but just thoroughly love being out in the woods, the smells, watching the wildlife, having a chickadee land on your bow, watching grouse walk past your stand, watching the deer as you wait for the "right one" to come down your shooting lane?

I spent years bowhunting and never once lost the love of just being out there, and getting a shot or harvesting game was just an absolute bonus to me.

I care whether I get a shot, but I do enjoy every minute out there.

I miss the 4-5 month bow hunting season I had in Ohio. Out here it's barely a month.

I agree that the experience as a whole is very rewarding. It certainly is enough to keep me sane with or without a shot at game.

On the other hand, if I don't get the shot by the end of the season, I feel that I failed my task.

Of course that means that I have to work harder at it, and improve my techniques. Which puts me in the woods more, and that isn't a bad thing either.

Jeremy

Where I live, Pagosa Springs, we have a very high concentration of Black Bears, a decent amount of elk and tons of Mule deer. Been fortunate enough to fill my tag on bears just about every year, taken a couple of elk and deer when I draw the tags for em but I enjoy the time alone, the chance to sit and read in my stand, hell, just taking a nap and getting away. If I don't kill anything, I have had a very successful hike with my bow.

Some of my most memorable hunts have been the ones where I didn't pull the trigger or release an arrow. I just enjoy being in God's outdoors, listening to the world wake up in the morning, or go to bed in the evening.

I live in the boonies so the enjoying the outdoors thing is routine for me.I put a lot of time and effort into hunting and shooting so I most definitely care about getting game.

I hunt to hunt. And the purpose of hunting is to shoot something.
I am not out in the nature with a gun or a bow to just look at the wildlife.
I enjoy very much to be out in the nature and enjoy all aspects of it.
I don't need to shoot something every time when I am out hunting at all.
If hunting was that easy, I would stop doing it a long time ago.
I have no problem to pass on shots either.

But I am no lover of tag soup either, so I want to shoot some animals during the hunting season and consider it to be a bad or really bad season if I shoot just a few or no animals.

I have been bowhunting for 50++ years now. When I go on a "hunt" I truly expect to shoot something. It doesn't always happen but that IS the reason I hunt. If I just want to stroll through the woods, and I do that too, I call it going on a HIKE. Lots of difference, even if I enjoy both.

Larry Sellers

I don't get bent out of shape if I don't get anything but I damn sure get excited when I do!

I just like to get out and stroll at my own leisure these days and take in the scenery.


I could care less if I ever reach into a an elks ribcage up to my elbows to pull the entrails, skin and quarter and then pack them any more.

This has lead me to hunt some very pretty places that are easily accesable now days.

Maybe its time for a guided hunt for this gent or it could be I taken enough critters that I am satisfied.



Just my thoughts on it all.
I still hunt every year and always will but I do it on my terms anymore.

Cal30

being in Maine and only allowed one deer per year and doe only in the archery season unless you get a antlerless deer tag I really need to act quick when I see a deer...

i'm in my third year of bow hunting and have yet to take a dear with a bow...wow so much more effort goes into taking a dear with a bow over a rifle...so twards the end of my season I get more anxious and tend to forget just how nice it is to sit in my stand and do nothing...

after deer season is over I'll miss just having a reason to sit in my stand...even though it seemed more like work during the season at times...

but your right to me I think I get more out of the hunt versus the taking of the animal...I have to look at it that way, because there is no way I could live a subsistance life here in Maine...I would starve!

I am very selective about the shot I will take when bow hunting. Basically has to be perfect before I will even draw my bow: Relaxed, broadside or slightly quartering away and within 25 yds. With those self imposed limitations I dont take shots very often and am seldom dissapointed when I dont get a shot bacause of them. I enjoy every minute of being out there though!

I'd like to see something, even if I can't arrange a shot. In any case, it gets me out of the house and it's worth the time spent.

I go for the "hunt"! If I am lucky the "take" is just a added benifit!

I go for both,I like to eat to much. Most folks see the pretty deer I see biscuits and gravy. We have a lengthy season and a very liberal bag limit so the first month or so any legal deer is gravy worthy. After a few then I get more picky. So I say I start the season to take then later just to enjoy the adventure.

I'm with Don G. I love to be in the woods. I like the sounds, sights, and smells of autumn. I live to watch a fall morning unfold around me and listen as the woods come to life. I enjoy virtually every second the Lord grants me to enjoy what He's created!

But I also have the goal of making a clean kill on a nice deer or taking a coyote or getting a squirrel or two. While I don't count it a failure to not take an animal, it is always a better day when I do.

When I hunt with a bow, or a rifle, or a handgun, I want to be successful.

I do not care if I get a "shot" on any given day, but I do want to take the hunted animals by the end of the season, or if it is a short term expensive hunt, by the end of the hunt.

That being said, I have done some pretty spendy hunts and never fired a shot. Still had a great time, and enjoyed the hunt.
In fact they were some of my most favorite hunts/adventures.

Living in Texas I am lucky that we have a long deer/turkey season, and you can hunt pigs here 365 days a year.

Also I "need" to shoot @3 deer and seveal pigs a year th feed me and the wife. We are having deer meat tonight.

I spent nearly a month at the lease last turley season and did not even get a shot at a turkey or a pig, that NEVER happens, but I still had a great hunt and a great time.

So, I hunt for the meat, and I hunt for the enjoyment of the time spent in the woods.

I can't say that I don't care whether I get a shot. I do care. I'm lucky in that most years. I spend at least sixty days hunting. That much time in the field and you almost always get "shots", especially if you carry a camera……………..













And in regards to a shot not taken,





I saw this buck the day before. The wind was blowing pretty good and he was at 35 yards. I limit myself to 30 yards on a quality buck. I put my oldest son on him. He nailed him with his crossbow at 30 yards just before dark.
At my stage of the game I enjoy letting him have bragging rights. I was glad I did not take the shot.

Best

GWB

My favorite hunt I ever had, I never once fired a single shot but it was still a neat story and was an amazing experience for me. It really changed my outlook on hunting. That being said, getting in position for a shot is what I'm after Making the shot is also important it all adds to the story and a beautiful trophy animal on the well helps you re-live that hunt and makes a great conversation piece so you can re-tell the story for years. So I don't think an unsuccessful hunt is equal for me to a successfull one. But I don't think they're much of a stretch apart.