I hate camping, and I do it exclusively in order to hunt...........camping is a sh!t load of work with no point, when I have a perfectly good home in which to live, with heat, food, refrigerator, shelter etc. I have never hunted in the eastern way, with big camps full of guys, all of whom wanting to fill my tags. I hunt almost exclusively by myself or with one other person, it's nice to have someone to talk to, occasionally. However my hunting has been a lot different than most guys on this forum, most of my hunting time locally was dedicated to hunting sheep and goats with an occasional foray for caribou and lots of blackies in the spring. Not really the same experience as most of you refer to. I never really cared for moose hunting although I have done some, in these latter years, but the fun is definitely over after the loud bang. I personally place much weight of the success of a hunt on the kill. Not necessarily by myself, as some of my most enjoyable hunts have been taking my sons and friends out and getting them on game.
I have spent months prepping for sheep hunts, as mentioned, pouring over topo maps, buying, weighing and assembling just the right gear, repairing backpacks, checking, checking and rechecking rifles (that's 'cause I love shooting), dedicating many, many hours to the preparation for the hunt. Flying the area several times in the weeks prior to departure, getting a lay of the land and a handle on the populations in the area. Mapping trails and the easy walking areas, ridgelines, steep ground, shale slopes etc. I love this part of the hunt and being able to head out on a 6 day backpack hunt with less than 35 lbs including rifle and knowing you have just enough of the right gear to hunt and survive anything the weather or mountains may throw at you.
Myself and my sheep hunting partner of many years, had the same reputation as Whelen Lad referred to, when we went sheep hunting it was a foregone conclusion that two rams would die that week. When we spotted the ram we wanted, nothing, and I mean nothing would stop us until that ram was in the pack and we were looking for another one. You might say we were a tad dedicated to sheep hunting and success was most definitely measured by the size of the horns. I can honestly say that I didn't spend the time and money preparing, as well as the physical exertion, discomfort and pain in many cases, to come home empty handed. We hunted very hard and with a singular goal, and that was not to come back with empty packs, besides we had a reputation to uphold.
Not all understand this kind of hunting, it is obsessive, and don't get me wrong, we didn't just kill the first legal rams we saw, just for the sake of killing. We turned down many, many rams in our hunts and always looked for the exceptional old boys. We also have the distinction of taking the two oldest rams ever checked through game branch, in the Yukon.
It is very difficult to describe this kind of hunting to people who have not experienced it. I don't go hunting to take a break and enjoy myself, I have worked harder at hunting than anything else I have ever done in my life, period. I have come closer to death while hunting than at any other time in my life, I have found reserves in strength and character that no other activity has ever brought forth in me. I have been reduced to the primal live or die situation more than once, while sheep hunting.........and I love it.
But back to the point, which is how important is the kill? I say it depends on the person and the quarry and their reasons for doing what they are doing. If I were to return from a sheep hunt empty handed I would consider it an abject failure, meaning I didn't do my home work thoroughly enough, or I just didn't work hard enough at it, but that's just sheep/goat hunting. Have I mentioned that I have been labeled a "Hard A type personality and an extreme over achiever"
The whole point of hunting is the kill, without it, it's just camping..........did I mention I hate camping.
