I think I'm done deer hunting

[headshot5]

I recommend you get out and start dropping coyotes and raccoons.  Not only can you skip on eating them.  You  would doing a solid for gamebirds and game animals.  Even if there is no passion there you can do it and still feel good about yourself.   

[muzbuster]

I think this is a great thread! I have been going through some of the same feelings the last few years. I used to hunt everything, waterfowl,bears, cats (never got one), deer, elk, yotes, upland birds and I spent all my time prepping for the hunts all year long. Now my passion on it has dipped some and mainly focus on just deer & elk although I do at times when I'm out hunting feel that I just don't seem to be putting out the effort TO GET one that I used to. I do however find myself looking more at the things in nature and taking it all in and reflecting back on past hunts & time spent out in the field and the friends & family (both the ones that are still around & the ones  that have passed on) that have had such a great influenced in my life doing and enjoying all those things. The outdoors has such a calming effect on me that I now use the time in the field more to kind of re-energize myself & forget the hustle & noises of  everday life. If I should be lucky enough to hand a tag on something, I look at it as a big bonus for the day.  If I don't hang that tag o'well, I still take home those images of the hunt in my mind, where as in the past it was more about pulling the trigger & bagging whatever I was after. Yes, I used to take home my fair share of animals every year & now Iam not nearly as successful as I used to be but I'm OK with that. I think for me when I the heart doesn't skip a beat and start racing when I jump a buck in the woods or when I hear the bugle of a bull elk echo up the canyon, that is when I will hang it up and move on to something else... I pray that day never comes! 

[mossy8352]

Same issue for me, I started hunting in 1949 for quail and doves along with a few rabbits and snakes. (no deer where I lived). A few years later started hunting desert deer in So Calif. (hot and hard work). I quit for many years in the 70's and went with the target shooting (more for reloading) until I moved up here. Hunted another 15 years and also lost the desire to shoot any animal. But I did help friends with their guns/scopes to be more accurate and they harvested their deer every year. Now I have two friends that I hunt turkeys with and occasionally pheasants with one going on to geese and some serious fishing.
I still enjoy outwitting a buck or elk but just have no desire to shoot them. We bought a few pistols and now I am working with my wife on safety and good shooting habits. So the long story is I love to shoot, I will help anyone be a better shot (meaning a dead not wounded animal) and I have never regretted my feelings. For me it is always a personal choice.

[S&W38spc]

I would like to share something I'm going thru. Which is kinda the same question. I wish I had more people to hunt with. That I can trust. My dad, who I love hunting with isn't in the best shape anymore. He's been in two accidents and he isn't able to hunt like he used to. We hunt good and hard (what he calls hard) and the next day I'm ready to go back out and he isn't. He is too sore. My husband isn't from a hunting family but I've tried to get him into hunting without forcing him. So,  my dad is too sore, which I don't blame him, and my husband is only down on the weekends, and he wont go hunting with me, how can I go hunting if its not safe to go on my own. Am I done hunting? I don't want to because I want to make my dad proud but what else can i do? And my husband (males are more dominant anyway) is very dominant. If he says I'm done hunting, or that I cant go anymore, I have to listen to him.   

[PolarBear]

I'm kinda in the same boat.  I only get to hunt 3-4 days per year for deer and 1-3 for elk.  Just don't have the time.  Now that my daughter is really getting into hunting that might pick up.  I also don't need the meat (raise my own beef) so I have become very selective over the past 15 years.  I don't even give a second look to anything that isn't a big old buck or bull anymore.  Unfortunately, this has rubbed off to my daughter.   She is 12 and even though her friends who are starting out hunting as well are willing to shoot anything that is legal, my kid has zero interest in taking anything small.  She has impose a 2 point or better for blacktail and a 3 point or better whitie restriction on herself even though she knows that it might take longer for her to find a buck that meets her standards.  I think that if my daughter wasn't into hunting that my passion for it would be fading away.  This is something that I NEVER thought would happen.  Hell, before I got married (and a few years after) I spent an average of over 250+ days per year hunting or fishing now you can count on both hands the number of days that I am out in the field.

[Curly]

Maybe just get into elk hunting if deer doesn't get the blood going anymore.

[Derailed]

Great Thread. After my dad died I wondered if I would continue to hunt or not, he was the only hunting partner I had.  I did not hunt for three years after he died. When I did go hunting it wasn't the same.  I still hunt and have found friends to hunt with. I am trying to get my kids to come with me. I have reasons and desire to hunt again.

this state and these bear and black tails have proven to be a challenge. 

do whatever you feel you need to do. no shame in hanging it up. or try the other suggestions posted here.

[Chappyk16]

Some vacation time will pay good for you it sounds like

[csaaphill]

No Offence, but seems like Disney and Vegetarianism is settting in. Don't mean it as an offence and not starting a flame war so please don't be offended. Just asking that because that is how it sounds. None of us can answer this for you though. I will hunt or at least get my tags every year no matter what as long as I live and can afford it. Maybe take up Bow hunting, or move to only trophy hunting that may help. I went 15 years until this year not killing anything and never lost my love. Some say good riddence, but for me and the sport I love hate to see someone say those things. Hope you can figure it out, and find your love again or what ever you had before.

[Evil_EdwardO]

I hunt because I love the taste of Mountain House Sounds like you just need a break. I have had lots of hobbies that I have lost interest in which years later have been rekindled.

[jackmaster]

BENSDAUGHTER, maybe your hubby is just worried about you being out there alone, my wife doesnt hunt, i sure wish she would, if it somethn you love to do i wouldnt let someone tell you that you cant especially if you hunted before you met your hubby, that the deal one makes when we get married, you except them for what they are and what they do, i can understand why he wouldnt want you to hunt with other males, i doubt there is one male on here that would be completly at ease with their wife huntn with another male unless its a friend of the family, what you might try is find another female that like to hunt like you that is in the same boat, and presto a huntn partner for life, do you have a son or daughter by chance? they make great huntn partners, i love huntn with my son cause he is pretty damn strong at 17 and can drag dear ole dads animals out of the woods now

[SemperFidelis97]

BensDaughter I see Chris in your sig if you know him I would spend some time with his family out hunting if you can they are good people, and since his wife is allong you husband shouldn't have any issues.

[Eli346]

 I think I'd pick up a camera if I ever got tired of hunting. I did get away from it for a few years but I missed it alot while I was gone. I feel that if you followed the posts of BoneAddict and others on this site you would see that what they accomplish with a camera is far and above more exciting, difficult, adventurous, and even more rewarding than shooting an animal with a weapon. I love the thrill of the hunt but the kill itself is somewhat anticlimatic (?). I derive more pleasure from seeing friends and family fill a tag than I do myself.

[yorketransport]

Wow! This got a lot more responses than I thought it would! Thank you everyone for the advice, suggestions, and stories.

I've played with the idea of picking up a bow. I've had a few pass through my hands over the last few years. A shoulder injury from a couple years ago has limited how much I can shoot a bow. That and I just can't hit anything. One of the reasons I started hunting with the handguns was to offer some of the same challenges which a bow presents. At least with the revolvers. Some of the specialty pistols I have are capable of shots most people wouldn't try with a rifle.

I've done a bit with photography and had plans to do more. I spent a fair amount of time in the woods out here when we first moved out here about 5 years ago. I have pictures of a few bucks which I watched for a year or two. That's one of the ways I still know what animals are out there. Just haven't had as much time as I'd like to get out lately though.

One of the things I do still enjoy doing is taking the kids out with me. Even though my daughter is a vegetarian, she has a very mature stance on killing for food. When she made the decision to stop eating meat she said that it was alright to hunt because the animals have a chance to get away. That made it fair. She was only 6 years old then. She's 10 now and still loves to come out with me tromping through the woods. But I can see that I'm loosing her to more "girly" activities and her friends. My son is 8 now and he loves coming out with me as well. We have a blast once I get him in the woods. The trick is just getting him up and motivated to come along. He's not a morning person at all. He gets that from his mom. :chuckle:Both of them jump at the chance to spend a little time shooting though. 

No Offence, but seems like Disney and Vegetarianism is settting in. Don't mean it as an offence and not starting a flame war so please don't be offended. Just asking that because that is how it sounds. None of us can answer this for you though.

No offense taken. My wife knew I was a hunter when I met her and she has always been alright with it. She nearly slapped me when I told her that I passed on the deer. I understand and respect her opinion on the matter, and she grants me the same courtesy. Besides, I went to the Evergreen State College. If those liberal hippies couldn't convert me, nobody can.

I know that a good portion of my fading interest is just an issue with how little time I have to get out. I actually took the week of November 12 off. This covers the end of elk and late buck. The down side is that I'm taking that week to spend some one on one time training a new driver who starts for me on November 5. Add to this the 6 day work weeks and 80+ hours every week, and hunting just seems to fall pretty low on the list of priorities.

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what sort of reaction I would get when I threw this post out there. I was hoping to hear from one or two people who've had a similar experience of loosing their passion for the sport. I've very happy with the discussion which has come out of this. Thank you to everyone.

Andrew

[yorketransport]

If you quit hunting can I have all your honey holes? 


Sorry, couldn't resist...it's a gamer thing. 

Sure. I could point you in a couple directions. Nobody gets my secret porcupine honey hole though. I may give up big game hunting, but I could never give up the annual porcupine hunt.

Andrew