I agree with CAJUN,
Whether it be gun or bow hunting, I think it' s a natural progression, just maturing as a hunter (or a person).
When I was young, I just wanted to kill a deer, any deer. Then I moved to LA.
When I moved back to gods country after living in LA for 7 years. My family purchased some hunting land.
Initially, I just wanted to kill as many deer as possible, not just me, but my party. Kill em all, brown is down, the herd is huge...
My attitude started changing when I found myself becoming angry with my hunting party for what I considered bad hunting practices. Nothing illegal, just plain stupid. Although I never got outwardly angry, except when they would leave a good blood trail to watch football (We' ve found two of their deer in this scenerio), it still ate me up inside.
Amazingly, my attitude change coincided with taking up bow hunting. I so enjoy the hunting party aspect of the gun hunt. There is not a better time to be with friends than on the hunt. But they hunt, I' m a hunter. Bow hunting gives me all the time I need to enjoy hunting, and be as serious as I want to be, which allows me to just be with the guys during the gun hunt, and have fun as well. I' ll still chastise them for things, but it doesn' t bother me as much. If they mess up, fine, do deer in their freezer.
There is also that competative aspect of hunting. I GOT A DEER!!! I think that' s just growing up as well, although you still will feel that with sibblings. Last year, I had no real deer stand (on my own land!) but I still had fun. My older brother got his first deer on the land, and I showed him the finer points of dressing it, he' s in the service, and that was the first time he had hunted on his own land, so it was great.
My focus for the past few years (once again, coinciding with bow hunting) has been the shot itself. I' ve killed 4 deer in the past 3 years, and they have dropped on the spot, all neck shots, I know people have their opinions on that sort of shot, but I' m deadly with my 7mm. I practice all year long, and am confident I can make the shot, if I don' t have it, I don' t take it.
Finally, I' m really getting into still hunting. As I said before, I really had no stand opening weekend, but I had a blast still hunting. I took over 3 hours to move less than half a mile. Just fun. Never saw anything
, but I had in the past. After opening weekend, I came back and still hunted again, I passed up several doe trying to get to my destination. When I was within 50 yards of where I was heading, some hunters several ridges away took a shot. 7 deer near me (close) ran by and I shot an 8 pointer at 10 yards. The deer the other hunters shot at ran by be a few minutes later (at 5 feet, really) and I let them go. We had just cut up 4 deer the night before, had my friends buck (and mine) to go, so I let them go. If you had been there while my friends alcoholic wife was telling you how great he was and how we sucked you may have shot, but I guess I have grown up a bit (sure was tempting though).
Geez I babble, I just wanted to agree with CAJUN. It' s what you get out of the hunt. I may not shoot any deer, but I sure still get the rush when I see em. Priorities on the hunt may change day to day, but if your out there, your having fun. Hope I didn' t bore you.
The Trashcanman