How many really hunt ...

I wish I could hunt but I don't. I just do guns... My late father had guns but didn't hunt. My uncle has guns but is vegetarian, no help there. There isn't a lot of motivation for me to drive up to williams lake by myself and try to bring in a moose when I have no idea what I am doing.

Us in the younger generation may be lost!! :(
 
Well here in Manitoba things are rather different than most provinces , first off I hunt every single day of the year , except sunday! How you ask ? well fishing IS hunting, of a sort , so I fish, I also hunt rabbits, no season here for them , it's a free-for-all any time of the year is hunting season for bunnies , Elmer Fudd would be in heaven.:p Biggame seasons here are a bit diff as well, I can buy an over the counter license for any and all biggame species EXCEPT for elk, which is draw, and which I get every year , because I only do elk with archery, and my area is not heavily hunted with bow. So I get my bear, moose, 5 deer total , ducks, geese , grouse, partridge, and ptarmigan, elk , wolf, coyote, and I trap as well. Wolf ends at end of march, and Spring Bear, starts end of April , and still have bunny in between. I live in the interlake region , of MB , lake winnipeg on one side, lake manitoba on the other , and 100,000 more lakes in between and for the rest of the province. Self employed, 2 employees , and almost nothing for debt. Makes for a wonderful life of doing what I do best :) And for those of you that don't know In manitoba you DONOT need an outfitter to come hunt Bear, deer , moose etc,... unless you are american, so the offer is always open , for anyone passing thru, if you want to team up, give me a shout. I'm still wanting to go for cariboo, and musk ox at some point, polar bear , nah , not interested too expensive and too rare of an opportunity.
 
Anytime you want to invite me out greywolf let me know. The chances of getting a moose license in ontario are slim to nil. At least thats the way it goes in my part of the province. I got at least 2 weeks of hunting in the october going on that i can't miss because i already made plans for that time but if you're looking for more people to hunt with, during sometime other than those 2 weeks then let me know. I'd love to have even a chance at a shot on a good moose. Even if i have to drive 20ish hours to do it. If we can't do it this year than let me know for the next one and i'll be sure to save the money way ahead of time to get out that way. Who knows? I might even live over there by that time. I've been thinking a lot recently about a change of address. :)

Dorian
 
evolture said:
I wish I could hunt but I don't. I just do guns... My late father had guns but didn't hunt. My uncle has guns but is vegetarian, no help there. There isn't a lot of motivation for me to drive up to williams lake by myself and try to bring in a moose when I have no idea what I am doing.

Us in the younger generation may be lost!! :(
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Im 26 and in the same boat. My dad used to have guns and he used to hunt, but he has lost interest around the time I was born. Ive owned guns for a while and love target shooting, but right now im trying to read through this CORE book so I can challenge the test. My old foreman is a yearly hunter so im gonna learn the ropes from him. Hopefully this fall will be my first big game hunting trip.:dancingbanana:
 
I start hunting every year when small game season opens for partridge and pheasant... I go at that a couple times a week easily until duck season opens. I do that 2 or 3 days a week until deer season opens... that's when I end up in the ol' dog house lol. I come home from the camp for 2 days a week at the most, until the last Monday of November when lobster fishing opens...have to do that work thing again for a while lol. After lobstering slows down in the middle of January, it's time for trapping.
 
Otokiak,
I hunt religiously, not every week, but almost. Fall is very busy. I count fishing as hunting, so summer is busy too. I hunt waterfowl from the first of September to freeze up. Shoot anywhere from 20 to 100 or so geese each fall, and half that many ducks. Elk every fall the last two weeks of September. Some falls I hunt draw elk instead in October. Have shot an elk every year for 16 years except one ( went caribou hunting in the Yukon instead) . Hunt whitetails every fall, sometimes with bow or flintlock starting in September or October but more usually during November. Shoot a couple each year. Hunt mule deer every second year or so, depending on tags available. Hunt moose about every second year. If I get an elk and two or three deer, the moose hunt may not happen but I often go anyway just to be out there. I have only shot five moose.
I keep a versatile pointing/retrieving dog for upland birds, hunt mid September to the end of October for huns and sharptail near home and ruffed and spruce grouse into December in the northern bush, and go south for Pheasants a couple times each year. I prefer to kill only birds that my dog handles properly, flushed well within range, and shot on the wing. I pass up a lot of "opportunities" to fill my bag with easy sitting birds. I still manage to bring home a few dozen upland birds each fall.
Some years I add pronghorn antelope when I draw a tag, some years hunt fall or spring bear. I have only killed one bear and three or so antelope out of about 90 big game animals so far.
I call and stalk coyotes a few times each winter, usually killing a few but never more than 6 or so. Got a wolf last fall while deer hunting, my first.
I hunt rabbits a couple times each winter, and always during our traditional Family Boxing Day hunt.
Spring beaver hunting is more for property protection than as a fur or sport hunt, I keep the good furs but we shoot more than we use because of so much flooding of out roads and property. I do that two or three times each spring.
I am an assistant trapper for my buddy who is serious about it, and catch a few otter, beaver, fisher, muskrat etc. on his registered trapline when I can go.
I shoot gophers on our farm as a pest, and shoot crows and a few other miscellaneous varmints for recreation in the summer. I fish year round, but mainly May-July and again in winter, Feb- March. I enjoy all types of fishing, jigging for walleye and fly fishing for finicky trout and trolling for salmon.
I train versatile hunting dogs in the summer, and much of our training simulates hunting with live planted birds. I am designated shooter at our clubs hunting dog tests each year.
I think one has to kill occasionally to keep hunting and fishing honest, but I don't need a full bag to feel successful any more. I release more fish than I used to, ( especially the big breeding females) and pass up game when it doesn't feel like the right time to pull the trigger. I do not specifically hunt for trophy antlers, but admire them as natures works of art.
My most exotic hunts so far were Dall sheep in the Yukon and wild boar in Germany. I have caught sailfish off Costa Rica, Halibut in Haida Gwaii and flyfished for trout in Montana and grayling in the far North.
I do not buy meat, and my wife keeps a large garden. We are nearly self sufficient in food and aim to increase that self-sufficiency as much as practical.
 
Haha, last fall I shot probably 12 grouse and 2-3 rabbits? I get out the scattered weekend, didn't get out for waterfoul much. My father had a moose tag and we got out on one hunt - didn't see anything. I do lots of trout fishing and the scattered evening/morning salmon fishing (Although I have yet to catch a salmon)

I call it my financial contribution to conservation in Newfoundland and Labrador, I buy all of these licenses and barely take any game. :p

Lately it's been paper and clays that've been shot, probably shot about 250 12ga shells with the trap machine and another 250 informally. Plan to get out after the bunnies and ducks a lot more this fall, and perhaps after black bear as well. It's the time spent outdoors that does it for me, not the game that's harvested.
 
evolture said:
I wish I could hunt but I don't. I just do guns...
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deets said:
Im 26 and in the same boat.
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I grew up in that situation. Went big game hunting last fall for the first time at age 40. It is never too late to start, you mostly just need to have the desire. Ask around at your local range and gun shops and you may find an experienced hunter willing to help mentor a new guy. Once you have been out a few times and had someone show you the ropes, as well as how to gut and butcher an animal, you are more than capable of doing it yourself.

greywolf said:
Well here in Manitoba things are rather different than most provinces , first off I hunt every single day of the year , except sunday!
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Wow, I am deeply jealous. If it wasn't such a drive, I would make the trip just to meet a fellow 'nut and try hunting somewhere new. This year is already booked pretty solid, but maybe next season that would work out. Tremendously generous offer, Greywolf.

Mark
 
david doyle said:
My rifle takes care of around 2800 person meals per year, give or take a few hundred depending on the variables at home and in the bush.
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Interesting way to look at it...I've never thought "person meals":)

Lets see for me..

300 x2 dinners =600
200 x2 LUnches and breakfasts =400
Other people I invite for dinner and give meat to =200

So 1200 for me, I guess;)

Although I just finished butchering 70 chickens, and I'll butcher some lamb and a pig this year, too...SO who knows...

I do know I have cooked for 400 people at our wildlife banquet for the last few years..:)
 
I've had a 100% sucess rate in hunting since I started. You may call bull$^&t but I've never had a day hunting I didn't come home with a big grin on my face. Maybe no blood on my hands, maybe frozen toes and fingers, wet and chilled or hot and sweaty, but every time has been a blast. I don't measure my sucess by how many critters died by my skill or luck hunting.
I hunt paper and gophers in summer, starting to get into goose and duck and grouse after a 20 year hiatus. We have an annual 2 week archery moose hunt. Archery hunt whitetail and if I don't get one I use my muzzle loader. (I'll be honest I end up using these seasons as a scouting tool). I then get to hunt moose and deer with my rifle. I break it up with coyote hunting. This year I got drawn for mule deer down south.
I haven't shoot a deer or moose in 4 years, not that I haven't tried, because I've seen some beauty's I just don't like the meat and I like horns. I could shoot a deer off my deck every day if I just wanted an animal because I am blessed to live in an area where the critters are all over. But if I want a 200" deer or a 60" moose I can't settle for a 150 or 160 and reach my goal. If it takes me till I die, I'll be smiling and pumped for the season to start the day after it ends.
My wife says she's a hunting widow as I take all my holidays in Sept, Oct, Nov, allowing me to only work 7-10 days a month for those 3 very important months.
Guys we are soo lucky to have this as a hobby.:D
 
Excellent as there are some serious hunters on the board ... which I knew ... but I posted something about two worlds, same country to see if anyone would write about hunting in Canada ... guess my approach on that thread didn't work ... this one did as I get to read what you all have hunted, how many times, where you're from, etc ... awesome! I don't hunt daily, however we do hunt alot in warm to extreme cold weather +25 to -50 degrees. The animals I hunt include tuktu(caribou) which is all year except certain times in fall when they rut, geese(spring/fall), seals (spring/summer & fall) on the ice and in the water, beluga whales(caught my first one last year hoping to get a few this summer), Umingmak(muskox), wolves(yet to catch one :( ), fox, swan(for a certain elderly couple). I love learning something new everytime you go hunting ... alot of it is survival in our neck of Canada. I'd love to do some hunting in other parts of Canade one day soon ... cougar hunting in BC, deer or elk hunting in Alberta, dall sheep in Yukon, wild boar/pigs in Sask(I read somewhere about this) as it all sounds like fun from learning to stalk animals, learn how to hunt from a blind/tree, etc. Keep your stories coming folks as it's definately 2 worlds, same country for me. Cheers,

Otokiak
Rankin Inlet, NU
CANADA
 
Dorian Gray

What part of Northern Ontario are you in?

Otokiak

I forgot to mention wolves and cougars in my hunting activities list. 11 wolves, 2 cougar, total.
 
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I hunt from Sept 10 until Dec 10.Moose, deer (Mule and WT)and grouse.I don't care for bear meat or else I would also spring hunt.I'm like a kid at Christmas when it starts getting near to opening day,I can't wait.Summer used to be my favourite season but now I find myself wishing it was over so I can go hunting lol.In winter I'll take a gun out for shooting and if I happen to cross paths with coyote I'll blast him although I don't actively hunt them.

During hunting season I hunt almost every day,I bring my gear to work with me and I can be hunting within 10 minutes of leaving work.It's also when I save all my holidays for.
 
I'm usually good for 5 to 25 big game animals a year, with the average being closer to 12. This year I'm at 10 so far, 3 red stag, 3 water buffalo, black buck, boar, sheep and goat. Did a year's worth of wingshooting in a couple hours too. (15 boxes) I've got brown bear & goat booked in Alaska this fall.


This year my local hunting is going to be scaled way back, I'll spend more of the available time just guiding my kids. We had 9 deertags apiece last year, it'll be a little less this year. I'll have to get my boy on his moose, that's top priority, then there's birds, gophers and yotes.

Between hunting and shooting, my fishing time is taking a beating.
 
Lets see, last year was my first full season so started in September with ducks and geese, then once that freezes is time for bunnies and coyotes, spring thaw means turkey and groundhogs into summer and this year tack some deer hunting in with the waterfowl in the fall. All told about 30 days a year hunting, but aside from the ducks and geese not a whole lot of success. Still learning though, and all this within an hour of Toronto
 
Well I really hunt even when I shoot nothing.

I have never shot a big game animal within a mile of my truck, I won't use quads, snow machines, or power boats in the pursuit of any animal. I've never shot an animal in a farmers field.

I don't believe in shooting past 200 yards, using electronic gear like trail cameras, predator calls, rangefinders and radios.

I once back packed into the Rockies alone after spring grizzly and found a fine bear. I stalked the bear and realized I had no business killing such a magnificent creature. I have never felt more like a real hunter that day when I passed up on a trophy of a lifetime.

Now that I have a family I work very hard long hours to care for them. I'm a devoted father and husband. The oppurtunity to hunt is limited but it certainly doesn't make me less of a hunter or less of a man. Just the opposite.
 
Gatehouse said:
Interesting way to look at it...I've never thought "person meals":)

Lets see for me..

300 x2 dinners =600
200 x2 LUnches and breakfasts =400
Other people I invite for dinner and give meat to =200

So 1200 for me, I guess;)

Although I just finished butchering 70 chickens, and I'll butcher some lamb and a pig this year, too...SO who knows...

I do know I have cooked for 400 people at our wildlife banquet for the last few years..:)
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Your discussion fellas remind of salmon fishing in south coastal Alaska by locals.

There they rate thier catch by the "rod hours" spent per fish.
 
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