Anyone get overwhelmed with hunting? I am 31yo and held a license since age 13yo. It wasn’t until I was 17/18yo that I really got into it and within the last 5yrs after having a very accomplished hunter take me under his wing I ended up with more guns, more stands, more gear, more time in the woods and kind of feel like I have to kill something. Usually through bow season I pass a lot of stuff cause my confidence is crap after losing a few deer or I am waiting for bigger that never shows. I also feel like because my buddies shoot 130-180” deer I can’t walk away with a 100” buck. I hate that mindset but it’s starting to grow on me. I hunt a lot with a buddy on his lease and every 2-3yrs someone kills a giant cause everyone is selective. I try to be because I have a 120” and 145” buck on the wall and try and help them manage the herd with no small bucks being shot but he tells me if I would be happy with it shoot it. I hate to say it but it’s gotta be 120”+ for me to be happy now. It’s almost like I have to compete with them and myself cause of what I’ve previously killed. I never used to be this way. I have always been a one and done guy, but my buddies will tag out (3 deer) on the lease or other properties and it makes me feel like I need to also. 5yrs ago I would have shot one and been done but now it’s keep going. It’s like all I do now is hunt.
Hunting/overwhelmed.
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troy fairweather
Member
I eat deer so more the better. Shoot what you want/need.
We are deer eaters. I shoot more does than bucks by about 2 or 3 to one. I don't remember the last time the wife dropped the hammer on a buck. Must be 5 or 6 years ago. If someone gets a big one great, if not, oh well. If you can shoot what is acceptable to you do so. I can't see the reason to make it a competition.
Me too. I’m very happy with the doe I got yesterday but then one of them turns around a shoots a 150lbs field dressed doe and I second guess shooting her. I passed at least 8 deer this season cause I didn’t like the shot or too small when several years ago they would have met their maker. I love deer meat and do it mainly for food but like today. I spent $100 trying to get both deer rifle loads done, $25 on a tag, $19 for a license and $110 to process the doe. Last nights doe cost me $135 at minimum. I decided to buck hunt tonight and that tag cost me $32. I wanted to end my vacation resting but my buddy is nice enough to let me hunt the lease with them and his truck is in the shop, so he wouldn’t have hunted if not for me going.
Armored farmer
Member
We hunt for fun.
It's not a contest.
You wont kill a big buck if you fill your tags with small ones.
You may not kill a deer at all if you're too choosey.
Personally, I dont pass on very many easy shots on bucks, if it is offered to me, I generally take it. If I want to hunt for horns, I can be choosey when there is venison in the freezer.
It's not a contest.
You wont kill a big buck if you fill your tags with small ones.
You may not kill a deer at all if you're too choosey.
Personally, I dont pass on very many easy shots on bucks, if it is offered to me, I generally take it. If I want to hunt for horns, I can be choosey when there is venison in the freezer.
ridgerunner1965
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learn to process yur own deer. its not very hard and the equipment is cheap.
stick with a dedicated rifle load now in the years to come. once you get everything lined out. and process yourself. I nice batch of deer meat costs almost nothing.
oh and your buddys prob lie a lot also.!
stick with a dedicated rifle load now in the years to come. once you get everything lined out. and process yourself. I nice batch of deer meat costs almost nothing.
oh and your buddys prob lie a lot also.!
shooter1niner
Member
I've hunted deer for 51 yrs. I just like being out in the fall/winter woods. I let many bucks go and will not pay for a doe permit. I have a self imposed Quality Deer Management program: under 8 pts. and it walks on by. Have seen more bucks the last few years... Kids are gone so no need for 3 or 4 deer in the freezer. Stop worrying about what other people may think. As Stevel said " Hunt for yourself " Process the deer yourself, I do it might just give you better insight... It ain't about the kill, or is it???
I’m with them when they shoot big deer and they have heads on the wall to prove prior kills. I shot my 145” and he shot a 130” 9pt the same night. The farms managed for deer and also has 600 acres of county property behind it that’s not allowed to be trespassed on.
Never was about the kill but now it’s like I have to get something. I didn’t hunt at all last year and was okay with it. Year before I shot 2 doe and a buck and year before a doe and buck. Anything more than a deer and half gets donated so a family in need. It’s turning into hours and hours in the woods and cost of gear= something needs put in the freezer. I didn’t kill my first deer until 2013.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
I hunt for meat, for myself, and for the family. I don't worry too much about who gets what. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter as long as you have what you need.
This season has been really successful for me. The best in several years.
Several years ago I only shot a small doe, but it was meat in the freezer. Last year I didn't even get a clean shot. I saw lots of deer just none I could take cleanly.
I got picked on when I shot the small one. My daughter and SIL said that their dog was bigger. Maybe it was but we all ate venison and didn't break molar either.
It's far more important to help manage the wildlife population.
This season has been really successful for me. The best in several years.
Several years ago I only shot a small doe, but it was meat in the freezer. Last year I didn't even get a clean shot. I saw lots of deer just none I could take cleanly.
I got picked on when I shot the small one. My daughter and SIL said that their dog was bigger. Maybe it was but we all ate venison and didn't break molar either.
It's far more important to help manage the wildlife population.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
After Saturday's hunt I felt tired drained, that's the first time I've ever felt that way. It's one reason I didn't go out today. The other is that my SIL wanted to go out and didn't have a tag left so I signed my doe tag over to him.
You are confused. You are letting others define "success" and "happiness" for you. Your idea of those definitions may vary wildly from others. In a sense you are "keeping up with the Jones'". You see what others have, and because you want their approval, you strive to get the same or better.
Figure out WHY you hunt, and then hunt in a way that brings you closest to that. Period.
I have never been overwhelmed in the manner in which you speak. That's because I know who I am, and why I go to the woods and water. The day I can't be happy unless I shoot a buck as big as someone else did is the day they need to take my license, because I will have clearly lost my way.
Also, if you're losing that many deer during bow season then you need to practice a lot more. There's not reason for it. I don't want to derail your thread, but if you need advice on getting better with the bow DM me.
Figure out WHY you hunt, and then hunt in a way that brings you closest to that. Period.
I have never been overwhelmed in the manner in which you speak. That's because I know who I am, and why I go to the woods and water. The day I can't be happy unless I shoot a buck as big as someone else did is the day they need to take my license, because I will have clearly lost my way.
Also, if you're losing that many deer during bow season then you need to practice a lot more. There's not reason for it. I don't want to derail your thread, but if you need advice on getting better with the bow DM me.
Random 8
Member
I see a lot of people these days confusing "challenging" with "selective" hunting. Sounds like you have access to some hunting land I could only dream of. You can see multiple deer in a single sitting, multiple bucks even, and select a real trophy by most peoples standards and still be well below your biggest ever or what the property is capable of producing. Perhaps you need a more "challenging" hunt. Either the physical challenge of high country western hunting, some new and weird game that you've never pursued before, or a Northwoods hunt. Sounds to me like the hunt has gone stale for you, having degenerated into a measuring contest, and you need something to wipe the slate and start over on something new with no preconceived expectations. Something where any success will be an accomplishment.
If the others aren't in your budget, give a Northern WI, MI or UP MI deer hunt a try in rifle season on public land. Tagging ANY deer will be an accomplishment your first year, and you'll see a whole new side of hunting. Gear is minimalist, you don't even need a portable stand, although a light, inexpensive blind will be helpful. The license for either state is affordable as is lodging during hunting season. You can camp with a small trailer on state and national forest land in both states.
If the others aren't in your budget, give a Northern WI, MI or UP MI deer hunt a try in rifle season on public land. Tagging ANY deer will be an accomplishment your first year, and you'll see a whole new side of hunting. Gear is minimalist, you don't even need a portable stand, although a light, inexpensive blind will be helpful. The license for either state is affordable as is lodging during hunting season. You can camp with a small trailer on state and national forest land in both states.
earlthegoat2
Member
Here is one of many reasons I hunt. If you look really closely, you won’t see any antlers in this picture.
troy fairweather
Member
you got me hungry lol.
Arkansas Paul
Member
Not to sound like a jerk, but if I felt this way, I'd stay home and watch college football.
We have hobbies because we enjoy that particular thing, not because we demand perfection.
I love playing golf, but I'm not particularly good at it. If I had the idea that I had to shoot par to be happy, I'd stop playing golf, because I've never even gotten close.
I really think this sentence says a lot.
We all know that most people in the U.S. hunt because they love it, not because they need to. It doesn't sound like you love it.
You took a year off and it didn't bother you. Why do you go?
Is it the nights around the camp fire with the guys? That's a great reason.
Is it enjoying nature? That's another great reason.
I took 2 years off from hunting to focus on my studies, and my wife could barely stand to be around me during deer season. I was in a funk and irritable as hell. For the good it did me, I should have just went hunting. Because I love it.
I've killed a few decent bucks. I've killed a few small scraggly ones. I've killed a bunch of does.
I've gotten the shakes and my heart raced every single time.....because I love it.
If you don't, that's okay. Everyone is different.
If I were in your shoes, I'd take a close look at why I go in the first place.
Perhaps you would be happier if you just went to the range. Perhaps not. That's something only you can answer.
But me thinks you will never be happy in any aspect of your life, if competing with everyone else is the center of your motivation.
This is simply my view and opinion, so take it for what it's worth....
Never second guess taking the shot unless it was a bad shot, in which case learn from it and move on. It's disrespectful to yourself and the animal who's life you took.
If you want the biggest don't shoot till your sure, even if it takes years to be sure.
I know a few of those guys, I'm not one of them.
I've never taken a trophy class animal, besides one Billy goat, I've got nothing on my wall, and no bragging rights, and I'm fine with that.
End of the day YOUR hunting for YOU, not someone else. If bragging rights matter to YOU (and we can all say they shouldn't, but honestly it isn't about us, and you HAVE to be honest with yourself) than you gotta work harder and/or be luckier than the other guys plain and simple..
I know a few of each type, tho they hunt for different reasons.
Now cost goes back to that same question, WHY are YOU hunting? If it's to get cheap meat you need to cut cost, and the easiest way is to process your own kills.
If it's for trophy's than don't take a shot at a non trophy, and save some cash there.
If it's just to be out there, then we'll we wouldn't be worried about cost lol
I've shot a few of those, such is life. I'd rather have a small deer than a big dog for dinner any day.
OP might want to rethink who he is hunting with. If he does not want to be trophy hunter then he should not have to be. As long as it's legal not much is said about size in my family. Not many of the family hunt anymore. Have passed away or grown to old. Still it has been many years since those of that hunt hasn't filled at least one tag. We hunt for the venison. Dad and uncles grew up doing it literally to eat during the depression. As he said "Will hunt for food" is a lot more humorous on a t shirt than in real life.
Have friend that was a high roller until the economy flopped. We met about that time and he started deer hunting with my family. Never did much before and had never shot a deer.We quickly turned him into a sucessful and proficient hunter. He enjoyed hunting and the meat was very useeful to his family. Now his fortunes have reversed again and he has lots of disposable income. This year he has been on two guided hunts for trophy deer and has more booked for next year. Needless to say he has no time now to run up to my dad's to get a couple of does for the freezer. Unfortunately our hunting friendship may be over. I simply cannot afford to hunt as he does. Also I have no desire to. We enjoy the hunt, process our own deer, and use it all. To us that is what the whole deal is about.
Have friend that was a high roller until the economy flopped. We met about that time and he started deer hunting with my family. Never did much before and had never shot a deer.We quickly turned him into a sucessful and proficient hunter. He enjoyed hunting and the meat was very useeful to his family. Now his fortunes have reversed again and he has lots of disposable income. This year he has been on two guided hunts for trophy deer and has more booked for next year. Needless to say he has no time now to run up to my dad's to get a couple of does for the freezer. Unfortunately our hunting friendship may be over. I simply cannot afford to hunt as he does. Also I have no desire to. We enjoy the hunt, process our own deer, and use it all. To us that is what the whole deal is about.
Early in my career I’d say I was 17yo I lost my first with a gun after it went onto private and not allowed to track and then about 5yrs ago I shot a small 8pt with a crossbow as he was quartering away, he dropped in the field and when we walked up to him he decides to run to the neighbors. I went back the next morning alone and looked for 2hrs and couldn’t find him. They found him a week later just over the creek. Had I crossed the creek I would have found him. That was the second deer I ever hit. Next was a doe who ducked the crossbow string and shot through back straps and that was 4yrs ago. Since then I’ve killed 6 and found them all.
stillquietvoice
Contributing Member
Great reasons to hunt, to give away to help others is a selfless act to be proud of. Therefore getting something to share with others is a higher reward than all of the trophies in the world.
How much do you spend pet year on gear. I don't really count the costs. I buy as much as I can at yard sales, my camo was all purchased used. I don't use stands or cab trees. If your gear has produced several deer then it's cost evens out and soon you'll be ahead, like with reloading ammo.
I didn’t shake when I shot that doe the other night. I love being out there and like watching them and other animals. I took time off hunting cause I went back to school and between work and school during the evening I only had Sundays off.
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