HELP...loosing intrest!

[jim ratcliff]

im 45 and have hunted since I was 12, I seem to be loosing the fire to be out hunting. my son is 16 and I take him and am excited to do so but if its dads turn to go solo...I just cant get motivated!

 any one else "suffer" from this? is it a "mid life crisis"? am I done...HELP!!!!!

[Bullfrog 1]

Things change and hunt only when you want to. I have been busy this year with my boys sports and have given it a break.  Bill

[German Dog]

Well at times i've had some down times were I didn't get out as much as normal. It can be blamed to alot of things like other hobbies, lack of funds, lack of land to hunt, lack of game seen, and sometimes a person just needs a change of pace.
Try to  see whats really bothering you.

If your bored with the area you hunt start researching a different animal and area to hunt for next fall. This might put you back in the mood as it's fun to learn about new things.

[M60gunner]

Are you having a "mid life crisis "? Maybe, I know my mind started to wander, you know, right career, making right decisions for family, etc. Also a realization we are not 25 years old anymore. I took a break from serious archery for awhile, just shot with my family at round targets.

[mec lineman]

Have a new custom bow built for you!

[MnFn]

It's supposed to be fun. If it isn't fun anymore, I would find something else to do that I really enjoy.

If later in the year I seem to be losing some enthusiasm, then I know it's time to hang it up for the year. So far it always comes back after a break and I'll start practicing again

[newhouse114]

I am self employed so my concern is how much money I am losing while hunting,,,,,,,I lost a lot this year!!

[BlacktailBowhunter]

Typicality, I only get 1 deer tag a year and I'm fired up for it. Actually, more like obsessed. I've also got family and friends that keep the excitement level up.

I'm 47 and I am a Blacktail addict.

[Michael Arnette]

Just take your son out and watch him succeed! It will make some good memories

[johnnyk71]

Originally posted by BlacktailBowhunter:
Typicality, I only get 1 deer tag a year and I'm fired up for it. Actually, more like obsessed. I've also got family and friends that keep the excitement level up.

I'm 47 and I am a Blacktail addict.

just curious. how many blacktail deer do you typically have in shooting range in a season? i can't imagine only having one tag. how many deer do you typically pass up waiting on "the one"? don't know much about blacktail country.

[ron w]

I'm almost 65......been doing this since 1968. Killed my first bear/first trad kill in 2015. Still have yet to take a whitetail. I get bummed now and then, like this year, haven't even seen a deer while hunting.  

[Bowwild]

I've discussed this topic with my adult son and, after my son, my best hunting buddy.

Until about 3 years ago I made about 30, in-state bow hunts per season. I don't count the week-long out-of-state hunts for bear, antelope, etc.  The national average for bowhunters by the way is 23.  I've always felt if I didn't get out 23 times I was "below average".

This year by the 60th day of the season I'd been out only 5 times. I'd be up and at em 90 minutes before light, geared up and ready to walk out the door, and just stop and go to my home office. It takes me less than 15 minutes to walk out the door and be strapped in my stand. I've been like this for the past three years.

I have more reason this year to be excited about hunting than at any other time in my life.

So, I took a week off (last week) before gun season to deer hunt. The first time since I've been bowhunting (since 1970) I've taken a week off to hunt in-state. I thought I'd hunt every day (9 days). I hunted only 5 times last week, but that did double my season total of sits.

This past Saturday I thought I'd hang it up for the year.  I started making plans for next year.  Then I realized, the bow season is only half over here in KY and it will be a long time until next September!  So, I'm putting up some new stands (2) this week and going to get after them again.  

I'm going to make some equipment and quarry changes though for these season and seasons to come.  (This is a trad site so I won't describe the changes, one that involve taking "extra" equipment into the stand to harass squirrels.)

Here are factors I figure are contributing to my reduced desire:

1. My son is too busy to hunt with me as much. He's in the middle of two careers and I'm near the end of my 2nd. (He's 37 and I'm 62 - he's a university professor and a new pastor).

2. My best friend of 40 years, lives 243 miles away in Indiana and fell out of a tree ending his season this year.

3. I've been back to recurves since 2010. It is simply my new reality that I've cut my archery effective range in half.  So, the odds of me experiencing the drama of a bow range opportunity (whether I choose to shoot or not) are reduced.

4. My buck standards are too high.  

I learned in the 80's that not shooting (one deer/season regulation) removes much of the excitement and risk of failure from bowhunting for me. Sort of like "hunting" with a camera.

I'm in 100% control of my motivation. I fix it or I don't.   By the way, I feel somewhat ashamed that I'm going on like this. I have it made and I know it.

[Gordon Jabben]

Might try a little small game hunting/stump shooting especially if you have a dog, for a change of pace.

[TIM B]

Are you really losing interest?  Or have you lost focus?  
What's your goal?  Fun? A big buck to brag on?  Fill the freezer?  Maybe reassess what your doing and why your doing it.

It's really all I can think of from late summer till the rut.  I hunt every day and it still drives me crazy not knowing what's going on at all my other stands and blinds....
I wish you luck in finding your way
Tim

[Covey]

I've felt this way for the last couple years. I have not even strung my bow this year. I think the older you get your priorities change. My son will soon turn 18 and he's more interested in trucks and girls than he is hunting at the moment, but he'll come back around someday. Maybe then, some of the fire will come back.

[Roy from Pa]

I understand where you are coming from. I've killed several in my years, now I like to let them walk. Just feels good...

[BWallace10327]

No one can help you with this but you.  Maybe its a problem...maybe not.  I chose not to hunt primarily with a bow during second buck season this year and try something new for change, something more effective.  A few failures on my park, plus a hang-fire and misfire on bucks that I'll likely never see the likes of again (when I have to go back to public land one day) made me realize I'm a better shot with my recurve within 30 yards than anything else off hand.  I gained a new found appreciation for my (learned) ability to shoot a bow.  My advice to you, Jim Ratcliff, is to get a new hobby, fail miserably at it and see if you don't come back to the bow with a different perspective.

[Arrowcraft]

For me being a wildlife artist also has changed my perception of the deer I hunt. I started many years ago at the age of 8 or so with a little fiberglass bow continued to hunt as a young man with a recurve,
than as I got older switched to wheels & cams,then back to a long bow and now at 66 years of age back to recurves,during that time I have harvested my fair share of deer and I guess i view them differently now that Iam older and hopefully wiser
you see I watch photograph and observe deer daily
and to this end my respect for these animals that we pursue has grown immeasurably.I no longer view this as a sport per say but what it was originally intended for,to provide sustenance for my family.
I still intended to get up pre dawn tomorrow with my new Tall Tine recurve in hand and take to the woods,but now my mind set is to enjoy the whole experience and not beat my self up for not filling a tag because these majestic creatures both does and bucks will be there again another day to enjoy and not merely a set of antlers or a steak on a plate. ENJOY

---------Black Wolf 68"57#@28--------
---------Tall Tines 60"52@45#@28------

[MCNSC]

I have a lessened desire to hunt the last few years although my wife may say different.  I have always liked hunting by myself , but maybe it's getting older, some days I think having someone else to share the hunt with would be nice.  Shot my second deer of the year yesterday, I don't really care to shoot another this year, but will still be out some.

[ChuckC]

We lose interest in things all the time.  Sometimes things just get boring or too tedious to do and other things are done in their place.  Soon, the original urges are replaced by others.

Change something.  SHoot the next thing that walks by ( OK a huntable critter, not the neighbors cat).  Go out and walk around a field with a dog pheasant hunting, use your bow and shoot lots and lots of weed stems, milkweed pods and anything else that looks like it needs to be shot.  Watch the dog do what nature has bred into it.  Nature did that to us as well, but we ade a few hundred other things to do.  While in the woods, make it a point to stop and look ( and smell the roses) at things that catch your eye.   Many of us tend to walk right past the little things and miss some big enjoyment.
CHuckC