For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

do you find yourself better educated on deer? do you find yourself completely in awe of deer and their behavior and want to tag a big buck every year?? or have you grown tired or lazy and just gothrough the motions of deer hunting every year but don't really care anymore? Me, Im in my 20th season deer hunting and Im Im more interested in hunting than ever... I also have learned more each and every year, but sometimes I neglect what i learn...at times I just go through motions and grow tired of the routine....never to point I want to give up or lose interest, but grow tired and sometimes look forward to the end oft he season, until about 2 weeks later and then Im charged up.

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

I don't think I could have put it any better myself Landon.

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

After 30+ years of bow and rifle hunting I am still learning new things about deer. Especially mature bucks. I am still excited about hunting.

More importantly, I am struggling to unlearn things that I once thought were true but now believe to be wrong.

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

I have been hunting deer for over 40 years, mature bucks for 18. I am in awe of deer and their behavior and would like to kill a big one every year. I treat every season as a stepping stone (learning experience) and am still scaling the mountain. This is the part that is most fun for me.

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

I agree with Todd.

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

Exactly except for time frame, hunting for 30 years, bowhunting for 27 and mature buck hunting for 10 years.

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

I have 15 rifle, 4 bow.

I learned and observed more about deer in my first 2 yrs of bow than all 15 rifle combined. I observed and learned more about deer in my 3rd yr ofbow than the first two combined. Ilearned and observed more about deer in this 4th year of bow than all previous 3 yrs combined. If this keeps up, I might be in danger of system overload with my 1gb brain capacity. ;)

The fun is in the chase. Knowledge of whitetails is what I'm after. The chase insofar as can be ascertained will never end!!!

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

I'll answer with a cut and paste from NYbowhunters thread about do we need to get better.

Maybe someone already said it, (in my best singy songy voice)"Oh Lord it's hard to be humble. When you're perfect in every wayyyyyyyyyy"[8D][8D][8D][8D]



Actually, the older I get the more I figure it's OK to get worse. I really do. I've killed enough deer and good deer over my lifetime to satisfy anyones desires. I still yern for the hunt and the adventure, but really, I don't care if I shoot macho buck anymore. I don't go through all the extra steps to ensure success I once felt were mandatory. I don't buy gimmicks trying to improve. I may even smoke a cigarette if I feel it will add to the peace and quiet of my time in a tree. NOPE, I think it's just fine to get a little worse as time goes on. It's OK just to have fun as long as you have some success once in a while. NOPE, I think I've arrived in that I now feel it's just fine to get a little worse. Serious as I can be. Just as long as I don't mess up anyone elses fun, I'm good.

P.S> All this talk about mature budks yada yada yada... it's all relative to location, time spent and population. Good representative deer would be a worthy goal I think.

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

That's not entirely true.

I'm not trying to pick on you D.. I just sense a little piss and vinegar in you tonight.

And I guess... I have some in me too.:D

RE: For those who have hunted 10 yrs or more..
 

I've Bowhunted for 24 years and every year has a new experiance and I look forward more now than I did years back for the season to open. I always asking.
Why is the deer there?
Where is he going?
What's he doing?

Always triing to learn something.