I'VE been deer hunting for 50 years. A Deer stand was once a piece of wood stuck between a v in a tree. we would find a deer trail or scrape line and hunt it. Killed a lot of good deer that way. Now days everyone argues about what is legal on feeding deer, what to put in your shoot house (coffee makers chairs, windows)What is best ammo to use or best scope to use what to plant in your plot. Come-on man just go hunting, enjoy the sport and the outdoors. If all u are after is to kill something, u missed the point.

Shooting has become more of a hobbie than before and the options for weapons and optics are WAY more plentiful. I don't get caught up in it as much as some folks do but I have grown to have an appetite for the nicer things. Champagne taste with a beer bottle budget. But I still love deer hunting more than all the bs that goes with it.

Its become killin instead of huntin

A competition among men rather than man vs nature.

I got caught up in it for a while. Have enjoyed the last 3-4 years much more than I did the previous 10-12. I've shot one deer over the past 4 years...a 2.5 year old 4 point. Made my day, too.

Like everyone. I am pissed off because Deer Hunting just aint fun anymore. The State has over regulated, the property laws have hindered it down to fence lines, and the tv-money folks have made antler size a competition.

It just should not be that way, but we as a society have made deer hunting irritating instead of enjoyable.

Now if we stop making it a competition and stop whining about season dates and rut times and stop making it an antler competition. Then I bet we get back to hunting being a fun happy family experience like it was just a handful of years ago.

Heck, I love deer hunting nowadays. If someone having a nice chair in a shooting house or a nice scope on a new rifle helps them enjoy their experience, then why in the world would that bother me or what I find enjoyable?

I would say I "get" what Skinny is saying. But I really don't since I have just started hunting within the last 2 years, and didn't experience the sport before all the regulations and stuff. Even with that, I have only killed one deer. I really enjoy reading about all the big ol bucks killed on here, and yeah, I wish I had private land and a fancy ol gun. But I don't. The only deer I killed was a tiny ol doe, and it was some of the most fun I've ever had, and it sure was tasty. I can't wait to kill my next deer, but the last two seasons have been some of the most enjoyable time I have ever spent outdoors. I have learned a lot, and just had a good time.

Not at our place. No competition just hunt. Some years I don't pull the trigger. Just have fun, and we do plenty of that.

About the same age as you and built a many of V's in between trees. No such thing as a tree stand back them, but I sure like these summits though. Man at the crazy and dangerous stuff we did years ago to get off the ground. I could go on and on.

I don't know why I keep opening these threads. In the words of Hank Jr., "why can't everybody else leave everybody else alone."

It's become pussiefied . The score of the antlers,the luxury shooting houses, feeding of the deer. Not to mention competition and getting made famous for 2 minutes has made people worse than politicians trying to get votes. Too much money involved to have fun any more.

Deer hunting is fun! Enjoy it take kids to enjoy it. Sit in a 8x8 box or behind a haybale. Have fun shoot something if you like, look around and listen to all the things you miss each day while at work. If it is not fun then quit hunting! That just means more land for the rest of us.

For me it was getting out and enjoying God's creation. One on one with the deer. Along came hunting clubs and what started as hunting with friends turned to competition for the biggest and most kills. This has never set well with me over the years. Thus I have drifted over the years from club to club due to the jealously and competition. I don't look for it nor participate with it. I do enjoy the fellowship with friends and also enjoy their successes, watching the kids grow and enjoy that experience with them. It's hard to find those clubs. I'm currently in one, but now I'm unemployed and living in Florida. The feasibility of staying isn't looking too good this coming year, Oh well. Carry on.

It's like $1,000 for 3.5 months of fun at a club. You'll spend $500 on one Alabama football weekend. You don't need a 4wheeler, crew cab truck, Sako rifle, or a $2,000 red neck blind. Just a bag chair ($10) from Wal Marks and a $26 license if you don't own the land. Used rifle can be had for $200, or use the shotgun you already have.

I'm honestly not sure how hunting the "old way" is so unobtainable now? I guess it's not free, but you can find a way if you love the hunt.

So, if all I'm after is to catch a big bag of bass does this mean I've missed the point of fishing? Shouldn't get caught up in buying rods and reels, boats and tournaments and should just stick to cane pole and crickets on the bank?

To each his own and however a grown a$$ man wants to spend his hard earned money is his business... Now, regulation stuff is a different topic.

I blame trail cams

"and the tv-money folks have made antler size a competition."...
author: Skinny

yep I agree

It's whatever you make of it.

Your right, it's what ever you make out of it. Greed & big money took the fun out of it for me. I used to hunt several thousand acres of timber for a $7 permit. Now it's all leased to the highest bidders. It's a shame, I'll hold on to my few acres so my grandson will have a place to hunt without being raped of his money.

Yep. I choose to keep it simple so it will be fun. At times the powers to be can take the fun out of it with their political agenda or over regulations. But I'm not going to let them or anybody else ruin my good time.