GMMAT

Gonna sound funny, but here goes……

I am ABSOLUTELY amazed at how bowhunting for deer has engulfed me. I was thinking yesterday about when I first started. I drove 40 minutes to hunt a 15 acre woodlot I had access to…..and had NO IDEA of where to set up. I took my son, that day. He climbed. I got in my DB blind. I remember him coming down at 8:30 telling me we weren’t going to see anything. I just hushed him and got him in the blind. When he decided he was ready to leave…..I remember getting out…..just as 4 does hopped into our set. I was ACTUALLY seeing a deer in the wild! Stop for a moment and think back…….I hope we haven’t dismissed how magical it is to still see them. I was thinking about this doe I saw on Friday. She pegged me from 60 yds. None of the 5 bucks I saw that day did…..but she was well more mature than all of them in years. She had staged about an hours from dark at a place where she could observe before entering the woodlot. Smart lady. She took another route.

I think about how lucky we are to get as close as we get to these animals. If you stop and think about it…..it’s magical. Even now….when what I know is STILL in its’ infancy…..I STILL see deer on a regular basis…..and sometimes lots of them. I can’t figure out whether I’m lucky, blessed….or getting better. I’ll take two out of three and be happy. I hope I NEVER lose the feeling of how magical it is to be in the presence of these animals and them not know it.

Man…..I love this.

Jeff

Cougar Mag

Yes I believe we take it for granted sometimes. When I first started bowhunting back in the late 70's if I saw one deer each trip I felt blessed. Two or three and I was estatic back then. Now if I don't see deer each and every trip I am disappointed. Its got tougher in my area, some lands have changed hands making it tougher to keep land to hunt, more bowhunters, too many down-if-its-brown hunters, and poaching[:@].

ABarOfSoap

the day you lose that feeling is the day you stop hunting...
my uncle has been hunting for 40 years, and he says his heart still beats fast when he sees a doe, even if he knows he is not going to shoot it.

im also very happy even if i just see a doe, infact the other day i watched a doe for about an hour, she ended coming 30 yards from me, and all of a sudden got a smell of me from down wind, once this happened it looked like someone yelled Boo at the deer, because she suddenly jumped and walked backwards 5 feet, than continued on her way from another direction.
its just amazing watching these animals because of how smart they are.

Washington Hunter

I tend to take it for granted as the season progresses.

When you're only allowed one deer a year and start passing on does early in the season, seeing them just doesn't get the heart racing nearly as fast as when you know you can shoot them.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Oh Dan, don't think that way. After 25 years at this my heart still races a little when I see a button or fawn doe. I love the animal, I love seeing them regardless. Q2IN and I went out after he tagged out with our video cameras just to observe, we got up the next morn to do it again, just to see them and hopes at seeing a good buck. It's magical.

This morning I took the landowner out for our rifle opener. I saw a dandy buck, motioned the landowner to come to me and sent him on the stalk while I stayed perched above. I watched him raise his rifle twice but didn't have the perfect shot. I was so hoping he would. He came back and reported that to me, I shook his hand and said, "sometimes it's just an honor to see a buck like that".

Washington Hunter

Oh don't get me wrong, my heart always races when I see a deer while I'm hunting. Its just not as fast or as hard as when I know I can take a shot.

shed33

I enjoy the hunting as much or more than the kill, because I get the opportunity to learn something newfrom the animalsduring each encounter. Every doe, every deer period gets to me. I love watching them. My wife tells me I amselective about bucks I want to trip the release on, just so I can spend more timehunting....versus tagging out..she may be onto something! I quit worrying about tag soup a long time ago. If it's suppose to happen it will. If not it wasn't meant to be. Kill what makes you happy and enjoy everything that leads up to it.

I have two young sons. Each day during this seasonwhen I get home they ask. "Dad did you get one?" All season this season I have said..."Nope..but guess what I saw tonight etc...etc.." They are learning that hunting isn't just about killing critters..thoughan integral part..its not everything. They got to watch both their uncles and a good friend hang buck/deer at our place this fall so far. I think they think their dad is slipping a bit! LMAO.. It's all good.....enjoy the experience the harvests will come for us D.I.Y.'erswith lessons learned, hard work and dedication.

BigJ71

I still get excited when a deer gets in close, just yesterday I was up in my stand when a little spike walked in from the upwind side of me. He was about 10 yards away and had no clue I was there, he fed for a while as he made his way to the downwind side. Thats when he knew something was up! He started to sniff the wind and he got a little nervous but hejust couldn't pinpoint what(or where) Iwas, he continued to feed but every once and a while would look up and around while sniffing the wind. At one point he looked directly at me (I think) he was so close that I thought he would see my eyes, so I slowly closed my eyes to the point where I was just peeking through my closed lids LOL! After about 10 min. he finaly walked away still eating as he went. It was without a doubt more exciting than when I arrowed my big buck earlier this year because this guy was downwind and looking in my directionmost of the time. He was so close I could hear him chewing!