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Why Do You Hunt?

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Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Swede » 06 21, 2018 •  [Post 1]

The latest video link on the Elk Forum, where a young man is trying to prove himself, got me to thinking. We all have our reasons for hunting. I think hunting was bred into me. I started going with my dad when I was about seven years old. At about eight years, he let me carry a 22 LR that he specially made for me. I wasn't going to shoot a deer, but dad wanted me to get accustomed to carrying a gun properly. Just like I did with my son, dad reminded me somewhat frequently to quit pointing it at him. Occasionally a squirrel gave its all, just to prove I could shoot well enough to kill a deer when I was old enough to carry a large rifle. I always enjoyed those, and all of the following outings we had, and I still treasure them. I have no idea what it would be worth to be able to go back, and have one of those hunts with my dad, and brother again. They were precious.
I don't think there is anything to prove to myself or anyone any more. I hunt as diligently and smartly as I know how. At the end of the hunt, I may be disappointed but hardly discouraged. I know I did my best and that is all I need to be able to move on.
I hunt because I love the adventure. And just maybe, like the hound, it was bred into me.

What about you?
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby saddlesore » 06 22, 2018 •  [Post 2]

I can't remember not hunting. My mother, father, brothers, and sisters, hunted. MY grandfather hunted.When a youngster,it wasn't question of not hunting. We did it to put meat on the table.. When hunting small game,I was given enough rounds to shoot a legal limit.When I got home,I had better have the limit or rounds of ammo left that wasn't used.

What little there was of it, practice was with 22 shorts. The only time a centerfire rifled was fired was either sighting in, which was darn few times, or shooting at game.

I guess I never sat down and tried to figure out why I hunted. I just do it. I can not imagine sitting home when elk season opened, but I guess in a few years I will have opportunity to try
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby BrentLaBere » 06 22, 2018 •  [Post 3]

Reading though your post, swede, it hit home for me with one line. "I love the adventure." In my recent years of hunting and planning for the next, this is exactly what draws me to it. Many other details come into play but that is the main driving factor. It used to be different. When I was younger I simply loved being outdoors. After getting my first few critters it became the driving factor, the harvest or Kill.... I wanted to prove myself as a hunter by getting a limit or the biggest buck. That soon faded after realizing how silly it was.( ill add a little note here. I still like going for "trophy" animals but its not my driving factor) I'm forever evolving as an outdoorsman between fishing, hunting and camping. It seems its the way of many. Learning these skills and accomplishing what each person deems important. At some point we may want to pass our knowledge on. And so the cycle continues. I believe I want to be better in the broad spectrum of the outdoors. All the details.
I could certainly find other adventures in life, but this one seems to be my passion. And for those that dont get it, its hard to explain.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Lsb » 06 22, 2018 •  [Post 4]

I think all 3 of you sum it up pretty well. It's what I've always done my dad and both my grandad's hunted, I can't remember not going hunting. I've killed enough with multiple weapons rifles, pistols, muzzleloaders, compounds and recurves, that I have proved everything I need to. Now it's time away from the chaos of society and time spent with my wife and daughters. I'm one of those crazy ones that hunts with my wife. She's been my hunting partner for 19 years now and my exclusive elk hunting partner for 12. This year my oldest daughter is shooting enough weight that she gets a spot out front with the wife while I call. I can't wait.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby pointysticks » 06 22, 2018 •  [Post 5]

it's fun.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Tigger » 06 22, 2018 •  [Post 6]

Its in my DNA that is for sure. What has been interesting to me is how fun it is to take my kids out hunting. Passing it along is way more fun than I even thought it would be. Kinda the opposite of Saddlesore with him now teaching his MIL how to elk hunt.... :lol:

If you can picture your favorite type of hunting on the perfect weather day, the smells, the sounds....if a day like that doesn't trigger something deep within a person....better move to the city and wear skinny jeans.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Swede » 06 22, 2018 •  [Post 7]

Tigger wrote:Kinda the opposite of Saddlesore with him now teaching his MIL how to elk hunt....


Saddlesore's MIL is special for sure. But that Saddlesore welcoming and caring for her is beyond great. Maybe he can get an award for his thoughtfulness.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Indian Summer » 06 23, 2018 •  [Post 8]

Hunting in general is a big part of my existence because I have very acute animal instincts. I grew up either in the woods or in the creek. My dad didn’t hunt. But I chose to. My mother didn’t hunt either but I would have her drive me to places where I could take the shotgun for a walk. I was always a huge fan of tv shows like Grizzly Adams and Daniel Boone. I love wildlife in general and animal behavior is very interesting to me. I’m also a big native American Indian buff and lots of the decor in my house is that style. Flash forward to elk hunting in particular... it’s interesting to note that these days it’s really the only hunting I do. I pretty much lost the desire to hunt or shoot anything else back east. But.... I do still plan on hunting moose and caribou in Alaska. So what’s the common thread? Big wild places! They take me back in time. Our current world of war and politics sucks. I like stepping out onto a rocky outcropping and thinking I bet a native American or a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition stood here once. The places that elk live and hide intrigue me. My way of thinking makes it natural to gravitate to the places elk like to spend their time.... or seek refuge. It’s fun to turn those instincts loose. I am extremely comfortable not just hunting in the mountains but also living there. Being the MacGyver type I’m always coming up with ideas to make roughing it not so rough. Starting fires and finding water comes naturally. I love everything about the mountains. The sights the smells. The chilly mornings and the sunsets. Even the times when it gets nasty and all the fair weather folks bail out and head home. I suppose the bottom line is I was born at least 100 years too late and on the wrong side of the country and elk hunting takes me back to a time and place I was meant to be.

One more thing: Last month I took a friend walleye fishing on Lake Erie. BIg giant wild and free Lake Erie! She’d stood on the shores of it before but had never been 10 miles out and had never fished much for anything let alone on the Great Lakes. Fishing was a bit slow but we worked hard and did pretty good. There were three of us in the boat me and a buddy being very experienced. The first day she caught the most. The second she caught the biggest. Two were monsters one going 34 inches! She was proud and couldn’t get the smile off of her face. The first night we went back to camp and cleaned fish. I picked out some smaller ones.... eaters, and cubed them up. Breaded them and fried it up. If you’ve never eaten walleye caught the same day you don’t know what you’re missing. She couldn’t believe how good it was. But the best part of dinner was when she said “There’s just something about eating food that wasn’t raised in a pond or on a farm that has no additives and you went out and got it in the wild yourself.” Bingo! That’s also a part of why I hunt elk.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Lefty » 06 24, 2018 •  [Post 9]

Im too fat, old and out of shape to trap.

I like being in the woods, alone or with others. Just me against me, or the elements.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Wapiti » 06 26, 2018 •  [Post 10]

I just want be out there amongst the critters. To feel the warming morning sun on my face as a bull elks echoing bugle rings through the forest. The silence of it all when your standing tall beside the aspen tree's and not a breath of wind is near.

The kill............for me it's not about the kill or even drawing my bow on an animal. I no longer long for admiration from a downed animal.

I'm happy lying on an open ridge late in the morning boots off and with drowsy eyes fading off to sleep. When I wake it's following a well worn game trail to see where it takes me.

Starting a fire in the evening with a flint and kindling I've collected up. Watching the stars in the cloudless sky wondering what else is out there.........

And sometimes doing this with my wife or a good hunting buddy just to show them what it's all about.

The KILL they say....................NO it's not about the KILL. It's anything BUT the kill I say !!

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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Fridaythe13th » 06 27, 2018 •  [Post 11]

pointysticks wrote:it's fun.




X2
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby elkhuntfever » 07 31, 2018 •  [Post 12]

The love of hunting and the outdoors literally saved my life. I started shooting bow at 10 years and it blossomed to bow hunting a few years later. I grew to love being in the woods and the taking of game would be almost an anticlimax. When the show "Survivor" came on I decided to apply, not for the money or competition, but rather to be dropped of in the wilderness and have to fend for myself for food and shelter. Part of the process was a complete physical testing so I decided to get a check up at the Drs. ( I had noticed my urine would be dark one day about every 6 months). When I mentioned this to Doc, he sent me to a urologist. A tumor in the bladder was found and removed. Dr told me his usual words would be you have 6 months to live but we had caught it early enough. Had it not been for my love of the outdoors I would never had it checked out. ( I was a pack a week smoker for 25 years.)

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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Tigger » 07 31, 2018 •  [Post 13]

Great story! Did you make it on Survivor?
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby Swede » 07 31, 2018 •  [Post 14]

Great story elkhunt. I know of only a few pack a week smokers. They usually graduate to a pack a day or more in a short period of time. I am pleased you quit. You will probably have a lot more elk hunts to enjoy.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby elkhuntfever » 08 01, 2018 •  [Post 15]

The closest I came to making the Survivor show is that Rupert works with kids here in town.
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Re: Why Do You Hunt?

Postby sasquatch » 08 01, 2018 •  [Post 16]

I have to!! Lol


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