HELP...loosing intrest!

[Sam McMichael]

As Ricky Nelson's song said, "You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself." If it is not fun, don't feel obligated to hunt. If the fire again blazes up, you can still get back into it.

I don't hunt near as aggressively as I once did, and I think it is fairly common among older guys. But I still spend a lot of time in the woods, and I carry the bow "just in case". Stumping and 3D are now one of the most central focuses of archery for me. Just do what is fun.

[Shadowhnter]

I think for many of us, its a natural progression to slow down. I dont have near the drive as I did in my younger days. I plainly remember talking hunting with the older guys back then, and I didn't understand why they seemed more calm about it all then I was. They told me then, that when I reached their age, Id understand. Well, the chickens are roosting.

Try making your hunting easier and more simplified . If you are doing tree stands, simplify and ground hunt. Dont feel so pressured to perform, and when you go, take in all the sights,smells, sounds....you'll find yourself just enjoying the atmosphere whether there are deer present or not. Im addicted to nature first, and some days I kill a deer. Let nature soothe your soul. You may not go as often as you once did, all serious and nothing on your mind but taking big bucks....but when you do go, you will be fulfilled with a dose of natures peace.  Killing a deer, simply means a tag gone, and if its the last one, it means your days in the woods are done for the year and is the end of it for a year. Go....just enjoy again without the hustle and bustle.

[Cory Mattson]

Never happened to me. I'm almost 60 hunting today was awesome an absolutely beautiful day. Hunted yesterday when the rain stopped in a soggy mess. Can't wait till my next day off.
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[bluemelonchitlin]

Same here. My desire is slowly going away. My wife and I watch our grandson on Saturday most of the day and church on Sunday then lunch with my family. I work M-F and it's dark when I get home so no time to go out and shoot. Hunting season is still 1 1/2 months away from ending in my area but I don't see me being able to go. I don't even bother to look at my bows anymore. Might as well sell everything.

[Archie]

I lose interest all the time.  So I start playing my guitar.  Or riding my mountain bike.  Or playing the piano.  Or playing hockey.  And no matter what I'm doing in the "hobby" side of life, I'm always spending lots of time with my wife and daughters, and serving in my church.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting to bowhunt all the time.  I've got too many other important things to do... so much so that I tend to feel guilty when sitting in a stand for hours and seeing no deer.

I think of trad archery and bowhunting at 45 years old much like I think of exercising in my basement or on the hockey rink at the same age... Why make it burdensome and onerous?  Why not just keep in mind that I want to do this for the rest of my life, and enjoy the ride, instead of making it miserable by forcing myself to do too much?

I know I'll want to pick it up again before too long anyway so every now and then I just give it a rest "for now".

[Friend]

My inspiration to hunt these days is as elevated as it was 45 years ago. The motivation is quite different. Having immersed myself significantly more completely in the total preparation generates genuine compelling desire to both see and experience the results of the personal investment and challenge.

The actual fulfillment of the hunt is aggrandized well beyond the satisfaction weight as applied to an actual harvest in my earlier years.

Still motivated...this morinng was hunt number 48 for the season while approximately 35/season had me worn down in the earlier years.

[Pine]

Funny thing , this past Sunday I was going to go out .
Thought about it , and I was asking myself . What if I get a deer ?
I don't feel like messing with it .
Took my wife out for a nice dinner instead .

[joe ashton]

Here is my $.02'
For most of us Hunting is a hobby.  We are passionate, obsessed, consumed with arrows, broadheads, New bows, scouting, shot placement, blood trails etc.  But it is a way to spend leisure time. When a person finds another activity that grabs his imagination, well, that is how a healthy mind works.
As a teenager is was crazy about water skiing, then snow skiing, then climbing mountains (I've climbed 63 peaks over 14,000 ft).  The past 22 yrs my obsession has been split between hunting/longbows and running white water rivers in kayaks.

[Kevin Dill]

Do they make a pill for bowhunters who have trouble getting up in the morning?    

[gordydog]

Have fun and make it interesting by changing some things.  Always fun to put up a new stand or hunt a ground setup.   Change bows, hunt with woodies, make new arrows,  bring video camera,  hunt without camo.  The more you put in the more rewarding it is.  Good luck.

[Dan bree]

I've been there to .took up fly fishing then really missed hunting .

[Red Beastmaster]

I was a desk jockey for many years and felt like a caged animal. I almost burst out of that office (prison) every afternoon to get in an evening hunt.

I also hunted with buddies who had property where I could hang stands and expect them to still be there when I returned. There were lots of deer back then and things were pretty exciting.

Fast forward a decade or two. I now work an assembly line evening shift and am tired most of the time. A couple hunting buds have actually passed away, another's has a new 4-lane running past it. Add a decline in deer numbers since PA's "deer elimination program".

Our season just ended. I got out five Saturday's for only a couple hours each. No more tree stands for me, not worth the trouble and risk.

 Honestly I'd rather shoot stumps than seriously persue deer. I'm actually cool with it. I guess that's what getting older does to you. I'm content.  

[MnFn]

As far as losing passion as I get older- not so much. I am 64 and look forward to fall more and more every year.

Circumstances have dictated changes, I can't hunt with my best friend anymore (health reasons). My son is not as available with young family obligations. But as Ron sorta said just getting into the woods in Oct/Nov just makes me feel better.

My health is still good, but maybe just seeing stuff that has happened to some of my friends makes me want to get out there as much as I can, while I still can. Thinking about that may help you. The last day of my last hunt is not here yet, but it is on the horizon.

And again referring to Ron, I don't have to kill something to enjoy it- but that goal is certainly part of it.

If anything, I struggle to keep it in proper perspective. There are more important things in life, but for my personal enjoyment, nothing comes close to bowhunting.

[Dave Lay]

bringing up a old thread, I was going to post something similar but a lot of good advise here. Im 63 and have been passionate about my bowhunting. I didn't hunt with anything but trad bows for 30 plus years. it was a way of life for me and I thought about it every day... I have really lost a lot of drive and have gone 2 years without a bow kill where I was killing 3-4 deer and various critters a year, but I was really putting in the effort and I loved every minute of it. I  have a 80 mile one way commute to work that I've done for 15 years, a pretty physical warehouse job and fairly long hours.. plus I have lost some local hunting land, making for pretty good drive to hunt, from 40 to 150 miles . I find im just not up to it a lot of weekends where in the past I would be hunting all weekend .. part of that is now hunting areas that are marginal as far as deer numbers go and the other is just being worn out at weeks end....  I plan to retire this year and pray I get my drive back..it has been a HUGE part of my life for 47 years

[John146]

I get bored hunting the same area over and over.  A hunt in a new place really lights my fire. I have had to define what makes hunting exciting for me. It is different for many. So think about a camping/hunting trip to a new WMA for a weekend. The odds may be against you because its unknown territory but if your lite up to hunt that's all that matters.

Just an example of what may get you back in the spirit of the hunt.

[YosemiteSam]

No need to keep hunting if you don't want to.  There are more hobbies and things to do with your time in this life than there is time to do it all (let alone be any good at it).  It's just more meat for the other hunters out there.

[riverrat 2]

Well Covey maybe step away for a minute. If you haven't even strung your bow bud...that kinda spells it out I think. Put your bows away where you cant see them for a while. See how it goes? but like my momma always said.."Idle Hands" maybe it will re-kindle. Maybe not. You could always get a truck project going with you and the boy as well. My son and me just built a hell of an engine for my rat rod and it was a great bonding experience. Especially when it coughed to life. Absence may make the heart grow fonder for you Covey. Good luck,best regards.  rat'

[Duncan]

I remember slipping into that feeling of winding down when I hit 45ish. For me it was not a mid life crisis so much as life taking over my life. My jobs have always been demanding and the industry I love is always busiest in the fall and I managed to get time off along the way when I was younger. So what happened? I've never stopped shooting my bow. I decide on which bow I'm hunting with every year and set up arrows and shoot it like I'm going on a trip tomorrow but then I don't go but a few times and then it is over. Now I'm 60 and I have this sense of urgency to go more but I don't have the body I had at 45 or even 50. I'm not bigger I just know I'm weaker and it is really easy to get weaker the older you get. I guess I've been my own worst enemy all along by always hunting alone to keep my best places secret. I did do the hunting club thing for about 10 years but that was not really my thing. Even after 10 years I was still the outsider because I was one of about 4 bowhunters in a gun camp and I never did opening day of gun with them so go figure. Then despite my best efforts my son could not be won over to hunting of any kind. He loved sports though so I supported him in that and gave a lot of hunting time over to that. No regrets there though. He's my son and I support him.
Now that I'm older and find myself with no real hunting buddies I'm back to going it alone again. I know alot of guys that hunt but I wonder if they don't ask me to come along with them because I'd be a drag on them and they don't have time to look after the old guy. Now, I do regret not staying in that club. At least I'd get some help and there is usually someone around to know where you are.
But enough about me. My advice to you is, don't stop hunting unless you are really ready to stop. Once you stop it will be hard to get started again.

When I got bored with standard deer hunting, I put more blunts in my back quiver, stayed on the ground and went for nice slow walks.  I still shot deer, but i also enjoyed shooting at squirrels, pheasant, rabbits, dirt, and turkeys.   One year i declared that i was only going to the deer tat got between me and the rabbits, turkeys and pheasants.  I filled all of my four deer tags that year and had fun doing it, because the rabbit and pheasant numbers were up.

[calgarychef]

If you lose interest...do something else! Bowling, golf, metal detecting.