Is it still fun?

[missed mallards]

I had a very well written rant addressing different aspects of the hunt. All in all, ain't seen chit in a month, literally. i've hunted 5 different counites, helped drag deer out of 5 different counties, stood for hours, walked miles, nothing.

I just had to ask.

Is deer hunting still fun for ya'll or is it something you do to balance the boardem of other aspects of life?

[Tedl10]

"in the woods we return to faith and reason"
I seem to find joy in the fact that I am able to hunt at all. When I was younger, my grandparents were part of a small lease in south ms. I hunted with them for three seasons before seeing my first deer an only deer while hunting on that lease. I questioned why I liked it so much after never seeing any deer too. I just felt lucky to go.

[ShotgunSP]

Just remember that the hardship and frustration you endure make it that much more fulfilling when you kill one.

[Drake88]

I have that luck but there is always the thought of what could happen, and i can assure you as I do myself, if i aint there ill never know

[One Shot Payne]

Times like these might make a man spill a bag or two of them yeller acorns around the stand...

[cwink]

It no "fun" when you don't see anything, but it sure makes you giddy when they finally show up. I hadn't seen a deer since the middle of Oct and was in the stand with my 5 YO Saturday afternoon and was sure nothing was going to come out with all the noise we were making and all of a sudden there they were. Then Daddy flubs the shot..


When things like this happen to me, I switch tactics.. Go duck hunting and take some of the frustration out on the ducks. Go back and it is usally all better.

[TODO]

Hell yes its fun. If it was not i would stay at the house! Good luck to you

[jdbuckshot]

I had a very well written rant addressing different aspects of the hunt. All in all, ain't seen chit in a month, literally. i've hunted 5 different counites, helped drag deer out of 5 different counties, stood for hours, walked miles, nothing.

I just had to ask.

Is deer hunting still fun for ya'll or is it something you do to balance the boardem of other aspects of life?

i bow hunt three piecies of property spread across ONE county, However, i put in food plots and scout once every two weeks or so and i just don't see how you can go anywhere in the state and not see deer, with in 2-3 hunts i can usually have deer in bow range, and these properties are small in size.

The deer are there, there are more deer now than ever. you can hang a stand on the side of I 20 and kill a doe.

Keep at it, you will kill one.


oh and yes. i still have fun. that is kind of an understatement.

[ScottBrown]

Sounds like you have had a great season so far. Had the opportunity to hunt in five different areas of the state, had friends kill deer, and you have been able to be part of it all. Sounds like some great memories. Good luck.

[LawDawg]

I saw 13 yesterday morning and 11 this morning. I am having fun.

[chevy01234]

Tom, let me know if you want to run over to my place and shoot a deer one afternoon! Be glad to take you out there!

[pondman]

I watched a fawn and bobcat run wide open past me yesterday. 1 minute later a bobcat comes through with a mature doe blowing and stomping everytime the bobcat stopped. I watched a 3.5 year old buck pee on himself and make a scrape at 15 steps. I had 3 more does walk by at 20 steps and then had a small 6 point come by grunting every other step.

The hunt before that I saw a possum. The trip I saw all of the above. You never know when nature is going to give you a show.

Yes, I am still enjoying it.

Pond

[cwink]

I had a very well written rant addressing different aspects of the hunt. All in all, ain't seen chit in a month, literally. i've hunted 5 different counites, helped drag deer out of 5 different counties, stood for hours, walked miles, nothing.

I just had to ask.

Is deer hunting still fun for ya'll or is it something you do to balance the boardem of other aspects of life?

i bow hunt three piecies of property spread across ONE county, However, i put in food plots and scout once every two weeks or so and i just don't see how you can go anywhere in the state and not see deer, with in 2-3 hunts i can usually have deer in bow range, and these properties are small in size.

The deer are there, there are more deer now than ever. you can hang a stand on the side of I 20 and kill a doe.

Keep at it, you will kill one.


oh and yes. i still have fun. that is kind of an understatement.

It depends on the areas you hunt. When I moved from Tx and hunted Clarke county, I saw 2-3 deer just about every time I went out. I noticed that the more timber they cut the fewer deer I would see. In North Simpson county it is hard to find them for sure.. If your hunting Timber company land I think it is hard to hunt them there, because you either got a lot of cutover or lots of thick standing pines. Buck to doe ratio is also a factor.. If you have lots of does and lots of cutover/stnding pines, the bucks don't have to come out hardly ever to go looking for does. If you get your does ratio in check you might not see many deer, but come the rut, you have a better chance at seeing a buck.

[MSDawg870]

Still fun for sure. I'm lucky to live close to some public scopes of woods that I can hit after work. The other day all I did was watch a woodcock but thought I'd rather do that than go home and turn on the idiot box.

I always try to learn something everytime I go hunting whether its about the place I'm hunting, what I'm hunting, or my tactics working/not working.

[missed mallards]

Thanks for the comments/replies.

I can't scratch this season as a wash, and as mentioned, I've made some great memories. Mine and my buddies double (bow-doe), my brother first bow kill, my stepdads buck, even helping around the skinning rack has been fun. Then again, I've hunted twice as much as anyone, and the pay off just got to me. I know hunting aint' suppose to be a 'selfish' sport, but after so long you have to receive some type of reward (a kill in some instances, seeing in mine). I've seen more bobcats this year than most see in a lifetime thou.

I've got to find the fun in enjoying the woods again. The fun seemed to leave this year shortly after I struck, and hasn't returned. As much as I love watching the sunset over a food plot or settle over a creek bottom, the effort to get there, to seperate a few hours from the job, and to try to enjoy myself, seems to have deminshed. I never thought I'd ask myself why I was in a tree, but Saturday at 4:30, I had all but called it quits.

Anyway, thanks again for the comments and replies. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel (work load), and hopefully when the stress slacks some, I can start enjoying the things that i've spent a lifetime doing.