What you bring to day to day life

[Fidelios]

Hello fellow archers! I know that I still haven't harvested any game with my bow and that in a way makes me a bit of a "who are you to ask this things?" But ther is a question that always comes to my mind whe I think about bow hunting. I know I am a bow hunter even though I haven't harvested any animal. I stalk, I scout, I sit on trees for hours waiting for game to pass by at my shooting range...
The quaestion that constantly pops to my mind is: What is it that you bring to your day to day life which you have learnt from being amongst the animals who are ultimately a arrow release away?
I find it hard to pin down what that is...
Please, can some of you accomplished hunters share your thoughts on this? We are a family and unfortunatly due to me being in the UK I don't get the chance to seat around a fire and talk about this things with you guys...
God bless

[RedShaft]

One thing is.. I have more respect for the animals i hunt than some of the people i have met in my life. Sad but true

[Rob W.]

Stay calm and let things play out.


Rob

[Tater]

Patience.....appreciation of the little things.. a great sunrise.... all of Gods creations....

[Dave Lay]

Patience  and knowing that what seems like a big deal at work usually isnt at all.. there is a lot out there that puts all that in proper perspective....

[oldgoat]

Fred Bear built,shot,and hunted with bows for 6 yrs before he harvested a deer. Enjoy and let Mother Nature be the teacher and you the student.

[mscampbell75]

A "GOOD HUNT" doesnt always result in an arrow finding its mark.  It isnt determined by the harvest of an animal, but expiernce of the hunt as a whole.

There are many experinces in life that are over looked because we are too focues on where we should be rather than paying attention to our current surrondings.

I guess the saying "Its the journey not the destination."

[Keefer]

I learned to be still and know my "Creator' and listen to Him as He speaks to me when I'm in the Wilderness...I just don't hunt to kill something but to get out and see God's creation and if the shot feels right then I pull the string and pray for a good hit and thank God for His blessing...

[Killdeer]

Nature cares only for species, not individuals. So watch your butt out there.

I find an incongruity in connecting with the whole of a creation that does not give a hoot about me. Lightning strikes, trees fall, nor'easters dump three feet of snow in 24 hours. I have to scramble sometimes to keep from being maimed or worse. I begin to wonder if I might not be exactly welcome.

And then there is a calm afternoon on a leaf-spattered hillside. The smells of rotting deadwood, aged cherry leaves and spicy dried fern mix in the warming air. Cedar waxwings flit through the mountain holly, nuthatches probe the bark of the white oaks, squirrels fill their secret larders. And a deer comes along and gives itself to me.

This is the real world. This is life. Life is fraught with death. We are in the Circle. The artificial stress and press of civilization kills, bit by bit, my innocent spirit. Living those few weeks every year in my hunting camp reminds me that the true creation still exists, the balance is being maintained and perhaps will outlive us in the end. I praise God's intricate handiwork, and look for ways to make Him grin. And then after I use up my vacation days, I come down off the mountain and work my butt off at my stupid job, going steadily insane, so I can go back to camp next year and learn it again.

Killdeer

"It ever was, and is, and shall be, Ever Living Fire,
In measures being kindled, and in measures going out."
~Heraclitus

[magnus]

Very well said Killdeer! I wish I had your way of the word.

[J-dog]

Kill deer, you have such a great way with words and they are spot on. I just say that in my career life I learned tha death is so intertwined with life. Individuals die day and and day out and only those who are closest feel the loss - the world just trods on.

What do I bring to day to day that I have learned from hunting - know where my food comes from? --- not really too philosophical a person. Shame how many dont know something so simple.

J

[Rick Butler]

Today was my last day at work, and I'm now  retired after 30 years as an RN on an adult Psychiatric unit.
 
    Through the years the one thing that has helped me endure, and continue to do what I did was the memory of times spent afield with a bow in hand and a quiver full of arrows..  Many times it brought me a peace I only wish some of my patients could have known.

[rastaman]

The woods are my church. I go there to recharge my batteries so the mundane stress at work doesn't matter quite so much. I spent the weekend in the swamps close by..the Mosquitos were terrible. The heat and humidity were horrible. I sufferred it gladly because my hunting buddy and I were able to share the adrenalin rush of going one on one with hogs on both days. And we finally killed one right before it got too dark to see. We also were able to watch a gator dozing on a log out in a slew as we slipped thru the woods, and yes, we came across another timber rattler as we intruded into his territory. We will eat the hog later this week and remember and give thanks that we live in such a country that allows us to do this.
All of this will make the stress of work and dealing with the public so much easier cause all I have to do is close my eyes and remember....

[americanhunter7]

I gotta say this...Just being in the woods and seeing what most people will never have the opportunity to experience first hand makes it all worth while for me. Whether it's things like this

 

Or this...

 

This too....

 

Getting to meet and share hunts with families like this...

 

Or moments like this after a successful hunt...

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is this...Each day on this Earth may be your last...So live each moment to the fullest and enjoy what God has been gracious enough to bless all of us who hunt in His beautiful creation with. Enjoy the hunt whether you make the kill or not. I think THAT is what makes hunting and hunters like several folks here on TG so special. Because most on here will and do enjoy the woods even if they aren't successful, they still have a GREAT time doing what they love.

I hope this answers your question. I know that this site has given me so much and I've met a multitude of wonderful people that I've been blessed with getting to meet. I hope someday you too will be able to meet some of the great folks here. Take care, be safe, and be patient, it will happen for you, probably sooner than you think.

[DayTripper]

Killdeer
Aren't we feeling a little transcendental!!! Well said.

[LongStick64]

1. Watch your back
2. Be aware of what has changed around you.
3. Slow down

[Fidelios]

Thank you so much for the time you took to share your thoughts, moments and blessings.
May the Lord keep us all in unity and allow friendship to flurish.Amen.
Roger and out.