Can killing a big deer lower the excitement for hunting?

[cbay]

All it has done is fuel the fire.

[moondoondude]

Yes, it can. But, it can certainly do the opposite. Everyone is different, and different things motivate people and decrease motivation in different ways.

[JAB]

I love the whole process, the summer prep work, shooting with friends and family, looking at maps and strategizing. If I have a plan that I think may work for a sit and a deer shows I just love to shoot them. Some are bigger or smaller but I get really excited about all of them. I dream about big bucks like everyone else but if that's all it was about it would take some of the fun out of it for me personally. We also eat a lot of venison so putting some meat in the freezer is also important to us.

[briar]

What killed it for me was knowing i personally wasnt willing to make the time and monetary sacrifice to expand my hunting area in order to pursue bigger and better bucks. I just accepted that im not leaving my backyard and the local deer that live here.
As the old saying goes if you do what you did, you get what you got...and thats fine with me, but it certainly not lighting a fire in me heart by any means. If you feel liked you peaked with that giant, maybe you just dont want to go backwards...but going forwards isnt really feasible.

[Hawthorne]

Seems like I hear it with the kids that shoot a big one at a young age. They’re not interested has adults. I think they realize they have to work hard at it to get a bigger buck. I just shot my biggest buck in 26 years of deer hunting this year and I didn’t shoot my first wall hanger with a bow till I was 30 years old. I’m 41 now. I’m already planning for my next one in Michigan for next year. I’m going scouting tomorrow.

[Boogieman1]

I never really thought bout it until really reading some of you alls honest responses. But it got me thinking back to my youth. I never killed a real giant as a kid but I took a lot of what I consider good deer with a gun. I remember several times in my older teens my dad would kinda have to persuade me just to take a weapon to the stand. Think it had a lot to do with the fact it didn't feel very sporty sitting in a box blind 150 yards away from a corn feeder. I always loved to watch em but it just felt a whole lot more like shooting than any form of hunting. I even remember a trip with a child hood friend to his lease growing up when we were loading up in the truck his dad said y'all better load your guns we might see one on the way. I have always loved to study and watch deer since I was a child, but the hunting part for me never started until my first close encounter with a bow in hand and it lit a fire I hope never burns out. From the scouting, observing, planning and picking the right tree I just luv everything about it.

[Bonecrusher101]

Master chief, I agree with you on tn public the 160s and above are very rare. I got very lucky and killed a gross 158 on public in tn in 2011. That was pre beast and I didn't know what I had. For me, I have been just trying to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke.

Ive killed a lot of bucks since but none have come close. My family enjoys venison and I like killing deer. I'm also content going into public and trying to find the best buck I can manage. I'm not picky enough to go a season without killing a buck. I'm not really concerned with topping my biggest, but I'd like to kill a few more public land wallhangers that are in the same size, age, mass, class.

[john1984]

I wonder how Andrae D'Acquisto would answer this question

[ERICBROOKS]

I have been blessed to kill some amazing bucks (3 over 165”), for me it only fueled the fire.

But I will say with a young family and limited time to hunt these days, chasing that one particular buck can be very time consuming and exhausting to the point of almost taking away some of the joys of bowhunting knowing you was gonna go home empty handed unless it was “the one”.

This year I shot the first decent buck that came by, a nice 3 yr old 8.
But this excellent cool weather the last week has me feeling left out, even though I have doe tags.
I just enjoy the chess match and the chase of hunting big mature bucks.

[Kraftd]

I think it's totally a personal thing. Some people I'm sure it does, some not. I know I'll always deer hunt, love venison too much not too, but could see being less intense about chasing big bucks after some success. Right now on private I feel like I've done a good job of figuring things out and have had some success. Still figuring that outon public, so the drive is still there. Once/If I kill a few good ones on public, me personally, I could see the drive to push myself as hard as I can waning.

Same thing kind of happened to me with trout fishing. Got to the point where, without being cocky, I was confident enough to know I was good at it, and then the passion kind of fell off a little. That's when I got even more into bowhunting, and that has been a decade journey now, and still have the drive.

My personality is more of once I prove something to myself, I'm fairly comfortable moving on. I don't think I'll chase every last inch with deer if I ever get the comfortable confidence on mature public land deer.

For me young kids has helped keep things in perspective too. As they are getting older, there are all of the milestones to relive, and it's amazing.

[GoInLight]

At the end of the day I’m a meat hunter, so no. I love seeing big bucks, and I would love to shoot a monster every year. But I still get excited having a fawn in bow range just cause I love seeing deer from the stand

Lots of great answers, but Jonny summed it up for me. I have never seen a deer in the woods that I didn't want to shoot. I killed my first one at 12 and 30 years later its like I've never killed one. I think it's a passion you either have or you don't. The important thing is to understand that it's ok to just enjoy being outside. Just my opinion.

[thwack16]

I think you answered yourself in your question. Pick up the bow and get after it.

At age 16, I'd shot more than my fair share of bucks with a rifle including a 125 and several more in the 115 range. I decided to follow in my dad's footsteps and bow hunt all the way through our 2.5 month gun seasons except when weather made it absolutely miserable to do so. That was 12 seasons ago now, and I've killed maybe 3 bucks with a gun since and some 12-15 with a bow. I've also had multiple really big deer skirt me or crap all over me while bowhunting during gun seasons, I don't regret that I had a bow instead of a gun on a single one of them.