remember when......
 

remember when you started hunting and any deer was fair game. if a button buck was walking to me my heart rate would go from 80 to 1000 in 1.2 seconds. I would be shaking uncontrollably. Don't blow it, don't blow it I would say to my self just before I sent an arrow 20 feet in any of the wrong direction. Lol. You would be the talk of the school buddies as a hunting god. And if that poor little thing had 1 three inch spike on its head I would feel like puking I was so nervous.

It's been 25 years and with my share of deer under my belt and age. Well, I had this little 8 point walk by me opening morning last saturday. My hand never reached for my bow. My heart rate stayed at 80. I just sat back and enjoyed every second of watching him do his thing.

And for a minute, I wish I could have been 16 again. I kinda miss that.

Well, I am 43, and have been deer hunting since I was 18, (bow hunting the last 10), and my heart rate still goes up when I se a button buck. I now pass on the smaller bucks, but the little ones still get me going too.

I shot my first bow with a Bear Grizzly in 1983...and my heart still races when any deer is close. I take quite a few does during the year, and they make me shake just like a big 'ol buck.

43 here too but only deer hunting since about 23. Every deer gets me going. :D

31 here, got really serious into hunting at around 20yrs old. Every deer I see gets my heart a pumping. From 100 yards out to the couple that have walked with inches of me when I sat on the ground.


put a 3-d deer target in the back yard to practice with about a month ago or so.. Well lets just say that same deer that I put up and shoot at hundreds of times has gave me the same heart exploding feeling 3 or 4 times.. I will just be pulling into my driveway or walking into the back yard and "HOLY CRAP" a deer...

well I think for me, it has come to a point where I don't want to shoot every deer I see. alot of guys hunt every year for the monster buck, me I like to hold off but I love to watch deer. Be it a button buck, doe and fawn a little buck, doesn't matter. to be able to sit back and watch a deer, just be a deer is great.

but to me, nothing can compare to that exitement the first few years of deer hunting.

And when I see that doe or 4 point and say today is the day, as i am grabbing my bow or gun the exitement level raises. i promise you

I am 48 and been hunting for 10 or so years. My heart rate still goes up some when a nice deer gets close...

I am 31, been hunting for 4 years and every single deer I see, be it crossing the road in front of me or while up a tree, my heart rate still goes through the roof!!

I'm still a youngin (20) but just thinking about a deer gets my heart going! Or even thinking about a moment when I shot a deer. I think about that stuff just for fun sometimes to get that rush again and feel like I'm back in that moment. It's what keeps me going out to the woods even after I've filled my buck tag this year Lol. Only thing I hate is that my damn right leg sometimes shakes uncontrollably that has gotten me busted a couple times haha

27 years old as of last monday. I was out in the woods on friday 10-15-10 and had my heart race when a doe and fawn stepped out. Since I just got a new bow I thought about shooting the fawn, but later decided not to. I have been hunting since I was 12 and still get excited over any deer that I think I am going to shoot. Have killed bucks and does, but the excitement never leaves.

21 here i will get excited about a buck but dont get near as excited about does as i use to but i still love to watch them.

Been hunting for over 10 years now, (not nearly as long as some of the "old Farts" on here.. Jk, love ya guys but hey, someone had to say it!) but every time I pick that bow up after I've made the decision in my mind to shoot, my heart races just like the 1st. Sometimes I wish it didn't, but what would be the thrill in that, that would just make me a deer slayer, not a hunter.

43 here and I enjoy hunting as much as I did when I was a boy, but my heart doesn't race like it used to either. There are a couple exceptions...taking a bear still gives me the adrenaline shakes. I'm also teaching my 13 year old son to bow hunt. When we are sitting close together in our stands, even the sound of a chipmunk or squirrel rustling the leaves gets the ole ticker thumpin.

I know what you're saying.

It's when I know I'm going to take a shot is when the heart gets pumping be it a doe or a "big ole goodin". It definitely pumps a whole lot harder on a "good ole biggun" though.

When I was younger, I would never shoot a doe but would fire away at any antlered buck. Now 20 years later, does are in trouble and all antlered bucks walk unless they're carrying their ticket to the taxidermist.

Boy how times have changed.

I was just thinking to same thing the other day. I miss that feeling to but now I get to watch my 11 y/o go through it.

I think as we get older, we start calculating right from the minute we see the deer. How much time do I have? Can I move without being seen ? Does it have horns, and how big ? How far do I let him go ? Everything runs through our heads, we calculate, we act, get ready, and make the shot. When I was younger, I was like a balloon filled with air, then... let go , pppphhhhhhtttt. No thought, just react, and a lot of the time, not always reacted the right way. We learn from our own mistakes.
I'm always feeling excited when you see a deer cause your anticipating that the big boy's following her and ready to come into range any second. Problem is when they just appear, right next to ya, when you least expect it, and now it's decision time. Your expected to process all those answers in the blink of an eye. THAT's what's great about the sport, anything at any given moment.:woot:

The moment I loose the excitement In seeing a deer or whatever animal I'm hunting Is the day I better hang It up.

I still get excited after 30 years of hunting but not until I decide the deer I see is a shooter.

Today it is more of a thrill to have a deer out in front (Saturday a spike and a six point) and them not knowing I am there. As a kid all I cared about was shooting, the deer seeing me or not never crossed my mind. All I remember then was...NOW DAD, "wait"; NOW DAD, "wait", NOW......NOW...???????? "shoot"

The joys of being a kid........

Yep I know exactly what you are talking about, I don't seem to get nervse until after the shot or when I know I am going to shoot and watch the deer for a long time it takes some good deep breaths.. and I have been hunting fpr 36 years and yep if I ever loose that feeling I quit..

I agree 110% if you loose the excitment of just seeing any deer or wildlife animal walk out in front of you then there is no need to be out there. I have been hunting since I was a kid and I still get excited to see anything that moves while I am on stand.

Yes the exitement level goes way up when I decide this is a deer I want to shoot.

My son now has countless stories of him in a stand with me, whether its a deer bedding down next to us, a little buck feeding through a doe and a fawn. And him saying, shoot him, shoot him and me saying, no, just watch him and see what he does.

But I know where his head is at I was there once, we are deer hunting and there is a deer.SHOOT HIM.... LOL.

The other day we were hunting and I had a front row seat to his first bow kill. He was in the stand 40 yards from mine and i watched him become a bowhunter. She was walking right to his stand, she went behind a tree and he drew. 3 more steps and I hear him grunt. she stops and looks up at him and the arrow is sent. I saw the deer laying dead while he was on the blood trail and i had to turn away (I couldn't let my son see me getting choked up) as I knew that today was the best day for me. He did it picture perfect, by himself.

So yea, I do miss the days when every deer you saw got your blood pumping. But there is no way that compared to the other day.

Last year I had the biggest buck that I've ever seen sneak up on me and stare right into my blind. He was just a few feet away. He looked at me for I guess a whole minute before smelling me and running. I couldn't move because I Knew that he would run. I really thought that I was having a heart attack. Has this happened to anyone else? Man what a rush!

I took my first shot at a deer with a bow the fall of 1975, and I was shaking so bad I couldn't even tell you were the arrow went, and I was hooked for life! I must admit that today I don't get quite that stirred up over a doe, but I do get a rush. But when I see a shooter buck and make up my mind that I will take the shot, my heart rate goes through the sky, Pick a spot stay calm my @ss, lol

I'm seeing more situations this year where, boom, he's 10 yds away and starring right at you. This is happening more and more cause for some reason, probably the abundance of acorns, there's more squirrels than birds in my area, making a racket every few minutes, running around making noise, so when you hear something, like I did last weekend, I looked around expecting an f'n squirrel, and there was a 3 pointer staring at me. In my tent I backed away, and he kept going his merry old way, walked right by me, not caring if I was there or not, checking his scrapes, rubbing a tree, and just walked away. Loved every minute of it, although my son gave a ration of shohola for not taking my first buck with a bow. But if I wouldn't shoot him with a gun, I'm certainly not gonna take him with a bow.

If I ever get to a point in age where I feel as though I've mastered the art of bowhunting and I've lost that thrill that makes my breathing labored and I'm more worried about the deer hearing my heart pounding than I am my own heart exploding i will quit.

I completely remember that time. I still get that way IF i decide I am going to shoot. If I have it in my head that I am not shooting a doe, I can sit and watch them without skipping a beat, but if I change my mind, my heart goes in turbo mode.

Exactly the same for me.
Although I had to take a year off of hunting do to uncle sam sending me overseas and the 1st time back out was the day before yesterday and even though a small buck walked out and I knew I wasn't going to shoot, I still got a little excited for a bit kinda like the 1st time, well not really but......
HH

I guess I'm more like Gary, here. I'm 63 now and haven't hunted for 3 years due to some physical problems. My hunting spanned 45 years and I was the same as you guys when I was younger. I burned with desire. It's even noted in my High School yearbook, "his love of hunting". I killed all the deer I needed to during the years and hadn't done so since 1999 when I shot my biggest buck. Then it was trophy hunting till I gave up 3 years ago. I still enjoy the woods and can go out, climb in a stand with a camcorder and just enjoy nature, catch a nap, or whatever might heart desires.

im only 23 and this is my second year hunting, never hunted with a rifle always a bow, i saw a good sized doe this morning crossing the road while i was driving to my hunting location and just seeing one from a car is good enough for my heart rate to rise

38 here..bowhunting for last 15 years...after reading some others comments..I am glad I am not the only one that damn nears falls apart AFTER the shot...sure I gota keep my head straight for the shot..but once I hear that WHACK! and the deer lasar beams off I know i need to sit down or I will pass out...my whole body trembles...I never have to worry about jumpin on a trail too soon...cuz I would fall on my head if I tried to climb down rit after the shot! Damn I love bowhuntin!:biggrin:

I am 19, and I have been hunting since I was 12. Honestly, my heart rate only gets going when I see a shooter. And he has to be coming in close before it gets going really fast. If I see a shooter a little ways out, I get excited but I am still calm. When he starts coming into range, then my heart is pumping like crazy. Whenever I see a deer that I am not going to shoot nothing changes, but I do love watching them. I know what you are talking about WNYhunter.

I was kind of thinking this same thing. Sometimes I wish I could bring back the excitement to shoot a buck no matter what its size.

thats what i was getting at. There is a part of me that misses them days but I am glad to just sit back and enjoy more than the killing of one now.

I'm 18...been hunting since I was 12. My heart rate gets pumping everytime I hear crunch crunch crunch...let alone see a deer. Even the other day a doe came in. I planned to fill my muzzle tag on 'er. Had to wiat about 3-4 minutes to get a good shot. Within that timespan I kept telling myself...come on now, it's a doe. Just trying to remain calm for a good shot. But man, why would I want to change that feeling. That's what i love about hunting....

hardwoodhunter, trust me that feeling you get is the same for me when it's time to do the deed no matter what it is. But now, I like letting them go also. It is a different kind of enjoyment for me I guess.

I'm almost 44 now and shot my first deer (small doe) with a bow when I was 14 with a 50# Bear Blacktail bow. Heck, back then I was fortunate to just see a deer so it didn't matter if it had antlers, buttons, yearling or not; if you were hearing leaves crunching you were getting excited just thinking you were going to see or shoot something soon! lol Now, I'm seeing if it is a button buck; large doe; medium doe; aging the buck if it's a buck; estimating rack score; not that I'm all about score but just do it automatically. All while this deer is coming through. Nothing against all this or anything; it's just alot going on in my head while looking through binoculars cause I don't want to use my buck tag on just any buck you know. I know it's a far cry from "see deer-shoot deer" 30 years ago. It drives me crazy sometimes with deciding whether I'm gonna shoot or pass. The amount and quality of deer is so much higher than probably it's ever been. I really enjoy watching deer and my heart rate really stays pretty normal; until I grab my bow to shoot.