life without deer hunting

[celrdweller3]

After months of thinking I have decided to quit deer hunting. Not because of health or age or opportunity. I quit because of the almost constant problems with neighbors and family about what when where and how I should hunt and teach my kids.I do not poach deer or trespass or cause problems. these people (some are non hunters)just think it is okay to keep pushing and pushing. I actually feel relieved to have made this decision. I can always hunt all game birds in my area and will get a chance to spend more time up north at my cabin, just not deer hunting. I figured out I spend nearly 300 hours per year in the woods doing something. I also have spent upwards of $ 15000 in the last seven years on hunting related things. Just imagine what I could do with my new found time and money. It is funny how the people who have made it difficult on me seemed the most surprised and tried to talk me out of my decision. Anyone else ever quit deer hunting or want to because of other people? I would love to hear about it.

[Woods Walker]

No. Not ever, especially for those reasons. My faily comes first or course, and I would (and have), not hunted for a season to take of family needs, but that's the only reason.

[kellory]

I am sorry for your loss......

[Sailfish]

I don't know anyone who was a regular deer hunter who quit.
My uncle talks about it every year...........but he's 86 and whines that its too cold some mornings. He still goes.

But a few observations:
1) you let neighbors dictate your actions?
2) Your kids.......old enough to go in the woods and you want to teach them life-long lessons........and your quitting?
3) If your kids are old enough, you are taking them deer hunting regularly and allowing them all of the opportunities and experiences deer hunting offers not just plopping them in a chair while you hunt?

Just seems something is missing here (not some deep dark secret), I just cannot for the life of me see someone quitting something so perfect and fills them with love and want to pass onto their children, and then just quitting.

[pickleguy]

I can totally understand how it can come to this. Deer hunting used to be a fun sport & now it is a competition as to how much bone we can put on the wall. Once you pull the trigger you are judged by many. The fights about QDM, land leasing wars. fence line hunting, going over property lines to recover animals are just a few things that have taken the fun out of hunting. As I have said in other posts I am trying to get back to the days when hunting was a stress reliver not a stress filled fiasco. I respect everyones decision to hunt or not hunt but it is a shame it has come to this. It is a life long lesson that I think our youth need.

[shaman]

I was almost where you are back in 2001. I had been harassed by my first wife for 8 years on the subject; I'd ditched her and married wife 2.0. I had lost every piece of hunting land I'd ever hunted, but I still managed to get one more. However, in the winter of 2001, my friend who owned that last piece died on his 50th birthday of a heart attack and the land was lost. The thought of hanging it up for good was looming.

I had been prospecting for a piece of hunting land for close to 20 years. That summer, my wife and I made one more attempt, and discovered the 200 acre farm in Bracken County, KY that is ours to this day.

A bunch of things collided to convince me that hunting might not be a a good idea anymore. I'd been out the year before on the Opener and had my foot go bad on me-- had to crawl back to the car. I'd also recently been out hunting in strange territory and nearly walked off a cliff in the dark. Everything seemed focused on getting me to take my place on the couch.

Look, either the itch is there or it is not. Hunting is something you either can't stop in your life or you find something else. It is seldom a pleasant thing. For me, it was those long rides in the car in the dark and the long waits in the cold. I got cold in October and I did not warm up until Christmas. There was going year after year eating tag soup. Missing. There was catching flack from every side, too.

Either giving up hunting is going to work for you or it is not. Best of luck either way.

In closing, I will leave you with the sum total of my writing on the subject, gathered over the past decade or so. The last time I wrote about this was 2010, but their are links to the other pieces.

Why do I hunt?

[celrdweller3]

Yes there is more going on here. I am not going to go into family history. I will teach the kids many other outdoor sports, just not deer hunting. I can get the same out of being outdoors without a gun as much as with. My neighbors bitch to family who dont know anything about hunting then they bitch to me about it. Trust me, very long story.

[Ohio farms]

I had hesitated to respond because I figured there was much more going on than you had offered, which is fine and I respect that. Sorry to hear that the fun is gone from hunting, but glad to hear that you, along with your children, still plan on staying involved in the outdoors.
Good luck with you dilemma.

[JPH]

You know, there is nothing wrong with taking a sabbatical. Take a year or two to step back and decide how hunting fits into your life. Remain open to the possibility that it may be something you'll do in the future.

I had a friend who was an excellent deer hunter. By the time he was 30 he'd managed to gain access to hundreds of acres of prime ground and had killed several spectacular bucks. He w,as totally consumed with it but he suffered burnout and lost the hunger. Several years after that I ran into him and learned that he'd given up deer hunting completely and had become an avid waterfowler He was totally at peace with how his hunting had evolved and was a happy man.

I respect your choice to take a break. Just let things unfold and you may be surprised at how hunting may pop up again in your life. .

[Sierra]

Hiyas. I agree with some of what the others are posting. I think it's a good idea to not think of it as quitting forever. Leave the door open to come back to it. You may stumble upon a great opportunity to hunt some land without the bitching neighbors! You never know what is down the road and around the bend.

However, I am happy that you still want to hunt in other ways and remain active in the outdoors. Best of luck to you, and I hope that whatever you end up doing leaves you happy and with lots of good family time.