What happened to just hunting? Do you miss just hunting?

This has been something that has been on my mind for awhile now. What ever happened to the days when guys just went out into the woods to hunt? It seems that everybody is analyzing and calculating every single time they step into the woods anymore, hell, I am guilty of it. I go into the woods and analyize everything I see... why is this scrape here?...why is this rub here?.... why is this trail here?.... where is it heading?.... when are the deer using it?... ect. I know that this will help with your ability to kill an animal, but I often think about when I was 13 or 14 years old and would just pick out a tree, hoping for the best, and enjoying every second of it. Do you guys feel the work/strategy has taken away from your enjoyment? Is it just that the childhood excitement has diminished with each season?

 

I do still go just hunting alot of times to kill does. We need to keep the numbers in check so plenty of does need to be taken in my area.

Altho there is usually a calculated risk of a nice buck showing up too.

 

I say it goes with experience. Everytime out we are learning OR confirming information that we may or may not know. Knowledge plays a big role in why we look at things the way we do. Yeah it did seem more simple when we were kids and just set up under the first tree in the woods. But as we use our wisdom we have learned through experience or sharing with one another on here, I use every bit of that for selecting what tree may give me the best opportunity to have a successful hunt.

 

I'm guilty of it, too. I definitely over analyze my bowhunting. Rifle season is when I get back to basics and the comradery that makes me feel like I'm 12 again.

 

I love it. I love to think of it. I used to be the guy that just stormed in and hunted...then something happened. The deer numbers started to drop. I was forced to think, and then think some more to get onto deer. It has made me a much better hunter.

 

I think about this from time to time. I have managed to balance things out, because I still have fun. If I stopped having fun, I'd go back to "just hunting". Honestly I talk and analyze MUCH MUCH more while on these forums than I do in actual practice.

 

Same here - but i swear sometimes i hear GMMAT , or GREGH whispering in my ear "you sure the winds right" :d

 

Forget the wind just hunt!

 

x2. I'm not going to lie I do miss just throwing on some camo toting along a weapon, tromping through the woods and just hoping to see deer. But there comes a point when some hunters expect more of themselves and that is when we put in more work, more attention to detail with the hopes of being more succesful.

 

I agree. I used to calculate a lot, the night before a morning hunt. Often times too much. But once the morning comes, many times I do something completely different because it just "feels right". As long as I'm in the woods, I'm happy. Never hurts to change a plan or just have no plan at all. Some of the best memories can be made when there was no plan, you just went in on a mission for fresh sign.

That being said, after gun hunting for years, getting into bowhunting taught me how important a plan can be in certain situations. I still enjoy having a plan based on actual scouting. Just not a plan I hypothesize in my head. Getting within 30 yards is not comparable to having to get within 75 yards with a slug gun. Thats why I love bowhunting

 

I guess I have the same mentality I did when I was back in my bass fishing days. I would fish 4-5 days a week, every week from springr to fall. Everytime I hit the water I constantly thought what I needed to do to catch fish. I didn't just paddle up to a cove, sit and not catch fish. If I did not catch fish, I thought about what I needed to do, and moved/changed my tactics accordingly. Hunting is much the same. I refuse to sit in some crappy spot because I "just want to hunt" and not think.

 

No I don't miss just hunting. I "just hunt" all the time. This past season I tried to analyze everything and it backfired on me. Im used to hunting off of gut insticts and 20 yrs of deer hunting experience and it has worked well.

 

I 'just hunted' back when I didnt know what the hell I was doing. If you have the know-how to know how to hunt, then your never just hunting. I cant see any educated sole just sitting their rear end down on a stump and hoping for the best when they know darn well that theres a better spot out there...

 

I get alot of the "fun" by analyzing stuff. I get alot of joy out of picking the right tree. This year was the first year I hunted any of the properties that I hunted. Most of my rewards from the season came from picking the right trees to put me into deer. I get a thrill out of "being right" and the only way for me to "be right" is to analyze stuff.
I will put it this way, I get more enjoyment out of analyzing that leads me to being in deer than I do just plopin in and hoping to see deer.

 

I think I enjoy the scouting and thinking and trying to figure out deer more than actually hunting. BTW the biggest buck (that I know of) that was shot in my area was killed by a guy wandering around because he didn't prescout and didn't have a stand site picked out.

 

I may go just hunt tomorrow after work. Bear season opens tomorrow but there's still too much snow for there to be a snowball's chance in Hell of any bears being out.

 

Where you getting your shoes at anyway? My shoes are FAR from being considered educated.

I agree that anyone who knows better will be VERY hard pressed to go against what they KNOW...pick a random spot already knowing where the better spot is? Don't buy it.

I say its human nature to apply what we have learned. Sports players do it, businessmen do it, it happens in all aspects of life. Stock brokers asking, what happened to just trading? LOL Offbase, but kind of validates my point...there really isn't anything wrong with applying what you know.

 

Them days are still here with me. I just choose to hunt a more mature buck now then I use to. I try not to over analyze things, doesn't always happen though. I'm still having just as much fun as before, just going at It differently. Some people do drive me nuts though with their over analyzing everything when It comes to hunting.

 

I have more fun each year that I hunt. All of the analyzing that I do causes me to see more deer. What could be more fun than seeing the game you are after?