All a part of the game.....

[Bottom Hunter]

as many here know, my computer is conveniently located where I can see all of my deer mounts...lol.

as I look at them, on occasion, I can very easily place myself right back to that exact day and time and pretty much relive it in vivid details.....

sadly though, as i sit here I can also remember those that got away....and wonder what my wall would look like if I hadn't missed or hadn't hit a big deer that got away from me...

but, yet, I wonder if anything would have changed if I hadn't missed, if every deer I had a chance to kill, I did.

would anything change in me if at some point the success or maybe a better term would be a lack of non-success in the deer woods had produced a feeling of boredom, maybe even a lack of achieveable goals since many of the deer I missed were definitely deer of a lifetime?

if I had not watched a massage old eight pointer run across the field ducking lead way back in 1974 or watched the most incredible deer I have ever seen simply disappear with my arrow in his back, never to be seen again, some ten years ago, and these deer were now on my wall , would I be the hunter that I am today, or would I even hunt any longer?

would I care about details or try to learn more and more every year?

why should I when I have never tasted failure....?

I'd like to think that I would still love the challenge, but would it any longer be considered a challenge if I had not failed?

it hurts to see something you want and realize that the odds of getting it is rare. And when you get so close to it and still can't close the deal, well, it hurts even more. But, in reality, why do you want it so badly......if everyone had one and having one was easily attainable, then the glow would dim, don't you think?

my point is that the reason some of us get up every day and brave the elements for hours on end is not because of the rewards as much as it is about the challenge...this can also true not only with hunting but also in real life....

failure should always be a part of the game, without it, what's the point?

enjoy the process....

 

[BowGuy84]

I missed a basket 9 point on Christmas break with 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground at 23 yards with a rifle when I was 13 (had scope set on 9x)! It was the last time I got to hunt that year. I read and learned everything I could following that experience...I know for a fact that is what lit my fire.

Similar occurrence with a doe and bowhunting when I was 15 is what set that drive in motion.

 

[Shed Hunter]

This past season the biggest deer I ever seen from stand got away. He was about 300 yards and I took my 30-30 because the day before I had seen 10 doe at only about 50 yards and I like my 30-30 better at that range. I thought if I seen a buck surely he would come out sonewhere in that area. That one taught me to carry a bigger gun when it might be needed.

I also missed a little seven pointer my first year bow hunting. My crossbow scope was off. Last shed season I found his skull. I'm 100% sure it was a clean miss because I can still show you the broadhead(stuck a few inches into a tree). The arrow had no blood either. Now that I look back it's a real bummer that I didn't get him knowing something did and he would have been an awesome first bow kill. He has now driven me to want my first bow kill to be a P&Y(he wasn't even close but still gave me the idea as I could care less about shooting a little deer just so it will be my first bow kill) Last year I passed ten bucks up in archery. Anything from a spike to a small eight point. Coolest thing was I almost got a shot at a P&Y buck. I was out of my stand curious to why I hadn't seen any deer. It was almost twelve and getting too hot to stay(first day of bow season I should add). I thought it would be a good idea to check the creek crossing to see if anything had been using that spot. I began walking through a covered path that deer often use. As I was walking I suddenly seen two six points jump out of the creek. I got down in a kneeling position behind a small briar patch. As I waited and hoped they would walk off an eight point jumped out. He was a good 40 yards away and I don't feel comfortable shooting my cheapo crossbow over 20. I knew he had no idea I was there though. The wind was perfect and I knew I would be able to sneak up on him. As I began stalking him a yearling spike runs out of the creek. He apparantly could not see me either because he ran about five feet away from me. Of course he quickly realized that I was there and scared off. The six points ran but the eight point only trotted forward a dew yards. To my misfortune it was right behind a fence to a closed land fill I live next to.

That was the coolest moment I've ever had while hunting and I doubt it will be topped. I didn't kill the deer but in a way Im glad I didn't.. Okay that's a lie but whatever

 

[Hollar Hunter]

Just like I can tell you every moment from the hunt of every big buck I have on my wall. I can also tell you every big buck that I missed or got away from me just as fast....Still loose sleep over a couple of them if I think about it at bedtime....

 

[backstraps]

Good post.
It has for sure been the ones that got away that continues to give me the drive to become a better hunter. The ones I have harvested are great memories. HOWEVER... I have one particular buck that got away. There were mistakes on my part on that loss that I will never forget. It was a once in a life time chance at a deer of his caliper...on free range.

I would be telling a lie if I were to say that I would not change a thing...but I feel the ones that have gotten away has made me a better hunter so far and will continue to do so.

 

[bowriter]

There came in time in life that hunting did produce boredom. I became tired of sitting in trees and ground blinds. Even when hunting in the Midwest and Canada where the next deer could be a gagger, I got bored. The constant repetition, day after day for over 100 days each year, got old...real old.

So, I quit. I quit a job most hunters say they would love to have. However, I only hear that from the hunters who have never had a job like that. I quit and came back to a job most really would love to have.

After a period of readjustment, I began to hunt deer the way they are supposed to be hunted-for the pure enjoyment of it. I never again counted points or thought of having a head mounted. During a nine year period, I only killed one buck over 130. I only hunted on days I wanted to go hunting, not the best days to hunt. Slowly, the boredom left and it once again was enjoyable to sit in a stand or blind.

I too can see most of the mounted heads from my computer. Perhaps fortunately, I cannot remember a single one of the ones that got away. I can recall an elk or two that I failed to close the deal on. No deer.

This season, as it has been in the past few years, I will hunt for whatever comes by regardless of size or sex. There is a doe I will match wits with off and on but not seriously. Other than that, every deer I kill will be a trophy and there will be not one regret if I don't kill a single one. For the first time in several years, I am anxious for a cool morning and seeing the first leaves turn. I may, probably will, go to Canada for a couple weeks. There, I will only shoot a gross scoring buck over 140. That is what you are supposed to do there.

Unless I change my mind. If I get bored, I will come home and read.

 

[tickweed]

Great post Bottom Hunter. Really got me to thinking. I feel like I still love to hunt as much as I ever did, but now its for different reasons than years ago. Funny, as a person gets some age, things change.

 

[Mike Belt]

BH----it's that adreneline rush at the chance that keeps me going back. Whether I come out on top or otherwise really makes no difference in the overall scheme of things. Just give me the chance.

 

[papaw]

For me , hunting is not what you drag home with your hands, it's what you carry home in your heart and soul.

 

[redblood]

good post. but man you seriously need a job, u are thinking way too much lol

 

[StalkingWolf]

Great post. When we fail in our quest it makes our success even better. Funny how balance works.

 

[Bottom Hunter]

good post. but man you seriously need a job, u are thinking way too much lol

thinking more and posting less should be at the top of everyone's bucket list..LOL!!!

the problem is, when I get in one of my moods, I can't stop. That's why I try to stay away from the political forum...lol.

we have the freedom to post and the freedom to read or not read...it's America, remember..hahahahaha!

gotta love it, even in these times!

 

[BHC]

I'm as obsessed with it as i was at six yrs old fortunately I'm a little more successful now, but here the last four or five yrs I seem to watch 1 or 2 big ones slip right by me every yr... For me its all about the chase though. Never figured this one out but I shake like crazy after an encounter with a big deer jus as if I had shot it... It sucks when your sittin there watching a button head browse away, hear a limb pop behind you see that monster slipping away, then the shakes come and you know that little button in front of you is about to tell the whole Forrest on you....

 

[Snake]

good post. but man you seriously need a job, u are thinking way too much lol

thinking more and posting less should be at the top of everyone's bucket list..LOL!!!

the problem is, when I get in one of my moods, I can't stop. That's why I try to stay away from the political forum...lol.

we have the freedom to post and the freedom to read or not read...it's America, remember..hahahahaha!

gotta love it, even in these times!

:grin: