Success without venison.

Longwalker

Longwalker

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Super GunNutz
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Location
Saskatchewan
I had a good morning hunting for deer near home today. Last day of our SK regular whitetail season. Out before dawn, -20° and knee deep snow made it a thorough workout! After a couple KMs of slogging without my snowshoes (that were packed away under a froze-up trunk lid ) and as soon as I reached the prime spot, I snuck up on a cow and calf elk. A little later I did the same to a doe whitetail and fawn. Had my crosshairs on the fawn, then decided my freezer was full enough with a bull elk and a young bear and a bunch of geese. I watched them feed for a bit then snuck back out of there with them never knowing I was close. A good way to end the season!
One of the great privileges that goes with the freedom to carry a rifle is the freedom to decide not to use it!
 
Feels good ay, its not the kill that draws you in but rather exactly what youve posted.
the chase!
a lil sayin i go by, the fun stops once the trigger is pulled.
 
Hunting does not/should not equate to killing. It's much more than that and something that is not well understood by some non-hunters.
 
Good story. I like your perspective.

I think after one or two seasons most of us get past the excitement of just hunting a deer and truly enjoy what it is about the actual hunt.

Hunting for me now has become all about the skill and stalk. I try to get as close as possible and no longer hunt with a scoped rifle. I had success two seasons with a bow but as not a fan of the slower death I switched to a 45-70 than a muzzle loader and now I use a winchester 94 30-30 with iron sights.

Hunting is not about just the killing and I'm glad others realize that as well.
 
WhelanLad said:
Feels good ay, its not the kill that draws you in but rather exactly what youve posted.
the chase!
a lil sayin i go by, the fun stops once the trigger is pulled.
Click to expand...

yes, I agree, but also... I come from three generations of butchers, I love to work with meat, process all my own by preference and my family was raised on wild game. If my freezer was empty, that fawn would have been in trouble!
 
I appreciate all the encouraging comments. So, here's a question about a pet peeve of mine. Hunting is a well accepted activity here in rural Saskatchewan. Nearly everyone in my community knows I hunt. It's a very positive society here for a hunter. But almost universally, the only question I ever get asked by well meaning people when I mention that I have been hunting is "did you get anything??"
Hunting is WAAAY too important to me to just keep score or report as win/lose like a competitive sports game. Regardless of whether I pull the trigger I always get some reward, and their question can't be adequately measured with a yes or no. Most are just being polite, and don't really want a long winded answer. So when I choose not to pull the trigger and feel good about it, I get sympathy and condolences if I say "No". So I usually say "I had a real good hunt". Even when I do kill something, I seldom say "Yes" but rather "I had a real good hunt". That generally means if there is a second question it's usually - "yes but did you get anything??"
How do you explain it graciously to those who ask?
 
Longwalker said:
I appreciate all the encouraging comments. So, here's a question about a pet peeve of mine. Hunting is a well accepted activity here in rural Saskatchewan. Nearly everyone in my community knows I hunt. It's a very positive society here for a hunter. But almost universally, the only question I ever get asked by well meaning people when I mention that I have been hunting is "did you get anything??"
Hunting is WAAAY too important to me to just keep score or report as win/lose like a competitive sports game. Regardless of whether I pull the trigger I always get some reward, and their question can't be adequately measured with a yes or no. Most are just being polite, and don't really want a long winded answer. So when I choose not to pull the trigger and feel good about it, I get sympathy and condolences if I say "No". So I usually say "I had a real good hunt". Even when I do kill something, I seldom say "Yes" but rather "I had a real good hunt". That generally means if there is a second question it's usually - "yes but did you get anything??"
How do you explain it graciously to those who ask?
Click to expand...

You can't really. I just say I/We had a really good trip but we didn't bring any game home. That's the point where you usually get a real puzzled look! It's the same when somebody says to me"Oh' I could never go out hunting and kill anything". I always reply " That's Good" to which I get that same puzzled look. Oh well the Horn of the Hunter doesn't sound for everyone but for those of us for which it does, we get it and that's all that's important.
 
Longwalker said:
I had a good morning hunting for deer near home today. Last day of our SK regular whitetail season. Out before dawn, -20° and knee deep snow made it a thorough workout! After a couple KMs of slogging without my snowshoes (that were packed away under a froze-up trunk lid ) and as soon as I reached the prime spot, I snuck up on a cow and calf elk. A little later I did the same to a doe whitetail and fawn. Had my crosshairs on the fawn, then decided my freezer was full enough with a bull elk and a young bear and a bunch of geese. I watched them feed for a bit then snuck back out of there with them never knowing I was close. A good way to end the season!
One of the great privileges that goes with the freedom to carry a rifle is the freedom to decide not to use it!
Click to expand...

This is what separates the men from the boys in my opinion when it comes to sport hunting.It's not all about having to shoot something everytime we go out to hunt.
 
Longwalker said:
I had a good morning hunting for deer near home today. Last day of our SK regular whitetail season. Out before dawn, -20° and knee deep snow made it a thorough workout! After a couple KMs of slogging without my snowshoes (that were packed away under a froze-up trunk lid ) and as soon as I reached the prime spot, I snuck up on a cow and calf elk. A little later I did the same to a doe whitetail and fawn. Had my crosshairs on the fawn, then decided my freezer was full enough with a bull elk and a young bear and a bunch of geese. I watched them feed for a bit then snuck back out of there with them never knowing I was close. A good way to end the season!
One of the great privileges that goes with the freedom to carry a rifle is the freedom to decide not to use it!
Click to expand...
Congradulations on self preservation/conservation with big game. I as well ended the hunting season on the same note as you...................in fact, it's been years that I ended it on a preservation/conservation attitude. This year, as usual, I purchased two doe tags, however never filled them. This years result along with previous years, I see 50 to 75 does per day in my hunting area.
In Saskatchewan I didn't fill my tag once again. My minimum score on a buck is 160 B&C and I let two of them walk which I hope will survive to become bigger, moreover; I don't deed the meat because I harvested a buck prior this season in Alberta.



My annual contribution to preserve and conserve big game in the area that I hunt.
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I did that the other day.
Nice big two point watching over his gals.
Great memory, so much so I got a "thunk" to remember
it by. Yup, a noogie of a dent on the left rear quarter.
Caught the edge of a log, thunk.
I guess worse case scenerio, it could of given me a
karate chop to the side of the head.
Fresh air and the peace of old Mother Nature.......truly treasureful.
 
I pass on a lot of deer.

I am looking for (just once please lord?) a 160+ buck. This policy saves me a whole bunch of messy hard labor and I get to do a lot more hunting. I have a great time for all the reasons given in the previous posts in this thread. In the years when there has been a doe tag I have generally taken my doe whenever the getting was good and then focused on the 160+ for the rest of deer season, so far to no avail.

This practice is subject to change without notice and has occasionally been honored in the breach which keeps me from getting all smug and self-righteous. I don't like to over-think my hunting and fishing practices.
 
Lex said:
I pass on a lot of deer.

I am looking for (just once please lord?) a 160+ buck. This policy saves me a whole bunch of messy hard labor and I get to do a lot more hunting. I have a great time for all the reasons given in the previous posts in this thread. In the years when there has been a doe tag I have generally taken my doe whenever the getting was good and then focused on the 160+ for the rest of deer season, so far to no avail.

This practice is subject to change without notice and has occasionally been honored in the breach which keeps me from getting all smug and self-righteous. I don't like to over-think my hunting and fishing practices.
Click to expand...
The doe that you killed could be the ticket to the 160 class buck that your after..............hence, kill the doe in heat, will equal no buck.
 
Longwalker, I agree passing up a kill is all part of hunting but so is the kill an integral part, or it would just be a nature walk. We do leave the house with rifle, bow or shotgun with intent to do harm to some sort of critter. But I agree that if it doesn't happen it can still be a successful hunt. I have also been on some hunts where game is taken but really wouldn't call them successful hunts that I enjoyed. A moose I shot standing in 4' of +1 deg water at last light comes to mind.............I still rate this as the worst hunting expeience I've ever had and one of the worst nights ever. This was 100 times worse than any hunt where I came home empty.
So yes, coming home empty handed can still be an excellent hunt and coming home with game sometimes doesn't necessarily make an excellent hunt. Non hunters will never understand this 'cause they're sitting watching football/hockey/baseball and in these sports there is only success and failure, win and lose.
 
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