OK.... Old guy wanting to kick a dead horse...…
The Maturing of a Hunter
In the beginning we shoot what we can… Then we shoot for numbers (I can kill more then you) Then we move on to trophy only and then we just enjoy the experience.
At 72 I am no spring chicken and I can say I have seen/done all of the above personally. Even though my Dad tried to control me I was, even as a youth, a typical “A” type…. Got to be on top of the pile and yes, I am sure one could easily say in todays world I was/am still highly ADD. I am not even sure how I made it this long.
That being said, at least I was instilled with the concept of a hunt as an ethical thing. As such, in the maturity thing, I slowly began to realize that the experience was what it was all about and not the kill. That thought goes to instant self-gratification and nothing more. Did I need to kill to feel good back in the day, sure I did and I firmly believe so did/does everyone else as a means of fulfilling their assumed desires at that particular stage in their growth.
Now, just getting to the woods is a blessing for me. Do I need to kill anything to be happy…. NO ! My students asked me every year if I was going to deer hunt that year and I said yep…. I am going to the woods. Will I shoot anything, don’t know. I have this on the wall:
and to really have a chance at beating him I would need to go to either another part of Illinois or perhaps Canada. I can not walk the way I once did with the above buck so I guess I need to be satisfied and I am.
So, given the trophy concept and the enjoy the experience concept I truthfully think I might be done. However, there is always the chance, right ?
For someone to degrade the proceedings of a hunt merely because no “meat was brought to the skinning shed” and the stories were run on without a kill is rude plain and simple.
I am fortunate to not need a lease, I am my lease, and my “ranch” is roughly several thousand acres here at home of my own land, land of neighbors and USFS public ground. We do have good deer……
Perhaps a look at several other “drawn out” stories such as those in the past by Charlie Lamb et al will reveal there is some finesse to story telling whether it be a successful kill hunt or not.
If one measures their success by kill only, they are, in my aged opinion, still growing, hopefully, out of one of the earlier stages of being a hunter
JMHO..... Carry on
Topic: 5th Annual Beouf WMA Hog Hunt ---> What a hunt! (Read 17792 times)
