Unread postby Jrichard » Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:57 am
IDK if its the mind set of a newby, or if it is just my mentality. But I can honestly say that I don't do that so much with deer hunting than I do in real life. And what I mean by that is, I go out and try to find an area that I can hunt. And I make my goals realistic. And I make them realistic for my area. I live (As I have said 100 times before) in good ole Rhode Island. Everyone and their mother in RI hunts. And I have seen a couple of monsters. (few and far between). But I can tell you that there are not as many as in other parts of the USA. So I set my goals accordingly.
If I get a monster on camera. I hunt in that area. I hunt that buck. But if any deer presents itself, I make my decision accordingly. Like this year. When I shot my 8 point, I KNEW there was a BIG 12 point running around. I had 2 buck tags. And I shot and got him for my first deer. I was not hunting that deer in particular. But his body was a good size. (good amount of meat). And a decent rack to hang on the wall and say "that's my first deer". Every hunter I show gets excited for me. Whether it be a seasoned vet or a newby. And I am happy about it.
THEN the next weekend I Was in the same area, but a different spot because the buck started frequenting a different area of the farm. The sun came up in mid October, and 6:30 hit. then 7:00 am hit. Then 8:00 am hit. Then right around 8:30 am two does presented themselves. And at that time, I was hunting that same big buck, and I still made the call to pull the trigger on a doe. Again it was meat in the freezer. And I am glad I did.
Not once have I ever looked at any hunter, whether it is on here, or on TV or in real life and say, the only reason he killed that buck is because he had this advantage. Or that advantage. And now that you have brought this us I am humbled and proud of my mind set. I have been setting goals for myself with what I have at my disposal.
And in my opinion, we all have the option to take a vacation. Go to a different state, and hunt there if we want too. Or you can even move to that state if you really wanted too. It would not be easy finding a job, finding a place to live ect. But neither is killing a giant buck. I mean I personally go and spend an extra $200 a year on tags and a license to hunt in CT. This is because I want to have a shot at taking a CT deer. And they have a larger herd of deer than we do here in RI. But all 3 of my deer were taking in RI.
So instead of facing challenges in life, I face the challenges in the woods. Low deer population. But hey I get through it. A lot of people told me, when I told them I was hunting a specific piece of private land, that I had no chance of killing a deer on that property. And what did I do? My VERY FIRST SIT, ON THE GROUND MIND YOU, I KILLED A DEER!
PERSONAL GOALS, in my opinion, is what hunting is all about. When I look at the picture of my first deer/buck I see my personal best. And it is better than most deer taken in RI. Now i would gauge it differently if it was public land. Or if I was hunting in a better state with better deer. But I dont choose to spend thousands of dollars on a hotel. A license. Tags. Food for the week. ect. For example A kid came in on Halloween with a buck. in my opinion a MASSIVE 10 point for our state. I could not believe the size of the deer. The deer was the biggest I had ever seen taken off of public land in RI. Not to mention I have a TON of trail cameras. And not once have I gotten a deer on camera this big. The rack tripled my bucks in size and mass. His personal best and his personal goals are obviously higher than mine. He has been hunting since he was young with his dad. Even before it was legal for him to have a weapon in his hand in the stand he would go out and sit besides his dad at 4 AM. Wait for the sun to come up. He would go out and scout with him since he was able to walk. So the kid was born and raised a hunter. Me I waited 24 years before I hopped on that train.
And another thing. As we all know, some people just have crazy good luck. Some people just get in a tree willy nilly and all of a sudden here comes a 14 point slob high on some doe in estrus. (also known as cat nip) haha and boom. But in my opinion when you are hunting a SPECIFIC animal and you succeed in knocking it down. then you KNOW it was not all luck. A good amount of skill was put into it and thats what its about
Me personally I am kind of glad that I did not have a shot at a GIANT. Because I would have screwed up the shot anyway and been mad at myself for it lol. But then again I would have been proud to have put myself on such a beautiful and massive creature. Its nice knowing youre doing something right once in a while. Even if you are not rewarded in the end.
So to sum it all up. I do not hunt for other people. I hunt for me. For the tranquility. The relaxation. The gorgeous sunsets. And the experience. If the other guy isnt enjoying himself and beating himself up or spending all sorts of money on hunting and eating tag soup every year because he wants to shoot this one buck. Thats his choice. I choose to spend my money on hunting and relaxing. Instead of at the casino or on high priced guided hunts.
Thank you for all who took the time to read this! Hopefully this hits home with a few people! Hope everyone is well and safe this new year!