RE: Why do you hunt
I get asked this question quite a bit. Usually it is a non-hunter asking this question. It’s a legitimate question now days. I mean truly we don’t need the meat. My entire family eats the meat of course, but we don’t need it. I don’t hunt to control the population in hopes that there are fewer automobile accidents involving deer each year. Some proclaim this. This question is a hard one to answer, especially when you’re talking to someone who doesn't hunt. So here is why I hunt. I hope I can capture a tenth of the emotion that this truly involves.
I picked out the perfect spot. I mean perfect. There was deer sign everywhere. I mean everywhere. I placed my stand perfectly. I mean perfectly. It was up against a tree that had vines all over it that would provide a good break up of my pattern. The stand was sixteen feet off the ground and the limbs and twigs of the neighboring trees covered me until about fourteen feet. It was awesome.
The opening day of bow season, I was there. Well before daybreak I sat ready and waiting. Well, I ended up waiting all day and finally called it a day when it passed legal shooting hours that night. I hunted this stand everyday during bow season and never did see a deer. Not even off in a distance. But being me and me being stubborn, I refused to give it up. I went everyday that I could, knowing that one day it would pay off. I mean it was perfect, right?
It was the opening day of muzzle loading season and guess where I was. Yep, back in the “perfect” stand. I sat there well before the woods came alive as I had done countless days before. Around lunch time I had to leave to get something to eat. I met up with some of the locals and chatted a bit. Got picked on a bit since it was black powder season and I was still carrying my “stick thrower” in the truck. Explaining the passion of bow hunting is almost as hard as answering the question, “Why do you hunt?”
I headed back to my stand around 1:00 P. M. and settled in for the rest of the day. It was around 6:00 P. M. when my heart stopped. I heard in the distance that awful, sweet, soothing, heart stopping sound of a deer coming in. My heart pounded so hard I actually saw stars. I knew it was coming, but had no idea what ‘it” was at this point. Then I saw the worst thing I could have seen at that time. A nice rack. Yep, it was awful. My heart was pounding so hard you could actually see my shirt moving. I thought I might as well be at the house right now because there is no way I could draw back. He was about fifty yards away when I saw his buck fever sized antlers. Thank goodness because if he was any closer, I would surely scare him away from me shaking the stand. There were a few times I had to remind myself to breathe.
It seemed like a lifetime before he moved again. He raised his head and evidently got a scent of the doe in estrous I put out when I returned from lunch. He was headed my way whether I was ready or not. His head was coming right for me and that did nothing but make my condition worse. He stopped about thirty five yards away and sensed something he didn’t like. And like a dream, he was gone. Gone. Just disappeared.
I frantically reached in my pocket for my grunt tube. I sounded off ever so quietly. Poof, he re-appeared! He did NOT like that at all. Then, he left again. I sounded off one more time and BAM! There he was and this time he was going to defend his territory. He came in about twenty yards away and raised his head to smell out the intruder. When he did he turned broadside to me. When he turned his head in the opposite direction I drew back. He never even looked back toward me. So I took aim and let it fly.
Where did he go? He was gone. Which way did he go? What just happened? I frantically tried to remember what happened just five seconds ago and could not. My heart, my poor old heart, I thought it was going to explode. I found myself shaking so badly I had to set the bow down and hold on to the rails. Did I make a good shot? I mean I could not replay the shot in my mind to save my life. How long had it been since the shot? I had no idea. I knew it was getting dark. I half way remembered it was pretty light out when I let it go. I decided the best thing to do was go see if I could find my arrow, then back out and let it go for another hour just to be safe. I climbed down and could not remember where he was standing when the events unfolded. What? How stupid can you be? I had to climb back up into the stand, get my bearings, and then climb back down. OK, he was right around here, somewhere. I couldn’t find anything. It was time to call for help. I went to my truck and called my father in law. I told him I either missed a moose or killed a monster. He laughed and said he’d be up there in about an hour or so. An hour? Man I won’t last that long!
OK, get your thoughts together. I decided to go back and see if I could find a hair, a spot of blood, my arrow, or anything. I went back to where I was before and there not two feet to the right of where I was searching was (at that time) the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. My arrow covered in blood and a giant spot of blood! I did a little pre-victory dance and thought I’d just see how well the blood trail was. I was going to walk about twenty feet, and then go wait for my father in law, but the blood wouldn’t stop. It was the best trail ever. I just kept going and going. Then came the last test of my ticker for the night. There he lay. Probably not sixty yards from the sight of the shot.
It was the most awesome thing I had ever seen. I collapsed beside him and thanked God for this amazing gift. I trudged back up to the truck and waited for my father in law. He pulled up and said, “OK Bud, just calm down, we’ll do our best to find him.” I told him I already found him all we needed to do was go get him. We got him out of the woods and field dressed him. I brought him home for the pictures and all and showed him proudly to my family. The next day I had to go check the freezer to make sure it wasn’t all just a dream.
I said all that to say this. If you can’t understand the emotion of the story above, I can’t tell you why I hunt.