RE: The Importance of Tradition in hunting
 

Preacher

I am the only one that hunted in my immediatefamily. I was invited to hunt withmy uncle/cousins in high schoolbut they were big drive hunters and needed more walkers/pusher then anything. Not really atradition as I didn't miss it when I moved on.I am also self taught and enjoyed hunting alone most of my life.

Now myson hunts and so will my youngest daughter. Bow hunting is by far our biggest passion when it comes to hunting. While we will never have a deer camp type tradition... no matter what time off the year, we will have our tradition of shedhunting, summer scouting and bowhunting once the kids leave home and come back to visit or to hunt. Otherwise for the most part, I will be traditionally back to hunting alone. I am not one for crowds. I hunt to hunt !! :D

Tim

RE: The Importance of Tradition in hunting
 

I too am a self taught deer hunter. My family never was much into hunting of any kind. I started shotgun deer hunting on my dads farm in IL by myself. Then I stayed with some neighbors in an lod log cabin they fixed up for deer camp. That camp was mostly an excuse for beer drinking smoking and card playing.

Then I hunted for a few years with an uncle and a few friends. That too was mostly just to get away and party for a few days.

I then started to bow hunt on my own. That is when I truely found my passion for hunting. Don't get me wrong the times spent with friends were fun. But not really the way I wanted to hunt. Since I have been bowhunting on my own, the quality of animals I have killed has improved and my skills as a self taught hunter has improved too. So while I don't have the tradition of some of your deer camps, I do have the passion for the hunt. To me that passion is outsmarting one of the better bucks in the woods.

Now my deer hunting is a year roundaddiction, and I have a few close friends that I share it with from time to time. But mostly it is me trying to figure out the best way get a trophy buck next time out in the woods.

RE: The Importance of Tradition in hunting
 

I make the statement all the time that I would rather shoot a small buck with my bow than a monster with the rifle this Monday. Doesn't mean that I won't shoot the monster given the chance. I feel exactly the same way you do about gun season though. While I thoroughly enjoy the solitude the bow season, I still get ancy to got to the cabin on Saturday before the first Monday and hang out with Dad, the brother, uncles and countless friends. There is truly nothing that compares to the memories of past first days.

RE: The Importance of Tradition in hunting
 

It's interesting to see how tradition in hunting doesn't necessarily have to do with family / friends ..... hunting with family is all I have known .... yet for some of you, your self education and annual quest for the trophy your seeking, is in itself, tradition ....

Great stuff guys ......

RE: The Importance of Tradition in hunting
 

I started hunting in 1986 with my dad and my uncle. We still hunt together every year during the shotgun season, and try to squeeze in as many bow hunts together as time allows. This season, we added a new hunting partner. My 11 year old son started hunting last Friday morning with us. Saturday morning, as my son and I hunted in the same tree, my son saw his first deer from the stand. I grunted him into to 35 yards, but my son got what might be the worst case of buck fever known to man.:DHe couldn't get a shot due to some trees and a skittish buck. The buck walked away and paused at 80 yards. I didn't even lift my gun until my son told me to kill him.[8D]I ended up taking my best buck to date, an 8pt that dressed 204 lbs. That is a memory that I will never forget.