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I write this, wanting all of you to know that my true love for hunting revolves around deer hunting. While I hunt many other species of game, and truely enjoy it, I want to make it clear that this post, for me, is directed towards a deer hunter... I hunt turkeys, bear, groundhogs, small game... I do it all when time permits. I trout fish, and like it alot. But my heart belongs in the deer woods. And I think everyone out there can say that they too have a favorite hunting season as well. While I love to hunt other things, and try to fish and hunt groundhogs in the spring and summer, I start getting an itch, as the fall nears...
It never ceases to amaze me that when hunting season ends, I get to thinking about it and a lot of times, can’t stop because I miss it so much. On the other hand, as much as I love hunting season, we all know we can’t do it all year, year ‘round, as the population wouldn’t handle us doing such things.
But I got to thinking of the things I like, and I lay those things out on the line quite often on this site. Just to name a few, the morning sunrise, the squirrels come out, random birds landing on branches nearby. I enjoy camp, I really enjoy bear camp when we have a big crew that gets together, some who I do not see very often anymore, have a good time and spend time in some of the most beautiful country this world has to offer. I enjoy comradery with friends, and I enjoy watching and observing the woods… something that never seems to age, although we as people seem to do so rather quickly on the same schedule. These things take the back seat to nothing; the outdoors is a beautiful place. But there is something that really gets me, overwhelms me…
I got to thinking about wasn’t necessarily the things that I like about hunting, as I can sit here all day, tell you about past hunts, or the things that gets my blood pumping as the season nears, or even the things that keep me up in my bed at night during the season, like big buck encounters or trying to plan my next scheme. I got to thinking about the things I miss dearly when the season is gone. And there is a fine line drawn here. The things I love, and the things I miss. To make it more clearly, there are things I love about hunting, but some of these things I can experience on a daily basis in the yard, or by taking a walk in the woods… you get the picture. There are things like the beauty of nature I described above that I can feel and view outside of hunting season, and although I feel I appreciate them much more in the woods in the fall, it is not the same for me. There are things that one feels, on will see or do, while hunting that you can’t do outside of the “season”… our time to shine, our time to do what we were all born to do.
The things I miss though, and crave… the things that I cannot live without and I often find it hard to do so from year to year, is what I thought about here. I sat down and thought about this, as I think this is what makes everyone on this site the same. We come here because we need to blow off this “missing” the hunting and outdoors steam that builds up… I know I do that daily, sometimes too much.
The things I thought about were branches cracking at daylight, sometimes even in the darkness. I can go out and sit in the woods by the house, possibly catch a deer at daylight making these same noises. But will it feel the same for me? It will to an extent. But not the full aroma I get in the fall. My heart won’t pound, my body won’t tremble and my blood won’t begin to race tenfold like it does when I am hunting. Weird isn’t it? I bet many never thought of it this way because I never did… but now that I thought about it, I am glad I ventured into this “unknown” to my wild side.
I watch my dog often eat his food, and as he looks up at me, I feel a connection, a best friend connection. He is calm, can do this daily, and it isn’t that big of a deal for him. Where the line is drawn though, is when I let him loose in the woods while we take our walks behind the house. If he sees a squirrel, the little furry creatures that tease him through the window, he lets his wild side out. He and I both know this is his time where I won’t get mad at him… he can let his wild side out. And he does. While those bushy tails usually get the best of him, if he does happen to catch one, lights out in Georgia. His wild side comes right out… a side that I don’t see in him any other time… and nobody will.
This is what I am referring to… I miss letting my “wild side” out… something I was born to do, yet, live in a society that only lets me do it so often.
I miss those branches cracking, because although I am tame, I still have that animal in me. The killer instinct. And I feel when I do things outside of hunting season, I am not “let loose” like I am in the fall or my dog is when I let him try to regain his revenge for all the days those squirrels teased the heck out of him. Rather, I am held back in many ways, for many days a year.
I can hear that branch crack behind the house or along the stream in the spring, but the heart doesn’t drop. My wild side is contained; I need to wait until the fall. While I enjoy it, and do get excited, the emotions are bottled inside until October.
I love observing deer from a tree stand in July, August and September while having my morning or evening “scouting” sessions. But as I was thinking about this, my heart never dropped, I never lost myself at the moment and struggled to regain my composure. I loved every minute of those scouting trips, and will, for the rest of my able life, take part in completing them.
But when the season rolls around, and I have my bow on stand, paint on my face, camouflaged from head to toe, and a keen eye and ear before daylight breaks, 20 feet up in the canopy of an oak, my wild side burns deep. My senses are magnified to a greater extent I never dreamed possible. I am an animal, a hunter, a passionate lover of my surroundings.
I truely “miss” and crave letting my wild side out throughout the offseason… not necessarily killing, because I am always successful with or without drawing blood. Rather, I miss being able to do so, being able to have my body race, blood pump and heart pound, by hearing that snap of a branch, or quick flash of movement. I truly miss being able to let it all out, something that nothing in this world has yet to do to me. I miss that feeling, that heart racing, adrenaline pumping high I get when I am hunting… I know, for the rest of my life, that nothing will do this to me. And I know this for a fact.
I miss this feeling badly, through these off season months, and as the season inches closer again, I crave it more… need it more. I am helplessly addicted to this feeling and know many of you are as well…
It never ceases to amaze me that when hunting season ends, I get to thinking about it and a lot of times, can’t stop because I miss it so much. On the other hand, as much as I love hunting season, we all know we can’t do it all year, year ‘round, as the population wouldn’t handle us doing such things.
But I got to thinking of the things I like, and I lay those things out on the line quite often on this site. Just to name a few, the morning sunrise, the squirrels come out, random birds landing on branches nearby. I enjoy camp, I really enjoy bear camp when we have a big crew that gets together, some who I do not see very often anymore, have a good time and spend time in some of the most beautiful country this world has to offer. I enjoy comradery with friends, and I enjoy watching and observing the woods… something that never seems to age, although we as people seem to do so rather quickly on the same schedule. These things take the back seat to nothing; the outdoors is a beautiful place. But there is something that really gets me, overwhelms me…
I got to thinking about wasn’t necessarily the things that I like about hunting, as I can sit here all day, tell you about past hunts, or the things that gets my blood pumping as the season nears, or even the things that keep me up in my bed at night during the season, like big buck encounters or trying to plan my next scheme. I got to thinking about the things I miss dearly when the season is gone. And there is a fine line drawn here. The things I love, and the things I miss. To make it more clearly, there are things I love about hunting, but some of these things I can experience on a daily basis in the yard, or by taking a walk in the woods… you get the picture. There are things like the beauty of nature I described above that I can feel and view outside of hunting season, and although I feel I appreciate them much more in the woods in the fall, it is not the same for me. There are things that one feels, on will see or do, while hunting that you can’t do outside of the “season”… our time to shine, our time to do what we were all born to do.
The things I miss though, and crave… the things that I cannot live without and I often find it hard to do so from year to year, is what I thought about here. I sat down and thought about this, as I think this is what makes everyone on this site the same. We come here because we need to blow off this “missing” the hunting and outdoors steam that builds up… I know I do that daily, sometimes too much.
The things I thought about were branches cracking at daylight, sometimes even in the darkness. I can go out and sit in the woods by the house, possibly catch a deer at daylight making these same noises. But will it feel the same for me? It will to an extent. But not the full aroma I get in the fall. My heart won’t pound, my body won’t tremble and my blood won’t begin to race tenfold like it does when I am hunting. Weird isn’t it? I bet many never thought of it this way because I never did… but now that I thought about it, I am glad I ventured into this “unknown” to my wild side.
I watch my dog often eat his food, and as he looks up at me, I feel a connection, a best friend connection. He is calm, can do this daily, and it isn’t that big of a deal for him. Where the line is drawn though, is when I let him loose in the woods while we take our walks behind the house. If he sees a squirrel, the little furry creatures that tease him through the window, he lets his wild side out. He and I both know this is his time where I won’t get mad at him… he can let his wild side out. And he does. While those bushy tails usually get the best of him, if he does happen to catch one, lights out in Georgia. His wild side comes right out… a side that I don’t see in him any other time… and nobody will.
This is what I am referring to… I miss letting my “wild side” out… something I was born to do, yet, live in a society that only lets me do it so often.
I miss those branches cracking, because although I am tame, I still have that animal in me. The killer instinct. And I feel when I do things outside of hunting season, I am not “let loose” like I am in the fall or my dog is when I let him try to regain his revenge for all the days those squirrels teased the heck out of him. Rather, I am held back in many ways, for many days a year.
I can hear that branch crack behind the house or along the stream in the spring, but the heart doesn’t drop. My wild side is contained; I need to wait until the fall. While I enjoy it, and do get excited, the emotions are bottled inside until October.
I love observing deer from a tree stand in July, August and September while having my morning or evening “scouting” sessions. But as I was thinking about this, my heart never dropped, I never lost myself at the moment and struggled to regain my composure. I loved every minute of those scouting trips, and will, for the rest of my able life, take part in completing them.
But when the season rolls around, and I have my bow on stand, paint on my face, camouflaged from head to toe, and a keen eye and ear before daylight breaks, 20 feet up in the canopy of an oak, my wild side burns deep. My senses are magnified to a greater extent I never dreamed possible. I am an animal, a hunter, a passionate lover of my surroundings.
I truely “miss” and crave letting my wild side out throughout the offseason… not necessarily killing, because I am always successful with or without drawing blood. Rather, I miss being able to do so, being able to have my body race, blood pump and heart pound, by hearing that snap of a branch, or quick flash of movement. I truly miss being able to let it all out, something that nothing in this world has yet to do to me. I miss that feeling, that heart racing, adrenaline pumping high I get when I am hunting… I know, for the rest of my life, that nothing will do this to me. And I know this for a fact.
I miss this feeling badly, through these off season months, and as the season inches closer again, I crave it more… need it more. I am helplessly addicted to this feeling and know many of you are as well…
