What hunting means to me.

[noodle one]

Next week I will be 68 years old and hunting has been a big part of it as long as I can remember.I remember going for my hunter safety test and getting my first small game Jr hunting. license, if my memory is correct it cost $2.15. My first gun was a 410 (3in) single shot Stevens. I use to deliver newpapers and one of my customers had it and him and I would talk about hunting ever time I would go to collect for the paper. One day he showed it to me and it was love at first sight.I asked if he wanted to sell it and he told that he would never part with it. Every week that summer when I would see him I would ask about the gun and if he wanted to sell it. The answer was always the same (NO). I had given up asking about the gun, when one day in Oct. while collecting for the paper he answered the door with the 410 in his hand. He asked me if I still wanted to buy it. The answer was (YES) . He sold it to me for $10.00 . He told me that I only had to pay him a dollar a week.He also told me to take it home right now before he changed his mind. I never missed a payment. Now I was a complete hunter, my small game license in my pocket and my very own gun. I hit every small game animal and bird that I pulled up on. i loved that little gun. I just didn't miss with it. I had that gun for 20 years and sold it to a friend for his son. I sold that gun for $10.00 dollars, the same as I paid for it. To this day I wished that I still had that gun.When I turned 16 I became a big game hunter (deer) . It toke me 3 years before I shot my first deer(6 point buck) and after at I started getting a deer every year mostly bucks and a few doe.

Today I can't remember the last doe that I got. I get one or two doe tags very year and never fill them. I hunt with bow ,gun and black powder I guess I am very lucky when it comes to hunting deer.because I take a buck every year with a bow , and have passed up many bucks with gun because I am looking for one that everyone is dreaming about. I have taken many nice bucks ,but not that one. I always hunt on the ground, not in a treestand. Every year I tell myself that I am saving the doe tags for black powder. and every year I pass up easy shots. When I get home my wife will ask if I had any luck and when I tell her no she thinks that I didn't have a good hunt. When I tell her I had a great hunt she looks at me like i am little crazy and tells me that I didn't get a deer so how can it be a great hunt. She just dosn't understand what makes a great hunt for me. I love being in the fall woods or spring turkey woods. To me hunting is not about killing something every time out and I am out more than most people. I love the sights, sounds, and the smell of the woods. I love watching all of gods creatures as they move about. I guess you could call me a loner when it comes to hunting. I like to hunt by myself alone. It's not that I dislike hunting with others, it that I hate hunting by their clock. When I go in the woods I don't know how long I will hunting that day. I hate it when my wife tells that I have to be home at this time or that. I hate when I am hunting with someone and he tells me that he need to be home or back to the truck by this time or that. I just hate hunting by the clock. The game that I hunting never carries a watch and that is how I am when hunting.I love the solitary of the woods. Some of my best thinking comes when sitting in the woods alone. I can make many problems disappear as I am sitting there and find many answers for many other things. I love the spring morning when The song brids are waking up and watching the day come alive and hearing the first gobble of the day. i love sitting in the fall woods in the fall with a chill in the air and with bow in hand while watching the leaves falling from the tree tops like snow and hearing the acorns dropping all around me. To see the first deer of the day coming up the trail. If I take a deer that day that is a bonus. I just love being in the woods and being a hunter.

[cynthiafu]

i hope you get that big one that everyone dreams of and i hope you get the one you dream of . this is a nice thread . love it

[132 eight pointer]

I enjoyed what you wrote noodle one.I share your enjoyment of the peaceful spirit of the woods it is very calming and spiritually energizing.I can't explain why but I just feel I belong there.I dislike looking at a clock too probably because I don't wan't my hunting time to end.

[Elmo]

Great post, noodle. Thanks for sharing.

[WNYBuckHunter]

That was a great read Noodle, thanks for posting.

[Deerthug]

That was a very inspirational story and a very enjoyable read.

[Littlesunray]

i love the story, kind of sounds like my hubby when he goes out to hunt. he has not harvest a deer yet but he is out every chance he has. he tells me it more about learning than taking. does he want a deer yes, is he selective yes in regard he will not take a baby no matter what. he also says it is about the boys(our 2 sons0 , he will not shoot at a deer be fore they have a chance , no matter what. it it runs on them , they learned a lesson is how he tells them.

just to tell you a little my husband just got into hunting when his mother passed, he did to spend time with his dad, and keep an eye on him per say. he learned very quickly not to just go out and shoot at everything, he is happy be one with the woods.

heck most of the hunts he has been out and came home with a camera full of pictures, never even took the gun out of the van. and that was more fun to him than you can imagine.

[Paula]

i enjoyed reading that noodle

[Doc]

What a great description of what hunting is for most of us. It's the kind of thing that as many non hunters as possible should read. Maybe it would give them a good insight as to what makes us tick. I really appreciate you putting all that into words.

[nyantler]

Great story Noodle... it would serve a lot of hunters well to learn to make the deer secondary to the experience... after all if you're not having fun and soaking in all that nature has to offer.. whats the point? good job!!

[Single_shot]

Awsome post!!! Just awsome! Thanks for posting.....it brings me back to earth to read something this good. Can't wait to get in the woods now more than ever.

[BUCKrub91]

Thanks for sharing I enjoyed reading this.

I didn't even take a picture of my first deer, which I cant believe, but I can remember exactly what it looked like, and exactly how she came in. And go through a play by play in my mind of everything that happened between the time when I first saw her come out in the ope,n and when I finally got her strung up to bleed out.

[nyantler]

Getting a deer is a bonus that just makes the experience all that much better... for me it is all about what leads up to that bonus... like Noodle I have had many great hunting days that I didn't shoot a deer... if you can't say that.. then you might want to rethink why you are hunting.. yes, we are all doing our part for conservation and that should be part of the equation for a happy hunt... but the bottom line is that there are some great experiences with friends and family that can't be replaced by even the biggest bucks

[RobC]

Very cool post. Wish everyone who hunted shared your outlook on hunting.

[Pygmy]

Noodle...That is a wonderful post... You have a few years on me, but I am also in my 60s..I still have my first hunting license and it cost $3.25...

As I read your post, one word comes to me....Freedom....

Being in the woods, and not having to mind a clock or worry about our day to day responsibilities.. That is a TRUE and TOTAL sense of freedom, even if it is only a few hours, or a day. And it is a WONDERFUL thing...

I hope you and I have a few more seasons to enjoy this freedom, My Friend..

[Littlesunray]

it just occurred to me that my rambling about my hubby, seems like i jacked the op thread that was not intent, i am sincerely sorry. just the post touched me so much and sounded just like my hubby.

[hb270deermanager]

I really enjoyed you post its great to hear from a person

with so much time and experience and love of the outdoors.

Like you I have a great love and admiration for the outdoors.

I to love the peacefulness and sanctuary of it.I will be 50 next

season.I have recently be joined by my 17 yr old son and

enjoy sharing that time with him teaching him all I have learned.

Its been a lifetime of greta enjoyment and dedication to give

back to something I truly enjoy.Its great 36 yrs getting my start

from my dad and brother inlaw.My dads 84 now and no longer joins

us but I keep our time afield dear to me and close to heart he never

really hunted but he still taught me so much from a farmers stand

piont.I learned to manage and shape the land in which I hunt give

back to the game that I also hunt and respect.Build relationships

with landowners I have helped and guided in building their own great

piece of the outdoors.I have become a land and game manager learning

everything I can about ecosystems,big and small game,Birds,predators,

Impacts that desease and natural extremes that challenge these birds and

animals every day.I also know that at anytime through manmade or natural

causes it could all be taken away.If I could give one thing of advice to anyone

who love this pastime it would be to cherish this great tradition,respect its

boundries,when given the chance give something back,plant a tree,plant

some foodplots or hedgerows,build a small pond where water would help

a change the quaility of the environmental area.Or simply just sit in the

enivironment and ask yourself how luck am I to be able sit here and enjoy

one of gods greatest creations for it is you and I who have the ultimate

means to make it better or destroy it.Its our choice I hope we all chose to

better it then make it go away.

[Ford]

That was a great post, thanks for sharing.

I would agree, the sights, and sounds of hunting...The smells...The solitude if you are alone, or the camaraderie with family or friends at the deer camp. That is why I do it as well.

I like venison, but to be honest, I have a huge supply from my buddies that hunt..And I like shootin critters. As long as they are edible or varmints...But that really has little to do with why I hunt. It is all about being out there really.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Thanks Noodle! I read that to my 6 year old before bed last night. He was asking if "the guy died".