Loosing the desire to kill

[LPM]

Customcrester,

You got your head on straight.  The older we get, the more we value life.  

A man worth his salt wont take killing lightly, and killing is what we do.  

Roger Rothar summed it up well. His words, borrowed or original went something like this.  

"I dont hunt animals to kill them.  I kill animals because I hunt them".

I taught my own daughter to love the outdoors and when she decided that she wanted to hunt with me, I made sure she knew just how hard it is for the animals we hunt to survive the elements, predators and sickness.  She knew how they were bred, born, played procreated and and how they died from sickness, old age, cars, hunters bullets and yes arrows.

She went to the woods as a hunter with as much respect for the animals she hunted as a desire to kill them.

I hope every hunter gets to the point where he or she can breath a sigh of relief when the animals we pursue pass buy without result.

[Long Bow]

That's why they call it hunting and not killing...it's your choice. I'm not a trophy hunter by any means, but I've passed on many deer. when I need meat I shoot and when I don't, I don't... I've respected every animal that i have ever shot, and have told my boys that if the time ever comes that you don't feel a little remorse for having taken a life, then it's time to hang up the bow.

Good luck in your journeys!

[LimBender]

Maybe it's loosing the desire to track, tag, drag, gut, skin, cut, and process.  Just sayin. . . .

[highpoint forge]

The wheelbow guys I hunt with think trad archery is crazy....it's so hard to KILL anything, they always say!

These guys are about 8-9 yrs younger than me (I'm 39) and they want to kill EVERYTHING. It's a bit much at times. I find myself more disinterested in their killing talk, the more I hunt with them, which is almost every week of deer season.

I derive far more pleasure from nature and watching animals up close (hunting) than shooting at them, which I've not yet become calmly proficient at......


Bruce I could have used you this dove season. I was in that hot corner and it was pure insanity. I could have used 3 of you! They were like locusts.....

[George Vernon]

Customcrester,
Thanks for starting the thread.  Some 35 or so years ago when I started hunting deer with a bow success was defined as putting something in the freezer.  As time passed and my skills improved, going after the elusive bigger bucks became more of a passion.  When set up for a particular buck, passing on does or smaller bucks seemed like part of the plan.  I went from tree stands to ground hunting to up the challenge.  One year I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time and took a massive 17 pointer.  After that, I still found myself going to the woods, but passing on more and more shots.  Not sure why taking a shot some days feels right, and on other days feels wrong.  Is it age, experience, growing respect for the game?  No one answer seems able to unlock the mystery for me.  This past season I came home from many great hunts, but no harvest.  But the time afield was not diminished.  I saw more deer this year than any previous season, and followed one good buck for better than six weeks.  I think success now is finding the right place and time and being able to do it consistently.  Will I take another shot?  Don't know.  Maybe if the right deer comes along.

[Friend]

The only time I recall having a true desire to kill was with some of my distant past run-ins with wild dogs.

The preparation, the strategising,the hunt, getting close, executing a nice shot and disecting a blood trail are my favorite parts.

[Izzy]

If you dont feel like killing dont kill. Only your preys lives depend on it.Youll be fine.

[Rob DiStefano]

i enjoy being in the woods.  'specially with bow in hand.  on those occasions i go hunting, my goal is to make a good kill, and killing is the biggest part of what's on my mind.  if i lose that desire to kill, then i'd be roving and not hunting.  it's just a matter of goals and perspectives.

[bowtough]

Maybe since you alresdy took two deer, there really wasn't any need of taking another. I think that just makes good sense! We are deer hunters not deer killers. Need justifies the end.Good job! Gary.  

[wvtradbow]

I know where you're at brother,I haven't killed a deer in about 5 yrs,not because I couldn't but because i was looken for the right one ,buck or doe.The bowhunting fire burns as bright as it ever did an I still spent many hours an $$ on it but now it's more about nature an the experence of it...I think it's normal for whats it's worth.I still have friends that shoot anything that walks by but not for me anymore ...

[Bowwild]

Some days I have no desire to kill a deer, or not enough of a desire, so I don't go. It could be early in the season, it could be after 4-5 days of hunting, or it could be at season's end.

I love to bowhunt. Killing what I've studied, planned, practiced, and prepared for is one of the objectives of each of my hunts. Of course most of the time I leave the hunt with other objectives met but without a deer and that is the routine. Even when an opportunity is about to occur it isn't just the kill that's on my mind. I wonder, will my set-up work, will the wind cooperate, will I be stealthy enough,and finally, will I make the correct decisions, and will my practice result in a quick kill and recovery.

This season I hunted only once after November 12th. I fully intended to hunt more and some days I was fully dressed, bow in hand, and stopped at the door.  I realized, after two deer already in the bag I didn't want another. So I didn't go.  

On Monday this week a group of 6 bucks (all small) and three does walked through the backyard about 50 yards away.

[pdk25]

Originally posted by pumatrax:
If it was only about the kill you'd be hunting with a 300 win mag or even worse a compound. ...

?

[Hermon]

I read an article many years ago that talked about how most people go through "stages" in their hunting career.  When we are young or new to hunting we go through the "kill" stage.  We want to harvest an animal every time out and measure our success on the number of kills.  Then we move onto the "trophy" stage.  We still want to take an animal but now the size of the rack is more important than the number of animals.  Then finally we enter the "quality" stage.  Now it is the quality of the hunt, quality of the people we hunt with and overall outdoor experience that counts most.  Looking back I know that I have gone through the first two and now am in the the last stage myself.  Obviously you have done the same.  On another day with an empty freezer you may take that shot.  Maybe not.  We are all out there for our own enjoyment.  I don't see anything wrong with your decision.

[Blaino]

“It’s not the quarry but the chase.  It’s not the trophy but the race.”

[Kevin Winkler]

Nope.....nothing wrong with that. Like Hermon said, we all go through stages of maturing as a hunter.
Here is the 5 stages of a Hunter that Hermon touched on.

5 Stages of a Hunter
 
SHOOTER STAGE
The hunter talks about satisfaction with hunting being closely tied to being able to “get shooting.” Often the beginning duck hunter will relate he had an excellent day if he got in a lot of shooting. The beginning deer hunter will talk about the number of shooting opportunities. Missing game means little to hunters in this phase. A beginning hunter wants to pull the trigger and test the capability of his firearm or weapon. A hunter in this stage may be a dangerous hunting partner.

LIMITING OUT STAGE
A hunter still talks about satisfaction gained from shooting. But what seems more important is measuring success through the killing of game and the number of birds or animals shot. Limiting out, or filling a tag, is the absolute measure. Do not let your desire to limit out be stronger than the need for safe behavior at all times.

TROPHY STAGE
Satisfaction is described in terms of selectivity of game. A duck hunter might take only greenheads. A deer hunter looks for one special deer. A hunter might travel far to find a real trophy animal. Shooting opportunity and skills become less important.

METHOD STAGE
This hunter has all the special equipment. Hunting has become one of the most important things in his life. Satisfaction comes from the method that enables the hunter to take game. Taking game is important, but second to how it is taken. This hunter will study long and hard how best to pick a blind site, lay out decoys, and call in waterfowl. A deer hunter will go one on one with a white-tailed deer, studying sign, tracking, and the life habits of the deer. Often, the hunter will handicap himself by hunting only with black powder firearms or bow and arrow. Bagging game, or limiting, still is understood as being a necessary part of the hunt during this phase.

SPORTSMAN STAGE
As a hunter ages and after many years of hunting, he “mellows out.” Satisfaction now can be found in the total hunting experience. Being in the field, enjoying the company of friends and family, and seeing nature outweigh the need for taking game. Not all hunters go through all the stages, or go through them in that particular order. It is also possible for hunters who pursue several species of game to be in different stages with regard to each species. Some hunters feel that role models of good sportsmen, training, or reading books or magazines helped them pass more quickly through some stages.

[LCH]

There is nothing wrong with feeling like that. It is not for everyone and I guess some people try it and change. My father in law did.

I don't think I ever will so if any of you need someone to hunt your spots PM me. I will do my best to help fill your freezer.LCH

[jhg]

I understand many of the sentiments expressed here regarding killing. I found out for myself a long time ago that I did not enjoy killing anything. If it wasn't going on the table I felt that somehow by killing a creature just for sport I had disrespected something very fundamental about life. These are my own feelings.

I love to see and watch wildlife when hunting. I am not there to kill every legal animal I come across. I am there to be responsible for the meat on my table. Somehow that makes me feel that when I do take a life, there is a reason for it above my arrogance.
I love hunting and will never not be a hunter. Trad archery has brought back to me the fundamental reasons I love being out there and a lot of that has to do with respect.

Joshua

[carpenter]

jhg   well said!

[SteveB]

The "5 stages of a hunter" thing is experienced by many - but not close to being universal. To suggest it is normal, natural, or inevitable is to suggest those not subscribing to it are not so. That would be wrong and smacks of elitism.

[wollelybugger]

Sometimes I sit and hunt and sometimes I just sit.