Why do you hunt?
- Thread starter lukew
- Start date
Colorado Cowboy
Super Moderator
When I first started hunting (at the age of 8), my Dad and Grandfather was the reason. They started me and taught me and it was an adventure for sure. Everything we brought home was table fare. As I grew older, it was to show I was growing up and getting to be a man.
When I got married and started a family, it was both enjoying the out of doors, companionship with buddies and and providing some food for my family. As I grew older it was more just getting away from work and enjoying friends and getting outdoors. For me it has never been bringing home a trophy. It has always been the satisfaction of filling my tag and providing something to be enjoyed for dinner. Getting into areas like the mountains, wilderness and desert are also more meaningful that killing a trophy animal. I always have felt hunting (and fishing) was an adventure !
When I got married and started a family, it was both enjoying the out of doors, companionship with buddies and and providing some food for my family. As I grew older it was more just getting away from work and enjoying friends and getting outdoors. For me it has never been bringing home a trophy. It has always been the satisfaction of filling my tag and providing something to be enjoyed for dinner. Getting into areas like the mountains, wilderness and desert are also more meaningful that killing a trophy animal. I always have felt hunting (and fishing) was an adventure !
- Jul 1, 2019
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Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for sharing!
JimP
Administrator
When I first started hunting it was for food and food only. I remember what my dad said one evening after I came home from rabbit hunting when I was using his old 22. He said that he wasn't seeing much of a return for the 22 shell that I was shooting. It took me a bit but I then realized what he meant, he wanted some rabbits to eat.
Since then I have gone from the I need meat so I hunt and fish to the point that I just like getting out into the wilds and enjoying where I am at. I love sitting on a hill down in Arizona and listening to the desert wake up, the same can be said for sitting on a hill watching a meadow hoping that the elk will soon come into or through it. I once told a good friend that I have killed enough animals in my lifetime that it wouldn't bother me if I never shot another one the rest of my life, and I meant it.
Anymore it isn't about stocking the freezer with meat but the shear enjoyment of being out in the wilds. About the only time that I'll shoot a animal anymore is if my freezer is showing the bottom. I'll still go out for a rabbit hunt but instead of bringing home a limit of cottontails I'll just bring home a couple for dinner. I'll even carry a pocket of rocks around when I am just driving around in the hills during the deer and elk seasons so that I can scare those little bucks away from the roads. I don't know if it does any good but I still try.
On one fall day when a friend and I were headed up into the hills to see if we could find some grouse he asked me just where we were going to go. I just answered him that we were going on a adventure. I had never been into that area before and neither had he. We hiked to the base of some ledges and circled around at the base of them to a lake that we had only seen from the top of the ledges. We then took the popular hiking trail back towards the main road until I thought that if we continued on that route that we would be five miles below my truck so we headed back across the hills towards where I had parked only to come our right where the truck was parked.
To this day when we head out on a hunting trip he'll ask me if we are going to have a adventure, and I just smile and say yes...
Since then I have gone from the I need meat so I hunt and fish to the point that I just like getting out into the wilds and enjoying where I am at. I love sitting on a hill down in Arizona and listening to the desert wake up, the same can be said for sitting on a hill watching a meadow hoping that the elk will soon come into or through it. I once told a good friend that I have killed enough animals in my lifetime that it wouldn't bother me if I never shot another one the rest of my life, and I meant it.
Anymore it isn't about stocking the freezer with meat but the shear enjoyment of being out in the wilds. About the only time that I'll shoot a animal anymore is if my freezer is showing the bottom. I'll still go out for a rabbit hunt but instead of bringing home a limit of cottontails I'll just bring home a couple for dinner. I'll even carry a pocket of rocks around when I am just driving around in the hills during the deer and elk seasons so that I can scare those little bucks away from the roads. I don't know if it does any good but I still try.
On one fall day when a friend and I were headed up into the hills to see if we could find some grouse he asked me just where we were going to go. I just answered him that we were going on a adventure. I had never been into that area before and neither had he. We hiked to the base of some ledges and circled around at the base of them to a lake that we had only seen from the top of the ledges. We then took the popular hiking trail back towards the main road until I thought that if we continued on that route that we would be five miles below my truck so we headed back across the hills towards where I had parked only to come our right where the truck was parked.
To this day when we head out on a hunting trip he'll ask me if we are going to have a adventure, and I just smile and say yes...
Winchester
Veteran member
mallardsx2
Veteran member
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I grew up hunting and fishing from a very young age.
I primarily hunt for sport but I also enjoy the provider aspect of it. We eat a lot of wild game in my household. I wont go on a lying tirade about it saving us money because it probably costs us 5X more.. However I always feel there is a rewarding feeling in eating an animal you killed.
These days I hunt more to just get my mind off of work and unwind. I am a high strung guy by nature and hunting is my time to unwind and disconnect from all of the distractions of life and it truly means the world to me. I can sit for hours in the woods and never move 5 inches. Without it I'm not sure what I would do with my spare time.
I primarily hunt for sport but I also enjoy the provider aspect of it. We eat a lot of wild game in my household. I wont go on a lying tirade about it saving us money because it probably costs us 5X more.. However I always feel there is a rewarding feeling in eating an animal you killed.
These days I hunt more to just get my mind off of work and unwind. I am a high strung guy by nature and hunting is my time to unwind and disconnect from all of the distractions of life and it truly means the world to me. I can sit for hours in the woods and never move 5 inches. Without it I'm not sure what I would do with my spare time.
sleepingbear
Active Member
OK, Rabbit ,Dove, Quail, Chukar, Huns, Sage Grouse, Ruff Grouse, Blue Grouse, Pheasant, Ducks, Geese, Swans, Deer, Antelope, Elk, Moose, Sheep some day !
It means about as much as oxygen to my existence, now that iam teaching my 13yr old to do it, even more so !!!
It means about as much as oxygen to my existence, now that iam teaching my 13yr old to do it, even more so !!!
Hilltop
Veteran member
It's simply in my blood - I am a very happy man with a tag in my pocket pursuing whatever happens to be in season that will provide food on the table.
- Jul 1, 2019
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That's a simple question, but it's sure a complicated answer, and it's changed several times over the years. I doubt I could explain it in something less than a complete manuscript!
I can.
I hunt because the bible says ,"seek and yee shall find."
I hunt because it is a sport that you need not rely on anyone but yourself.
I hunt because it tries my wits, endurance and senses.
I hunt (and this is not going to be PC ) because it gives me near orgasmic bliss when that tag finally gets filled
I hunt because I do NOT identify as woman.
I hunt because the bible says ,"seek and yee shall find."
I hunt because it is a sport that you need not rely on anyone but yourself.
I hunt because it tries my wits, endurance and senses.
I hunt (and this is not going to be PC ) because it gives me near orgasmic bliss when that tag finally gets filled
I hunt because I do NOT identify as woman.
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memtb
Active Member
Love to spend time out in nature, love seeing the seasonal changes during hunting season, love to see animals of all species in the wild.....and we love filling the freezer with game. And, I guess as a dedicated handloader/shooter, it brings a certain satisfaction taking game with my handloads. The height of satisfaction being, the taking of big game with my cast bullets using my handgun! memtb
dan maule
Veteran member
I honestly don't know how to answer this question. I have been involved with hunting since very early childhood, my dad had 15 kids to feed so it starting off as a way to put food on the table. Now I don't really think about why, hunting consumes so much of my brain that I feel like it is something that I am meant to do. Hunting, trapping and just being outdoors is one of the only places I feel at peace and don't feel like I have to produce something. It's kind of sad if I think hard about it but I don't know what I would do if I couldn't hunt.
- Jul 1, 2019
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I haven't taken up hand loading yet. Looking to learn one day! Thanks for sharing!
Shane13
Active Member
I hunt because I'm a hunter. Similarly, I breathe air because I require oxygen. That's just the way God made me.
memtb
Active Member
I started when I was 15 or 16 out of necessity! It’s really not difficult.....I’m living testimony that you you don’t have to be a “rocket scientist “ to handload!
I had no one to help me, just a burning desire to shoot, and I couldn’t afford to buy a box.308 Win. very often! Money didn’t come easy for a kid in those days. I started casting my own bullets, for much of the same reasons.....to be able to shoot more. There are many more sources of information today than in the 60’s, making it pretty easy for the beginner. The huge problem today is buying components.....and the left wants to make it harder yet! Buy a book or two about hand loading and learn it’s origins, terminology, and methods. If nothing else, what you learn may help you better understand and decide what factory ammo best suits your needs. A couple of good books would be, the Lyman Loading Manual, or the A,B,C’s of Reloading. Learning a bit about it, may help you determine if you want to start! Good Luck if you give it a shot (pun intended)! memtb
Because I can.
I came to hunting late in life. It wasn't a family tradition, and there was no mentor uncle or father. But I believe I've grown to love it as much as folks I talk to who've been doing it all their lives. There are tons of obvious reasons: meat, trophy pride, exercise, whatever. But I think a lot of us have something deeper that drives us that's harder to put into words. Whatever that is, that's why.
Whatever drove some guys to make this the last place I was out scouting. That's why.
I came to hunting late in life. It wasn't a family tradition, and there was no mentor uncle or father. But I believe I've grown to love it as much as folks I talk to who've been doing it all their lives. There are tons of obvious reasons: meat, trophy pride, exercise, whatever. But I think a lot of us have something deeper that drives us that's harder to put into words. Whatever that is, that's why.
Whatever drove some guys to make this the last place I was out scouting. That's why.
Muley bound
Active Member
BKC
Very Active Member
I had to think about this overnight. I don't have anything spiritual to offer. It is not about putting food on the table, I have done the math and shopping at grocery store is much cheaper, even at twice the price. I think you have to have one hobby in your life that you have a passion for. It can be anything from stamp collecting to golf ( I don't do either). I spend a lot of time thinking, planning, looking, scouting, listening, reading, talking, driving and hunting. That is my hobby, I am passionate about it. I can't imagine not having hunting in my life. I enjoy it
What I do not enjoy about hunting is the 30 seconds following the death of my prey. I have mixed feelings about my passion resulting in the death of an animal. It is tough to justify.
What I do not enjoy about hunting is the 30 seconds following the death of my prey. I have mixed feelings about my passion resulting in the death of an animal. It is tough to justify.