ORIGINAL: NY Bowhunter
lets just say this. one of the most successful hunting seasons i've ever had was last year when i didn't harvest a deer, but i spent almost every day in the woods with my dad having great conversations.there is no way any of you can convince me that was a failure.
But what did you succeed at? You failed in killing a deer. You can still have great memories and time afield with family but fail at your hunting. Or has this aspect already been covered here [:-]?
i succeeded at spending a wonderful hunting season with my father, who may never get the opportunity to hunt with me again. killing a deer was never on the agenda any time we went out. so i didn't really fail at that. and if i had made it my main objective for hunting that season, i may have missed out on the memories i have. i'm just trying to make a point that hunting isn't always about killing an animal. if you always make it about the harvest, you may miss out on other parts of the hunt that are equally as important. and i suppose i could have formed the same memories in a coffee shop, but somehow, it just doesn't seem the same to me.