What's the reason you hunt deer?
 

Just like the title says, what's the reason you hunt deer? What's the reason you sit for hours in the woods waiting for these animals?

Btw, on that last poll option it's suppose to say "then" not "the".

My main reason for hunting is pride.
Pride in knowing I can feed me and my family and that we won't starve to death nor need a government handout.

Biker

I chose a little of both. I can only shoot one deer a year, so I start out the year in September with the bow, and kind of hold out for a nice buck. Then, if I dont have one by NOvember, I get the ML out for our gun season. That runs for a week. Then if still nothing, I will go back to the bow untill the weekend after Thanksgiving. Thats when our ML season starts, and runs for 3 weeks. If I still dont have anything by the second week of ML season, I turn into a meat hunter, and will shoot whatever is legal. I just love being in the woods, so the longer I can stretch the season, the better.

I picked the first option.I kill um all because they are delicious especially tender does.

I shoot does and big bucks. I avoid shooting little deer. Im not starving and don't need to kill everything I see.

Back to the original question: What's the reason you hunt deer?

I hunt deer because I am a predator and was born to do so. Its what comes natural to me. The real question should be why do some people not hunt deer?

I deer hunt because it gives me alot of nice quiet alone time and they make nice wall decorations. I don't really care for the meat other than jerky and summer sausage. I usually donate my deer to Hunters for Hunger and get a little of it made into jerky.

I hunt deer because I've grown up hunting and want to spend as much time in the outdoors as I can. Not to mention how good back straps taste. I want to keep the tradition going in the generations to come.

None of the above...

I too, grew up hunting, could walk out the back door and hunt...I was hunting by myself by the time I was 10...

We own 3 farms, about 850 acres...We grow corn, soybeans, peanuts and wheat...We have to keep the local herd under control or we'll have no crops...For the past 20 years we have killed 40-50 deer a year, most are does and all are eaten...

I love to cook and host other hunters...A 90 pound year and a half year old doe is good eating if prepared properly...

I also bow hunt and have hunted with flintlock rifles since the 70s...This keeps the hobby interesting...

I could care less about killing big bucks...I know what needs to be killed to help keep the population in balance and I also know what type deer I prefer to eat...

I've seen guys come up to hunt that ruined the hunt for everyone else because they either missed or wounded a big buck or were dissapointed because someone else killed one and they didn't...I've also seen them come back to camp and when asked what they say they would say, "Nothing but a bunch of does"...When asked why didn't they take one they'd say "I don't eat deer and don't want to kill a doe, I want to kill a buck"...Some even kill a smaller buck when the big buck doesn't show up, passing up does in the process...

These guys have made a job out of hunting, they don't enjoy it, it's a competition to them...Hunting is a hobby, it's about enjoy nature, helping others have fun and giving back and improving habitat...It's not about killing trophys...Man started hunting for food, yet many don't eat or cook what they kill, they just want to brag about the results...

Why do I spend days in the woods in the fall??? Because I love nature...There is always plenty to watch...One afternoon last year, I climbed 20 feet up in a tree and settled in only to find that directly across from me, not 30 feet away were 2 young coons taking a nap in the crouch of a big white oak...Another morning, I watched a spider making a web in the tree I was in...That's why I hunt...

I hunt because I love sitting out in the woods and enjoying nature, and the rush of that deer coming in past my stand.

Mainly to spend time in the outdoors with friends and family, but there is definately something extra that comes with the excitement of the hunt that you just cant get from doing the same activity with a camera. Especially if it a deer that you have spent a great deal of time and effort trying to get close to.