I was just wondering why do you guys hunt? For me, I absolutely love being in the outdoors experiencing God's creation. I also love going with my buddies. Rarely do I go hunting alone anymore. I just about enjoy the ride to and from our hunting spots as much as I do actually hunting. Now I do enjoy killing a deer or two a year for the meat. I guess I have seen my priorities change. In the past I went hunting as much as I could. I am 29 and have a 6 month old daughter now and I just can't imagine spending so much time in the woods now. I still go occasionally but I just can't see putting hunting above the priority of spending time with my family and helping my wife with our precious baby girl. What about you? Have you seen your priorities change over the years? Thanks for reading! I love this site and all it has to offer!

In 7-10 years, your priorities will change again when she is hunting with you, every weekend.

Trust me.

It's a lifelong evolution. Every phase is different, but watching your kids hit all of the phases that you once hit allows you to relive them and pass them along.

Hunting is pure renewal; in spirit, and in mind. It's life and death, it's real, it's brutal, it's violent, it's also kind and forgiving. Hunting teaches humanity, it teaches crisis, it teaches respect. Quite simply hunting is a gift from God. It's much more than killing. Those who do not understand what we do never will, because you have to live it, feel it, and recognize that something beyond the comprehension of the human mind gives our body the gift that hunting is.

All that and backstrap on the grill is Heaven on earth.

I know exactly where your coming from. I have seen my priorities change with wife and kids. Just over the last couple days, I have experienced a shift back. My 5 year old son out of nowhere gets really interested in going deer hunting ( which is where I am now by the way). I take him in the evening to watch a green field and sure enough we see a deer. He wakes up in the morning and says "sure looks like a good day to go hunting", and that's all he has talked about. I had just about quit deer hunting, but here I am. Personally, I think that is what it's really all about. It is for me anyways. Hunting is not my top priority, but it is a hobby that I want my children to have every opportunity to enjoy just as I have.

i hunt because i, like you, enjoy getting out into outdoors, socializing some with folks and occationally killing a deer or two. i had this week off and figured i'd hunt a lot but my daughter's home from college out of state for the holidays and i've chosen to hang out with her a lot instead. don't get to see my baby girl much and that's more important to me now.

hopefully work won't hose up rest of season!!

Right on!
The priorities will change again when she gets older.
My example:
My son just turned eleven and even though he has shot some deer since 9 with a 243. He has become addicted to crossbow hunting in the last 6 weeks. He can't pull a compound yet so he Borowed his grandads crossbow. We got a mature buck in his sights but not quite close enough before Christmas and he is on a quest to get him now!
He got up early to ask if we are driving up to the camp after school today so he can get he one he's after! Pretty darn cool

The fellowship is #1, followed by burger, sausage & jerky.

I used to hunt to be out in nature and enjoy fellowship with my buddies. I now hunt because my kids love to go with me. My 13 year old daughter just killed her first deer over Christmas and that was my most exciting hunt since my 11 year old killed his first deer. (There isn't much that she still likes to do with ole dad). If i hunt by myself, it would have to be an absolute stud for me to pull the trigger because i would rather one of the kids shoot and let me drag.

Seeing and observing deer in the woods. Especially when I am in my climber and they are close enough to spit on. And all the other critters I see while doing this.

Enjoying the outdoors I also do this when it isn't deer season.

Getting a buck In the 140 range

Getting some meat.

DANG man! That's good! I can't top that explanation...

But to add one other thing, I hunt to be human. Hunting/gathering, producing and teaching our young, and being social are three things that appear to be deeply instinctively ingrained into humans. Until you have actually hunted and gathered, you don't know the primal satisfaction that comes from answering that basal-core instinctive drive.

...I will also add that what I want from my hunting experience definitely changes with age and experience. The root-core drive doesn't change, but my "goals" and what I get from the experience does change.

Nice. You hit it, the basal-core instinct. There's definately a primal drive.

I'll add that at one time in my life I served and sought out combat, possibly for the same primal reasons. Craved it, wished for it, couldn't wait for the snap pop...

Anyhow, hard to explain some things, the core instinct remains the same, but priorities will indeed change through our great tour of duty known as life.

Man if you want fellowship go down to the bowling alley to hang out with your buddies. Don't be thinking about playing cards or playing grab ass when that big Ol buck steps out you gotta be in kill mode. How you gonna send a hunk of lead through his bread basket when you thinking about throwing horse shoes in the back yard?

Good stuff guys. I have dang sure changed over the years. Now I have two daughters that hunt and a wife that is a natural born deer and hog killa. I also rarely go hunting alone anymore.

I spend all my time outdoors, gardening, growing fruit, working on our land, fishing ect. Hunting is just part of my life. I love the outdoors. I mostly hunt for the meat now. I don't have lease fees, or any other expenses so it really helps with the grocery bill.

My father turned 70 a few months ago. I bet he hasn't hunted 10 times in five years until this year. I told him I needed some meat and we hunted everyday a week straight. We have been going two or three days a week since. This has been a trmedous blessing to me. I know it's not going to last forever. I know this season will be one of those I would give anything to do over again 20 years from now.

Just wait till that 6 month old baby is standing and calling "Daddy!!!" every time you walk out the door. When my oldest was at that age there were many trips I canceled after my truck was loaded and ready to go or many times I turned around after I got 15-20 minutes down the road. Right now, at this time in my life with three young kids, I hunt in a whole season what I used to hunt in the first two weeks of hunting season. I know as my boys get older we'll go more. It'll be their turn to learn and have their first experiences.

Along with what all has been already said, I just enjoy the peace and quiet out in the woods. Just to get away from everything.

Oh yeah, you can poop just about anywhere you want too...

Before my son was born, I was in the woods as much as was possible with my keeping my job. I would be at my club or at the farm every weekend and at the farm on afternoons during the week if I could sneak away early enough.

After Will was born, I cut down on my trips and got out of a club because of it. When I hunted at the farm, my wife and son went with me for the weekend and I would end up hunting one or two sitting all weekend.

As Will got older and wanted to go hunting, I got back in a club and now he is with my 3/4 of the time. I still like killing deer, but I like watching him kill them more.

Funny; I started looking back on my life as it pertains to hunting once I started reading Steven Rinella's book Meat Eater, thing is I don't remember a whole lot of my father teaching me about hunting or shooting. While he took me deer hunting a few times, it was mostly stalk to a location( didn't know why we hunted the way we did or how to actually hunt that way) and sit and wait for a deer to come by. We killed a few(very few) but it did encourage me to hunt other things; squirrels, birds, rabbits and etc...I would later stop hunting after marriage and joining the Army, mainly due to lack of time, but three years ago I decided to buy a rifle and take it back up. At first it was to provide meat for the family as things were tight and groceries high but as I have progressed, I find the work that I put into the food plots, creating shooting lanes and trying to find the prime spot for a stand/blind coupled with the anticipation of the coming hunt has taken over. I love to hunt, I love the idea of trying to outsmart the prey, and the sense of accomplishment when I am able to do so. This year I took this a step further and begin butchering the deer myself which only adds to the feeling of accomplishment. On another level though, hunting ties me with those who came before me, the people that I looked upon as heros growing up as a child, Occonostota, Double Head, and countless others. My Grandmother was a Cherokee, her grandmother and family migrated to this state from North Carolina after the forced removal and took "Christian" names, so for me hunting is so many things, it's a way of life.

I hunt because that's who I am,it is a way of life for me,almost as much as breathing.I cherish my time alone in the woods,with no worries,and hassle of everyday life. I have passed this on to my children,and many friends,and it gives me great pleasure just to know I am a part of something far bigger than I.