Kill a buck or enjoy your time in the woods? Now, part of this is, well.....obvious. We wouldn't do it at all if we weren't out to bring one home but.......Is that the MAIN objective?? What I mean is this........If I only had 1 buck tag and 1 doe tag, with no option of getting more.......I would, in some ways, be pretty disappointed to tag out early in the season. I just enjoy being in the woods, watching the world wake up and live out its' day. I love sitting in a tree 20' above the ground. If, by some miraculous chance I were to fill both my tags in the first week of a 4 month season.........I would definetly be disappointed. I mean, don't get me wrong, I would be thrilled as well, but......well you know what I mean. Fortunately, here in MO that's not gonna happen. I can buy unlimited doe tags so I can, literally, never tag out. I can fill my buck tags, but I won't ever be w/out a tag.
I would like to enjoy my time. I have always said a buck is a bonus.If I don't enjoy the time in the woods it wouldn't be worth it to me to go anymore.
If I didn't enjoy being out there, I would just buy gun tags and fill em in the shortest amount of time possible. There are frustrations while in the woods but for the most part it's a great time to clear the mind of worldly worries. The end goal is still to put meat in the freezer, with the secondary of hopefully having an encounter with a nice buck.
When the season rolls around, what I look forward to the most is being out in the woods away from the city. I grew up in rural Southwest Kansas on a farm, but have since moved into Wichita. It's not a BIG city, but big enough for me not to feel at home. Getting out to the woods is my little piece of solitude. It is a way for me to relax, get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and just enjoy nature the way it should be enjoyed. Obviously my main objective is to kill a buck and a doe, or else I wouldn't even be out there. But to be able to sit there and listen to nature without sirens, vehicles, and dogs making noise all the time, it really comforts me and puts a huge smile on my face. Plus it gets me away from the wife... :p
This is going to be my first season true season, so I don't have ONE main goal. I am looking forward to spending time in the woods, learning all I can, and yes....to get that first deer. I can't explain the emotions I feel as I count down to next weekend when i can finally get out there!!
Most of you haven't a clue what It's like to only have one tag period. It makes a persons decisions that much more difficult on passing deer (specially In the later part of the season). In saying that though I've never went against my goals and shot something I normally wouldn't. My goal plain and simple Is to get a 130"+ buck every year but If I fail at that like I usually do I hope like heck I can get lucky enough the last 2 weeks of the season and stick a doe or doe fawn.
With my son now behind a bow for his first season, things have changed, my main goal.... putting him on deer!
I love being out there as much as the next guy.... however, I will offer no apologies.... my ultimate goal is to kill a quality buck. I will add though that over the years I've become less and less interested in tagging lesser deer and just seem content to watch and wait for a special one. I do shoot a fair number of Does for the freezer and to keep the skills sharp. lol !
Before I started actually killing deer, I would have said it was all about enjoying myself, but now I have expectations for myself that I want to live up to.....and that entails killing. So, JZ's statement is spot on for me. But, PT's....not so much. I like venison, but not that much. I'll keep the tenderloins and a little loin, but the rest I give away. KILL KILL KILL!!!!
im trying to put meat in the freezer! thats it! if i fill both my tags (buck and doe) then i have no prob going out and trying to film friends to try and make their hunt more enjoyable
I don't consider enjoying my time in the woods a goal....it's more of a given. My goal is to kill a quality buck.
While I do enjoy my time in the woods (most of the time), I don't go through what I go through, invest the time I do leading up to the season, put a zillion hours on stand for the sole purpose of enjoyment. My ultimate goal and reason for doing what I do is to kill a trophy buck. The enjoyment during the process will always be there and a byproduct of my quest.