WHY DO YOU HUNT

I was just wondering the real reason people hunt. I sat her this morning thinking why i liked to hunt so much . as i look at my reasons it is hard to put a finger on exactly why i hunt. I do like ot show off my trophys. Is this really a good reason i ask my self . I think maybe i like the to be out doors and then think of freezing my fanny off waiting for a deer on a sub zero day :( Thats not that much fun . So i was just wondering if you folks knew why you hunted ?

[Hunter333]

Why do I hunt? there is not ONE answer so here they are:
To be outside
To challenge myself, even though it is usually just to see how long I can sit there
I love wild game
I provide food for my family
Hunting gives me an excuse to reload and shoot a lot
The company of friends
The quietness of the outdoors
I feel like I am doing something, even though I am just sitting there waiting
Fresh, clean air
Oh there are many more but those are the important ones :)

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ONE shot, ONE kill..No excuses, no exceptions EVER!!

[Oct.1]

I enjoy the early autumn season. When the leaves are just turning color, and there is a slight coolness in the air.
I find that during September scouting, I enjoy wandering aimlessly, stopping to look and listen.
I go to an area away from all the city lights and traffic sounds. Some were to just be by myself, and feel what is. How do you feel that, I don't know you just do. This is a time and a place for one to be with what ever. I love to listen to the woods wake up. I even like to stop, lay back and do nothing, and sometimes fall asleep. I take time to be with my creator, with out interruption.
This is my time. No bosses, no honey do's, Just "MY TIME"
The rewards of the hunt are enjoyable to take back to the world of confusion. The rewards become the stories till next season. They soon become visions to plan next season from.
I guess that's why I hunt.
Oct.1

[Worm Dunker]

As bad as I shoot it sure isn't for the meat.Something about having good dogs and watching them work is the joy of hunting for me. The beautiful fall colors in Mi grouse woods are a rush to the senses too.I enjoy bird hunting so much I go to Iowa pheasant hunting during our deer season to prolong my bird season. The kill is not the thrill in hunting.

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[LabGuy]

I hunt because it is in my blood.

It helps me to be young again. It reminds me of days gone by when I went hunting with my Dad, and all of the great times we had.

It reminds me of the fragile balance between nature and man and helps me to understand and respect our ecosystem.

It makes me glad that my children are hunters and fisherman, and that somehow I might have added to their enjoyment of the outdoors.

It reminds me of all of the wonderful dogs that I have had, and makes me look forward to the ones that I will have.

It has given me countless hours of joy and friendship as I exchange stories with my friends.

I hunt because it is in my blood!



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Cliff Cushard
Cushard's Kennel

[Big Buck]

I hunt to have solitude with nature and life
to get away from every day life like the city,phones,pagers,traffic and so on.
and to see how nature lives
like we have all heard the saying to
feel the spirit of the wild

[Huntnut]

I hunt for meat.
It is also the greatest chess game ever created.
Hunt

[Joe Archer]

Didn't someone once say "I hunt, therefor I am" <----<<<

[stelmon]

I hunt to be out-doors with my dad and to have some peace and quiet.

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Stelmon, the only one.
Becareful out there..

[HUNT,FISH,DIE]

I just simply like to shoot anything that moves, and leave it there to rot!! I like poaching whenever possible and dodging boehr and all his friends too!!!....... JUST KIDDING ha ha!! (I have a sick sense of humor) Seriously though, I think the reason hunting is so great is the waiting, the heart beating heavy, the shot, the find, the remorse, then the happiness, sharing the story with someone who cares, and reliving the memory over and over. Also, of course, not working!! So I guess I like everything about hunting.

-HUNT,FISH,DIE

[deerless]

I hunt for many reasons.
- The cool mourning air.
- The fresh smell of autumn.
- The trill of the hunt.
- My appreciation of what is wild.
- My obligation as the head of the food chain
- MEAT
- Relaxation
- Family bonding
- Tradition
- And because I now my late grandfather would be sad if I didn't.

[Ultramag]

Like the rest of you there is not just one reason. I do know that as I sit at work, I can actually drift off to that special tree stand and I don't usually see any deer I've shot. I see the colors of the leaves and the wind in my face and I watch as a chickadee lands on my arrow and looks me over. Or I see the squirrel that, somehow can find the right spot to stick the acorn. I can hear the sounds of that day and even smell the smells. And no matter how bad things are at that particular time and place, just thinking like that makes it all seem better.

[SAK]

That was good Ultramag!

[DILLIGAF]

I love game meat of any kind. I think that it tastes that much better when you harvest your own. In addition, I love the "rush" of the hunt. That second when you realize that the flick of white is a deer ear and not a Nuthactch or Chickadee. Or, when you flush a Pat or see a bunny sneaking in front of your Beagle.

Some times I shoot what I see and sometimes I just watch what I see. In all, I love the hunt because it is what it is. No hype, no build-up - just you, the woods and your quary!

[Airoh]

I hunt because I like to. I feel I owe no explanation to any one. I always feel better for having gone out.

MAN you guys have a lot of good reasons. When i set back and think why i do i get kind a mixed feeling anymore. I can not explain it but I am beginning toi think my reasons for hunting are not what they should be. I am just trying to take a look at me :))) thanks and keep teh good posts comming :)

[Mr. 16 gauge]

I hunt for the same reason I breathe....I just have to!

[arrowlaucher]

Hunting is not a sport.Its a Passion,addiction, a way of self healing

[bountyhunter101]

I hunt because i love the taste of venison !!
I hunt because i love the thrill of trying to outwit the smartest creature created. I hunt so one day i don't have to hunt for my kids. Take a kid hunting and watch the excitement in their eyes when they meet the great beast that we treasure so much.
I hunt because i love to watch the woods wake up after a long cold night, i hunt because i love the smell of the air and the smallest little sounds that you here that you could swear were a deer sneaking up on you. I love to hunt because it let's me cleanse my soul.

HUNT HARD HUNT SAFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[338bar]

Here's my view of opening day of gun deer season, experiences developed from the 26 years I have been able to hunt. This is how the season typically begins and I hope some of it is familiar.

2 days before the opener and I’m climbing the long hill up I-75 from West Branch. The air that fills the truck suddenly has a cleaner and crisper smell. The temperature outside is dropping as the truck climbs the hill and finally levels off. I notice snow on the ground outside the window. I pressed the accelerator to climb the hill but don’t let off now. The speedometer levels at 85 and I continue, risking a ticket. The cabin is less than an hour away and friends and a cold beer await. Slowly I am forgetting about the desk job and bills I am leaving behind.

Opening morning – Up at 4:30, there’s breakfast to eat, sandwiches to make, and thermoses to fill. At 5:45 we load the truck and pull out onto the county highway. I miss the days when it was a dirt road with little traffic. As we make the 20 minute drive to the familiar hunting area, I reflect on opening days past. Friends and neighbors no longer making the drive, the eight point buck in the headlights of the suburban over 20 years ago, the piece of half inch maple I saved with the .30 caliber hole in it that allowed that nice four point to live another day, but my father is still hunting with us. We reach the turn off and I start on the road over the flats, private land and not a lot of cover but it will hold deer later in the day, chased out of the ridges by the hunting pressure. We climb the hill with finger ridges on both sides. I have made this climb so many times I can’t remember most of them, but it always gets my heart racing. Top of the hill, we head for the usually parking place. Most of the hill has been logged off over the years, no place to park and no place to hang a deer, but the voices of hunts past fill my head as I drive by all the places that used to be home for the day. We pull off on the two track we now use for parking, turn the truck around, and park next to the tree that has been our hanging pole for the last 7 years.

It’s a nice morning, 20 degrees with fresh snow. Everybody assembles their gear and heads off in separate directions, except my dad, he doesn’t like wandering around in the dark. I may see him later in the day a mile from the truck and wandering around on the same land he has opened the hunting season with for over the last 50 years. He always says he is “going to stay put this year” but never does. I silently hope his legs are strong enough to get him through another year of hunting. We say our goodbyes and wish each other luck. We really don’t want to see each other again until the midday gathering, hunting is a solitary activity.

6:45 and I am already settled in against a tree sitting on my familiar stool I have carried for the last ten years. Not even shooting light and I am already wondering if I picked the right spot this year. There is a line of scrapes on the ridge I am watching, found from an earlier scouting trip. I wonder if the buck making the scrapes will come my way, if the rut is already winding down, or if the increased human activity in the area in the last day or two has sent him to other parts. I haven’t thought about work since passing West Branch. I look at my watch, shooting time, it’s time to load the rifle. I slip the cartridges carefully into the magazine and slowly let the bolt fall on the last round making as little noise as possible and then double check the safety. Senses dulled by too long behind a desk and air conditioning are finally coming around. Every small noise is heard, the anticipation of a deer materializing out of the ghostly trees, the sweet smell of the cool dawn air....


Well everybody, I can’t imagine missing an opening day and a chance to renew my batteries with a new hunt and new adventures. It’s in my blood and I love the anticipation as well as the hunt. The adventure of scouting the land and finding the deer movements which always seem to change year to year, seeing the first deer moving in the distance, it’s all good. There may be other things in life that are are important, families, etc., but there is nothing else we do in life that can compare. A lot of people who don’t hunt may look at me sideways but I know that they are the ones who are missing out.

[HUNT,FISH,DIE]

WOW!!! This is really deep!

[InTheWind]

What's not to love, about all of the above?
Squig

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"Live the code."-Fred Bear

[kingfisher 11]

For most of the reasons all ready stated.

For me, it makes me feel alive. The one in nature thing. I would say its more than words can explain, its the feeling. I guess you can say I am a addict.

[mikeylikesit]

All of the above, plus knowing there are others out there who have the same passion for (pardon the phrase) "keeping it real".

To enjoy the outdoors is our privilage, to be responsible for it our duty.

mikeylikesit...

[Sarge]

hard answer. I hunt to be hunting. I like the meat, and I would really like to get a trophy, but haven't. Truthfully, I don't think either of those is my reason. I hunt because I get a great deal of enjoyment out of the experience of the whole picture. Deer Camp, woods animals, etc. etc. etc.

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Sarge

Live your conscience. Leave others to theirs.

[Huntress]

I began hunting to experience the excitement that Byron always came home with after a hunt. He would tell me about the encounters he had in the woods time and time again. I needed to see and understand what he was experiencing.

It had been years since I had shot a gun, so I went to the range and practiced. I was unsure if I had the opportunity to kill a deer if I would actually do so. I was not as interested in killing as I was in experiencing the hunt.

What I experienced was life changing. Being in the dark and then watching the woods wake up was incredible. The hunt gave me an opportunity to be alone with myself. It gave me time to reflect on life and be one with nature. It gave me an opportuntiy to experience peace and quiet, and see the beauty all around.

I experienced the hunt and the kill. I am proud to be a part of both. Byron and I will share years of hunting together and with our children.

Best Regards,
Huntress




[This message has been edited by Huntress (edited 01-26-2001).]

[Nimrod]

WOW, good posts eveyone!!!

Hunting is in my blood and comes from my soul!!! When I hunt I become one with God's creation!!! I can get away from it all!!!

Take hunting from me and you break my spirit!!! I love to hunt in the cold!!! I love to hunt in the rain!!! I love to hunt in the heat!!! I love to hunt in the snow!!! I love to hunt near!!! I love to hunt far!!! I love to hunt with family and friends!!! I love to hunt alone, for it is then that I'm truely with God!!!

It gives me great pleasure to put food on the table for one and all!!!

I feel it is good stewardship of God's creation!!!

It gives me a high that can't be found in a can or drug!!!!

I love to hunt with my kids and call in turkeys for my son!!! Nothing compares to the wonderment and excitement I have seen in thier eyes!!!

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God Bless and may your aim be true

[boehr]

Some great posts and many are the reasons that I do hunt.

-Friendship
-Outdoors
-Peace and Quiet
-Tranquilty
-Outwit the animal, man against nature
-Education
-Memories

But most of all, the best hunt, hunting the poacher!

[Huntress]

Thanks for sharing everyone. I have enjoyed reading why you like to hunt. :)

Best Regards,
Huntress




[This message has been edited by Huntress (edited 01-27-2001).]

But Boehr if it wasn't for the poacher you would not have a job :)) LOL

[Recurve]

Being outdoors in the wild is being in the greatest cathedral. For me, I am closet to my Creator when I observe all that He has made. Hunting makes me a part of the natural order. That I can take physical or spiritual nourishment from the bounty of the woods or water is a bonus. Here is a story that appeared today in the Detroit News. It is as good a reason as any why we hunt.

"Competing for a Rabbit Makes a Great Hunt"


By Dave Richey / The Detroit News

The tracks ran as straight as a string as they crossed an open snow-covered field. A fox made the tracks, and nose prints were seen in the powder where the animal sniffed weed clumps for a mouse.
I wasn't fox hunting but happened to cross the path of the hunting animal as I slowly walked the snow in search of a fresh cottontail rabbit track. The day was sunny with temperatures in the high 20s, and if a bunny were out looking for a midday meal, now would be the best time to hunt.
My course took me into a brushy creek bottom where berry bushes and fallen treetops offered ideal cottontail habitat. My hunting area was near a farmer's cutover cornfield, and bunnies had been boosted from this spot in previous years.
I followed the fox tracks for 300 yards because he was heading in the same direction as my rabbit hot spot. The fox and I knew about the location and it would be a test to determine who would be successful.
The trail led out of the open field, through a weedy field, down the hill and into the brushy tangle that local bunnies called home. I found a pile of dove feathers in the weeds, and nearby in the snow were feather marks of a hawk or owl that had found an early breakfast.
The fox had nosed around in the feathers, found nothing of value to fill its stomach, and continued on in search of food. It seemed odd the fox and I would be sharing the same hunting terrain, but I felt he had as much right, and perhaps more, to the rabbit haven as I did.
Fifty yards from the first brushy cover near the creek bottom, the fox turned south while my course took me deeper into the heavy cover. This spot was a maze of brushpiles left from an earlier timbering operation. There have been times over the past 10 years when cottontails seemed to inhabit every brushpile in the area, but the spot seemed to hold fewer rabbits each year because of a tremendous buildup of coyotes.
My hunt took me to the first brushy spot, and I stood silently nearby and scanned the snow for fresh rabbit tracks and saw none. I stepped up to the brush, kicked the top of the tangled branches in the hope that a bunny would run out, but nothing moved except the cap of snow on the branches.
I moved deeper into the brush-covered tangle, and saw the handlike tracks of an opossum. There was little chance of a bunny sharing the same cover with a possum, so my trail took me to the next spot.
I moved slowly from one brushpile to another, checked for rabbit sign in the snow, kicked about here and there and kept moving. I came to the creek edge, cut back away from it, and tried a brier-infested patch of tangled berry bushes. I picked my way slowly through the briers, my shotgun held high to avoid raking skin off my hands, and found my first bunny track at the far edge.
The rabbit track was fresh, and headed back toward the area I had just hunted. Perhaps I had jumped the animal from its bed and it had scurried back toward thicker cover.
Looking far ahead, I saw the tracks leading toward the closest pile of downed tree branches. I was just easing out of the last of the briers when one picky vine wrapped around my arm, and I gently eased the brambles free.
That was when I saw the rabbit 25 yards ahead. It was facing me, its nostrils quivering as it tested the air, and its ears moving slightly as it listened to my movements. I slowly lifted my shotgun, and the bunny wheeled and disappeared behind the brushpile.
There was no time for a shot, but that was fine. A dead rabbit would have ended the contest, so I walked over and picked up its fresh tracks. We now had a test of skills.
I moved slowly along the fresh tracks, stopping often to look ahead, and to study each brushpile for sign that the rabbit had decided to hole up in the thick cover. The cottontail was too crafty, and kept moving from one pile to another, and again I saw him for a split second as he crossed an open area toward another pile of thick cover.
Three brushpiles later brought us closer to the spot where I had first entered the brush near the creek bottom. The rabbit made it to the weed field, turned and headed in the same direction the fox tracks had gone.
I picked up the pace slightly, forcing the bunny to move faster. He flashed across a trail 50 yards ahead, curved slightly uphill, and turned again for his home range. I quietly dogged his tracks, and saw him flit between two brush clumps and disappear.
It was an area where I should have been able to see him cross, and my initial thought was that he had gone to ground under heavy cover. That didn't happen, and he continued to lead me around in a small circle that wasn't 100 yards in diameter.
Rabbits often circle when pursued by hounds, but since I was hunting without barking dogs, this rabbit was unwilling to leave his area. There were no other cottontail tracks in the area. The bunny had either set up housekeeping or been run into the slashing and decided it was a good place to live.
I followed his prints in the snow as he circled again, and the tracks were evenly spaced. The rabbit didn't seem to be concerned that I was tagging along behind him.
The rabbit then made an abrupt shift in direction, the tracks grew farther apart, and now he was moving fast and erratically over the snow. That's odd, I thought, for him suddenly to take off on a wild run.
I rounded the next brushpile and saw the reason. The fox tracks I'd seen earlier had intercepted those of the bunny, and they were widely spaced as the fox tried to catch up. I looked ahead, and 75 yards away I saw the cottontail streak through an opening with the fox close behind.
They darted past another opening, and the fox was much closer and gaining on the rabbit. I hurried my pace for 10 yards, and then came that squalling sound of a dying rabbit. The fox had caught the cottontail, and I ran forward another 15 yards, and 50 yards away stood the fox with the rabbit in its mouth.
We studied each other for only a second, but the bright red fur of the fox stood out in contrast to the bright snow. He turned and trotted away for nearly 100 yards before stopping to look back.
I saluted the fox with my hand. This was a case of the best predator winning, and in the wild, that is the way the predator-prey relationship has always been and always will be. My hunt was a pleasant two hours afield. There were no rabbits to clean, but I had a chance to witness a wildlife interaction that few people ever see.

[Liv4Huntin']

WONDERFUL POSTS, EVERYONE! What beautiful "pictures" are being painted by the great stories.

Like so many others, I hunt for all the reasons above, and because of the 'connectedness' I feel with The Great Spirit and all creation of which I am a part.

I hunt for the fellowship; the adrenalin 'rush' of the stalk and waiting for just the right moment in time to release the arrow or to squeeze the trigger; the solitude; sharing the bounty; the pure enjoyment of just being there..... and, keeping in mind those unfortunate people in places that no longer have the option......I HUNT BECAUSE I CAN.

~ m ~

to all that has answered I SURE have to aggree WHAT WONDERFUL ANSWERS :))
thanks

Just like the outdoors and all that is in it..Enjoy the walk to and from the woods, and love the time with my son as we go along looking at all the nature.

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Benchman

[Coldwater Charters]

This may sound not to politically correct but to feel the power of My bow at full Draw as I'm about to put the sleeper on a unsuspecting deer. I like the feeling of the crosshairs of my 12 ga.on that buck that just happened to make his last mistake. I like the rush I get when something jumps out and surprises me. I like all the leg work and the anticipation of the coming hunt. I like the feeling I get as I jerk out of my blind to put the big KO on a big ole Canadian. I like the feeling I get when I am 1 on 1 with nature and I come out on top. You think that I sound a little gunny probably, but if I didn't scout, prepare and make good decisions to get to the moment of truth, opportunity would not present itself. Sometimes the gun comes down with out a discharge, the bow gets let off with out an arrow being flung. The knowledge that I could have was good enough on that day.

[rrbuckmaster]

Alot of you have some great writting skills! Lots of good reading.
I hunt just to get away from one life and step into another life, sounds kind of dumb and hard to explain. There is just something about being in the woods with your kids, family or friends that is just so different than when your at home watching a hockey game or just sitting around. The peace within you that you feel while your out there watching, waiting and just being you in your most basic form, You and nature and whatever is your quest. Sometimes sitting in my stand(sitting IN my stand?you know what i mean LOL)I can do my best thinking (and napping!)than any place i have been. I hunt for my son so that he can pass my passion down to his kids. To see that "look" in his eyes as he see's a deer in front of him. So many reasons so little time!

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HAPPY AND SAFE HUNTING TO ALL.

[Fred Bear]

I hunt because my dog tells me to.

[grizzly]

The main reason i hunt is for the simple pleasure of being outdoors. Also would prefer to eat venison over any red meat. Love all aspects of being outdoors, surely beats sitting on the couch thinking about it. I guess its kind of like a stress relief thing. Just nice to get out, even nicer when you can bring a friend or someone new to the great opportunitys here in this great state of michigan. I would say we have it pretty good here.

[pegasus]

The reason I go out bow hunting is to get away from work, phones, tv, dealing with people day to day, etc...... It a great thrill to see deer up close, you can sit there and watch and watch and if you are lucky enough you can take a shot.

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"The greatest thrill you can offer a child is to take them hunting"

[stevebrandle]

Why do I hunt?
Because I prefer to look for meat to feed myself and family in a place with a view.
Because I never saw the critter that gave it's life for my sons Happy Meal.
Because "Man does not live by bread alone"
Because a shot of adreneline will stay with me for a lifetime and a Whopper can exit in one hour.
Because an ounce of woodcock is never worth an pound of hotdogs.
Because an hour in the woods will NEVER equal one in Meijer's.
Because hunting gives one peace of mind and that's still better (and lasts longer) than a piece of a**.
Because I do it to survive; physically, mentally, and spiritually.

[This message has been edited by stevebrandle (edited 02-05-2001).]

[Coldwater Charters]

Steve great post. I especially like your piece of mind theory, although it's a close one. I thought this post deserved a little more time at the top for some that missed it or new people to the site. lets hear from all we like corny here. Heck we're all gettin older and the older you get corny starts to become cool anyway.

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http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1519607&a=11487412&p=40532948&Sequence=0&res=high

[broncbuster2]

i like t believe its in my blood, ya see i have a bit of cherokee indian in me and for our forfathers it was a way of life , a way to live. On top of that it makes a great meal if i am sucessful. and i get extreme pleasure just thinking about my son (quix20)
getting his first buck and what his reaction will be. also both of us have to instill the
outdoors experiences to his children. so i guess it is also a responsibility

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http://www.geocities.com/geodanny/gifs/animals/horse/pegasus.gif

[Craig M]

Having the snow, rain, sun, etc. feels soooo much better when your out hunting. It's the ultimate church or classroom!