Alright all you hunters, whats the one thing about hunting that does it for you?

  The kill? The recon? The freezing cold? The way your wife rolls her eyes when you tell her gun season is coming up? The camo? The guns?

    Think long and hard about it......you may be surprised at the answers.



   

Well, as far as big game hunting it would have to be the moments before you take the shot.  You know the adreneline starts pumping, can't let it get the best of you or you make a crappy shot, or if he's right on top of you, you gotta move slow or when one of those eyes is'nt peering in your direction.  Absolutely live for those moments.  The shot does'nt mean that much to me, and the work starts after the shot.  Small game hunting on the other hand is often all about the action and faster pace.  I love both.

convenient stores that sell ammo, garages that are check stations and being able to walk around with a bigass knife, pistol and all sorts of goofy orange shit strapped to ya in those places with no one giving you a second look. (like they did on the elevator ride down to my car from my elevated cave at 3:00 this morning)

Oh that and seeing everything wake up around you one species at a time as the sun comes up, kind of surreal sometimes experiencing that when you stayed up and didn't sleep the night before. You know when you kind of zombified but past the point of knowing what tired is since you've made a committment to non-sleep and you're too anxious to care.

lugging a seems-like 20 pound bench rifle around because your friend wanted you to cover "a big area" and the only deer you see walk right under your stand but you cant move a gun like that fast enough. Oh and then everyone deciding that they aren't going around that area anymore so it's time to push through the brush carrying that heavy-ass thing.

but it's great fun!

My all-time fav is when I put on my surplus cammo, my black Lab-mut sees me in it, holding a shotgun and flips out. He knows that he Always goes with me.

In his enthusiasm, he totally tangles up in my legs as I go around collecting my stuff for the hunt, making it impossible to walk.

As the front door opens, he gives a giddy yelp as he rushes out, not waiting for the tailgate to be lowered as he jumps in, tail wagging wildly in anticipation of the hunt.

everything. But if I had to narrow it down I would say the time alone, the quite and tranquility of the woods, the new equipment, the hunt, and the moments before the shot. I guess that about covers it.

I'd agree with all of the above.  Another moment that I love is when family/friends take their fist bite of "x" that has been provided by you all the way from field to oven.  If everything went right - they're back for seconds!

Tate

That's a tough call. Sitting in the woods (like sancho said) watching things come alive is AWESOME. But shit, even hunting in the afternoon is great. To be real honest with you, just sitting in the woods as still as can be for hours is good for the soul.


But there's the whole thing about the being an actual part of the food chain. I know this sounds corny, but to me there's just something about field dressing a dear that's pretty primal. Sure you can get a cheeseburger at Mcdonalds without getting your hands dirty. But most people don't want to deal with the dirty part of it.

And around here the deer population is at such record numbers that they create a problem for themselves as well as drivers. So to me it's also doint my part to control the herd.


As far as small game goes. It's all about the thrill.

Plus, squirrel baked in the oven with creme of mushroom soup is DAMN good.

Have I gone on long enough?  

Kind of funny that you mentioned it as gun season opens tomorrow morning. I guess it would have to be the anticipation of seeing Elvis ( a 160 class typical 10pt) that almost ran me over chasing a doe during bow season.

Outwitting one of natures smartest game animals. Its something condo dwellers will never understand.


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Treestands are for people who don't know how to hunt

Plain and simple. Spending quality time with my father.

For me, the best part of hunting is the sudden sharpening of the senses that takes place when you sense that the game is near.  It's an escape from the civilized world of symbols and personalities to a raw, primal state of direct interaction with nature.  The hunter steps back into a game of life and death, the timeless drama in which we normally participate only by proxy.

The second best part is returning from the field to a warm shower and a cold beer. [beer]

The eats! That's what it's all about.

The camraderie
The quiet time
The stalk
That first hot shower after a week in the woods.
No particular order.

Fresh air & great sunsets.

It used to be a whole plethora of things.  From watching the stars. ( I am amazed at how many more you can see when you are in the bottom lands of a valley).  I love to listen and watch as the birds wake up and start to flit from branch to branch.  Watching a fox or coyote trot past without ever knowing that I am there.

Now I have a much better reason to hunt.....watching my 8 year old son as his eyes widen to the things listed above!!

Recipe please [:)]

All of the hunt is great.  The dear are abundant this year.  I have heard many stories this year about their huge numbers.  Its incredible.

Benjamin

Growing up in Nebraska, deer season was a 10 day break in pheasant hunting, so I never really got into it seriously.

But bird hunting, ahhh......

Those frosty, crispy mornings watching the sun come up. The hot chocolate. Listening to that crappy '70's country music on the radio. With Nebraska football playing in the afternoons. Time with Dad. Letting Dad shoot first, then me downing the bird. [:D]

God, I wish there were pheasants here.

Elk hunting almost comes close. Mainly, I think because you DO have to work for them.

Here in Eastern NC, our gun season is from mid-October to January 1.  I live for hunting.  It's what got me started into guns.  I bow hunt, smokepole and rifle.  Thats why you wont see me on the boards during the weekend.

I love everything about it.  From pissing my wife off to wiping my ass with a thorn bush. [:D]

I love dropping a deer in its tracks and love tracking them through the thickets of eastern NC.

I wouldn't change a thing about hunting and damned sure couldn't come up with a favorite.

It is the anticipation, the smells, the sounds, the bitter cold, the dark, the warm sunny days, the hard work, the successes and the failures!

These are the elements of what is most important...the memories.

Fis_Prod

   Wow, some really well thought-out answers. I guess its my turn now.

   My one thing would have to be my stepson. From what others tell me it is unusual for a  stepson and stepfather to get along real well. I took him for his first hunt. He was 9. Normally I would not even think about giving a 9 year-old a gun to shoot. Muchless trust him to think clearly when a buck crosses his path and not shoot in my direction. But children mature at different ages and have to be judged on a case by case basis.
   The morning of the hunt. He wakes up about 2 hours early and starts throwing up. I figured he was sick and went in to tell him we could go another time when he felt better. His mother was with him and laughed at what I said. She said he is not sick. He is throwing up because he is so excited to go hunting. I knew a true hunter was born that morning.....
  This kid (16 now) could sleep through a train wreck in the living room but come time to hunt. He is waiting on me when I wake up.

  The other things about hunting. The sounds are spectacular. Squirrel chatter, turkeys in the distance, the acorns falling to the ground, the birds and occassionally you hear something special....

   I was hunting a few years back and saw a huge doe cross the bottom in front of me then came straight up the hill to my right. I was enjoying the deer, wishing for doe days of course, when I hear this sqawling. I see the doe glance over her shoulder and here comes her little one bouncing through the bottom screaming for mama. The fawn catches up with her and they nuzzle a couple of times. Then the fawn starts to nurse right there in front of me not 25 yards away. After a minute or so of her baby head butting her milk sack. They take off up the hill.
   Now I,like everybody, has seen this kind of stuff on TV before. No big deal, right. Well, I don't know if it was combination of the sun shining off the frost and the sight of one of the most basic and caring functions of mother nature happen right in front of me. But I felt like something special just happened.

  I also love the sound of that majestic beast, the whitetail buck, when it drops like a sack of potatoes from an expertly placed 30-06 bullet. It never knows it's coming. It's quick. It's efficient. It's a noble way to die that many would hope for......

I think my favorite part is the adrenaline rush when you first see the animal come into view.  Then the challenge of beating the adrenaline back long enough to take a good shot.

the silence.

Doing nothing and still being productive.

Walking around in the woods with guns and being called normal.

Seeing 47 does grazing in a field and wishing Illinois had a rifle season.

Seeing 47 does dead along the side of the road and wishing Illinois had a rifle season.

Eating somthing that had been climbing trees or running through the brush 2 hours earlier.

Spending $15 on a tag and $.20 for a shell, and getting 120 lbs of fresh meat in my own backyard.

My Father and Uncle took me pheasant hunting once.  It was rather cool as a nine year old being taken out with the MEN to do something the 'grownups only do'.

Back then I had a different perspective on it than I do now.  Back then it was the coolest bonding excercise and the culmination of all my Dad's gun safety and careful education all rolled into a day I could actually use it to shoot something other than paper targets with a .22.

Hot chocolate, my first ever taste of coffee, slim jims, Red Devil sandwich spread, and ham and cheese sandwiches.  Dad smoking his cherry tobacco in his pipe while sitting on a folding army stool.  Uncle letting me have spotting scope duty to look for stuff.

That was a long time ago.  Now that I've had time in some sporting clays and trap/skeet matches, I'm thinking of taking Dad out for pheasant or turkey hunting.  Should be nice to do now that I'm older.

Nowadays: Getting out of the woods without some idiot Bambi-Blaster, once a year hunter type shooting in my direction 'cause he saw something move' would be good. [:O]

Pretty much, just being out and away.I love it.
To me it's a "cleansing" deal.
I take a couple of hounds out and cruise for lion tracks as often as possible. Just to be out.
I sometime throw a chainsaw in the truck.
Tree or track? A win, win situation.

Primarily it is the anticipation before the hunt, which for me it is chambering the first round to taking my first shot.  Until then it does not seem real.  Will the weather be good?  Will we find game?  Will my aim be true?  Finding game is nice, but I have a good time even if I come back empty handed.