Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Where are you in your "hunting career?"

My story almost perfectly....just add 20 years.

That would put you in the mostly trophy phase according to the terminology used by however wrote the Hunter's Safety Course Manual.

Well said

I'm in the, I'd rather be turkey hunting phase.

I like to kill stuff I aint ever killed before. Mostly Western stuff. And now that I've moved up here near the Delta I hope to do some water sets for fur, Mink, Muskrat, Nutria, Otter, Beaver, etc....

I shoot spikes and fill my freezer. I could really care less about antlers on the wall. But I'm old.

Me too, still gonna deer hunt but it's not as important as it used to be, kill a couple for the freezer and if I can get a good one that's just a bonus

I like the sound my arrows make when they hit the deer

I like planning where I sit based on conditions

I like climbing up and waiting on the sun to rise

I like the feeling when I hear/see something coming towards me

I'm at that stage. Have been for years

I have been blessed to have had access to some really great private
property all of my life.

I still hunt but I'm not mad at them any more. That goes for deer, turkeys,
ducks doves and the rest. There was a long period that I was a killing
machine

I spend more time on a tractor now than I hunt.

I enjoy every day that I'm outside and when I hunt I plan on killing something.

I hunt on good weather days now. I enjoy taking my daughter hunting and other
people's children hunting.

I don't know what stage I'm in but I'm happy with it.

Yup. Now that feeders are legal it is fatten up the turkeys season in the fall and winter

Wait...what?

Feeders are legal?

I'm gonna kill a 30 pounder.

Yea, you've obviously never heard of our fearless leader Chucky

I was kidding. I feed from May 1 to March 1.

I dont care one way or the other.

I got into hunting when I was 12. Got lucky enough to have a few uncles that would let me tag along. I really wasn't able to get serious about it until I was able to drive. Have hunted public ground all my life and occasionally get lucky enough to hunt private land a time or two during the season. I've taken some mature deer on public ground in years past and there isn't a bigger thrill to me than outsmarting the deer and other hunters. I'm a meat hunter and will take whatever is legal until I have ample meat in the freezer. Typically I'll get more selective after the freezer is full. Hard to pull the trigger on smaller deer when the drag out is a mile or more. I haven't been able to hunt as much as I did when I lived in AL but I'm fixing to turn 30 so hopefully there will be many more seasons to get my fill. I love the whole experience of hunting and don't see that changing. Meat is the main priority though.

Well here,s my deer hunting carrier, so far.When I started deer hunting when I was 7 years old.I started out Hunting with my pawpaw,daddy, and otherfamily members, doing man drives on kimberly clark property located near Kelley,s cross road in cossa county.It was very fun,I killed my first deer on a man drive.It was only a spike.WE hunted the property,for a few years, but then Kimberly clark stated leaseing out all their propery. Well we met Mr Deramus and he made my daddy the care taker of the 212 acres.this was around 35 years ago. So me my dad and brother started planting greenfeilds and put up shooting houses and other stands.we werent very picky back then we would kill 10 to 15 deer a year off of it.most were small bucks and does.well this went on for nearly 25 years. Well my daddy had a bad heart attack so he lived through it but was not able to do the things he used to do.So Mr Deramus let me oversee the property.well I made some changes to not shoot but a couple does and the bucks would be shot only if they were mounted.So I started leaseing some more property to hunt were I could kill what ever I wanted to.Back about 5 years ago I was into how many deer I could kill it usually was 15 to 20 a year.But not on my local land the 212 acres.well now days Since the 3 buck rule Im very selective on what I shoot.8 point or better with that being said I mean a big 8 pointeror better.I usually shoot 2 to 3 does to eat. In the last 2 years I have killed 3 super nice deer A 7 point with an 18 inch spred with heavy mass an 8 point with a 19 inch inside spread with heavy mass an last year an 11 point with a 20 inch inside spread.Plus a good 9 point and a nice 8 point.So now days Im after only older deer .My goal now is getting my kids their first deer.hopely a good buck.

My goal is to make it to the next deer season alive,get out, see deer, put some in the freezer and see what life gives me.

One thing I have noticed about some folks in extreme south Bama, Baldwin county mainly, is they tend to not grow out of being meat hunters. Maybe that's what's holding me back. Ha. When your mature bucks are mainly all under 100", you're more apt to just say to hell with it and take pleasure in hunting the resource you have, if you hunt your homeland. This is the exact reason a lot of folks travel north from down here to hunt. I believe Indians did the same thing. I've had the luxury of growing up in both worlds. I've seen and experienced the animosity towards Florida hunters..... especially when they drive all the way to Dallas County to kill a spike. I'm to the point now where I don't care what ya kill, just have fun, as long as the resource allows it.

I get zero thrill out of killing a buck under 4 yrs old. If I kill a 4 yr old 4 pt, I'm pumped!!! It's about growing mature bucks for me. It's about habitat mgmt, deer mgmt, turkey mgmt! I haven't killed a buck since 2012 and have passed up some low scoring bucks that were 4 yrs old or older, but I tried to get some kids on those bucks.

But nothing turns me on more than a big-antlered mature buck!!

If I need meat, I'll shoot a doe.

Performing work on my tractor is more enjoyable than shooting immature bucks.

I'm 34 and have hunted since i was 4 y/o or so. My dad was the best teacher that a little feller could ask for. Not always enjoyable but nevertheless, a good teacher lol. I was fortunate enough to watch my daughter kill her first deer this past year, and I'm pretty sure I was more excited for her than what I was when I killed my first one. I may have been more excited than she was lol. My goal this coming year is to get the landowner's daughter her first one. So saying that I try to put a "good eating" deer in the freezer at the first part of the year (which my daughter did this year) and then hunt for a good buck from then on, and then toward the end of the year I'll re-evaluate the amount of meat I've got in the freezer and that usually calls for dropping another tender one at the end of the year, and that one is hopefully taken by a younger person as well. So lol, I guess saying all that, I guess where im at in my deer hunting career, is that I'd just as soon watch someone else kill one as long as it isnt that monster buck that I've been after the past few years LOL!!!

Having spent 30+ years getting to and from the woods by boat, I am in the "this way is a hell of lot warmer" phase
I would now rather see my children hunt and kill deer.
I am also like 3FF and would be fine planting and cooking/grilling/sipping on a cocktail after a hunt(with the exception of Jan 15th through the end of the season, as there is nothing better than the anticipation as to what has the doe looking over her shoulder and then hauling azz).
I prefer to bow hunt now. Killed a good deer in MO with a bow that will be hard to beat with a bow in South AL, so just getting to draw on a doe is fine with me.
My family does not eat deer meat every week, so I have no need to shoot every deer I see.
If a friend needs help reducing numbers on their property, I will gladly go and try to help out, process the meat and keep some and give some to neighbors.


I also guess I am in the squat to pee phase, cause I have no injuries and want to shoot a cross bow (I am sorry for that one, just could not resist).