Some people are all about the score. Don't get me wrong- I love BIG BONE" (Big antlers for you non-hunting folk) as much if not more than the next man. I know how to score bucks and have scored a couple of my bigger bucks. I do not however profess to be the guy after the biggest buck. If I was the guy after the biggest buck, I believe I would have to travel to the Midwest every year and probably being doing things differently than I am. I do however love big bucks and yes I enjoy hunts out to the Midwest. I take them rarely as I own property in VA now and have family obligations that keep me here at home.
Some guys hunt for the camaraderie. They love to hunt with others and love the feeling of the camp and the fun of being with others. This is not why I hunt. Yes I love to talk, eat, sleep. blog, text, email, chat, and just think about hunting. But I do most of my hunting alone. If I could see my wife and boy every evening, I would be fine to be in a situation where I was hunting alone for days upon end and not ever see another hunter. Mind you, its is not wrong for a guy to like hunting and enjoy time with his or her friends. That is cool and yes I enjoy that aspect on occasion.
Some people hunt for tradition and the romance of the event. This person was raised hunting and goes the first few days of season but lets it go after that. That isn't me. My brother-in-law introduced me to hunting. Hunting is not a romance. Its more of a love-hate at times. Some days are good but others are long, hard, cold weeks of not seeing a deer. My dad wasn't a big hunter so again I picked hunting for a different reason.
So why do I hunt? I love to be in the woods. I love to sit in a tree, on the ground, in a blind, in a shooting house, under a power line, or where ever and just sit. I bow hunt, muzzle loader hunt, rifle hunt and have even pistol hunted. But I hunt because its the way I enjoy the outdoors. Yes, I get excited about big bucks on trail cams and then sit in the rain looking for a chance to shoot him. But over-all I love the outdoors. I became a gunsmith as an extension of my hunting. Yes I love guns and love to shoot them. But I will still bow hunt and think its way cool to get that close and have to draw back on a deer. I am trying to say that hunting is more to me at times than the kill or anything else I get. Over the years, I have grown to enjoy planting, feeding and raising deer. Deer hunting has become a all year event. But really its a way to stay in the woods ALL YEAR LONG. Again, I just love the outdoors.
That being said, I had the enjoyment of taking my son on his first fishing trip this year and his first hunt. Whether he ever wants to hunt or fish, whether he likes to the shoot the guns that I put so much time in on or not, I do however want him to enjoy the outdoors. My daddy loved the outdoors and I love it. My Daddy was logger and yes I have been the logger's safety man, but I love the outdoors by hunting. Maybe my boy and I looking at a bird and looking a bunny waiting on a big buck will give him a love that I have. Only time will tell.
Why do you love to hunt?
