What are the real reasons we hunt?

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27
All of the uproar on the banning of trail cams has me doing a lot thinking and reflecting. Why do we hunters do it? What is it really all about and where do our morals step in? I personally hunt to get away from civilization and clear my mind (same reason I ride horses) I find an extreme amount of peace in the mountains like many of you! Also seeing an animal for the first time with a rifle in my hand is some kind of excitement that very few things bring me in life which is the main reason I hunt (without cameras) Obviously I love the meat and the camaraderie with my family and friends. I just have such a hard time with the new age hunters that seem to do it for different reasons than me! I see the #ieatelk Joe Rogan and Haines generation, all the outfitters and trails cams and so called high fence “hunts” and all this other boy band **** and It makes me sick. Basically what I’m saying is how did hunting get so popular? I used to be the only kid to be checked out 1st grade to go hunting for a week and somehow in 30 yrs times it’s now some kind of racket to measure dongs and prove how badass we are. Anyways why do YOU hunt? What are the right reasons?
 
In all seriousness the main reason I hunt is simple, my dad was a hunter.

There is no situation where hunting for meat is cheaper than buying it in the stores. Plus beef tastes better.
In all seriousness the main reason I hunt is simple, my dad was a hunter.

There is no situation where hunting for meat is cheaper than buying it in the stores. Plus beef tastes better.
I agree. I don’t know very many 1st generation hunters, it’s a great excuse for us to be in the mountains. The meat costs 100’s of dollars per pound by the time it’s said and done IF you harvest an animal.
 
All of the uproar on the banning of trail cams has me doing a lot thinking and reflecting. Why do we hunters do it? What is it really all about and where do our morals step in? I personally hunt to get away from civilization and clear my mind (same reason I ride horses) I find an extreme amount of peace in the mountains like many of you! Also seeing an animal for the first time with a rifle in my hand is some kind of excitement that very few things bring me in life which is the main reason I hunt (without cameras) Obviously I love the meat and the camaraderie with my family and friends. I just have such a hard time with the new age hunters that seem to do it for different reasons than me! I see the #ieatelk Joe Rogan and Haines generation, all the outfitters and trails cams and so called high fence “hunts” and all this other boy band **** and It makes me sick. Basically what I’m saying is how did hunting get so popular? I used to be the only kid to be checked out 1st grade to go hunting for a week and somehow in 30 yrs times it’s now some kind of racket to measure dongs and prove how badass we are. Anyways why do YOU hunt? What are the right reasons?
Are you the guy who used to poke the eyeballs out of the braggin' board pictures at Sportsmans Warehouse? Just Kidding.

I know what you mean about hunting that is all over the internet. I think it can be annoying too especially when they are trying to monetize it. I also think a lot of the people online are just excited to share their success and likely enjoy hunting for many of the same reasons as the rest of us. I think social media and the internet just magnified an all ready popular hobby.

I know it can be annoying but egos persist on both sides of the trail cam debate. Some bragger hunters that are pro trail cams post every picture they get online in pursuits of more "likes" or "followers". While the non trail cam guys puff up their chest and tell everyone how great of hunters they are since they don't use trail cam technology.
 
I hunt for the memories. I have every set of antlers and horns from every animal I have harvested and each one is a memory. Just today my dad drop by to drop off some powder and we got caught talking for an hour looking at racks and talking about the stories and memories behind each rack that was pointed out. We naturally when to the racks that the memories were shared between my dad and I. I always tell my wife that I hate buying stuff but it is easy for me to spend my hard earned money on tags to get another memory. Those memories are now starting to focus on my kids now that they are of age to enjoy what I love to do in the hunting and fishing world. Everyone loves it for their own reasons but this is where I stand, it is all about the memories.
 
In all seriousness the main reason I hunt is simple, my dad was a hunter.

There is no situation where hunting for meat is cheaper than buying it in the stores. Plus beef tastes better.

Are you high SS?

My last 3 bull elk have been way cheaper to put in my freezer than buying beef from start of hunt to my dinner plate hands down! You must be doing it wrong besides that elk burger is better than beef any day of the week!
 
Are you high SS?

My last 3 bull elk have been way cheaper to put in my freezer than buying beef from start of hunt to my dinner plate hands down! You must be doing it wrong besides that elk burger is better than beef any day of the week!
At the time no. Now? Well… it’s Friday.

I love elk burger but it doesn’t compare to beef. Same with steaks etc.

Factor in time off, time to process, gear etc, fuel it’s cheaper to buy it. Of course not as fun.
 
At the time no. Now? Well… it’s Friday.

I love elk burger but it doesn’t compare to beef. Same with steaks etc.

Factor in time off, time to process, gear etc, fuel it’s cheaper to buy it. Of course not as fun.
you either get your beef from Omaha steaks or drag your elk through 2 miles of dust
 
Self reliance, herd management, to fill a tag.

It's a lie to say there's more to the hunt than just filling the tag. You hunt to fill a tag.

Really not interested if someone takes offense to my comment about the lie. I don't intend to defend my position on the matter...
 
Are you the guy who used to poke the eyeballs out of the braggin' board pictures at Sportsmans Warehouse? Just Kidding.

I know what you mean about hunting that is all over the internet. I think it can be annoying too especially when they are trying to monetize it. I also think a lot of the people online are just excited to share their success and likely enjoy hunting for many of the same reasons as the rest of us. I think social media and the internet just magnified an all ready popular hobby.

I know it can be annoying but egos persist on both sides of the trail cam debate. Some bragger hunters that are pro trail cams post every picture they get online in pursuits of more "likes" or "followers". While the non trail cam guys puff up their chest and tell everyone how great of hunters they are since they don't use trail cam technology.
I could really careless about the camera thing, only part I dislike about them is being on camera when out in the woods. I mean what happens if I get lonely? ?? “trail cams gone wrong” I just prefer to do it the old fashioned way. I don’t care if people use technology to their advantage, as I obviously do with my rifle and binos/range finder/spotter.
 
One of your statements got me thinking, I also honestly hate how popular hunting has gotten, but the fact of the matter is, we need it to be popular, with how popular the anti groups have gotten, we need the same amounts of support or hunting would soon be non existent. I’m not saying the instafamous hunters are helping, they’re not, they’re only making it worse, by stirring the pot where everybody can see it. But we need people on our side or we will be seriously outnumbered.
 
I could really careless about the camera thing, only part I dislike about them is being on camera when out in the woods. I mean what happens if I get lonely? ?? “trail cams gone wrong” I just prefer to do it the old fashioned way. I don’t care if people use technology to their advantage, as I obviously do with my rifle and binos/range finder/spotter.
????? Ha ha ha! Good point!
 
One of your statements got me thinking, I also honestly hate how popular hunting has gotten, but the fact of the matter is, we need it to be popular, with how popular the anti groups have gotten, we need the same amounts of support or hunting would soon be non existent. I’m not saying the instafamous hunters are helping, they’re not, they’re only making it worse, by stirring the pot where everybody can see it. But we need people on our side or we will be seriously outnumbered.
I agree 100% lots of pros/cons for sure. Just sucks to see so many people in the mountains where I use to go to escape them. It’s really gotten bad since Covid it seems. I watched some kids launch bullets about 4,000 years into a giant heard in a spike hunt a couple years back. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing ?‍♂️ I could just see them #ieatelk when they got back to service
 
Peace, tranquility, the challenge, time to reflect on life, views, sunrise/sunsets, to reset, to push myself, to see god’s handiwork and to relax at the top of the mountain!
That’s exactly why I do it! No other place better to unwind and get away from the craziness of life!
 
All of the uproar on the banning of trail cams has me doing a lot thinking and reflecting. Why do we hunters do it? What is it really all about and where do our morals step in? I personally hunt to get away from civilization and clear my mind (same reason I ride horses) I find an extreme amount of peace in the mountains like many of you! Also seeing an animal for the first time with a rifle in my hand is some kind of excitement that very few things bring me in life which is the main reason I hunt (without cameras) Obviously I love the meat and the camaraderie with my family and friends. I just have such a hard time with the new age hunters that seem to do it for different reasons than me! I see the #ieatelk Joe Rogan and Haines generation, all the outfitters and trails cams and so called high fence “hunts” and all this other boy band **** and It makes me sick. Basically what I’m saying is how did hunting get so popular? I used to be the only kid to be checked out 1st grade to go hunting for a week and somehow in 30 yrs times it’s now some kind of racket to measure dongs and prove how badass we are. Anyways why do YOU hunt? What are the right reasons?
I hunt for the peace and quiet of the Mountains the smell of the trees. I block out the imbeciles running up and down the roads on their machines and all of the want to be's
A Bottle of Scotch and a good fire sitting in the trees is all I need to be happy
 
From the beginning of time you were a hunter or gatherer. I’m a hunter. Can’t tell you why anymore than I can tell you why I’m left handed, right eyed or hate the taste of cottage cheese. I was hunting long before I understood what hunting was. Grasshoppers, songbirds, frogs, vermin.

Now I can tell you thousands of reasons I enjoy hunting, hundreds that motivate me to hunt and a handful of reasons I hate hunting.

Ortega y Gasset “One does not hunt in order to kill. One kills in order to have hunted.”
As time has passed I believe the division in this statement is being defined.
The difference between a hunter and killer is obvious. One hunts because it is their fiber the other because they need to take. The increase for instant gratification seems to be recruiting more killers than hunters. IMO. Hence the acceptance of things pushing the limits and diluting what old timers consider hunting.

Glad to know for me to hunt is enough. Glad to understand that killing is an accountable offense in nature and I try to use that force wisely.
 
I’ve got it made ? My wife prefers the game that I bring home and butcher over anything we can buy in the store. Even Omaha Steaks. What I spend hasn’t been an issue for over 25 years now. My dad was a hunter my grandfather was a hunter. Best memories. My son is a hunter his son is a hunter.
 
Are you high SS?

My last 3 bull elk have been way cheaper to put in my freezer than buying beef from start of hunt to my dinner plate hands down! You must be doing it wrong besides that elk burger is better than beef any day of the week!
I’m 100% on board with SS! on this one. I’ve killed and eaten many elk and other wild critters. The only wild game that tastes as good as beef, to me, are some of the African antelope, and that’s cuz they taste like beef, to me.

Fact is I stopped killing elk because I got tied of eat meat I didn’t like.
 
I’m 100% on board with SS! on this one. I’ve killed and eaten many elk and other wild critters. The only wild game that tastes as good as beef, to me, are some of the African antelope, and that’s cuz they taste like beef, to me.

Fact is I stopped killing elk because I got tied of eat meat I didn’t like.
You ever had moose or whitetail deer? I don’t think beef compares personally. I love elk meat ?‍♂️ Guess it’s all personal preference. I noticed game meat almost always sucks when I get it back from a butcher. The ones I’ve butchered myself have all been the best meat I’ve ever had, even the mature buck we harvested this year is damn tasty.
 
You ever had moose or whitetail deer? I don’t think beef compares personally. I love elk meat ?‍♂️ Guess it’s all personal preference. I noticed game meat almost always sucks when I get it back from a butcher. The ones I’ve butchered myself have all been the best meat I’ve ever had, even the mature buck we harvested this year is damn tasty.
Hard as it is to believe, I’ve killed an eaten moose, caribou, elk, whitetail, Muley, pronghorn, bear, ducks, geese, dove, pheasants, grouse, squirrel, rabbits, impala, blissbuck, wildebeest, oryx/gems buck etc. I prefer beef, chicken and pork but the African stuff is really close in flavor to domestic beef, but some is chewer...... the small antelope is like chewing rubber but it has very mild flavor, like beef.

I’ve butchered my No. American game for the last 50 years, accept animals that I can’t get home before they spoil.

Of the wild North American venison I like elk the least. My favorite is pronghorn, then moose and whitetail.

If I have to add all kinds of flavors to it......... that’s cheating, isn’t it.

I can make elk taste like cooked tomatoes. I flower it, brown it and cover it up with onions, tomato sauce, and Lowery’s seasoning and slow cook it in a crock pot for 8 hours, or any other number of ways, to change the flavor. But........

I prefer my meat cooked medium rare, on an open flame, add a little salt and pepper and leave off the Heitz Ketchup and Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce for me please.

My grandson loves ducks........ go figure......... we don’t all like the same flavors. Like I said, I quiet killing elk and I can kill an elk easier than I can kill a mule deer now days but..... I don’t shoot’em cuz I don’t like’em. It saves one for y’all. ?
 
Trapping and then hunting kept my ass out of trouble when I was a young teenager. It was a game(life) changer for me. Trapping taught me a lot about wildlife and then small game hunting taught me more and then it evolved into Deer and Big Game hunting. Mom always cooked the best wild Rabbit and Pheasant around back then that I brought home.

I would get home from school change clothes and out into the woods and swamps I went after we moved to the country. My parents were immigrants and we lived in the city initially but my father wanted property and country living. His parents raised cattle, made cheese and had a vineyard in Italy. He had the background and wanted to make a better life for himself and his family and came to America. Within 15 years or so after getting off the boat with $25 in his pocket and making enough money to get mom and her parents here as well(RIP mom and Dad), my brother and I eventually came along. He worked his ass off and eventually owned two houses, bought a 183 acre farm and then built his dream home in the country on another property. My love of the outdoors started in 8th grade and changed when we moved there. It started my obsession for the outdoors!

Hunting and the outdoors began to take over my life and a lot of my spare time in hunting season(when feasible with a family) was spent outdoors. Possibly I can get another 10 or 15 years or so in before that comes to an end. I always loved being in the woods with nature and wildlife and always learned something in just about every hunt. When I walked the fields hunting pheasants a few weeks ago, I still enjoy it as much as a 13 year old back in the day. It's been a great life and hopefully will have a few more good hunts to get in before it's all said and done.

Right now I am living on the memories and maybe will have a few more coming.
 
2lumpy let's wait for bbq weather!

SS A little beef fat added to my elk burger!

BESS I like to taste my food just enough good heat!
 
Been a Couple Years ago going in to Vernal/Outskirts!

I See A Perty Damn Nice Pronghorn on the other side of the Road that had been Run Over!

So I Turn around to Go Look at it and a F'N Mini-Van in Front of Me Pulls up to the Side of the Loper & 3 Mexicans Sweep it in to the Mini-Van & Haul Ass!

There Were Some Fresh Taco's in The Basin there for a few days!
 
2lumpy let's wait for bbq weather!

SS A little beef fat added to my elk burger!

BESS I like to taste my food just enough good heat!
Okay, I’ll go on home then.......?
Been a Couple Years ago going in to Vernal/Outskirts!

I See A Perty Damn Nice Pronghorn on the other side of the Road that had been Run Over!

So I Turn around to Go Look at it and a F'N Mini-Van in Front of Me Pulls up to the Side of the Loper & 3 Mexicans Sweep it in to the Mini-Van & Haul Ass!

There Were Some Fresh Taco's in The Basin there for a few days!
I’ve checked mule deer fresh gut piles for liver........ and will continue to do so........
 
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I hunt for the experience and the excitement of it. My favorite part of hunting is feeling buck fever. The last buck I killed was also my biggest. My one regret about that buck?? I found him the day before my hunt opened. I watched him and filmed him quite a bit that day... The next morning, I "turned him up" (as they say) and I was able to put him down with one round from the 7mm Mag.

Looking back, it was different than some other deer I have killed that I sort of "stumbled on" and had to make a quick decision, make a quick shot, etc... He didn't quite have that buck fever feel to him. Though as I walked up on him, with my dad, I was in heaven. Nothing could change that. :):)

I have a soon-to-be-12-year-old daughter who is looking forward to hunting this fall more than anything else. My hope is that we will be able to get her a tag that will result in a successful harvest of an animal. So, that's what will get me out of bed early this summer and fall...
 
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