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what do you consider a successful hunt?

21267 Views 49 Replies 47 Participants Last post by  Bushranger23
in order to be considered a successful hunt to you feel that you have to kill something or just get out and spend time in the woods with family and friends and see some deer and have a good time?
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used to be that i was disapointed if i came home empty handed. it was almost a competition between my friends and i whom could put the meat on the table. as i grow older and appreciate the little bit of time i get to spend in the outdoors my views have changed drastically. as a 33 year old father of 2 youngsters, i've come to cherish the quiet time a little more. don't get me wrong i can't wait until they accompany me on more than squirrel and groundhog hunts and i hope they love and value the outdoors as much as i do! anymore it is definatley the time with old friends and family members that i love the most. fastening the tag on a big old buck or bruin is just the icing on the cake!!!
Everybody comes out safe and enjoys time together.Anything else is a bonus.
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DAVEOTHG said:
Everybody comes out safe and enjoys time together.Anything else is a bonus.
10-4 on that Dave!!
I consider a successful hunt when it ends safely, all had a good time and we see game. Shooting and bringing something home is just icing on the cake.
To me getting out, and the people I hunt with is what’s more important in my mind.
The thing that puts it over the top is to have someone in the group that is experiencing their first time hunting.

Others want to B&M about what they want or what they feel they are entitled to. Me, I am just grateful for the chance to get out and enjoy the woods.
To be successful, I go out and sit in a tree, soak in the surroundings, and think how lucky I am to be able to do this.

When I see an animal, ikt is absolutely fabulous and nothing can top it.

When I harvest an animal, it takes me over the edge and I get a natural high no beer, drugs or substances could ever deliver.

I am always successful... from the moment I put my hunting hat on, to the moment I come home.
I would consider last Saturdays archery hunt with my don to be my most successful.he is 9and sat.was really the first time he could go out for the mentored deer program this season.unfortunatky,he did not get a shot that day,but just to be out there sitting with him in that pouring rain is something I will never forget.or the way be sat so still and never compleined.I think there will be many more successful days to come.
A crisp cold morning watching the sun rise, dont care if
I get anything, always hope to see something. Running into
another hunter while out in the woods, asking them have
seen anything, telling them good luck and moving on down
the trail.
Just seeing a buck feels like a success to me.
Having the opportunity to step in the Penns woods is all it takes for me to be successful! Sometimes we forget how lucky we are!!
Just going out and seeing some deer thats a successful hunt imo
A successful hunt to me is seeing one of my kids enjoy the day, even when there was no shooting.

When I was around 14, with one sentence my Dad changed my perception of what makes a successful season. It was the last day of flintlock and I was lamenting about not killing a deer that year. He said, if a person gauges the success of their season based solely on what they kill, they are not truly hunters.
It took me a few years to truly appreciate what that meant, but 30 years later I think I got it. Thanks Dad!
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any day I get to spend in the woods, live every day like it's your last (by that i don't mean act a fool though)
I could care less if I bag a deer. But I do like dragging out bucks for my now 77 year old hunting buddy, He has bagged some nice ones in the past few years.
It will also be nice to have my nine year old son in the stand with me this year.
I love hunting big bucks and anyone here that knows me can tell you that. However, with that said most that really know me and have read some of my more heartfelt posts know that the feeling of being alone in the woods and at peace with everything around me is my ultimate success. I believe that is the way, one of life's true happinesses was intended to be fulfilled. I can go on and on about my feelings but hopefully this short paragraph has summed it up well enough.
im with you guys on that i feel exactly the same way, a guy i know and some of his friends dont consider it a successful hunt unless they kill something no matter how many deer they see but me im happy just getting out there enjoying being out in the woods and seeing some deer getting one is just icing on the cake
a successful day is any day in the woods or on the water-i have tons of those

but a successful hunt is bringing something home for you or who is in your party
coming back safe at the end of the day !!!
Since the point actually IS to harvest a deer, if I don't see any deer (not one day, but multiple) than it was not a successful hunt because I feel that I didn't do ALL I COULD to make it successful.

If I see deer, if I don't raise the gun or draw the bow, but see deer - good hunt.
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adudeuknow said:
I love hunting big bucks and anyone here that knows me can tell you that. However, with that said most that really know me and have read some of my more heartfelt posts know that the feeling of being alone in the woods and at peace with everything around me is my ultimate success. I believe that is the way, one of life's true happinesses was intended to be fulfilled. I can go on and on about my feelings but hopefully this short paragraph has summed it up well enough.
Covers it very well for me, too. Thanks! Good luck to all.

Zumer
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