Why do you hunt?

[Borngeechee]

Years back there was some kind of "movement" where men went on some sort of retreat, banged on drums and talked about their issues and problems.

I always thought toss the drums buy a gun and go to deer camp.....

Now that's what I call therapy

[mike rossi]

As usual, this topic has brought a lot of thoughtful responses. It is interesting to see the variety of motives and analysis of what draws hunters into the activity. Perhaps if we understood this subject a bit more thoroughly, it might help establish meaningful tactics and techniques for re-populating the failing hunter numbers. Often there are some who don't want to think much about motives or examine what it is that attracts and keeps hunters in the sport. But as society evolves, it will be more important to understand these kinds of things more thoroughly in our campaigns to keep hunting as a viable activity off into the future.

 

Well anyway, I guess that is this year's installment .... lol. Maybe I will bring it back up in a year or two to see if there are any changes. As society evolves, and people's backgrounds, attitudes, and opportunities change, the results may very well show some differences.

 

I think a survey of one time hunters and hunters who just completed their first season of hunting is the best source of info for guiding recruitment efforts.

 

"To escape my wife" or "it was passed to me by my father" is not very good bait to attract new hunters...

 

Michael Pollan and those types appear to be very seductive to non hunters and basically have created a movement. 

[NFA-ADK]

I feel it is part of our DNA and once a person has one successful hunt they are hooked.  Some people in Modern society try to get away from it and say this is barbaric and not for civilized people yet if society broke down they would be the first to ask a hunter for help in getting food.  As a hunter we know how disillusioned these people are.

 

I can see a day where hunting and or hunters are few but the itch to seek out the unknown wilderness, follow in our four fathers foot steps and provide food will always draw new hunters.  Some answers seem simple but I believe it is because we as hunters know how right it feels. 

 

We as hunters were and will always be the best keepers of the land.  We started the green movement many years ago with conservation and even today our hunters are the best at preserving habitat and improving the land.  (Thank you Theodore Roosevelt!)

 

Tradition, nature, self sustaining and being a part of the circle of life and a greater awareness of how we fit in the circle, yes this is hunting to me.

[Doc]

.....Some people in Modern society try to get away from it and say this is barbaric and not for civilized people .....

I believe that this is the primary reason for the slide in popularity of hunting. Yes, there are many reasons, but I sense a culture shift driven primarily by anti-hunting groups that has gotten a foothold in our society. Hunters have been successfully portrayed as low-brow, Neanderthals, that are blood-thirsty leftovers of evolution. Seriously, the "cool" factor of hunting has been trashed, and actually reversed by the constant drumbeat of the antis. They have convinced a lot of people that humans have, or should have, evolved past the hunting. They have set up the attitudes that those who are against hunting are those who have evolved into a higher and superior being. You can sense that attitude in them just from conversing with them. There are all kinds of things we can do as introductory activities and offering opportunities and access to potential hunters. But when they have had their attitudes turned against hunting, it is quite impossible to bring them back. 

[Five Seasons]

Last weekend while turkey hunting I was thinking about typing this up... sort of a letter to the editor. Those of you familiar with social media probably know of buzzfeed. There's been some viral articles on there lately with respect to african game. I feel the majority of us NA hunters need a voice. I still might type it up some day, but in short for me.

 

1. I love nature and spending time in it.

2. The time with my thoughts, peace and quiet away from it all.

3. The challenge

4. The organic healthy meat and the pride knowing I provided it from my family

[Hock3y24]

1.) I enjoy the peace/quiet/ nature.

2.) the meat is the best

3.) builds friendships and family bonds when hunting with others.

4.) to get the heck out of the house!

Is it worth damn near freezing to death... No, but I still wouldn't rather be doing anything else.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Hock3y24

[dbHunterNY]

i like doing it, I can feed my family, I've got good memories with family and friends from hunting, like the challenge, and it gives me a release.  after long stressful days at work, i don't have to think about anything else.  never have a headache while on stand and if i do going in, it goes away.

[nyslowhand]

Early on in my youth, it seemed to be about the killer instinct and the meat I could provide my family. After 10-15 years of hunting, it became more about the escape from reality, getting back to nature & the mental therapy it provided, while still getting a deer for the freezer. Past 15 or so years, it has become solely about the challenge of hunting with a bow or ML, the ability to pick 'n' choose what I harvest w/o any "meat" pressures, donating venison and a general giving back to nature philosophy. Is this possibly the way hunters evolve or mature over their hunting lifetime? Am the outlier stat?