So what best defines your hunting?

No right or wrong answers, just curious...

For fun.

I am not into taxidermy so trophies are irrelevant. If my taxidermist says it is worth mounting I will mount it. He knows I really don't care about taxidermy.

Meat - I like beef more than all game meat. I have found enough people to give away the venison too. I don't spend the money I do on meat processing buying beef at Costco to give to people. I eat a little venison.

Hanging out with friends - I enjoy hunting with friends - hanging out drinking beer/whiskey. Not sure I would enjoy being with friends on a high stress hunt. I have done high stress hunts - wild lion and found then irritating. Too much agitation on a vacation.

I like being is remote country - Alaska, Amazon, parts of Africa.

Grown tired of the Africa hunting vacation story - the African hunting pitch.

Tired Amazon fishing and it was as good as African hunting. Actually it was much better and 1/4 the cost.

I like traveling/road trips in us when I hunt - I hate flying/traveling to Africa or outside the us. On regular vacations/work no issues traveling internationally

Golf blows.

Mike

Fun. I am definitely driven to hunt.

Mikey, I thought your goal in hunting was to consume mass quantities of ammunition! :-)

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Mikey, I thought your goal in hunting was to consume mass quantities of ammunition! :-)

Only when I am backing you up

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Mikey, I thought your goal in hunting was to consume mass quantities of ammunition! :-)

Jon, I heard he was throwing rods overboard on his fishing trip.

Mostly hunt for meat but used hunting as a "reason" to explore and experience Africa a bit.

Our meat gathering generally involves work since we usually pack it and have an affinity for "embracing the suck".

Cheers
J&J

I actually like golf. Since my handicap has skyrocekted though, I hunt for trophies, meat and fun.

Fun, certain kind of drive, I do enjoy big trophies and good venison

Enjoyed the meat from most of the animals I hunted.

Lost all fascination for "trophies" years ago after filling my house and cabin with heads.

Have as much interest in golf as I do in any of the running, jumping and throwing games on TV, which is zero.

Work was not the reason I hunted, even though I made a fair living in a niche that depended on hunting.

I used to say I hunted because I must, and I will hunt until I can't.

Well, my can't years are now. Walking any distance at all is extremely painful. Fortunately, I still can enjoy sites such as this one.

Bill Quimby

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Mikey, I thought your goal in hunting was to consume mass quantities of ammunition! :-)

Jon, I heard he was throwing rods overboard on his fishing trip.

Yes but there were fish attached to line in the rod

Mike

I hunt because it is in my blood. I love being in the outdoors. Some of my finest days in the field did not involve firing a single shot. I just returned from the hunting lease after enjoying three dismal days of duck hunting in bad weather with few birds. I will probably go again tomorrow evening because I love being out there.

Everything I do revolves around hunting, fishing, or shooting. I built my own houseboat to have a place to stay on my lease. I just built another boat to travel to the houseboat. I have an airboat, fishing boat, offshore boat, kayaks etc. As a sixth generation Louisiana alligator hunter/muskrat nutria trapper, hunting is a way of life.

I have hunted for trophies, I hunt for meat, I have trapped, hunted alligators, and fished for a living, and I absolutely hate golf. So all of the above.

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Mikey, I thought your goal in hunting was to consume mass quantities of ammunition! :-)

Jon, I heard he was throwing rods overboard on his fishing trip.

Yes but there were fish attached to line in the rod

Mike

The story and Mike's re-enactment of the event was priceless. These things can remove your rod from a boat faster than you can yell, Oh shit!!

Love any wild meat, 80% of the time I eat that at home
But biggest thing in hunting is trophy for me
Thing is, older animal the better and I ate lots of tags over the years
In Africa and other places, I hunt to hunt
If I don't get animals, I'm just as happy, honestly .

Most of the time 95+% of the time I hunt alone

All of the above. except the work bit.
Although I have been invited on a Chital deer cull so that may be classified as work.

On a traveling hunt;
1. Obsession
2. Trophy
3. Camraderie
4. Meat

On a purely meat hunt
1. Obsession
2. Meat

I was born a hunter, have been a hunter all of my life.

That is why I like guiding people, whether a paying client, a friend or a family member, it is all the same

I love being outdoors, I love animals and love nature, to me hunting is just part of the package, whether a gun is involved or not has become less important as I have gotten older. Just driving the dirt roads around where Lora and I live seeing how many deer or hogs or coyotes od ducks on the ponds or Sandhill cranes in the wheatfields, to me it is all hunting.

I was born a predator, spotting game, whether it results in a kill or not, is just as important to me as making a kill. Helping another person, whether it is Lora or another family member or a paying client make a kill just makes the whole activity that much more special.

I hunt because I enjoy the natural wilderness,owning and shooting hunting rifles and shotguns, hunting and eating game and sharing my experience with friends.

The biggest reason is that I enjoy it.

I do try and utilize as much of anything I kill as I can. That includes taxidermy and trophies, as well as meat; although in general I am getting to the point where it needs to be a pretty spectacular specimen or very meaningful animal to get it mounted formally (keeping the skull does not count as taxidermy to me)

The last few years I have had enough game meat to mostly feed myself and give a bunch to extended family and friends, so I do like it!

Sometimes I justify a repeat hunt as "looking for a bigger one" but really, it's just fun.

I suspect in the modern developed world, meat is not a justification but rather a bonus. It does feel good to give meat to local villages in Africa though...

I don't analyze the why. I just enjoy getting out in the country the walking, stalking, spotting, shooting, seeing new country and meeting new people.

Some of the best times are sitting around the fire in the evening with friends or the PH and just talking about everything. Most of the time, I actually regret having to go to bed.

First and foremost food. Believe it or not it was a rule in my childhood home, and I believe it remains essential to that hunter gather connection. My greatest moment as a hunter was when I feed an anti hunter some venison medallions. She will never go hunting but every season wants invited to a game diner now. Even on "troph hunts" I am going to sup at least once off the kill and someone is going to get a lot of suppers. If I won't eat, than I an't killing it.

Second is ritual and history. My desire to hunt was flamed by my uncles listening to their stories, watching them prep rifles and gear. On a global aspect I feel part of a historic tradition handed down since human became human.

By the hard evolutionists model I spent over 4 billion years getting to the top of the food chain. I am not coming down a peg now.

I hunt because that's what I do. One great side effect is that I do deer permit hunting for the biggest corn grower in WV. Kill about 100 deer a year with handguns, clean them myself, and over the last 38 years I've given 106,000 pounds of meat to the old, poor, needy.

Lots of good reasons gentlemen
Keep on going

Been golfin 3 times, drunk everyone of em. 4 out of 7 days I want to be Daniel Boone, 2 Crockett, 1 Bill Cody. The BIG 3

quote:

Originally posted by boarkiller:
Lots of good reasons gentlemen
Keep on going

Glad to see that you are safe. I remember you posting about two weeks ago going to Christmas markets in Germany. I enjoy your posts.

All of the above, except work.

One thing is clear no one on ar needs to hunt for subsistence/survival

Our meat hunting is an expensive way to get protein

Maybe another reason we hunt is tradition - a social cultural ritual.

Mike

Hate golf, will shoot a trophy if possible, but really like to be outdoors and the meat is good.

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
One thing is clear no one on ar needs to hunt for subsistence/survival

Our meat hunting is an expensive way to get protein

Maybe another reason we hunt is tradition - a social cultural ritual.

Mike

Depends on where you live here Mike. Sure, I can buy meat in a store here but if I want guaranteed organic no hormone, antibiotic or growth hormone meat it starts to get almost as expensive as hunting it.

In a bush community like Dillingham buying meat can cost more than running a skiff up the Nushagak River and killing a Moose.

There's also the intangible of sitting down to the table with Joyce and reminding her how much she suffered carrying out the Caribou we are eating.

Cheers
Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
One thing is clear no one on ar needs to hunt for subsistence/survival

Our meat hunting is an expensive way to get protein

Maybe another reason we hunt is tradition - a social cultural ritual.

Mike

True, but I can't seem to pass a Springbok or Impala without thinking "dinner".

I hunt for... being alone or with a good friends any where in the world. The sounds, the scents and that last 15 minutes of evening light or that first bird you here as the sun crepes up of a morning.

The challenge of climbing the mountain or tracking in the hot sun all day with very little water.

I am a fourth generation hunter and started my son hunting and trapping at (4). He's a die hard now, at 18, and appreciates all of the nuances a man can experience while hunting. I plan on starting my Grandson at (4) as well.

I love wild game meat!

I did not say or even imply that my hunting was subsistence. However, where I am from we are only one to two generations removed from subsistence hunting. There is a reason eastern Kentucky votes democratic so much, and his name is FDR for most families FDR was their first "public job/pay check".

So, yeah food was is first and foremost. If I ever kill a Cape buffalo, I will be fighting the locals for some tenderloins or a top round. It might taste awful. The rule is simple you shoot it, you eat it. I grew up on whisper pigs and squirrels. There are a few vermin exceptions.

Hunt for meat locally. Hunt for fun globally. Trap for a living.

I really don't know if I can classify it.

When I look at a peak (no matter how high) I always wonder what I could see from up there.

There some part of me deep down that needs to be in the outdoors. Hunting is tops followed closely by fishing. Quite frankly I can be perfectly happy just going for a stroll in the woods most days.

LHeym500,
I have had good (zim) and not so good (Burkina faso) buff. I would definatly ask for the tenderloins to be served up for supper.

I hunt because I have to.

I enjoy the meat.
I enjoy the trophy.
I love the experience, all of it.

Hell I'm sitting in a blind writing this!

.

I hunt because I like the challenge and being outdoors.

I golf because I like the challenge and being outdoors.

In golf, I see a lot more "country" than when I hunt......

A hole in one is more rare than an 80lb elephant or a 45" buff too.....

So, when I made my one and only hole in one at 9:45am on Dec 24 1984 using an 8 iron, a Titleist ball on Number 4 at Twin Hills Country Club in Oklahoma City, playing with 3 friends - the vision of that perfectly played shot is vivid in my mind. As the ball rolled into the hole for a "1" I was high fived by all and got to buy drinks for all. Come to think of it, that happened when I shot a buff.....
I remember both events in exquisite detail - I finally succeeded at what I was trying to do...

I also play golf for money, those $2 bets add up... However, my playing partners are now paying for my gas to get me to come and play....

I am more afraid of "water on the left" than of a cape buff... I can shoot the buff but that water monster shows no mercy....

It feeds my soul.

But to quote or maybe misquote Gregory Peck in The Macomber Affair, "Best not to mouth it up too much".

By which I mean that if I try to hard to articulate all that hunting means to me it ends up diminishing it.

Because I was born with it -- I'm a hunter.

(Analysis says it's about possession, whether experience, succeeding, overcoming difficulty, getting away with it/ defeating an animal's defenses, etc. NOT a "dangerous game" guy.)

Also, the toys are fun!

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
I hunt because I like the challenge and being outdoors.

I golf because I like the challenge and being outdoors.

In golf, I see a lot more "country" than when I hunt......

A hole in one is more rare than an 80lb elephant or a 45" buff too.....

So, when I made my one and only hole in one at 9:45am on Dec 24 1984 using an 8 iron, a Titleist ball on Number 4 at Twin Hills Country Club in Oklahoma City, playing with 3 friends - the vision of that perfectly played shot is vivid in my mind. As the ball rolled into the hole for a "1" I was high fived by all and got to buy drinks for all. Come to think of it, that happened when I shot a buff.....
I remember both events in exquisite detail - I finally succeeded at what I was trying to do...

I also play golf for money, those $2 bets add up... However, my playing partners are now paying for my gas to get me to come and play....

I am more afraid of "water on the left" than of a cape buff... I can shoot the buff but that water monster shows no mercy....

I too enjoy golf, one of numerous hobbies. Having picked it up later in life, it provides the challenge to learn something new and opportunity to improve.

I enjoy the prep and anticipation...getting gear ready, chipping and putting in the basement (same place as I reload), watching the Golf Channel...passes idle time and gives me something to look forward to.

On the course it is good exercise (especially with as many mulligans errr practice shots as I take haha). I do some specific lifting during "golf season" as I dream of holing a par 4 off the tee.

We have a bunch of courses with varied terrain within a 45 minute drive, and it is fun playing different ones and at different times of the year. Some are forgiving, whereas others humbling. All have different vibes and types of fellow golfers (mostly cool, some full of old grumps).

Although I have played solo a few times, I almost always am with one or both of my sons. The opportunity to spend ~4hrs together and enjoy each others company in a non-competitive manner is what I most like about golf as a hobby/activity. It is fun, and something memorable happens just about every time out.

Same applies to my much more infrequent and infinitely more expensive hunting trips, just they on a far grander scale.

I hunt because its hardwired into my DNA. I wouldn't know what do with myself if I didn't hunt. I hunt for all the reason listed above: fun, sport, mean, challenge, beauty, adventure, friendship.

As far as golf, I would rather shave my face with a cheese grater than spend time hitting a little white ball into a hole once, and the doing it 17 more times.