Hunting, Friends, and Family

When I first began to hunt I thought if you did not harvest an animal it was a wasted time in the woods. I kept that frame of mind for the first year I began to hunt whitetails as well. As time has passed and I have matured as a hunter I realize that the harvest of an animal is just an added bonus. Long sits day after day with no luck can wear a persons motivation down but it is times like these where you can make yourself a better hunter.

When times are slow I used to get a little antsy, which caused me to move around a lot on stand or when I was set up against a tree. Looking back it is obvious by me doing this it only lowered my chances of seeing any game. I now sit back and let the woods teach me. I pay a lot of attention to the wind nowadays. I have always known you had to play the wind when hunting whitetails, but I learned something new this past season about the wind and deer movement on one of the farms I hunt. I noticed when the wind was blowing out of the West deer seemed to come out into the field using a trail 30 yards behind my stand. But when the wind was blowing out of the North they would enter the field using a trail directly in front of my stand. It took me a few sits and paying close attention to finally figure it out. The deer movement was on cue with where the wind was coming from and never failed. Once I figured it out I would focus my attentions on the desired trail. It is small things like this I would have over looked as a rookie. I am not saying I know everything there is to know about hunting whitetails or gobblers, but no one on this planet can say that in confidence. However, I do know if hunters payed attention to the slightest details when hunting they may learn something that will help them figure out how to get closer to that all elusive trophy.

One of my favorite aspects of hunting has nothing to do with animals at all. Hunting is special in the way it makes me feel when I see animals in their natural state, but I also really like the bonds it makes between people. All my closest friends have at least some interest in hunting. I feel it causes people who would normally not have anything to talk about or discuss to spend hours just talking about what they could have done differently or a successful hunt. Heck, once that bond is created from hunting then anything is possible. Hunting has led to a stronger relationship between my girlfriend Autumn and I. Hunting is just not about the kill...its about the thrill and the friends made along the way.

Another positive aspect of hunting would be family. Most the guys in my family either hunt or fish. When I was younger I would always tag along with them. Times like this is where I really grew up. It was not in school learning how to correctly solve a math equation. I learned life lessons on the docks of a lake or sitting just inside a cut corn field watching a 140 inch 10 pointer feed 200 yards away with my uncle. That was the first time I saw a really big deer and I didn't understand why my uncle wasn't shooting. I mean he had his 12 gauge shotgun!! When I asked him he explained to me what was obvious to him. He then went on and explained things the buck would do. I was in amazement. After about 3 minutes of watching him the wind switched to have him down wind. As soon as it did my uncle told me the buck would run away soon, and he did. Memories like that has been instilled into me. He was not angry or whine that he did not get a shot on the great buck. He wanted to get a shot without a doubt, but he understood you cannot get everything you want and was happy to even see such deer. I learned a lot that day but trips like this example are a dime a dozen for me. I learned how to be a man on trips like these and I would not trade one of them for anything.

A lot of people in the world today do not understand why people like us enjoy hunting so much. For those people I feel sorry for. They have no idea what the are missing. Hunting is what our ancestors had to do to make sure their family could live to see another day. I find it a true honor to walk to the woods or fish the water my dad, uncle, papaw, and countless other past family members did in the past.