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What kind of hunter are you?

TNDeerGuy

TNDeerGuy

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If you could combine a lot of "the sportsman" stage mixed with a small amount of "the shooter" that is where many would fall into�myself included. I love to pull the trigger, always have and always will, but it is more about the experience of the hunt and enjoying what God has provided than it is about the kill, but I still very much love the kill.
 
Sportsman/giving back/trophy stage all rolled into one. I love to teach kids and others new to the sport what I have learned. I am also about the total experience and camaraderie, But try to hold out for a mature deer or turkey. But if it flies it dies duck hunting old hickory and priest. You cant be picky around here
 
Interesting read. I am only in my 4th (technically 5th) year of hunting, but I think I have done a little of everything mentioned there. The way I hunt now, I don't think you could fit into one category. I also may change based on the progression of the season or my mood or new things I learn.
 
I hunt deer....I only shoot legal deer with legal methods...I eat the deer I kill...I process the deer I kill...

Because of the above, I try to shoot the biggest deer available legally because it's just as hard to process smaller ones with less meat for the effort...

I'm not sure what stage that puts me in though...
 
Sportsman and Giving Back stages. My hunting desires have definitely mellowed, and I like passing on what knowledge/experienced I've gained over my 35 years of deer hunting.
 
i don't think i fall into any of them. I've killed a few nice bucks. Wasn't really targeting them just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I'm more about enjoying being out and filling the freezer.
 
Whitetail deer- Sportsman/Giving back/Method Stage. I don't really try to kill the biggest buck in the world, or the most bucks or does. I let deer walk almost every time I hunt. I would rather my brothers or wife or somebody kill a deer than myself. I also like planting food plots, hanging stands, checking cameras, and stuff like that as much or more than hunting. I also feel more satisfied if I kill a deer with my compound bow than I do a rifle or muzzleloader.

Wild turkey-I am and feel like I am in the Sportsman and giving back state. Now My goal is to kill an adult gobbler (2 year old +) Everytime I go hunting. But I do not have to limit out or kill the biggest baddest gobbler. I would rather call one up for my dad or brothers than me kill one myself. I also like improving habitat for wild turkeys more than I do killing them.
I guess I am somewhat in the methods stage too, for I do not like to ambush turkeys, crawl up on them, or just wait around in a food plot for them. I like to kill turkeys by finding a gobbling bird, getting good postion, making some calls and then he come looking for me.
 
I only hunt white-tailed deer. I don't know what stage I fit into. I guess it would be trophy. I've pretty much dedicated my life to deer and big deer at that. I have spent almost every minute of every weekend and nearly any other spare time I have in the woods running trail cameras, scouting, hunting and shed hunting since around October of this most recent season. I don't know what happened to me, but somehow I became so passionate about deer I have commited to living my life solely based around studying and hunting them. I have been a big time deer hunter and obsessed with there behavior for a few years, but now I feel lost when I'm not in the woods or reading about deer. It's pretty weird, but hey, that's just who I am!
 
Master Chief said:
I don't know what happened to me, but somehow I became so passionate about deer I have commited to living my life solely based around studying and hunting them.
Click to expand...

I remember that "obsessed" stage! I think most hard-core deer hunters eventually hit that stage. For me, it lasted about a decade, until age and successes cooled that fire a bit.
 
I've been in the obessed stage for a while now and still in it. I don't shed hunt a ton. But already this year we've hung 10 stands and still have many more. Always thinking about different winds locations. All kinds of stuff. It is very fun imo
 
I probably identify most with the Sportsman, Method, and limiting-out stages.

The first two relate more to the different ways to extract fun and challenge from the hunt. I could call myself a "limiting out" stage hunter not because I like to take as much game as possible, but because I like to eat tasty animals. I'm sort of disappointed that they don't make that observation within the description of that stage, but they do mention in the introductory paragraphs that the time spent afield affects the stage.

For me, it's really more like "the time available to spend afield". If I had the freedom to hunt 50 days per year for a variety of game, then I would be less inclined to shoot (for example) the first average-sized deer that I see during deer season. All that said, I still impose silly restrictions on myself like only hunting with a muzzleloader for 2 whole years, or refusing to hunt with a modern rifle until I kill a deer with my pistol first... :)
 
I rarely shoot a doe and I guess I have matured to were I can adjust my standards to what I'm seeing so I really don't know what stage I'm in. I am not going to kill a deer just because I want to kill a mature buck so if I've been hunting a few times and not seen that big boy then all's fair in love and deer hunting , their all in trouble because although I've matured enough to wait I'm all about killing some thing ! I guess I'm in the don't know until a go a few times stage :grin:
 
Been in all of them but Trophy Hunter. I probably fit in Sportsman mostly now but can take satisfaction out of methods and giving back.
 
I passed through the first few and probably am still in the sportsman stage. It's hard to give back or mentor on leased land you can't step onto until hunting season.
 
I've been all over the place. I went through the trophy stage hunting primarily in Texas for about 10 years beginning in the mid 90s. I revolted and went through a stage of shooting whatever I wanted, but the liberal bag limits in TN allow me to shoot to feed a family of 7 without pulling the trigger on something I would like to see grow or that someone else would be happier shooting.

I just like hunting.
 

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