Losing desire to hunt

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I grew up around my dad and his brothers who all loved to hunt so it was natural for me and my brother to join right in and we loved it. As it happens I was stationed in Montana while in the Air Force, great place for a hunter right? And it was up until I took part in the killing of a large Black bear. While looking at that magnificent animal something happened inside of me that changed my hunting life forever. For me it was the realization that life is sacred to every animal as it is to man. Needless to say I don't hunt anymore, however, I still handload and enjoy my times at the range with my friends. I certainly don't look down on hunters for if that is what they want to do then go for it but it's not for me. If I'm ever fortunate to live again in Montana or some other western state I will still hunt but it will be with a specialized camera and I won't have to be concerned about "open season" as I can "hunt" all year round.
 
I failed to mention that my hunting buddy (my youngest son) has not hunted with me for a while now. Hunting by yourself if not any fun, at least for me and has accounted for a loss of interest. He has his girlfriend and a fulltime job and not much money left. We just joined a hunt club in South Ga. and I am hoping that things will change for the better. I taught both my boy's how to shoot, gun safety, and used to take them hunting and fishing whenever I could with my busy schedule (work). I really miss those days.
 
I am only 38, but have been hunting alongside my family since i was 6. I felt that loss of companionship when my dad died... my mentor and hunting partner... and elder brother not being a outdoors person.
I began losing the drive to hunt and be outdoors scouting. I sat in the spot that i first harvested game one day and contemplated stopping hunting. But decided to change my outlook... i went back to my upbringing of black powder and archery equipment along with single shot shotguns. My interest was rekindled
I started mentoring and teaching Hunter Education and found that the tradition and passed down knowledge from my dad has helped heal my soul along with my new hunting partner that is 20yrs younger than me that has made my life easier(read deer dragger and cheap labor doing task i disdain) i am seeing things through his eyes.
 
I gave up hunting years ago. Nothing got the blood going for me like hearing the hounds at night chasing coons. Same deal with trapping, but as I got older the fire died. I am not against it, and still enjoy talking to folks at the check stations, but for me, it lost the luster.
I also lived to ice fish, and the last 2 years I am finding more and more reasons to not go out but 2 or 3 times a season. Maybe it is just a normal aging process that we all denied would happen to us when we were younger. At 50 years old my pursuits are changing, its not good or bad, it just is!
 
From the time I was old enough to follow him through the woods, sit quietly all day, or blow a duck call, I hunted with my father. His work kept him busy but he always made time to hunt. It was our sacred thing. I was 14 when the cancer was discovered, 16 when he was too sick to drive or hunt, and 18 when he passed. When he wasn't able to hunt, I didn't hunt.

After he passed I took out all of our guns, thoroughly cleaned them, and put them away. Almost 10 years went by before I ever thought to hunt again, and that was with a bow, something my father and I never did. I'll be 27 in June and this year was the first time I went back to the family land we used to deer hunt, just to walk around. This year was the first time I went duck hunting.

Doesn't really answer your question, but I don't know what else to say.
 
My hunting interests have waned as I grow older. I have no physical disabilities that would necessarily limit my hunting, but I simply don't have the strong interest I had years ago to make the effort it requires. It also bothers me when I shoot something that is man-sized essentially and watch it die. I also can't eat red meat due to an allergy that exercises significant control over my life these days.

I rekindled my interest somewhat when I switched from hunting deer with a rifle to exclusively using a revolver. That brought the thrill back and sense of achievement that I lost with a rifle. I have little interest in just killing a deer for food. But I know when I get out in the woods, I want to get a deer. It is like trying to win the game. It is when I sit at home that I don't have that drive as much as years ago.

Other things that have dramatically impacted me is finding a good place to hunt. Leases are troubling to me and I resist. I understand land owners wanting to lease their land for hunting as often the land is sitting idle otherwise and not generating any income. But it takes a lot of the fun out of it and turns it into a money game. But then, what doesn't involve spending money these days?

Fishing has taken a more dominant role in my outdoor activitiy list along with continuing interest in hiking and photography. I am more apt to drive a distance to fish or hike than I am to hunt.
 
When I started moving around the country and could no longer hunt private land I lost interest to the point of throwing it in altogether. So I did. Hunting is too hard these days just to get out there.

I grew up on 60 acres and hunted 20-30 hours a week from September through March. Everything that was legal to hunt. When I have to drive somewhere to hunt now it takes my motivation away. Now I have a long commute to work and a fixer upper house that needs constant attention. I enjoy working on the house though and making things nicer than they once were so I guess it is a trade off of priorities.
 
I used to almost look down on people who would pay to hunt on a high fence place or hire a guide for common stuff, but I understand now. With a guide you essentially pay someone else to scout for you and they pretty much share that benefit with you. The same goes with high fence operations.
 
^^^

Same here. Canned hunts are appealing to me more and more and I am considering one for a future vacation.
 
As someone who suffers from depression, please talk with your doctor. This can be a warning sign.

Regarding the dog, do a quick search for rescue organizations for a breed that you like. Many times there are adult and even mature dogs that are looking for their "forever homes". Many times these dogs are already housebroken and leash trained. You may not get a great hunter, but you surely get a friend..
 
I still love the hunt, but my body quit on me a few years back. At any opportunity, though, I can still hunt from the campfire. Or just sit in the cab of my pickup and watch the countryside on the off chance that something good will show up. :)
 
This is my 2nd response to this post. I'm saddened by some of the stories. Although I don't hunt with the same vigor, I still treasure the camp fire hunting that Art mentioned and I too like to cruise the country, especially miles of prairie in my 4 WD. I recently experienced an uptick in my interest when an old buddy returned to the area as some of my other buds have either died or became too infirm to pursue the sport. This post has inspired me to start a project at my gun club to try to match people up for hunting. We have about 1400 members and I'm sure many are experiencing the same things we have shared on this site. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
Well, I've been pursuing a couple of waterfowl clubs here. The hunting is good on public land south of here, but I'm getting too old to stomp the marsh as I think I posted already on this thread. Anyway, these clubs are 1100 a year and 1500 a year and I figure if I spend that kind of money, tight as I am, I'll FORCE myself to hunt, LOL! And, the duck hunting is from easily accessible blinds, drive up and drop off the deeks and stuff, go park, walk back on a ROAD and put out deeks and hunt. :D The goose hunting is in rice fields for the most part, no tripping over salt grass or waders aren't even necessary unless it's muddy and you don't want your butt wet. :D At 62, I can still handle this sort of hunting. I ain't quite THAT dead, yet. Probably got another good 20 years left...or maybe 15, whatever.

Deer hunting is done 200 yards behind my house from a heated box blind and a nice high backed office chair. I can handle that, too. :D

So, I AIN'T QUITTIN'!
 
I've been hunting upland birds, doves and deer for at least 30 year, I'm 62 now. Opening day has been almost a religious event. We went at it the whole seasons, frequently missing work at the end of the bird season to get in one last hunt.

Something has changed. I only went out 3 or 4 times this year. My dog died last year and I just don't want to start a new pup. I did an all-day pheasant hunt yesterday to end the season and I enjoyed the company of my long-time hunting group but I have to admit I didn't enjoy the hunt. Part of it is there are so few birds, part of it is we've lost all our private land access to outfitters, part of it is losing the dog, but it's more than that. I still really enjoy getting out for deer but I have little interest in actually killing one. Maybe I have enough nice racks on the wall.

Hunting has been such a part of my life for so long that I'm wrestling with how I'm feeling about it these days. It has nothing to do with becoming anti-hunting or such as that -- I'm just losing interest and I have never expected that to happen.

I wonder whether others on the forum have experienced this and how it played out for them?
Losing a dog can be tough, almost as bad as losing a human, not an easy thing. Sounds like you just have other things going on in your life right now. Things that require your attention. Don't look at it as a negative. Could just mean you're learning and growing and putting your focus on new things.
 
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