How do you feel about big game hunting? How has bird hunting changed that?

For the most formative early years of my hunting existence, I was a tried and true deer hunter. I lived and breathed the sport, so much so that I chose that line of work as my major in college ( that fell through thanks to bullriding and beer, hehe). But a few years back one of my coworkers invited me on a duck hunt. DAMN the money I have spent since just to have the opportunity to see, let alone shoot one of them. The only other thing I love more than ducks is turkeys
 
I was a bird hunter long before becoming a big game hunter. The zoo atmosphere of the 9-day Wisconsin rifle season was the primary culprit since my dad wanted no part of it. However, I was a kid in a candy store when I moved to Montana. Nine days of opportunity stretched to a five-week rifle season for deer and elk plus a couple more for antelope. I love solo backcountry hunts but have resisted bowhunting thus far since game care and hauling is a huge chore before there is snow on the ground. Plus, September and early October is when the dog sees his most action and I have to deal with the guilt of leaving him behind whenever I'm off chasing big game.

Similar to what Matt mentioned, I need my elk, antelope and, to a lesser extent, deer hunts to recharge myself and refill the freezer. I'll be at the trailhead with my snowshoes and pulk sled a week from today ready to drag gear to a "winter" camp where the elk live. It'll no doubt kick my ass but, as they say, it'll be a good kind of tired.
 
T-
Often wondered how much meat is on a wild turkey, since I've never hunted 'em. Is the reason why you can't fill a freezer because they have little edible meat on their bones or because after you blast it, there isn't much to salvage?
 
Craig,

The reason you can't fill a freezer is because everyone chows right down and consumes it before you can save it for freezing. At least that is the way it is at my house. Dad, did ya get a turkey yet? When we having it? Can we have it for my birthday dinner next week? You going for a second tag soon?
 
I didn't buy a new rifle, but I did swap out the 30-06 barrel for a 35 whelen. The two elk I've managed to get would've been just as dead with the 06 though. Maybe I wasted my time and money. I know one fellow that's lived all his life here though, and he frequently hunts with a shotgun loaded with buck. He says " I shoot 'em in the face". It's something I've considered, you can get really close to big game here, you just can't see each other until you're both in the same living room.
 
Thats because deer hunting on the shore is probably some of the best in VA. More numbers, bigger bucks, endless ag, etc.

I do view deer hunting as work to some degree, but l enjoy the solitude of sitting in my stand and listening to the woods wake up and watching the critters do their thing. That crunch crunch crunch of a deer moving in will always get my blood going.
 
I used to be a deer hunting fanatic. I bow hunted just north of NYC in a bow hunting only county that was loaded with BIG deer. If I got home from work early enough to make the 45 minute ride and be on stand for the last hour of light, I would and did, at least 2-3 times a week. My hunting partner and I had been hunting together since we were 15 years old. We never missed an opening day or a chance to sneak in an afternoon hunt.I was addicted to deer hunting so bad that I purchased a deer camp back in 1990 in the Catskill Mts. Love the place and everything that goes along with it. My hunting partner than discovered turkey hunting and man the wives started to get a little annoyed with that. They said that we spent more time with each other than with them. Then comes that fateful day in September of 2001. My hunting partner FF Daniel E Harlin perished trying to save the lives of so many. A great friend had died a hero. Deer hunting changed,it wasnt the same for me. Yes,I still hunt them but it is different. My nephew, who at the time was just beginning to hunt under my guidance asked me if I wanted to go on a guided waterfowl hunt with him and the rest is history. The hunt itself seemed secondary to the preperation involved. I purchased my first duckboat and got into it BIGTIME. The waterfowl community as a whole seems to be such a great bunch. The boats,the decoys,the scouting and preperation, I love it all. This year I built my first boat and this winter I plan on learning how to carve my own decoys. The road so far has been a good one and there is so much more to learn. MY sons are now hunting with me and seem to enjoy all types of hunting,but being in College and all that goes with it, our time together is short. They are coming home for the Duck and deer openers and that will be a GREAT time.
 
I grew up on a small farm in NJ. We had deer all over, my brother and I would watch them all year and My dad would only let us wack one for meat. My uncles came and were allowed one per family but we were hooked. I still have the model 94 that was given me as a gift for my 13th birthday. When I went in the Military I was stationed at Plattsburg NY and the guys in the dorm hunted deer throughout the season, same went for Minot ND, Mississippi and then I went to Germany where the guns got left behind for a few years. When I came back, I had a wife in tow and we landed in Louisiana. My wife gave me a black lab as a gift, a co worker told me his friend trained labs professionally. After meeting Robert and Linda Region and seeing their dogs work I was hooked. Robert took me on my very first duck hunt, he excused himself into the flooded timber and left me there by myself. I blew a duck call for the first time and two ducks circled and dropped in. I didn't even know what they were but I nailed both. Robert came a running and asked what I shot at. I pointed on the water and his lab picked both up. A pair of gadwalls. I've been hooked ever since. Now in Virginia and hunting at a camp in Cambridge , Maryland. I still hunt deer on my In laws 300 acres but it's only for the meat. I don't get the Fever shakes, the rush of seeing a big one. But have a few ducks circle overhead, react to the call, and seeing a good dog work gets me excited. I have a MLB Chuck Huff, I go places I couldn't before and my lab is my partner. It relieves stress, is rewarded with good friendship and I like meeting new folks. When not hunting ducks, I suffer from the count down till the next seasons opener.

Bill V
 
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