I started hunting again about 7or 8 years ago, when I was about 27.

In that time, I'[ve been lucky enough to go on a number of hunts that I would call 'adventure.'

That is, middle of nowhere, are we going to get out of this alive situations?! Okay only one or two was like that...

Anyways, over my life I've been on lots of backcountry, remote trips, (not neccesarily hunting.)

I must say that I like the adventure aspect of a good hunt better than anything else.

Yes, I go out on day trips and hunt, but I always like ot fit in one or two 'adventures' in a season. There is good deer and bear hunting rigth in my backyard, but it's not an adventure...

I think I'd rather go on an adventure and shoot a 'good, representitive' animal than go out on a easy hunt and shoot a monster.

I'll never forget the adventures, the times when I meet new people, see new places, even if I don't get a huge animal/fish.

One of my best fishing 'adventures' wasn't much of an "adventure" at all, (in the sense that we didn't get rained on, snowed on, had to hike hard, ran out of food, got bluff charged by a grizzly) but I'll always remmeber it..

My (beautiful) gal and I went to Whitehorse, and went pike fishing wiht Yukoner. We didn't cach the biggest pike in the world, but we caught alot, and it was in good company.

I'll never forget what a thrill The Girl had wehn she caught TWO (as opposed to Daryl and I's ONE each) fish....

"Uhhmmm...Daryl, can you put it in the boat? I don't like them squirming around my feet"

So, if I wanted big elk, I'd go to a "No kill, No Pay" ranch...But I like a bit of real adventure

Like up here

Adventure! ... the greatest of all treasure.

I'll take adventure and coming home empty handed over an easy successful hunt. If I need meat I can stop at the butchers. I'm leaving in a couple hours for 8 days of wilderness backpack hunting in Idaho. Time spent in wild country and the memories produced will far outlast a little venison in the freezer. Of course if a big buck comes along I won't be carrying a rifle just for the heck of it. I can't wait.

Jeff

The differants between a adventure and a hunitng trip. The adventure starts when your hunting trips goes bad. I have had many a hunting trip that has gone off great. I have had a few that were adventures also All were fun after I came out alive. There have been a few tight spots. I hunting trip with a little adventure is fun also. Lots of adventure (life endangering) is hairy. I am not oppose to takeing a few chances to get my critter( belly crawing across thin ice to shoot geese ect)-------------------------------------------------- But if I want to put my life on the line I get out the rock climing shoes and ropes and go hang around a good distance from the ground.---------------------------------------------------That said a poor day of hunting is better then working. My we all live to give chase and go hunting another day.

Adventure starts as soon as I hit even my back yard as I always seem to be surprised about the new things I see when I thought I knew it all out there. Once that sense of adventure is gone it is time to hang up the bow and guns.

Nuther vote for ADVENTURE.

My destination is the journey.

Canuck

A while back, I came to the realization that I am hooked more on adventure than I am on bagging game.

Not that it was difficult to determine....

After 1 guided bear/boar hunt, 1 backpack camping hunt, 3 trips to Colorado to hunt elk/mule deer... all with a grand total of ZERO game taken/Zero shots taken!

But I never regretted any hunt I was on, and kept going back for more. I guess that's why I was so excited about being able to go to Africa - Ultimate Adventure!

Yes, I've had a few of those "unfortunate" adventures, too...

Colbran, Colorado:

Johnny and I were using the 4-wheeler to pack our gear from the truck, up to our little campsite higher on the mountain, away from the crowds. (We were sharing the use of my little Suzuki 185. How's that for serious planning?)

I left Johnny up at camp with the tent in the afternoon while I made one more trip to the truck with the ATV. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the air was warm. Obviously no need to take my daypack with my survival gear.
(The seeds for adventure have now been planted, watered, and fertilized.)

By the time I got down the mountain to the truck, something seemed different. The sky was growing dark, the wind began to blow, and serious clouds were moving in. I had the frame packs with sleeping bags on this last trip, so I needed to get to Johnny ASAP.

I put on a cotton camo longsleeve shirt over my short sleeve shirt, tied everything on the rack and hit the throttle. Only about 10 minutes into the 30-minute trip, the rain began pouring.
Thunder and lightning. Oh my.

Very quickly I was completely soaked, and the temperature was droppping dramatically. I finally reached the bottom of a long steep climb that had been a struggle for the little quad-bike even when it was dry. Now it was running with water, and was covered with little slippery flat rocks!

Also, it was almost totally dark. Fortunately, I had a flashlight up at the tent with my survival gear.

I had no choice but to aim the front wheels uphill, and hit it full speed. I almost made it.

The wheels began to spin, and then progress came to a halt. As it began to coast backwards, I panicked and hit the rear brake. I never said I was smart.

The ATV stood up and threw me off over the back rack. The rack kept it from coming completely over, and it dropped back on all fours and began running backwards down the mountain.

Note above, that there happened to be someone lying on his back in the mud directly below said vehicle.

I rolled quickly to the side as the ATV rolled by, ran off the trail, and high-centered on a big log.

I unleashed the packs and threw them on my back and started slipping and sliding up the mountain.

Halfway to the camp, there were a couple of hunters on their way down the mountain on big, 4wd ATV's. With rain gear on, of all things. Sissies.
They asked me if I needed help, but I was only about 200 yards from the tent by then. They seemed a little surprised at seeing a guy climbing the mountain at night in a thunderstorm, soaked to the bone in a cotton shirt, without a flashlight, carrying two frame packs. I don't know why.

I finally made it to the tent, where I found a REALLY surprised guy. I hurriedly stripped and jumped into the sleeping bag, shivering so much I couldn't talk. The whole ordeal triggered an attack of altitude sickness, and I spent the next 24 hours in the sleeping bag. I couldn't even eat a meal.

Johnny was able to get somebody to help him get the ATV off the log and get it back to camp.

And the hunt hadn't even started yet! Now that's adventure!

Rick.

[ 11-07-2003, 23:56: Message edited by: rick3foxes ]

I can find adventure on the fireing range, or in a gun store,in the cool feel of wood, and steel in a fine rifle, or in a high fence ranch, or in the thorn of Africa, or walking the tundra of Alaska. The smell of gun oil, Hoppi's No9, the heavy musky smell of an Elephant that is close, but can't be seen in the bush,also close enough that you can hear his gut rumbeling! Watching the thin tendral of blue smoke riseing streight up to the stars above a dieing camp fire, with Moose grunting,in the Yukon, or a lion roaring in the African night, or Heyenas laughing at you from the dark, the Hippos grunting and squabeling in the river's muddy water! I can taste the brassy tang in my mouth when approched by a Large Brown Bear, while fishing in Alaska, or the heat of the stare from a wounded Cape Buffalo, right before he dips his head, and comes to talk it over with you! I am 67 years old, and if today is my last, I have missed nothing, for I have BEEN TO SEE THE ELEPHANTso to speak. Old hunters are accused of telling the same stories over, and over, and we do, but we have had so many adventures, and known so many people to tell them to, that we can't keep track of who we've already told. The adventures we don't need to keep track of, because they are burned into our souls, and if the young are lucky, they will be trying to remember who they've told someday! Before those adventures can be logged, they have to be made, but the shooting of animals is only a small part of those memories, it's the little things that seem insignificent when they occure, that count, and your families, and the other people you meet along the way! Adventure is what you make of the moments in your life, and are valuable to you if no one else!

[ 11-07-2003, 23:52: Message edited by: MacD37 ]

When Im hunting I more or less make it a challenge to myself to seek out the game and succeed. Win loose or draw, That I enjoy!

I also just love camping in general, just being in the outdoors and away from the concrete jungle is enough to make me happy.

It is both for me each year. I use a few days of vacation to spend time enjoying the outdoors, and hunting moose. If I don't kill a moose, I still have a good time camping and socializing with my hunting partners and friends. We take enough food, water, and camping gear to last two weeks. We eat steaks, bacon, pancakes with blueberries we pick out there, potatoes, etc. almost daily. And no...we don't backpack hunt. We park our trucks and ride the trail on ATV's. Our campsite is located about 8 miles from the trucks, and we stay out there in 9'x10' (or so) canvas tents. The tents floors are covered with runners from leftover rugs. I sleep inside a cold weather sleeping bag on a Slumberjack cot that is topped with a Cabela's mattress, then a self inflating pad, then a folded cotton sleeping bag, and then an Army wool blanket. I sleep like a baby by myself, since my hunting partners snore (they stay in their tent about 40 paces away). In the middle of the campsite, between the tents, we have a clothes-washer steel drum. We burn firewood in this drum, and when there is enough charcoal in the bottom, we place a heavy iron BBQ grill on top. On it we grill steaks, hamburgers, bacon, etc. on aluminum foil coated with olive oil. The steaks are covered with Mrs. Dash, fresh onions, garlic, black pepper, and finally...a little vinegar to taste.

Hungry?

I'm not sure that I'm ready to answer the question... at 25, my big-game experience is VERY limited, and I haven't had many hunting "adventures" yet... (ok, duck hunting with frank hoppe can be an adventure... depends on how high the river is!).

I think its a combination of three things that drives me...

1) thrill of the hunt/chase/kill(?) Being master of your domain is a bit of a trip.
2) food, when you boil it down, a lot of that game tastes GOOD!
3) Solitude, escape. I live and work in the city. I stare at a computer screen all day and worry about other peoples' money. getting back out into nature is a great restorer for me... I come back rejuvenated and rested...

that's what does it for me... now, some of the hunts I want to go on... (african multi-...) are sheer adventure hunts, but most of the north americans on the list are viable food sources as well.

[ 11-08-2003, 09:45: Message edited by: dasMafia ]

As the soft glint of the morning sun begins to drift into my favorite patch of woods. That complete silence is then broken by one, then two of Gods creatures, and the alarm clock of nature goes off. Each breath you take slowly drift skyward, as many soft shadows dance around you. The cry of the blue jay and the call of the crow break the mornings silence. Your senses are so sharp you can hear your breath drift skyward. The mornings first light gently touches your face with just a hint of warmth in the cold predawn moment before dawn. God it is great to be alive, and experience such pure personal pleasure.

If you care not one iota about hunting, go to your favorite place just before dawn breaks and experience those sounds and that fantastic inner feeling. If you listen very hard you can hear God take each breath as he plans your day.