The Hunting Beast

I'm glad I'm not the only one in a funk. The past few years I'm getting worse and worse with motivation. In the off season I get everything planned out and get excited. Once hunting season kicks off, I hit it hard for muliple hunts then start to decline when more people get in the woods. I think it's part me setting my goals too high for the areas I hunt but I think it's mostly due to the morals and ethics of people in my area. It still makes me rage when people will ruin their own hunts or go out of their way just to make sure you don't have a good hunt. Public/private makes no difference here. Everyone wants to be the tv star and the only one to shoot a buck it seems like. It's gotten so bad my "friends" and I don't even talk anymore due to hunting reasons. Reading Dan's motivational posts on Facebook is giving me more drive but I still find myself starting to enjoy fishing more than I do hunting. Hopefully this season I can turn it around.

I’m starting Beast season 2.5.

I’m not feeling confident going into this year. I think some of the bedding areas I found are ok, but putting the pieces together and finding great spots on public has been rough.

My spring was limited for various reasons and I just had surgery that will keep me out of doing strenuous stuff for about another month. Glassing is about all I got now.

I know things can turn around, so I do have hope.

I’ll keep working at it and hopefully will start feeling good about spots before the season starts.

eazyduzit94 wrote:I'm glad I'm not the only one in a funk. The past few years I'm getting worse and worse with motivation. In the off season I get everything planned out and get excited. Once hunting season kicks off, I hit it hard for muliple hunts then start to decline when more people get in the woods. I think it's part me setting my goals too high for the areas I hunt but I think it's mostly due to the morals and ethics of people in my area. It still makes me rage when people will ruin their own hunts or go out of their way just to make sure you don't have a good hunt. Public/private makes no difference here. Everyone wants to be the tv star and the only one to shoot a buck it seems like. It's gotten so bad my "friends" and I don't even talk anymore due to hunting reasons. Reading Dan's motivational posts on Facebook is giving me more drive but I still find myself starting to enjoy fishing more than I do hunting. Hopefully this season I can turn it around.

Yikes, I don’t like the sound of that except for the fishing part. You guys that are down on hunting there is a younger more hungry man or women ready to shoot those bucks. Always has been always will be.And they might be a good person

I can relate. The few times it has happened to me it’s usually out of season. But then when the crops start turning, the combines come out, and the air starts cooling off... the switch flips.

No lack of ambition for me this year though. I’m about to start glassing and shining. Frequency will increase as the summer goes on.

Yep...

One of the toughest things about finding the beast for me was the realization, or I guess more confirmation, of what it takes. A lot of years that's just not a practicality for me and I'm not willing to let family or work slide for hunting most of the time. I've always bow-hunted, but really got more obesessive about it after I was established in a career and on the verge of having a family. I won't call it regret, because I kept myself busy with other things I love back then, namely fishing, but sometimes I wish that switch would have flipped 10 years earlier.

I've found a pretty good rhythm of accepting my standards (and they aren't even touching Moon's!) and enjoying my season. I wish I could scout more and feel more confident getting on bigger public bucks. It used to frustrate me. Now I give it all I have when I have time, and live with that, and am usually pretty ok with it. There are certainly times though where knowing I'm not able to give it what it NEEDS makes it hard to stay motivated to give it what I have.

Now I'm pretty content to shoot a couple of 2 or three year olds or does a lot of years and have a crack at a mature deer every 3-5 years. Also working on staying in fighting shape so once the kids get a little older and I can pass more off at work, I can give it like Dan still does for a few more years, while hopefully leaning on 20 years of getting smarter.

backstraps wrote:Maybe once I smack down the laundry list of slobs you have in the past.... I "might"

No in all seriousness, I know exactly where you are coming from. Its for sure something that can be hot/cold.

For me, once I get into gear, I am rollin! Then once I find something I want to chase, and think I have a legit chance of getting it, then I am all in.

So, I would be curious to ask you a question Moon. I was joking with my first sentence....but
Do you think you lack of enthusiasm comes from the inability to find something mature enough to get you fired up?
I have read probably everything you have put out either in magazines, here etc, and I KNOW you put in so much time to get yourself on your kills. To me the work you were doing seems exhausting and I can see how one may get burned out doing that year in year out.

I never have a problem finding something mature enough, actually the number of mature bucks that I have around every year is always high. So many of those mature bucks though, are under 130". Those upcoming three and four-year-olds that might be right at 130" or right over it, are much easier to shoot and they also turn a lot of heads -and hardly make it through. I like an old buck as much as anyone though, it's cool to see how they make it by and to think of what they have been through. I think frustrating circumstances, the drama that comes from having neighbors hunting on fencelines in every direction, poaching, and all the rumors are what will really kill my buzz. Too many people just don't get it - they want the glory but nothing else. I responded to that a few years back in probably the wrong way - I stopped sharing any pictures, didn't tell anyone what i got or what i was hunting for, and lied about everything (even more than i was before). Surely that didn't help, but it was my way of separating from it all.

Agree with all;
As one gets older, priorities change, so does the fire inside; as a younger hunter just turning 30 making the statement of, "I'm gonna do this till I'm 80, hanging in trees and hunting with a bow".
Now at 60, the self motivation is ruff to say the least, when hunting by myself. I rely on my inter circle all younger than me (son, nephews, family members) as well to get the fire a blaze and keep pushing on.
Trying to keep up with a younger pack, has it challenges, but does help keep me in hunting shape.

Sharing tricks, tactics, stories with a younger group and watching them become seasoned hunters over the years, has been a rewarding and good time...

I got into a funk in the past and the biggest thing I needed was just to grow up and realize I'm not competing against other hunters only playing chess with the deer. Also a lot of the drama associated with hunting on private property with permission. I try to avoid hunting on permission. I definitely feel more free on public, and it's easier to accept some of the annoying things other hunters do on public as well.
Setting realistic goals for where I hunt and the time I feel like I can afford to invest has helped keep the fire burning, but it most likely prevents me from higher achievements.

I can relate, especially not being able to relate with other deer hunters.

My daily life I’m surrounded by deer hunters and for the most part I don’t get much enjoyment out of talking to them. Conversation usually involves them showing me some nighttime pictures of a buck at a feeder. Or a picture of a buck their cousins brothers uncle shot out on a ranch in Texas.

Nowadays I try to break up the off season with other hunting, fishing, catching. Seafood tastes so much better then venison too. And I can usually drag a buddy or 2 on those adventures.

I have ups and downs with hunting season as far as how much I want/can invest. I hunt with an older crowd that’s coming up on 60 and I worry that they are not gona be able to hunt like we do much longer. That motivates me to keep hunting hard to get to enjoy that time with them. I think having someone’s to hunt with is important helps keep the energy high. If you hunt with the wrong people it’ll do the opposite. I have been motivated by helping a few guys succeed but I don’t do it any more. I had found I was investing more time in them then they were. After they succeed they weren’t as engaged in hunting any more and their true spirit would show. I do think setting a goal or changing up will prevent the decline in motivation. If I was as successful as some and found I was less interested in deer hunting I would find another animal to pursue. Maybe take up golf j/k

oldrank wrote:I get ya, I kind of forced myself to be able to turn it on and off. It's what I have to do to not be a social derelict. Otherwise I would just think deer hunting 24-7. That's fine in my brain but doesn't fit well with most of my friends or family or my wife. So, I am constantly pushing myself to an imaginary line but seldom crossing it.

The inner me wants to quit my job, abandon everyone I know and move into a old trailer or cabin in the northern woods of Michigan. I fight that guy daily.

Im young but this describes me pretty well. Im thinking deer hunting 24/7 and constantly talk to my dad about it to the point I think Im turning him off from it! I have to find whatever you did to be able to turn it off.

HuntingParadise wrote:

oldrank wrote:I get ya, I kind of forced myself to be able to turn it on and off. It's what I have to do to not be a social derelict. Otherwise I would just think deer hunting 24-7. That's fine in my brain but doesn't fit well with most of my friends or family or my wife. So, I am constantly pushing myself to an imaginary line but seldom crossing it.

The inner me wants to quit my job, abandon everyone I know and move into a old trailer or cabin in the northern woods of Michigan. I fight that guy daily.

Im young but this describes me pretty well. Im thinking deer hunting 24/7 and constantly talk to my dad about it to the point I think Im turning him off from it! I have to find whatever you did to be able to turn it off.

Find another hobby, I play guitar or fish or book a trip with the wife where she picks things to do. I have to mentally say to myself " time to shut it down". Then I switch to my other hobbies. It may take a few days for my brain to adjust but it works for me. You can see from my post the last few months I have not been very active on here. Now I'm trying to get back into deer mode.

Lockdown wrote:I can relate. The few times it has happened to me it’s usually out of season. But then when the crops start turning, the combines come out, and the air starts cooling off... the switch flips.

No lack of ambition for me this year though. I’m about to start glassing and shining. Frequency will increase as the summer goes on.

Same for me. I have a myriad of other things Im trying to master year round to try to keep myself from burning out on one single thing. Even the first month of bow season I don’t get to excited for. For alot of guys here thats the best tine of year to hunt. When the leaves start coming off then I get my game face on. Its just the way it is.

moondoondude wrote:
Here, if you want to stay on a certain class of deer, you have to move around a lot. Places change quickly and as some habitat ages, it becomes less desirable for deer. Some Places aren't hunted for a year or two, then a group of 5 guys start hunting It. It seems when a big buck or a bachelor group of nice bucks show up somewhere, the next few years are tough as guys show up and wipe them all out.

I definitely relate as an East Coast hunter to changing habitats etc. Last year was down year for me, I didn't have any targets as I couldn't find a four year old. This year should be different as long as 2-3 bucks I have been watching through the winter. They should be 4 by now.

I think what helps me get over those motivational hurdles is thanking God for a another day in the woods; when the only thing I need to worry about is watching nature, the quiet peaceful moments and a chance encounter to fill the freezer. No doubt I'd love to get a big slob, but finding the right balance with work, family, friends and hunting seems more important at this stage in my life. That is a constant struggle due to the never-ending push and pull of those priorities. I guess what settles me is the sweetness of the air, the snap of a twig, a glimpse of a lonely doe moving quietly through the woods and the voice in my head saying you don't need to kill Buckzilla to have a good time. Call me romantic or whatever, but it seems to do the trick.