When was hunting the most fun?
General Topic
As we read threads about needing the latest and greatest equipment prior to Christmas I am at least as guilty as the next guy being a gear hound. But when you think about your life and bowhunting - when was it that you had the most fun? Not saying everyone needs to do the same, but I have definitely been putting more emphasis on fun the last year or two. We can put so much pressure on ourselves for trophy size etc, and come our of seasons frustrated. Is it resolution time yet?
So when was it that you had the most fun? What was your equipment like at the time? What kind of animals did you tag out on? Are the same experiences within your grasp for next year? My bet is they are, and good luck to everyone.
Hunting to me is most fun when I do it with family/friends. Sharing base camp or deer camp - going out on our own all day and coming back with stories to tell. Folks that I don't get to see but once or twice a year... folks that are just as passionate as I am. So it was the most fun this year, last year, and every year growing up.
I too tend to fall into the trend of buying new gear but I'm trying to get away from that. I'll never be fully satisfied if I continue searching for the latest and greatest. I've got some great gear that should last a decade if treated right. So going forward I plan to my money toward experience rather than gear.
I'm have the most fun right now. Hunting out west every year. Having friends and family out there to visit now makes it even more fun. I'll be making my first trip to Alaska in a couple years.
I used to get all worked up about whitetails. I had permission on a couple of good farms but lost them to leasing and being purchased for recreation. I actually pretty much gave up on them and barely hunted them at all for a few years. Now I have a new found passion for hunting public and mobile hunting. I don't really care about size anymore and that put all the fun back in it for me.
Anytime I am hunting and spending time with good friends, no matter what or where we are hunting.
It was a lot of fun when I bought my first pair of rubber boots, tiny mossy oak belt pack, old browning bow, 4 arrows in a make shift quiver, borrowed camo jacket and went out on public land near my old home in Norman, OK. Vivid in my mind.
But... the MOST fun now, is bow hunting whitetails and hogs with my wife and watching her succeed. I've killed plenty, I'm now the teacher and facilitator, I love it!
I've enjoyed myself this year more than ever. I've passed on more shots than ever before! First, I passed a 5X5 elk in Colorado. I've passed on at least a dozen bucks back home waiting for a bigger one. In the process I took three antlerless for meat. Had a great season and will be out there yet decent weather permitting.
Time spent with good friends in new and wild places. Also watching and teaching the next generation ! Hunt
When I was a kid, I had the most fun hunting with my dad. I couldn't wait until Saturday to spend all day in the woods with him. I hung on his every word and to me as a kid he was my hero. Ironically, he was never an archery hunter and everything I learned about archery hunting was through trial and lots of errors. I still cherish anytime I can get in the woods with my dad.
In my teens, 20's and 30's I put a lot of pressure on myself to kill a big buck and felt the season was a failure if I didn't. I would say I still enjoyed my time in the woods but it was secondary to killing that "big" buck.
I'm 47 now, I hunt with a recurve or a flint lock if I go out gun hunting. I have a 13 year old son that loves to go hunting with me and that makes me very happy. I'll still be thrilled to kill a big buck but it's not my be all end all anymore. It's funny how things change.
To answer the OP's question: I'd say right now is the time I've had the most fun hunting and I look forward to many more days in the woods with my son.
Most fun? Right now. However sometimes I do miss the old days when I would shake myself out of a tree when a basket rack was approaching. Now that I practice QDM it's not the same. However, back then the chances of a mature 10 coming at me were impossible - now they are not only possible but entirely likely.
Not 'was'... 'IS"!
Man, I look forward to every fall anymore. I have a ol high school buddy that comes out elk hunting and we hunt and fish every Sept like we did back 40 years ago. Toss in Midwest, Native Oakie, Deertick and my son.... it dont get any better.
Hunting was a lot funner when my left shoulder didn't hurt so much. Otherwise I've been having a blast for the last 20 years. Probably because I've been visiting other states more in that time frame.
Easy answer for me. When I had a deer lease in Central Texas and it was a target rich environment. If you couldn’t stick a doe this afternoon then you would tomorrow. And let’s face it guys, we don’t do this just for the aesthetics or communing with nature, because we can do that without a bow or gun in hand. We hunt because we like it, and we like it more when we can be successful in bringing home some tasty game at least part of the time. Even guys that elk hunt and only kill every other year or less keep going back because of the opportunity to score. I gave that lease up because the guy I leased from died and his wife was a likeable idiot, but an idiot nevertheless. After two price increases and more rules that made no sense, suddenly a 6 hour drive and the aggravation factor collided. She cried when I told her after 18 years I was giving it up. I surely do miss the turkey hunting.........
When Grandpa rolled up in front of the Jr. High School in the old green chevy, with two rifles, a lawn chair, a six pack of mountain dew, and a package of oreos.
He was disabled and limited in what he could do so we headed for the mountains, found a gated road, and started hiking. He would use the lawn chair and his 6mm as crutches. I would head up or down the hill and hike circles around him (literally).
We got quite good at it and he killed many a deer while sitting in said lawn chair.
Come dark and Dad got off work he would drive the roads looking for the old green chevy. When the old green chevy was located he would hike in and carry grandpa out on his back and I would carry the rifles and chair. Then we would make a second trip for any game that was killed. (always got grouse at least).
then home we went, and hoped grandpa felt good enough to do it again in a couple of days. May have happened in the days when he wasn't too worried about tags. hehe.
oz
Back before every door we knocked on was met with "Sorry, our property is leased". When the property owner would not only let you hunt, but suggest where he had seen a big bull or buck, then invite you to Sunday dinner with the family.
Pre internet, I never knew that I didn't do anything correct. Back then hunting and arrowing a deer is all that mattered and we had fun doing it. Christmas vacation as a kid were great times and no worries. We didn't kill much, got soaked, froze and did it again tomorrow.
I have quite a bit of fun now. More time, more money, slightly more know-how, more patience, etc. The time factor will probably never get any better, but the rest of it hopefully will :)
I read somewhere a while ago whereas a guy said that hunting was a lot more fun before he knew what a G2 was LOL. Something to be said for that.
I enjoyed it back when getting a deer, any deer, with a stickbow was a feat in itself. Nothing like visits to Bear Archery in Grayling, Michigan, and Anderson Archery in Grand Ledge. A Wisconsin archery tag could be used on a deer, or a bear.
For me hunting was the most fun when I was hunting with grandpa, we used rifles and mostly shot does it was great!
I always have fun, no matter the outcome of a hunt. Especially when I’m hunting with family and friends. I always loved taking and teaching my daughter (27) and son (17) everything my mentors taught me about hunting. Now they’re older we rarely get into the same stand anymore. But always have great times.
Now it’s time to start passing on my knowledge to my granddaughter (6) who recently started asking if she could go hunting. I told her that she can come to the land and hunt anytime she wants to. I said,” I have a few stands that you and your dad can fit in together”. Her response,” No Papa, I want to go with you cause you get deer.” Only from the mouths of babes, lol. We are all going during Christmas break for our first full family hunt, can’t wait!! I know it’s going to be a blast.
Before horn porn. Guy would drag in a deer to the parking lot and be congratulated for getting it done without the b.s. bias
What Highlife said. These days when you tell someone you killed a buck, or saw one, the first response is “ what do you think he’d score?”
I'm with Lou, it's really hard to get access for places to hunt for certain animals anymore. I really like hunting new places with friends. Hunting is still fun just wish I had more time off. Hopefully, I have just a couple more years and I can call it quits.
My son came home from Washington with a recurve he bought for $100. He made his own arrows and on our 3rd try he got a doe. We were pumped. I got my hunting buddy. He got his first traditional kill. Off to Chipotle. Good eating. Are backstraps later for dinner. Blessed
For me. This year. After most of my life in NH where seeing 2 to 3 deer in a 3 month season was good. To this year in WY tagging 6 animals so far between 2 of us , "guiding" my wife to 2 antelope and seeing TONS of animals, it's been a blast
I think that my early years bowhunting may have been the most fun or at least most exciting. The first buck, first answer to my bugle, first elk, first elk crash, and any other first animal. The journey including planning, learning, training, researching, scouting, practice shooting, and follow up can be the most rewarding aspect. Nowdays coaching, mentoring, and facilatator of all aspects up to and including my offspring "putting one in the shade" makes me happy. Physical type hunts are harder now at my age unless you are "Paul at the Fort". I do miss the old days when bulls would answer my bugle and come in on a trot. That was fun! .........Bob
I also should have mentioned bowhunting with Dad, he didn't start until he was 56 years young and didn't take it very seriously. Then one day ole grandpap buck past him at 15 yards and he wasn't ready. That's the last time that happened to him and a serious bowhunter was born. He arrowed quite a few deer in the next 20 some years until he reinjured a shoulder. Great memories!
Right now! If your always looking in the rear view mirror then I feel sorry for you. Next year will be even better! I have the same hunting dreams and hopes for the future I had when I was a kid. I am always planning, researching, scheming, my next adventure. Both solo and with my family and friends! Adventure is where the fun is! Could be on the family farm I have hunted for 43 years or wilderness area I have never set foot in! Go - have fun now!
Great thread Adam!
Man, I have a ball every year, but if I'm honest I think the most "fun" I had was as a kid in my teens. We had a lease in the thumb of Michigan, which was not all that great, but had a lot of deer. Every weekend I would get out of school a little early, then go up with my older brothers, cousins, and family friends. We would hunt Friday evening, spend the night at a cool little hotel, go out to eat, laugh, and have a ball, then hunt Saturday morning, come back to the hotel to sleep and watch Michigan football, hunt the evening and head home for church the next day. Sat in permanent stands, no safety harness, and loved every minute. The lease was only a mile outside of town, and I vividly remember sitting in my stand, overlooking the cornfield, in beautiful October foliage, listening to the marching band and the muffled announcer from the Friday night high school football game. Americana at it's finest! Did that from 12 to 18. Back then a yearling buck was a trophy, and a 95" 2 yr old was a world record to us. Those years lit a fire that has only grown. I would get ecstatic to shoot a doe and the sight of antlers, however small, would get my heart beating like a 160" would now. Missed a lot of deer, killed quite a few, and every success was the most satisfying and rewarding feeling I could imagine. I think those years set in my mind the pure enjoyment of shooting a deer, and to this day I still get a kick out of shooting does. Nothing like sitting in a stand knowing any deer you see is a potential target! On the flip side a 100" deer does very little for my adrenaline. Everyone is a little different, but the maturity progression for me has caused me to progress to targeting more mature animals. I still like filling tags, so some years it's a battle between just having fun shooting stuff, and holding out for a mature animal. Back then, that was never a thought, so the enjoyment was a little more pure I guess. Since then, a lot of us have went our separate ways, even within the family, and for many of the group life has been sad and hard. Sure wish I could go back in time and relive a few of those weekends.
On the flip side I would have never believed that I would be living the dream in Montana, hunting elk, antelope, bears, mule deer, and whitetails every year. I have done and seen things I could only have read about back then. Been very blessed in where my hunting adventures have taken me. Plus I have had the privilege of introducing many others to the outdoors and watching them learn and become successful. That also brings back the pure enjoyment of any animal is a trophy. So fun to be a part of!
people talk about the good old days & I honestly believe these are the good days for me perhaps a heart attack in 2010 changed my perspective on things but I'm having a great time hunting & fishing right now. now looking back in the past during my 20s & 30s I lived in the nw part of VA (fauquier) county & myself & my friends drove deer every weekend with bows muzzleloaders & rifles & we were good at it always a good time & lots of laughs. I love this old pic that's my son he was 5 & those deer were killed the last day of the season 1992
"Back before every door we knocked on was met with "Sorry, our property is leased". When the property owner would not only let you hunt, but suggest where he had seen a big bull or buck, then invite you to Sunday dinner with the family."
I can't say it any better ^^^
Matt
Now for sure. I hunt smarter and with better gear. Solo or with family I enjoy both. Love every second I get to be out.
Ever time i go and i plan to do a lot more and i have been bow hunting for 59 years
For me, it was when I was splitting my time between Denver and Dillon, biking a couple hundred miles a week, my resting heart rate was 40, and I could grab my Catquiver and my Recurve and disappear up the hill for 14-16 hours a day about 20-some days out of the season and have a whole wilderness area that I shared with maybe 4 other guys, most of whom never hunted that drainage a second time because MAN will those hills kick you in the teeth.
Leave you more out of breath than reading that first sentence out loud ;)
Elk hunting in the 90s......lots of elk ...tags were fairly easy to come buy.
And no flat brimmers !!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next time will be the most fun until the next time! A couple years ago I realized that I was taking this stuff way to seriously. Now I go out to have fun with my friends, family, kids, etc. I go out of my way to help others succeed. Maybe I started seeing the big picture and stopped caring about whether I killed big antlers. Sure I still love to kill a big buck or bull given the chance, but that is way down the list of what I consider to be success. Nothing beats spending time with my kids, Nichole, my dad, or a buddy or two and seeing them have success. Live life, it’s way too short to sweat the small stuff no matter how big we think it is.
My next hunt is always the most fun for me. I’ve gotten past the stage of not knowing what the hell im doing so now every trip is just getting out there having fun doing what I love to do now!
Not sure, maybe a half dozen years ago. The flame today is beginning to dwindle...
When I had almost unlimited time!! But now I have kids so it’s a whole different kind of fun
Always have fun. But I have to say the last seven years have been the best. In these seven years, I watched my son take his first buck with a rifle, sat twenty yards away as a heavy chocolate racked eight point came in behind him, on a cold November morning. His eyes as wide as dinner plates, couldn't get a clean shot. Sitting in the same stands as he watched a doe for a good fifteen minutes before she offered a clean broadside shot. Watching her go fifty yards and drop. The following year on Halloween, getting a call that he just shot a doe, first one on his own. Last year, again, getting a call that he just killed his first archery buck. Yeah, these have been the best years!!
Hunting with my son, now taking the 4yr. old grandson, relatives, friends, new tech. is great but yrs. ago without trail cams. hunting the unknown was like xmas.
Man I look forward to every season with the same childish passion I had 25 years ago. I am like cnelk and bake, it’s the most fun now. I’m a better hunter every year as I learn and evolve. Been very fortunate as well.
Everyday is a new day and a new experience of fun. I not one to advocate "the good ole days." The "good ole days" are now. "Hope" is the days after "the good ole days."
When hunting wasn't "cool" and no one wore camo to school. Had access to sections of land with family. What good is all the toys without a place to use them.....heck with 2yo bucks and wearing out a overpriced lease. My efforts are in the west with elbow room, don't care about the results so much as just let me roam.
Very enjoyable thread Adam.
Some real good reading and input fella's.
I have no complaints as long as I still get the chance to be out here enjoying the opportunities thru out our Rocky Mnt. States.
Good luck, Robb
It was the most fun when I had my father with me
I had so much fun 35 years ago as my father taught me to hunt but I also had fun spending time with my brother during the 90s and 2000s as a team... But wait, teaching my son to hunt has been a blast spending time with him....I have loved every year I have hunted and couldn't pick a time. It's always fun and exciting.
Was most fun when my body didn’t hurt so bad! Turned 60 this year with wheels gradually falling off. Many injuries building up. Body was so sore some days this year I had to sleep in to recuperate. And mid day naps a must now. Also, western hunting was much better in the 90’s with paper applications, no Huntin Fool nor SFW. Eastern hunting was much better with nonresident quotas & no crossguns.
Hunting with my dad. Till he went off and found easier places with his buddy. Iv hunted alone last 10 years
04 Dec 2019
"Big Stinky"
04 Dec 2019
"Big Stinky"
Yesterday Morning on my place.
KH~
For me, I have two good memories. The first is getting back out the first time after finishing chemo/radiation treatment after not knowing if you'll be around to do it again. The second would be later on watching the wife shoot and then attempt to drag her first deer out of the woods. Everything else is just gravy. There are still some good memories out there...ya just have to make them!
Back in the 80's we had a crew from Wisconsin mostly and went to the Uncompaghre national forest in Colorado. Some years we had up to 20 guys in camp, well organized well thought out sneak drives from barley readable topo maps. Big Muleys and an occasional elk were the targets. We did great some years 16-18 bucks hanging with an elk mixed in, if you got a buck you went to town (about 3 hour drive) and got another tag - no draw then. All archery of course and these were great times, several of us still hunt together all in our 50's 60's and 80's friendships that are forever.
When I was 14 and killed my first elk with a bow and my dad by my side. It was a cow but might as well been a 400” bull in my eyes. Had an old browning compound that weighed 10lbs, felt like anyways. Hand me down cotton camo, no rangefinder, gps etc. Just had what we had and went hunting. I’ve been blessed to spend every September since I was 12 chasing elk with my dad. Knowing our elk hunts together are getting fewer, every year is fun with lots of memories, kill or no kill. This year I called in the biggest bull he’s ever killed for him, had the same feeling as I did killing my first elk.
When I was in Wyoming. I have my elk hunting absolutely dialed in right now. So no second guessing where I’m going or where to start. When you are 100% confident it’s easier to roll out of the sleeping bag and march up the hill.
On the downside I’ve been so about elk hunting that my deer hunting back home doesn’t get me nearly as excited.
Another vote for yesterday... that is, until tomorrow.
Whenever I go, every time it is the most fun I 've had, almost without exception.
No time like the present for me.
Great looking pictures Shiloh the grins say it all!
I bowhunt or bowfish year round and each hunt is unique and equally enjoyable. I love every aspect of bowhunting from the actual hunt, to spending time with friends and family to the butchering process and the preparation and consumption of what we killed. Nothing compares to being a bowhunter!
Never seen or heard that in woods kevin. Deer dont say much.
KH~
Awesome responses guys!!
What I really like about this is that it proves a very necessary point. All over this thread we have people throughout the entire age spectrum enjoying hunting more today than at any point in their lives. That means it's possible for all of us! It's true, every day hunting is a massive joy, and a common vein runs through the thread in regards to enjoying hunting with those we love. Simple days can be a blast. Even the dreaded gun hunting days!!! ;)
My hope is that for you all, next year is more enjoyable than last, good luck everyone!!!
What I have noticed is that my hunting has always been "most fun". What has changed isn't my level of enjoyment....it is changes that have occurred to me. In my "early years", I really enjoyed the learning process. As my hunting experiences became more numerous, I really enjoyed the anticipation and the preparation. Currently, I really enjoy building food plots and sharing a day afield with my wife or my nephew. I would be hard pressed to call one "phase" more enjoyable than another......just different stages as I evolve.
I'd have to say that the 80's thru mid 90's had the potential to be the most fun, but I was so darn focused on filling my tags that I didn't allow myself the time to enjoy it. That was my focus, and nothing else mattered.
These days, I take the time to enjoy every second I'm in the woods, whether I'm hunting or just relaxing in camp. Even though I now spend more time at elk camp, I don't hunt as long or as hard, and I don't feel one bit guilty about taking a day off here and there. Being retired, knowing I don't have to go back to work once I get home makes it double the fun!!!
It's always fun...until someone else shows up.
It's always been fun to me. As long as I am able, I can't imagine it not being fun forever. I have never been one to be hung up on trophy size and I believe that is what makes a difference for me. Sometimes we need different things to rekindle our passion. Sometimes it is a species change, equipment change or new ground.
If there is a an animal to bowhunt, I'm in if I can swing the cost and the time investment.
when I hunt a new animal somewhere new - that brings back all the excitement
Hunting with family is very dear to me. I am 65 now and clearly remember hunting with my Dad at about 7 or 8 years old for rabbits. I can still smell the smoke of my single shot 20 guage on a clear cold night. As I got older and had my own family, hunting with my son and daughter were always special to me. They both grew up on a Texas deer lease. They grew up and now have their own families. One of my most memorable hunts was a bear hunt in Quebec with my son after he came home from his first tour in Iraq. That was really special and we both took blackies with our recurves. Now I have a new son in law to hunt with my son and me. We hunted in AK. this past Sept and were lucky enough to each get a Caribou. He is relatively new to hunting as his Dad is not a hunter. He is jumping in with both feet and absorbing all he can. Next, I look forward to being able to hunt with my granddaughter and grandson. Granddaughter should deer hunt with me next year. I am so looking forward to that.
I guess I have been a pretty lucky old man.
Are you kidding! Hunting is always fun! It’s more fun when access and crowds aren’t an issue which isn’t the case anymore due to bowhuntings surging popularity. Some states are worse and some are better I’ve found.
States like oklahoma, Arkansas, Indiana with good numbers but no big buck reputations are fun and affordable if you keep your expectations realistic Texas is great if you have money East coast has the lowest per capita deer hunter population and great urban hunting. The south has lots of deer and warm weather but loads of hunters
Big buck states like Kansas, Illinois, and Iowa get pounded and leased up by non residents
Western states offer variety but fewer tags and short seasons that overlap with each other badly
Pick your poison I suppose
For now it’s still just way fun
I started in 1956 & it's been nothing but a fun, awesome journey. The early years with Archery Club friends, then many years with my brother & now, with a couple very good bowhunting friends & my Son & G-kids. It just gets better.
Hiked up a gated logging road leading into a 26,000 acre timberland to the 3 mile mark and up about a half mile on a ridge. I threw together a brush blind on a migration trail and sat until dark. Two feet of snow in the woods, but gratefully, only an inch on the road. I was the only human there, no truck tracks or human tracks. Saw nothing but a young fox that probably never saw a human. He came very close checking me out. Several chickadees landed on me and my longbow and I fed a Canadian Jay part of a granola bar. Took a nap and just relaxed. Walking out in the dark it was snowing so hard that my headlamp was pretty useless. Met another fox and had a coyote follow me along the road yipping. They get curious. Great day and a good leg workout for a 73 year old.
From my early years to present I have never needed an alarm clock! The anticipation is powerful!
Adam, thanks for your great thread. I think that it is a good opportunity to get to know the persons behind the "handle" better. As eluded to earlier, there seems to be strong family connections made through bowhunting and hunting among those on this site. Also, I notice that I seem to have a lot in common with many Bowsiters and can appreciate their experiences as told in their postings..............Bob
Anytime I have one of the grandkids along with me !!
Right now! I have fun no matter what I'm doing so it's hard to quantify but I honestly believe the best of times are right now. In the early years I was stressing out about getting a shot and not missing, then I was worried about leaving my wife at home with a child, then I had to worry about my employees messing up while I was gone, then missing cross country meets or school functions. Now I can talk to the wife every evening on one of those new fangled phones or she comes along. The last 10 years have been off the charts. It doesn't matter if I'm hunting with friends or on my own. Happy, happy, happy! Of course it doesn't hurt that I have the time and money to do about half of what I want to do, which is still more than I deserve.
Hunting partner > hunting location > trophy quality
If I can hunt with people I like to be around, or in beautiful/interesting landscapes, the size and/or quantity of animals takes a back seat. One of my most memorable hunts was spent bouncing through pastures in an old pickup with my college roommate that I hadn't seen in a couple years. Not the most "exotic" or "extreme" hunt but the memories are etched in my brain for good.
It was more fun when I was young and strong and skinny and if I wanted to know what was over the next hill I just walked there!
I still hunt in a a leafy style suit. Longbow, wooden arrows on public land.....STUPID isn't it! As one of my friends once asked me.."Do you even want to get a deer!?!?"
I LOVE it, and I'm good at it. I have close encounters on every hunt. Let a lot of deer walk. I am fussy, no small bucks, no does with fawns, no fawns, no button bucks. I do succeed from time to time and I love the woodsmanship challenges. I have to be super sharp and learning all the time. Some of my best still hunts did not result in a deer, but I felt like I became part of the woods and hunted like a champ. I come out of the woods at night and I feel proud, capable and blessed.
Then came the curse of the modern hunting scene...the horn porn shows, big bucks are the only measure of a successful hunt or successful hunter for that matter. Land owners quarreling over deer and property lines. High tech cameras, crossbows, piles of corn etc.
I killed several 115 to 120 inch bucks hunting on the ground with my longbow/wooden arrows and I felt like a failure, walked up to the bucks and the racks seemed smaller on the ground than on the hoof. I felt resentful.
I would walk out of the woods at the end of a long day stillhunting and because I didn't stalk a 150 class deer I found myself feeling like a failure and even calling myself one in my head. It got to the point where I was feeling that sinking shameful feeling in my gut while driving to a hunt in the darkness of the morning hours. " Who am I kidding...I'm a loser." When a man talks to himself like that bitterness and resentment follow.
Then I was listening to a podcast with Dan Infalt on the hunting beast and he was asked what's the saddest thing in today's hunting scene and he said...Easy, it's these guys that aren't having fun anymore. You see these guys that are angry all the time and they're not happy or satisfied with anything. If you're not having fun then you're missing the point. Just get out there and enjoy yourself.
That became my moto. My mission this year was to get the magic back. I've had the best season in years. I have seen more animals of all kinds than ever and had REALLY COOl close encounters with most of them.
As I have aged I find that I have to put effort into having fun. Competing and comparing and taking everything personally had robbed me spiritually. I now have that excited feeling as I creep into the woods in the morning....I wonder how the magic will happen today...
I love every minute of it and everything about it. But I really enjoy the parts before the end of the blood trail. Then the work begins.
Hunting was most fun before I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease two years ago.
in the last couple of years, I have started hunting with my son. The time in the woods with him has been the most fun. He has taken his first deer, a gator, and numerous rabbits. He has been on an elk hunt and loved it. He has a bow and he and I are starting to shoot more and more. He is 11, so we have still have a lot of fun times ahead.
so for me...these are the most fun times I have ever had..
Id say it was funnest up until my mid 20's (I started at 7). That is still around the time age set in to alot of the guys in our NYS Catskill huntiing camp. Great group of old friends...but just started getting long in the tooth and unfortunately a few years later started passing away. But what memories.....
Early 80s you could hunt pretty much everywhere no posting. Life just seemed so much easier. My 1st p and y 1983 talk about a bare bow.
When I realized it was not the deer/elk I was after but the hunt. Took my son to Idaho this year for elk...his first. Passed on some cows and neither of us filled a tag. It was in the top 10 hunts for me and him. If you had to take memories to a taxidermist then I’d be broke.
Great topic by the OP!
I coined a phrase several years ago & had it placed on a photo collage I gifted to 6 guys I shared several bowhunts with. "Kills will be long forgotten but memories of campfire friends will last forever"..
When I first discovered elk hunting.
I grew up hunting with my father in the late fortys and the fiftys, I got married and we had 4 sons. I started bowhunting in 1960 and all my sons grew up and all their lives they were bowhunting with me. It was so much fun bringing up these boys and watching them enjoying archery the way it was meant to be! At 87 I'm still at it but I'm down to 50lbs on my compound now.
When people didn’t care about inches.
Hunting with friends and family.
nybob that's impressive regardless!!!! Keep at it. Lots of smiles on here.
The most fun I ever had was the first year bowhunting elk. They seemed almost magical.
This past friday with only fifteen minutes left in the bow season before shotgun season. I look behind me and see a giant old nanny doe moving through the thicket. She is the third deer to come from back there where they are not supposed to be. I'm looking for any opening that I can get an arrow through as she is moving through, I come to full draw just as she is passing through a perfect opening, dang I didn't get drawn in time. I see an opening through my site and stop her perfectly. The shot is off and I see I made a perfect heart shot. She was down in twenty yards.
My heartrate went up just typing that. If your not having the time of your life every time you pick up your bow then you are absolutely doing it wrong.
Agree with YESTERDAY UNTIL TOMORROW. said perfectly. The addiction gets greater as I get older. Love this it.
50 lbs on a compound at 87, sure hope I live that long and can pull close to that. Very impressive sir!
Growing up in the concrete jungle, I did not have a chance to hunt until after finishing school. The innocence, or maybe ignorance, from back then I miss. I read everything I could, talked to anyone who would. Was not aware of all of the disagreements over bow types (I started hunting with a compound because that is what the bow shop suggested.), baiting, etc. It just seemed like all of us were in it together. I know that's not how life is, but sure kind of wish it was, LOL.
I wish with my experience today, I could go back and hunt then what my body allowed me to do! Hope that's what heaven is like.
"When was hunting the most fun?"
. . . . .
. . . . . .
When I could hunt with my Grandfather and Father.
A'int been the same since Dad passed in 2004.
