Im SKEERED!!!!!! SERIOUSLY!

[Huntaholic]

Im afraid Im about to turn into a watcher instead of a killer! Its been weighing on me for a few years now, I guess a lot of it has to do with actually living where I can watch critters from my window every day of the year, but once you kill something, its gone. Sure, if we are lucky, a younger animal fills in the void we created but I gotta say, I aint near as mad at anything as I used to be. Ive had some health issues this year and didnt get to hunt like I normally do but I still managed to kill my 2. I killed those off of a farm I lease that had for sure 5 gobbling birds on it prior to opening. The 1st one I killed was in a group of 3 longbeards running together. The 2nd one was the boss of that farm. Its mainly fields and we all know how hard it is to kill a field bird without cheating and fanning or reaping him, which I WILL NOT DO. The reason I hunted this farm is because with my problems I can get around on it easy and not hurt myself in the process. Well I killed him Friday morning, he played the game and came to me just like I wanted him to and I gotta be honest, its just not the same driving by there and not seeing him blowed up with hens in the middle of his cow pasture all safe and sound.

 

[rifle02]

I hope you hadn't given him a name.

 

[Soft Talker]

Unless in dire straights, and needing the meat, no real Turkey Hunter, worth his salt, hunts his own Turkeys, period.

 

[BPhunter]

I don't hunt my own land. Would like them to be around when SHTF and I really need them.

 

[Setterman]

The ultimate level of respect is enjoying the chase and the kill at the end of the game, however having a part of you that wishes you could pay them on the ass tell them you won and have them run off to fight another day.

I am getting softer as well, trust me I'll still rip one's head off but have a bit of remorse once they're dead.

I've all but quit deer hunting because it just doesn't excite me anymore. I've been fortunate to kill a room full of big deer and anymore I just don't have the drive I once had

Is it sad, or just getting more years under our belts?

 

[Creek bottoms]

I kill a few off my place and hope a few survive. Not gonna be a hog about it just because I can........

 

[Gravey]

Send me your address and I'll shoot 'em in the face!

Seriously though I don't have my own property to hunt that I live on but if I did I can see that being on my mind to just watch them as opposed to hunting them. I'm sure at first it would be great but then I'm not so sure after a while. Not having it I can tell you there's lots of times I wish I did as my lease is an hour and a half away. I know people who have said the same as you. At 50 I'm not as mad at deer and turkeys as I used to be and it's more about sitting around a campfire with my buddies having some cold beverages and telling lies.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Watched this tom for the last three mornings in my pasture and side yard. Him and three hens. I have one tag left but theres no way id kill him....he'll continue to get a pass.

 

[Chickenrig]

I don't hunt my own land. Would like them to be around when SHTF and I really need them.

Amen to that my friend
We think alike

 

[Chickenrig]

The ultimate level of respect is enjoying the chase and the kill at the end of the game, however having a part of you that wishes you could pay them on the ass tell them you won and have them run off to fight another day.

I am getting softer as well, trust me I'll still rip one's head off but have a bit of remorse once they're dead.

I've all but quit deer hunting because it just doesn't excite me anymore. I've been fortunate to kill a room full of big deer and anymore I just don't have the drive I once had

Is it sad, or just getting more years under our belts?

Its not sad at all, we are just getting to that stage where we enjoy the sights and sounds of our Gods work . I used to mad as hell at em but nowadays not so much .
We'll be alright

 

[JCDEERMAN]

The ultimate level of respect is enjoying the chase and the kill at the end of the game, however having a part of you that wishes you could pay them on the ass tell them you won and have them run off to fight another day.

I am getting softer as well, trust me I'll still rip one's head off but have a bit of remorse once they're dead.

I've all but quit deer hunting because it just doesn't excite me anymore. I've been fortunate to kill a room full of big deer and anymore I just don't have the drive I once had

Is it sad, or just getting more years under our belts?

I think my form of softening up is doing more habitat work to provide all critters more of what they need. I used to not do any of that and smell blood when I saw whatever critter I was after. I definitely look at them different now and act as more of a provider. I used to be die hard bloodshed, now it's thankfulness

 

[LenS]

Same experience here. For me at least, the older I get the more I simply hate death. Pastored for almost 30 years and was bedside when dozens of people left this earth. Death weighs on you like nothing else. Getting dogs also changed me. Not sure why but the longer we had dogs the less I enjoyed seeing other animals die.

I still hunt as much as possible, but the pulling of the trigger doesn't matter nearly as much to me. The days of fist-pumping a kill are mostly gone, replaced with an odd mix of appreciation for the hunt and sadness that the animal is no longer roaming the woods.

 

[knightrider]

When the drive to fill my tags and enjoy it is gone im done! Dont get me wrong i love every aspect of it but im out there for one reason and thats because the rent is due and its pay day

 

[BPhunter]

The ultimate level of respect is enjoying the chase and the kill at the end of the game, however having a part of you that wishes you could pay them on the ass tell them you won and have them run off to fight another day.

I am getting softer as well, trust me I'll still rip one's head off but have a bit of remorse once they're dead.

I've all but quit deer hunting because it just doesn't excite me anymore. I've been fortunate to kill a room full of big deer and anymore I just don't have the drive I once had

Is it sad, or just getting more years under our belts?

We are meat hunters, couldn't care less about beard, spurs,or number of points on deer/elk.

 

[NumberOne]

Its why I fish now haha

 

[megalomaniac]

I love the chess match itself. No longer have to pull the trigger to know when I have checkmate in 2. Had over a dozen toms in gun range this year i didn't shoot, no regrets, as I beat them. Will be hunting again last weekend, although will only be for a couple hours each morn as I need to get summer plots in