Dad always hunted hard, sun up to sun down regardless of the weather. But only to fill the freezer. When that was done he was done. It really wasn't recreational for him other than a few trips with his uncle's out west for elk, mule deer and antelope. He had a Remington 7600 .30-06 that he was good at using, and always filled his tags in Penns Woods.
I started at 11. By the age of 13 I decided I wanted to do more than just fill my tags, I really liked to hunt!. A guy at our church got me set up with a bow and started taking me bow hunting. I'd found a new love.
At 14 I asked dad if I could build a tree stand on the neighbor's property. We went and talked to the guy and he said go ahead. So, I built my own stand and that season i shot my first archery deer, a 125lbs doe. I shot quite a few more out of that wooden stand between 14 and 18 including a couple good 8 pointers.
Then I left for college and started hunting public land in central Ohio. Through my early 20s I did allot of archery hunting and would always save some tags for gun seasons as well. I hunted several states and learned allot about hunting specific deer and hunting more mature deer, not just punching tags. It was never about antlers, but I passed young deer and targeted older bucks and does.
When I started having kids time and money influenced hunting more than anything. The last five years I've only archery hunted about 10 or 15 times probably. Just not a good use of my time right now. But I've been able to take elk, antelope and bear. And am planning a trip for muleys and then elk over the next several years. So I'm blessed to be able to still take time and do some fun things.
I still gun hunt but I'm much more like my dad here the last few years. I'm there to fill a tag and fill the freezer. The kids love deer sticks, jerky, deer dogs, and burgers. Most years dad and I try to tag between 4-6 deer between a few states (mostly Ohio and PA).
Dad has also begun to enjoy hunting more as he's aged. The last few seasons he's started taking my crossbow out a few times in early November, squirrel hunting by himself sometimes, and he's bought a few new toys to shoot deer with. Not just about grocery shopping anymore.
My kids are starting to hit hunting age now. That's the focus for the future. So it won't be about me, but getting them set up. We adopted a boy this summer, he's 14. His first deer hunt will be the PA Youth season in a couple weeks. Really hoping I can show him a good time and pass this love onto him. He seems excited, and seemed to enjoy his safety course and he's loving the shooting practice.
So I suspect the next 15 years for me will be getting the kids into successful spots and teaching them everything I can. I've got a 14, 8, 6, 3 year old. So lots of hunting over the next 15 years.
I won't lie. I miss the years(when I was single and no kids) when I could spend 60-80 days in the woods archery hunting each season. But I suspect when I'm 50, have lots of time to myself to hunt whatever I want, that I'll miss the years I'm just now entering in to. So I'm going to make the most of hunting with these kids and spend every free second I can doing it. Assuming they're interested.
-Jake