Ever not go hunting cuz you didn’t feel like dealing with the work involved if you do get something ?

[Northcountryman]

Guys , I know this sounds incredible counterintuitive and lazy , but I’ve actually done this a few times over the years , not just today ! When I got up , around 4:20 , i had all my stuff ready to go  including my breakfast premade . As I was sitting there , though , thinking about all I had to do at home for work , I started to talk myself out of not going until , before you know it , I was putting my stuff away and poring an extra cup of coffee to watch in front of the tv lol. I did feel a bit disgusted with myself , in retrospect and recall I did the other time or two this happened to me . Eve happen to you guys ? Deep down , was I just being lazy ?

[phade]

Nobody is perfect and you do what you want. It’s recreation.

If I commit to going though, I go. Different story if I have a reason to not go.

[nybuckboy]

No, but I have passed up killing a small bucks and does because there’s just as much work involved with little bucks and does as there is with a trophy buck. I hunt for mature bucks first because I can always get meat later. 

[chrisw]

I do that once or twice a season. If I'm not feeling it for whatever reason I just don't go. Usually I force myself to get moving then I'm good for the day. Usually my excuse is I'm exhausted, which I am a lot during deer season.

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[skully]

I pass on bucks all the time cause I do not feel there worth it.  There is a place that is a mile into the woods that I pass on deer cause of that drag up and over mountain but if same deer was in my backyard I would not hesitate

[Nytracker]

To be honest my kill drive is down this year . Alot going on at home and work . Slow start to my season hasn't helped.  Now I'm getting over covid .I could have gone this morning  except for the cough problem. Then my thought at 5 am this morning was how are you going to drag and load it into the truck by your self.  Then butcher and process. Perhaps I can get out this week if I feel better.

[First-light]

Nope never. What keeps me from the woods is a nice warm bed on a nasty day. I have never thought the task at hand harvesting a deer to keep me out of the woods. 

[suburbanfarmer]

I hunt for meat, so its part of the hunt. I am going regardless unless its pouring buckets.

[Daveboone]

I am lucky that I have a camp an hour away that is my base for almost all my hunting. I treasure my two weeks off I take during hunting season, and plan on being up there for most of those weeks. That said, I may not be there the entire time, closely watching the weather for best conditions, etc. 

I tend to go every chance I can, getting home commitments/projects done before those times. I have though, many times passed on deer because I either just didnt feel like shooting, or timing would have been difficult to get it taken care of. 

That aside, on more than one occasion I have woken in the morning to hear the wind a howling and sleet/snow/rain beating on the roof, and happily rolling back over for some more sleep. 

[New York Hillbilly]

3 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

Guys , I know this sounds incredible counterintuitive and lazy , but I’ve actually done this a few times over the years , not just today ! When I got up , around 4:20 , i had all my stuff ready to go  including my breakfast premade . As I was sitting there , though , thinking about all I had to do at home for work , I started to talk myself out of not going until , before you know it , I was putting my stuff away and poring an extra cup of coffee to watch in front of the tv lol. I did feel a bit disgusted with myself , in retrospect and recall I did the other time or two this happened to me . Eve happen to you guys ? Deep down , was I just being lazy ?

I don't think it's a sign of being lazy as much as the reality that many of us have a lot of responsibilities  that compete for our limited head space. It sucks when you sit there on stand thinking about everything that needs to get done elsewhere. I know for me there are days I just admit to myself that I'm going to be thinking about everything other than hunting so I talk myself out of going, or if I do go hunting, I pull the plug early and head back to the house.

Believe it or not; there have been several times over the years I have called to check on my patient's while hunting.  One time in particular, years ago, the nurse on the other end asked me why I was whispering. When I told her I was in a pine tree deer hunting she cracked up laughing and told me quit calling and go back to hunting.

[GreeneHunter]

Yeah , occasionally I'll sit in my Ladder Stand and think about the fun being over the minute I pull the trigger ! The wife is starting to bust chops saying " Good Thing Turkeys are on sale "   Gotta love em !

[Gobbler Chaser]

I actually come in before dark now to avoid having to get a deer outta the woods in pitch darkness. I like bagging them in the morning 

[Dr Juice]

I know guys whom let go shootable bucks late Sunday mornings because they want to leave for home around noon.

My question is: WTF? Why are you in the woods?

To each is own I guess.

[Grouse]

When I was young, I learned to stop the symptoms of buck fever coming on, by thinking about all the work that nice buck was going to make for me once I shot it. 

Other than that, that work, or any other work, will not stop me from going.  When I plan a day to hunt, it's is planned to fit into anything else going on in my life, so I have no worries about going for the day.  

I still regret all the days of the past I could've been hunting and didn't make plans to go.

[LET EM GROW]

I still go, i just pass on certain animals certain days or in certain places.. due to what it would take to care for said downed animal etc.. 

[airedale]

Went shopping with the wife the day after thanksgiving and picked up two turkeys on sale, when we got the groceries home we had all we could do to fit those turkeys in the freezer as it is packed. The wife laid the law down and said no more frozen food to be purchased until we get what we already have eaten down some.

So yesterday I get my hunting clothes on and tell the wife I am going hunting but I ain't going to kill anything because we have no place to put it. Bwahahaha. Shit I just like being in the woods and I will do the same today.

Al

[Larry]

Yep opening day I shot a doe dragged that myself. My buddy shot a doe and helped him drag it out. Had a ok buck come by and at 65 I said f this I'm not going to shoot and have to drag another one out. To tired.

[heavuser]

No, but I can tell you I pass up deer specifically because I butcher them myself now. I like being in the woods, even if I'm not shooting anything. Seeing them still gives me a rush.

[suburbanfarmer]

1 hour ago, Larry said:

Yep opening day I shot a doe dragged that myself. My buddy shot a doe and helped him drag it out. Had a ok buck come by and at 65 I said f this I'm not going to shoot and have to drag another one out. To tired.

One is none

Two is one and

Three is for fun  

[moog5050]

Sadly - many times.  lol  Home butchering can be a chore when busy.

[Northcountryman]

13 hours ago, Gobbler Chaser said:

I actually come in before dark now to avoid having to get a deer outta the woods in pitch darkness. I like bagging them in the morning 

Me too!!

[knehrke]

Heck, yeah! Life is chaos, and I want to respect my harvest. If I know I won't have time, then IMHO it's smart to pass. I don't know why, but it seems tough to get motivated when you know you're not going to pull the trigger - i'm a hunter, not a bird watcher. But motivation is a strange thing, too. If I have my sights set on a trophy buck, chances are I won't get a chance to pull the trigger, but I'm still hunt-crazy. Flip side is, once I've taken a buck, then what you're talking about creeps in...

[boo711]

I don’t consider it to be “work” if you get something, just part of the process. If I set the alarm to get up and hunt I go.  If I know the weather is going to be shitty I don’t set an alarm. I may be more selective on shooting something if I have plans that night and I am hunting an afternoon. With that said though I have missed or showed up late to birthday parties for nieces and nephews, friends kids etc. I even showed up late to my wife’s cousins wedding a few years ago because I shot a deer. (Cousins father is a hunter, he understood, but why you would let your daughter get married during hunting season is beyond my comprehension).   My wife is more than understanding as she knew I was a hunter looonnng before we started dating and got married. 

[avg. joe]

I don't think that I didn't go out because I didn't want to be bothered, but I have gone out with no intention of harvesting anything. I have gone out for deer and decided the only thing I would take would be a nice buck. I've walked through the grouse woods and never loaded the shotgun. So, I have gone out with no plan on getting anything or wanting to get anything. The older I get the more I just take my gun for a walk than hunt.

[Doc]

This topic is related to what has been happening with me. I am officially of the category of being, "older than dirt". Also I hunt primarily by myself. So what I have found is that my hunting is evolving into is a more local style of hunting (closer to the house). I used to measure my hunting in terms of miles up the hill and down the valley, never really considering what I would do if I ever got something. Hey, what the heck, I was young and eager and full of energy. Now my hunting area involves where I can get my ATV to get the deer out. 

So it is not a question of not going out, but rather how far I go to hunt.