WHY HUNT ??

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I hunt because it has been a way of life and by far my favorite thing to do. I am also a meat hunter. Don't really care about horns, you have to boil them way too long to make them edible. Being from Florida I am blessed with a hunting season that last 5 months since I bow hunt, and can take 2 a day if possible. My wife hunts now too and that has been very rewarding. For those of you who has a spouse, get her in the woods with you. For once you can teach her something :D and if she like it you end up with more toys and a stronger relationship!
 
Mayor Al, don't take TV hunting shows as a total package of the hunting thing. As many years of hunting, as many other hunters as I have known? Nope, never heard of any honest hunter taking only a trophy head.

As near as I can tell, for most hunters it's a mix of meat and a decent rack on a buck. Sure, does are also important to those for whom the meat is the main deal.

I've had a couple of opportunities to kill a cougar, but I didn't. A buddy of mine got into money trouble so I bought his cougar skin for the cost of the taxidermist's fee. Saved me some hassle. :D And, I can just sit back now and be lazy about just observing, not shooting. They're around my home place on a halfway regular basis.

The coyotes compete with me for quail. So, I'll occasionally get ambitious and do some calling and pop a couple. Good enough. I like to hear the yodel dogs sing.

Prairie dogs? Ask an alfalfa farmer what a 20% reduction in his income means. Or, if a tunnel collapses under a cow or a trained cow horse, how much money just went down the tubes?

But hunting a good place with a good group of folks, sitting around a campfire swapping lies? Hey, can't beat that for Good.
 
But hunting a good place with a good group of folks, sitting around a campfire swapping lies? Hey, can't beat that for Good.
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True'r(sp?) words were never spoken Art.

Especially the older I get. :o

When I was younger, the group we used to get together with had a few older guys that didn't go out hunting much but showed up at camp every year.

They took care of camp, along with us young bucks. They set most of the camp 'ground' rules...which weren't many... made sure the campfire stayed lit through the day, always had a pot of somethin on the fire(didn't always know what it was :eek:, but was always good). Best of all...always had the most enjoyable tales to tell. Mostly 'tall' tales, but never-the-less, camp wouldn't have been the same without them. Sometimes they would get lie'n so much they would make each other mad.:D. Almost like one was out doing the other.

Today, most of those fella's are passed on and huntin the 'big sky' country.

Many,many years of great memories with a few thrown in I don't care to dwell on. :rolleyes:

Too, us younger bucks aren't so young anymore and are finding ourselves, more and more each year, becoming the 'older guys' at camp.

Hope we can bless the younger fella's with the same great memories we carry today.
 
I hunt because I was good at it and enjoyed it from the time I was very young. The older family members always encouraged me to do it and it became my "job" because I was very good at it and they enjoyed the wild meat. It was also much more enjoyable than splitting wood or other chores. ;) I always hunted for meat and learned from a young age how to care for it even if there was no refrigeration. None of them would eat a bear so I never killed one. When we moved west they didn't like antelope or javelinas so I basically hunted deer and elk and small game. I have one mounted deer head and a few European mounts of deer. The elk antlers were all sold with sheds I gathered for cash. Hunting was always for subsisitence so even though I shot some big elk and deer the antlers were never trophies but a cash bonus. I never could understand trophy hunting. The gift of food from God was and is what hunting is all about for me.
 
a single cougar can do as much damage to live stock as a wolf, they never become the nuisance that the wolves have because they don't hunt in packs but they are dangerous to livestock and people.

I eat bear, deer, elk, moose, pronghorn and bison so I hunt all of those animals with meat in mind.
 
Well,I guess cause I dont think anyone else is going to fill my freezer with deer & hog. And I'm from & live in the country So ive been killing stuff & dragging it home for years.Been hunting & fishing skinning & scaling for the family & friends along time,its kind of nice knowing I dont have to go to the store everytime I want something to eat.Had people tell me I was Country as hell aint ya? Yes I am and proud of it !!!!!!;):D
 
Hard to break a seventy-year habit. First cold spell, I'll go to rubbing on the headboard of my bed, getting rid of the rest of the velvet. :D
 
I hunt so I can have the best snow men in elk camp.

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I hunt for the companionship

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I hunt so my granddaughter will have a quite place to do her home work.

That is when she isn't bombarding me with snow balls when I'm glassing a hill side or cooking thick chocolate pancakes, raw in the middle and burned on the outside.

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Mainly I hunt so I can spend quality time with my favorite goofy little hunting partner before she out grows me.

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WHY HUNT ??
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I love hunting. Been doing it since I was a kid with a BB gun shooting birds. Don't hunt what I don't eat. Hunt deer, turkey, squirrel, rabbit, pheasant, grouse, etc. Now we did hunt ground hog as kids, but that was because they tore up the farmers fields. A lot of my friends were farmers and their kids so consequently we had permission to hunt just about everywhere. Not like that anymore.
 
As I said in my Original Post. I hunt for meat, or to prevent damage to my property.

We will do a 'Canned Hunt' next month in Missouri for a couple of large Hogs and an Axis Doe for my wife. It is sort of a rehearsal hunt under controlled environment for her first ever deer hunt. If it works for her, then we will do open deer hunting here in Indiana later this year. These are definitely 'meat-providers' for us. While at the same time giving us a chance to see if she 'feels right' about get out into the woods on a stalking hunt.

I would love to add an Elk to our list for this hunt, but the extra $1500 is a bit out of reach for us at this point.

For me the days of humping thru the woods for a few days are gone by, but getting out for a day, then lying about how good we were that evening in the lodge over a hot dinner and a cold beer works for me just fine. She and I work well together, and sharing this 'novice' experience with another 'senior couple' will make it a fun time with lots of meat to show for it (we hope).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I feel more confident that there are more meat-users out there than perhaps I thought, at first.
 
I feel more confident that there are more meat-users out there than perhaps I thought, at first.
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Predicting what the price of domestic meat is going to be this time next year due to the drought, I'd expect there will be alot more 'meat- users' out there then normal.
I, for one, plan on sticking an extra 1-2 for the freezer.
 
I'm on a personal boycott: I've stopped watching hunting shows until they show the shooter packing out a 100#s on his own back--and making 2 trips that last into the night.

I'm a meat hunter. I love the flavor of elk (and deer), but just getting out into the backcountry for 5-7 days is heaven enough.

I have huge respect for bow hunters, but I"m too old to learn a new skill set like that! You kids are real hunters. Muzzleloading is the closest I'll get.

good luck to you all this year
 
I hunt because for one I Love it and two it feeds my family and me. I dont shoot the biggest around, I usually look for the does or smaller bucks. Im looking out in the front yard and watching a doe and her young un in front mealing around. yes I'll kill coons, possums, anything really distroying property but I guess its in my genes, I love to hunt.
 
Doofus,
I am with you. I get two of the 'outdoorsy' channels on Direct TV, and used to watch a lot of the stuff...but now I try to sort out the infomercials from the freaks and the gun sponsored shows. I have tried to watch some of the hog-hunting stuff but find is it more like a reality talent show with dogs and knives flying everywhere. Luckily I am learning to sort the BS from the programs that will teach me something. But most really are just junk these days.
 
I've also watched hunting shows for years and am rather fed up with them now. They don't show what hunting is all about. Everyone is concerned about high fences and huge racks not really about the outdoors, the hunt in general, the comrardeary, the memories made and everything else. I prefer to go out and make my own instead of watching others.
 
Egad guys, bear meat is good. Some people dont like elk or moose or deer. If you don't like eating it, don't shoot it. Unless of course it is something that is creating a lot of damage.
 
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