 48 years. I let others hunt portions of my lands but also some property has become more like a refuge from the technology and mindless acts of some hunters. Like some other property owners, no known liberals are allowed. People sharing land I pay taxes on have to have similar conservative values. I admire success, do not view success as something created at the expense of those with entitlement mentality. I also lease some properties for agriculture.

All of the above. Soon we will have 6 mouths to feed, and everybody loves deer meat. The quiet of the woods at sunrise. Watching the woods wake up with the sun. Listening to squirrels and song birds come out to play. Getting tricked EVERY TIME by turkeys coming off their roost. One main reason is I think it's me against the deer. Trying to get in their heads. Guessing their next move. Trying to get to that level where I can accurately read sign and it pays off. Sharing the woods with family and young ones. So many to list...

I hunt because I enjoy the time in the woods, not just during the season, but year round. Hunting is what I do, because my Father and Grandfather passed the tradition along to me. The quietness of a cold frosty morning in the deer stand, hearing the world wake up with the sunrise, hearing the world go to sleep as the sun sets. The colors of the sunrises on a clear morning. Seeing the first fawns of the year, watching the migrations in the fall and spring, knowing that once again all is right in the world. The ability to get away from the crap we deal with every day, even if only for a few hours.

I haven't harvested a buck in many years. I do harvest plenty of deer under the liberal season. I enjoy the camaraderie of the gun season with my Uncle's and cousin. What I enjoy the most is being able to pass on the tradition through taking others out into the woods, spending time on the range, running bear baits, setting stands, there are a gazillion things that one has to experience to get the full picture of why I hunt.

The best part of it all is sharing the smiles, hugs and handshakes when someone is successful, be it an old friend, new friend, new hunter, etc.

This is a great thread. I believe it can remind all the people why we spend time on this site. Hunting always starts out with family. For me I love the hard work. The harder the better. I love waking up early and starting my walk in the dark, knowing it's just me for miles. Trying to outsmart the smartest deer in the area has been an addiction I can't explain. I appreciate the fails of hunting and everything that comes along with just being out there. Hunting has taught me a lot about life, in and out of the woods. Taught me to be a patient man, for my kids and my wife. I've burnt myself out hunting before but every time I did. I gained a whole new level of appreciation for it. I wouldn't want my life any other way. Truly blessed to be a hunter and will pave my path till my time here ends.

Everything. It has burned in me since I can remember. The unknown of the big Forests, Chasing elk in the mountains with a bow, the flight of an arrow, setting a trap on a stream loaded with fur, chasing wild steelhead on wild streams, the crash of a musky on top water, its all hunting to me. Its given me life.

Great thread!! The anticipation. Of fall coming. Turning of the leaves, geese overhead, reading the sign in the woods bucks on the move. Hunters getting ready for the upcoming seasons. Deer, pheasant duck turkey etc. the sound of a elk bugling the gobble of a Tom turkey the sound of a hound hot ion a raccoon. A musky hitting a top water. The winds of change of the seasons. Countless hours in the stand. Wondering how many more seasons lay ahead. One of the best threads yet. Finally a great thread!!!!

its like chess. trying to outsmart the smartest buck in the woods. its the challenge for me. I like to win, it feels great when you kick his ass!

"trying to outsmart the smartest buck in the woods."

Unless a little girl shoots it first over a corn pile!

What do I get out of......cleaning the house, cooking supper, helping with homework, raking leaves, ect. LOL!

Actually I deal with people all day long at my job. The piece and quiet is the greatest. The thrill of that 150 incher walking into shooting range is also highly anticipated. The clean crisp air of the woods is probably the single most healthy thing I can think of for me. A great stress reliever for sure.

It's another day of being alive and I love being a predator .

Simplicity, tranquility and possibly some lucky success sprinkled in. No corn piles, no plots, no cameras. Just a stand, bow,arrows and seeing some deer helps!LOL

Not sure how to "turn " the photo.

For me the reasons I hunt have changed over the years. It used to be to be in the woods and the challenge of getting a deer in close enough to shoot. Now its waiting for my son to be old enough to hunt with me. Now when I get home its have him waiting there for me and asking me "Daddy did you shoot a big buck" and seeing the excitement in his eyes to see me!

Sitting in a stand/blind gives me a feeling of peace like nothing else. Just knowing anything can happen keeps me out there. Now as the season gets close to the end, I get anxious and frustrated if the mature bucks do not cooperate. Lol

Nice buck Pasq, one got by the kids I see :)

LOL! Good one Elk!

Bumping the better threads..

Thanks nocturnal8, something I am interested in. Wasn't sure what was going on here, but it wasn't looking good. hope people can pull out of it.

Year round enjoyment. Working on the property to improve it, looking for sheds in the spring, planting the plots, checking the cameras and setting up stands all come long before the hunt. The anticipation and planning are as much a part of the hunt as is once I am finally sitting on stand. Late season sits and camera checks to see what has made it through the gun season. Walks through the woods to see the amount of sign in the snow, winter archery league, then it all starts again. Add in the planning and anticipation of hunts to other places and it becomes a year long enjoyment. Probably the worst part is killing an animal, it is bittersweet, the end of all the year long anticipation. Although the kill is the start of another very enjoyable activity, the cooking of and making of sausage, jerky and other treats that come from the animals we kill.

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