Just Wasn't Right

[Ranger58]

Anyone else ever been afflicted with this?  After three years of strictly hunting with the stick and string, I was convinced to go out again with a firearm.  I intentionally set out to handicap myself with the smokepole or the Contender.  First couple of days, saw some deer too far off to know if they were even legal; but, I enjoyed just seeing them.  Then two days ago, as I was in an area that I hunted this fall, I was watching an area that had proved productive and thought I'd turn around and see what else might be happening.  There they were, two mature ones probably fifty yards away.  They were a lot quicker than I was and all I was able to see were their two white flags as they exited the small woodlot and crossed the open field, and then the roadway into the relative safety of some posted ground.  
Well, having hunted this area earlier in the fall, I kind of expected to see some more following the first two.  Not two minutes later, there they were working their way through the pines on a direct route to me.  Now, I had the proper tags and could have harvested right then and there; but, I couldn't do it.  It just wasn't right.  
These same five does had passed me three times earlier this year and this time was no exception.  I let them pass with in ten yards of me and not a one was alerted as they passed.  It was another memorable experience to add to the list that is quickly making this the absolute best hunting season I've ever had.  Not one arrow loosed and thank heaven no trigger pulled. Second season comes in the day after Christmas here in Pennsylvania and already I can't wait to get back out.
I guess I'm just a stickbow hunter from now on.  I really had a feeling that if the time came and the opportunity presented itself, I really wouldn't want to do take an animal like that anymore.  There's just something about the quietness of the arrow that is so much more honorable to me than the EXPLOSION associated with the gun.  My father before he passed away, was able to hunt the family property one last time and when he returned with his rifle in hand he said to my sister "That's it, I can't do this anymore."  He put down the rifle for the last time and never went out again.  For me, that said a whole lot more than the words that were spoken.  Now I'm truly an archer.

[Mudd]

I totally understand! I remember when the time came when it no longer felt right to have a gun with me.

All I would be doing is killing a deer and the "hunt part" would be greatly diminished.

The 1st time it hit me I remember thinking "That deer had no idea I was anywhere around." then something inside me answered with "that's because you weren't."
I wish I had listened to myself right then but I pushed it out of my mind for another season. I did finally get the message, "It's not about the kill!" but how I feel about myself. I needed to be truer to my self.

I'd rather end every season with unfilled tags and enjoy my hunt than fill the freezer in a way that left me unsatisfied.

If I get hungry, I can always go to the store.

My 2 cents worth.

God bless,Mudd

[xtrema312]

I can relate, but I am not "afflicted" to that extent.  I shot a deer with a gun this year;  It was the only deer with a gun in the last five years.  It was 12 yd.  For a long time I just have not seen anything I wanted to shoot.  Funny I can drive tacks at a hundred yards with a slug gun, but they look so far away I keep thinking they are out of range at 25. It has been so long since I pulled a trigger on a deer I thought the recoil of the 12 from my tree stand and the noise would be a shock, but it wasn't.    

I don't stop hunting during gun season, but I do slow down some.  I would bow hunt, but in the areas I hunt I just can't have a deer run too far.  If I had a nice private spot with some elbow room I would keep bow hunting.

I get the most fun out of bow hunting.  It is by far my favorite.  I am a little sad to see gun season start up, but I don't see using a gun as cheating or demising the hunting experience.  I just don't like the crowds and the fact the deer shut down by day two.

My second favorite hunting is wing shooting, and I use a gun for that.  As far as I am concerned, it is all good.  Do it the way you like, and don't look down your nose at others who do it the way they like.

[xtrema312]

Originally posted by Mudd:
I'd rather end every season with unfilled tags and enjoy my hunt than fill the freezer in a way that left me unsatisfied.

If I get hungry, I can always go to the store.

I can dig it    , but I am left the most unsatisfied if I have to go to the store to get meat to feed my family when the meat is from something that never saw the light of day, couldn't stand up if it didn't have a cage or another body to lean on, could never run or fly, was feed antibiotics and hormones to keep it alive and grow fast before it died, spent it's life knee deep in it's own waste................  :rolleyes:   Oh ya, I am most definitely a meat hunter.  

[Ranger58]

Mudd, Sounds like we are on the same plane.  It isn't about the kill for me any longer as well.  And Todd, I'm not looking down on anyone, just a realization about me is all.  To me there's just something about being able to get really close and then not making any more noise than letting the string go.  I'm not trying to be an eliteist at all.  Thanks for both of the viewpoints.

[Don Stokes]

I definitely prefer the bow, but I get hungry some years. Store-bought meat is just not the same. If I don't make a kill in the early bow season, hunting gets very tough on my property because of the long season and constant pressure. This year I took a fat young doe on opening day of the primitive season with my muzzleloader. Now that I have meat, I can go back to the bow for hunting the rut, which will peak here in the next couple of weeks. I know the hunting will be tough, but much more satisfying than knocking one down with a gun.

Of course, the doe I shot gave me an easy broadside shot at 15 yards...

[bornagainbowhunter]

I quit gun hunting several years ago.  I think it was just due to a "remote" feeling.  It was almost like the enjoyment left.  The last time I went gun hunting was about 10 years ago. A deer walked up to me and I killed her.  No inner story for myself, just...  I don't know, not right for me.

I have filled my tags almost every year since with my longbow.  I even go out of state and fill a few, but I have never had that dull feeling with my bow.

God Bless,
Nathan

[SteveB]

I enjoy the bow season and then go and HUNT and kill a couple with my inline - enjoy that as well.

[centaur]

I haven't hunted with firearms for quite a few years. I think BB King may have said  it best.."The Thrill is Gone".  It is trad bow or nothing for me, and my guns are warmly wrapped in their cases.

[longbowben]

Ranger58 you have a passion for the bow.I only went out a few days gun hunting with my kentucky long rifle just dont want to use modern guns also.  

[Mudd]

Originally posted by Mudd:
I'd rather end every season with unfilled tags and enjoy my hunt than fill the freezer in a way that left me unsatisfied.

If I get hungry, I can always go to the store.
__________________________________________________
 I understand all of those that depend on the meat to feed or help feed their family a healthy source of good red meat.


My situation is different.

I'm the only one at my home that eats any wild game.

Our nest is empty and the wife won't eat anything wild, she'll barely eat any kind of meat.

She loves bacon though and that really makes me want to go hog hunting....lol

I'm guessing that's my desire to provide my mate with meat but maybe it's just the excuse I need to plan a hunting trip.

God bless,Mudd

[bigbadjon]

I prefer the bow but hunting with a gun does'nt deminish my enjoyment of the hunt. To me the challenge is in finding the animals and having the patience to be presented with a shot. The shot itself is'nt necassarily challenging if you are proficient with your weapon. So I like hunting with either if only to increase my versatility.

[Mike Most]

"It's not about the kill!" but how I feel about myself. I needed to be truer to my self.

Something in those words ring very true.

   

Mike

[longbowben]

And if i need meat i just unleash my son.Last year my son said dad if it wasnt for me we would starve.  

[Eugene Slagle]

Originally posted by Mudd:
I totally understand! I remember when the time came when it no longer felt right to have a gun with me.

All I would be doing is killing a deer and the "hunt part" would be greatly diminished.

The 1st time it hit me I remember thinking "That deer had no idea I was anywhere around." then something inside me answered with "that's because you weren't."
I wish I had listened to myself right then but I pushed it out of my mind for another season. I did finally get the message, "It's not about the kill!" but how I feel about myself. I needed to be truer to my self.

I'd rather end every season with unfilled tags and enjoy my hunt than fill the freezer in a way that left me unsatisfied.

If I get hungry, I can always go to the store.

My 2 cents worth.

God bless,Mudd

The main reason I have not taken any of my modern firearms out of the safe in many years cept to practice once in a while.
Also the main reason my Muzzleloader may see one day of hunting during the whole season because I feel I should be on a more level ground with nature as I hunt & a bow just make that much more possible IMHO & the feeling I get knowing that the deer I either did shoot or just watched had no clue I was there.

[JO_EZ]

Proverbs 27:7
One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

I guess, if you are "full" of deer (physically or emotionally), then to take another by any means is gluttony, but if you still "hunger" for deer, then to be able to take one by any means is a gift from the Lord.

[Roy Steele]

I started building bows 20 years ago.I filled my tags every year with a bow.But for the first 10 years of that time.I kept telling  myself when I got that 280 or muzzleloader in my hands it's was time to even the score.And I did alot.I gun hunted in 4 states at the time
and the #'s piled up.And it just got easer and easer.
  So I quit gun hunting and started only hunting with selfbows hunting only 3 1/3 year old bucks or older.4 1/2 on some farms.Wish I'd did this 40 years ago when I started deer hunting.
  And yes I use to see a big mature bucks out in the fields.And tell myself wish I had a gun.But I know I really didn't been there done that it took a few of these encounters to get it out of my system.
  But I see lots of mature bucks on the farms I hunt.If your a good rifle hunter makes some people a great bow hunter.Noise I said most,most can't take letting any buck go where ever or with where ever.Much less mature bucks.
  But only exsperence will make you change your mine and keep it changed.

[Zradix]

I hear you.
The rifle makes things much easier to stock the freezer though...at least for me.

Funny... I put away my compound to take up trad hunting but I still go rifle shooting for deer.
I haven't got one with my smoke pole yet ( cap & ball ). After the first one I can see myself leaving the bang stick at home for all seasons.

I love my rifles and shotguns. What I really like about them is working up loads be it for a rifle, blackpowder or shotgun.
That's what I really like about trad...you get to tinker and things are slow enough to see and feel the difference.

Good luck in the woods!

[Over&Under]

Originally posted by Mike Most:
"It's not about the kill!" but how I feel about myself. I needed to be truer to my self.

Something in those words ring very true.

       

Mike

I couldn't agree more!

[twitchstick]

This morning I was hunting an antlerless tag. Within 5 minutes of legal light I could have filled my doe tag 10 times over with a firearm. By 9 o'clock I could have harvested 50 plus deer. If I would have done that I would not have been able to attemped the four stalks I screwed up today. I would'nt have see rhe 15 or so bucks I viewed. I crawled within 40 yards of 3 bucks and 15 does while the bucks were chasing each other and pestering the poor does still in heat. It made for a great morning even thou I didn't get a arrow in the air. I have nothing agianst hunting with firearms but for me I prefer a stick and a string.