Tell me about your hunt

[sealhunter]

Well guys, tell me about your hunt.

How do you hunt? What do you bring? What are the hell ya's and Hell No's !

Personally, I like to hike and hunt. I like getting in the bush and on the rocky mountain slopes. A real favourite of mine are river beds and river valleys with towering cliffs on the sides.

I always have an MSR dragonfly in my pack, a first aid kit, food, etc etc etc

I usually do my best to have a "boil up" each time I go on an all day or overnight hunt.

I like short rifles. If I can get decent groups at 300 yrds then that's the most I'll usually ever need for big game. Less than 100 yrds is far more frequent.

I really like taking in the nature of everything, On one hunt I found coal in a river bottom. I collected some and made a hot hot fire. It was a great day.

I like huntinh when it's cool. not hot, not cold. 5-10C and I'm happy.

I also like it dead calm, not a breath.

I don't really like being in areas where I cannot get up high enough to get a birds eye view if I want.

Ahhh, hunting.

 

[Mount Sweetness]

Love hunting with dogs, doesn't matter what...when or where

 

[sealhunter]

bird hunting with dogs is something everyone has to experience...

 

[martinbns]

I like to hunt by myself, although my wife isn't crazy about it.

My preference is find a good spot and sit. Try and become one with the squirrels.

 

[Mount Sweetness]

Rabbits with my beagle. Pheasants with my Vizsla. Lots of fun.

 

[oopswasthatyourdog?]

I like all sorts of hunts.
I hunt deer from blinds and really love it when the sun rises and everything starts to awake around me.
I hunt moose in the northern forests and spend most of my time alone away from my hunting party. Making my own trails through virgin woods, following winding rivers and streams.
I love cutting some pine branches, finding a small bowl between trees and making a bed to nap on.
I hunt groundhogs all summer and predators in the winter on farms I have access to. Most just minutes from home. I enjoy the feeling of getting off work early and the anticipation during the drive home knowing that soon I will be walking the fields for a few hours and enjoying the scenery.
Spotting birds that I haven't or seldom see.
Finding tracks and following them.
I love that feeling that you are the only human that has been where you are.

I always have my daypack with first-aid kit, extra clothes I need or layers I will shed, handheld GPS...gotta love the backtrack feature since I tend to wander, gamebags during the largegame season, rope, laytex gloves, sharpening stones, personal journal, cell phone, water, snacks....sonds like alot but it's not really.

I like heavy barreled bolt action rifles that shoot fast and flat. I love my custom .243

I love the planning stages, scouting on quads and all the emotions that hunting brings out in me.

some pics of what I love to do the most:

scouting for moose in the Senneterre region of Quebec

Groundhogs in the summer

Calling in the winter

Scenery to take your breath away:

 

[7mmlefty]

My hunts vary from ducks, geese,turkey, pheasant, and rabbits to deer. All walking except for bow hunting(tree stand).

All within 20 minutes of home.
I travel very light with gun, back pack with lunch and a few extra rounds, all depending on the days hunt plan.

Like the idea of a boil up. I should take more time to do that!

Sounds like you really enjoy you're time hunting Sealhunter.

 

[Camp Cook]

The remotest alpine is my favorite area to hunt there is nothing like sitting/standing on the top of a ridge and being able to see as far as possible and everything around me is just more snow capped mountain ranges/ridges...

 

[sealhunter]

The remotest alpine is my favorite area to hunt there is nothing like sitting/standing on the top of a ridge and being able to see as far as possible and everything around me is just more snow capped mountain ranges/ridges...

That's the bird's eye view I was speaking of...

Good stuff.

 

[sealhunter]

Like the idea of a boil up. I should take more time to do that!

Sounds like you really enjoy you're time hunting Sealhunter.

I don't know how to describe it.

The feelings, hmmm...

When I go in the woods, especially back home in Newfoundland and in Northern Alberta, (and more and more in Saskatchewan) I feel like,,, well like when you've been away from home for a while and you come back to your own house or your parents house... it just feels like something is right... your in your space...

When I bring others to my spots, it's like introducing them to a new girlfriend...
I want them to like her as much as I do, see what I see in her, and realize if they mistreat her, we're done.

I take deeper breaths in the woods... the chill in the morning when the sun is just rising or the cool foggy exhales in as it sets... deep deep breaths, relaxing..

the sounds ... the sights... the smells.. all senses stimulated

I'll stop and put the kettle on, kick back and relax for a bit. If my buddy is with me, I'll soon find out if he brought any good grub
A cup of tea, fingers pointing toward a hill or a valley, explaining to one another where we each had walked and what we saw and where we're going àfter we eat. Usually a few beans, or kippers, raisin bread, maybe stew, or whatever else was found in the fridge and cupboards...

Quite often I'll have a little cigar, some flavoured thing, no filters or plastic tips though, I usually get them for about 3 or 4 dollars a piece and maybe smoke 4 or 5 over a hunting season. They usually smell like pipe tobacco..

I drive home, completely at peace... sometimes there's animals, sometimes there aren't.

These are the days I remember forever

Now I am no stranger to getting home at 5 pm with an hour of light left and bolting through the door in sneakers and a slice of bread hanging out of my mouth, gun on my shoulder, as my dog barks, the baby cries, the neighbours hide, ...


it's all good!

 

[martinbns]

I hear you on the breathing deeper thing. When I am hunting on a cold crisp morning I feel more alive than the rest of the time. My senses are far more tuned than usual as well.

I love the listening to the sounds of the bush waking up, a raven flying is soooo loud on those morning. The first time I heard it I had no idea what it was.

 

[joe m]

I like to be in the field before first light to watch the start of a new day. Some people like sunsets, I'm into sunrises.

I haven't taken a shot at an animal over 200 yds in a decade, or over 100 in the last 2 years. Until late season I pass shots so I can hunt again tomorrow, and use the camera instead.

http://[URL=http://s98.photobucket.com/albums/l254/whiteynut/?action=view&current=07pass.flv][/URL]

I'm almost as happy picking up the sheds as holding the rack. Big, small. I like them all.

My pack has the bare essentials, compass-water-matches-knife-tags. I'm rarely more than a few miles from my vehicle and there is plenty of gear in it.
If I come across a grouse & I'm hungry? Then it's time to light a fire

 

[the spank]

I am a bird hunter no more no less. Favourite is goose/duck hunting from layout blinds with decoys in the farm fields. Gunning ducks in a rice marsh from boat/ blinds. Hunting ducks in flooded drainage dithes or beaver ponds. Hammering grouse on the old overgrown logging roads.Here are a bunch of pics of my faves......

 

[kungfushurfu]

I get my biggest thrills hunting with my daughter.. she loves the outdoors and is an excellent shot... watching her take her first buck this past fall (2nd deer) was buzz... a 10 point buck at 226 yds with her 6.5 x 284... she is 6 years old

 

[Slithery]

I love the outdoors. Going in the woods, surrounded by old trees, feeling primal and at peace. Stalking, searching, waiting, it's all good to me. Feeling that cold, fresh air in my lungs. Air just seems better in the wild. Even if in a city park, the air seems just a bit better than 20 feet away on the sidewalk. Slowly inhaling and exhaling, enjoying every breath. Watching the sunrise or sunset. And I'm not a morning person, but when I know hunting, fishing, camping, anything outdoors is involved, I'm up at 5am and consider that sleeping in. I prefer small game hunting. Squirrel, rabbit and grouse. No real reason why. Someone suggested it was because they are easier to clean. Perhaps, but ever clean a rabbit vs. deer? Rabbit stinks far worse. I think it's the primitive man in me. Small game, you kill it, that night you can feast on your kill. Larger game, you likely won't be eating venison or moose the day you shot it. Best of all, I like sharing my food. I live in an apartment building, most with university students. Low on funds(most due to clubbing, though some have their priorities straight) and most at that young, ideal liberal stage. But they won't say no to free food, and I will glady give them some duck, venison or moose. I'm one man, and even with family plenty of meat is left over. So they can get their food if they like, and they love it. One is revolted by the squirrel, but he still enjoys the venison and grouse. It even opens their minds a bit. They still may be liberal, but at least their gun views aren't. I've taken every person with me to the range, and they love it. Both rifles and handguns. 4 of them even got their PAL, two others their R/PAL. One couple wants to go hunting with me. And I love it. Gives me that primal sense of tribal/community provider. Which is why I love hunting most. Every person I believe has a primal person inside them. Someone craving for the wilderness, the fields, streams and forests. Most ignore it, believing it 'uncivilised.' I embrace it, knowing civilisation could benefit by listening to their primal urges, and indulging it occasionally. After all, what seems more healthy? The man in the forest, with a gun, searching for food, or the person with the grocery cart, buying prepackaged chicken wings, who just came from the office where he sat on his ass all day staring at a computer screen.

 

[Turkeyslayer 1300]

I mostly hunt birds, and mostly geese at that.
Love talking to them having,them work my Spread, I love gunning them, I even love cleaning them. Will probably widen my horizons as time goes by but hopefully will never stop enjoying a morning in my Avery. I also find oving marshs a lot of fun trying to jump ducks or grouse or rabbits. Mixed bags make me very happy. I will probably hunt deer next year, not with dogs (although I would love to try it) but with my Recurve or my sluggun on the ground out of my Pop-up blind at prime time but also on my feet on the deer's turf when conditons or brain cells dictate I should. I also get a kick out of trying new things, like goose hunting with a bow or trying for one using a .410 with very specialised loads.

 

[gopherxs]

I started shooting and hunting when I was 6 or 7 with my dad, mostly jackrabbits and gophers and progressed thru bigger game. The older I get the more of a morning person I am, but when I was younger opening morning of deer season I would be up at 5 oclock looking for daylight and waiting for 3 hours for it to arrive. Now I hunt with my teenage daughter who finds noon to be to early to wake up on weekends, but when we are going out to hunt deer she is awake and ready to hit the trail by 6 am, must be something in the thill of the hunt.

 

[catnthehatt]

I like hunting, but different types of hunting mean different things to me.
Bird hunting is one of my favorite things to do, and if it is over a lab with a light 20 or 28 gauge shotty, all the better!
geese? Doesn't get much better than a few buddies inticing a flock to swing around, and watch them go flaps and landing gear dow - just before someone yells " TAKE 'EM" !!
Big game to me is also grand, but i love heading out with the jet before sun up, that is when I feel really alive, when I slide out of the snye park landing and head it up the Athabasca

Cat

 

[Slithery]

Now I hunt with my teenage daughter who finds noon to be to early to wake up on weekends, but when we are going out to hunt deer she is awake and ready to hit the trail by 6 am, must be something in the thill of the hunt.

It's not jus the hunt, it's the atmosphere. I think the sunrise is like an alarm clock, and it gets tuned out in the city. In the country, it can't be ignored.

 

[pharaoh2]

Hey Spank great photos!

I like small game and birds. To me it's less 'formal' and easier to enjoy. Turn on Wild TV and watch how crazy these big time deer hunters get and it doesn't even seem fun. I also consider myself a minimalist because I don't pack too much with me. If I'm duck hunting I prefer to jump shoot. All I need are my waders or boots, my shotgun and shells and my binoculars. I have a few ponds I frequent in the Fall so I'll drive from spot to spot looking for flying birds. If I see a large flight coming in I'll position myself accordingly. If not I'll hike around to where any birds are sitting by using the wind to tell me where to go. I own decoy's but never use them and to this day I've never used more than two pairs at a time. I love to read the waterfowl hunting magazines but never bought into the owning two hundred dekes and setting them up this way or that. I have always done just fine tossing a couple out around the shore line waiting for the odd bird or two to come in. For geese I like pass shooting. It's hit and miss but that's ok. Sometimes I get lucky and find myself the right spot to be, sometimes not. I don't own any goose decoys or a lay out blind. I've never hunted in a field surrounded by deke's but have been offered to tag along. So far I've always declined. When you start hunting that way, set up looks incredible and I'm lazy. I just enjoy being afield with a gun in my hand. The only boat I own is a float tube so I don't hunt big water either.

Pheasants are fun for me because I don't have a dog yet. I cover alot of ground listening for cackling and searching for good looking cover. I shot my best bird by walking through a field that was just hunted by three guys and a pair of dogs. I walked up a service road just in time to see them loading up and figured 'what the heck?' and decided to walk through quick before going to my truck. The rooster flushed from between the tire tracks where the truck was parked while these guys were still in view. As I picked him up I noticed in the distance they were stopped and outside looking at me.

I also love shooting gophers in the Spring. That's how I introduce new shooters to the sport. It's a great way to spend the day with friends and family. There's nothing in the World I like more than walking a fenceline with a nice .22 rifle and a pocketful of shells. I'm not an advocate of taking long range shots at big game but I love seeing how far I can make a hit with my .22. I'm not into the heavy barreled varmint rigs anymore for the same reason as above: Things get too serious. By the time I lugged my rifle around, set-up the bi-pod, parked my butt and brought out my ammo I could have just walked over with my .22.

Deer hunting is somthing I like to pretend to do every Fall. I always buy my tags and book the first opening day in the mountains off. I also book off the first few days around home off. I grab my rifle and ammo, my boots and bino's and head out. I don't own a tree stand or game trail camara. I don't even use a truck for hunting anymore. I like to get out and walk. I arrive to my spot before sunrise and wait for legal light. Then I'll start walking the trails. I listen to the World come alive around me. I love hearing squirrels chattering in the forests. There's always the chance of seeing moose or bears, wolves or any manner of creatures. It's exciting, scary, beautiful, peaceful, relaxing and stressful all at the same time. And every single time I head down to the mountains I come home with a story and a memory. I've seen things I know 99% of people will never see and witnessed some of the most beautiful country God created with his paintbrush. Later in the year I hunt the prairies a bit. I try to get away from the crowds of guys in their trucks. That means I'm always searching for new spots away from the roads and hopefully with some cover. Still I've had my hunt ruined more than once by guys tearing through fields doing whatever it is they hope to accomplish. I'll still hunt brushy bottoms and glass from hill tops. I more or less just go through the motions though as I don't care if I pull the trigger or not. That part of the hunt seems to become less and less important every year. I'll only take a shot if it seems just perfect, and I mean perfect. If it just doesn't 'feel' right, I'll pass. It just doesn't matter, I only like being there.

I also enjoy hunting mountain grouse. I almost always find myself walking logging roads or game trails or even streams with my .22 rifle. I love my shotguns but their more of a burdon hunting this way. If you get a shot you only get a second, and chances are the birds just land a short distance away. I don't like the chance of hard shot ricochetting off the tree's, especially if I'm hunting with a friend. With my .22 I just take the tops of the birds heads off and put them in my vest. I'll take them in tree tops or along the paths. I don't worry about flushing them, and good luck doing that if their sitting up a tree looking at you like your stupid.

It also seems I do most of my hunting these days with my camara. I may not shoot my rifle much, but I usually see lot's of critters. Landscapes are a favorite of mine and I take many shots from all over. I don't know, I call myself a hunter but I'm not really much of one I guess. I just love the experiance and being there. Just the other night I was in a pub with the Wife having a few drinks. This guy walks up to me and asks if I'm a hunter. He knew I was just because I looked like one he said. He started asking me questions, some stupid but some good. In a nutshell I summed up why I do it by telling him it's about the experiance.