Losing desire to hunt

[bison]

My ranch has a big pond on it and I've jumped ducks on it for years, This year I stopped doing it - just didn't feel the desire to do so. Part of it was the lack of need (two kids off to college, so we don't go thru protein like we used to!), part was just preferring to watch them paddle around.

OK, I did shoot two one day, just enough for a good duck stew!

Still no qualms about going after other critters, mostly hogs, deer, and turkey. A bear was messing with some bee hives on my place and the keeper wanted me to go after it, but zero interest.

I do love taking kids out. Helped a 16 year old scout shoot his first hog last spring, even better than doing it myself!

 

[short barrel]

I live in the east but I've not experienced restriction of private land hunting. I guess that day will come. But that is not my issue. My problem, if it is a problem, is the distaste I've come to have at killing. I take nothing away from any hunter, because I was once one of you, but age brings a comparative calm. I love the wilderness no less, but I'm less able to go as deeply into as I did before, and I'm very much more aware of what life means to an animal. For me, just me here, I see a deer or a rabbit' life as the only thing he has. It's short enough as is. If a hunter doesn't get him, something else will. I sometimes feel that the squirrel or duck or deer often feel the joy of life. I've seen them play. Not a bad thing, to be a hunter, just not for me anymore

Case in point: A few seasons ago I put my climbing tree stand very close to a grouping of white oaks that were producing acorns. I drove 1.5 hours to get there. In that area, no other oaks had fruit. So I figured this was my best bet. I was 14' up when I spotted a young buck coming toward the grove. When he was within fifty yards, it looked as though his mind shifted into happiness. He kicked up his hind legs and came trotting into the acorns he knew were there. It was a sight I wish I hadn't seen. When he came under my stand, he was right there--straight down. I couldn't miss. I put the broadhead from my longbow into his spine and he fell. I was immediately very sorry, but what made it so much worse was the pitiful little cry he made as he fell. I mean here he came, happy in the morning early fall sunlight. Almost skipping to his meal. And then I terminated his happiness and his life. That was my last kill. I don't want to do it again. We can't know if an animal feels joy or the sense of being happily alive and well, but I think it's probable that they do. I've concluded I don't need the meat. I'm not so far into poverty that I can't buy beef. I am not such a naturalist that I only eat what the land provides. I was simply a hunter/sportsman who hunted for the thrill of it. Not so much for the meat, but for the glory of being alive in the outside doing what men have done forever.

I still do all that stuff, just without the killing. I go into the woods at daylight still, and I have a gun. I just don't shoot it. Weird. Just me. I can't stop going but I can no longer kill. If I must shoot, I go to the range and shoot trap or steel gongs or long range rifle targets. I have absolutely lost the need to kill game. I might kill a coyote or a wild hog, but they are scarce around these parts.

 

[rcmodel]

Happened to me gradually over time.

I used to hunt quail, pheasant, duck & goose, or anything else obsessively.
Same with Coyote, Fox, Bobcat, deer, and Turkey.

As I got older, my bird dogs died.
And western Kansas hunting land became bought up by big cooperations you could no longer contact.
Then all the quail went away in this part of the country after the state introduced turkey.
So I stopped upland hunting.

Then I got shoulder problems which made the necessary year round bow practice constant grating pain in my shoulder joint.
So I stopped deer hunting.

Then I got tired of freezing in ice & mud at 5:00 AM setting decoys.
So I stopped hunting ducks & geese.

Then the county got built up with a new home on every plot of land they could get zoning for.
So the coyote hunting went by the wayside too.

Dove hunting?
Lots of shooting, but I can't stand to eat them
So I stopped killing them for the fun of it.

Turkey was about the last thing I hunted.
But getting up at 4:30 AM was when I went to bed for 36 years of my life working night shift.

I haven't hunted anything for about 7 years now, and really don't miss it much at at all at 71 next April.

I killed way to many things already in my life already I guess.
Anyway, the thrill is gone.

And I find no joy being freezing cold & wet in a blind at 5:00 AM anymore either!!!

rc

 

[matrem]

Watched my dad give up some of that twenty years ago.
His last few years involved only fishing and hunting deer.

I've lost most of my desire to hunt rabbits. (that started when dad stopped wanting to hunt em)

Desire to hunt pheasant is gone. (not enough around here for me to pull trigger)

Used to love calling fox. (populations way down here & coyotes are far smarter than my calling ability)

Duck hunting went by the wayside when ODNR changed rules for having a go to blind on public property.

I do still enjoy killing those pesky g hogs & putting venison in the freezer. Hope I can at least continue that as long as possible.

 

[twofifty]

short barrel, your post has touched me greatly.

I gradually stopped hunting in my mid-20s, after my kid was born. It couldn't square the nurturing of human life to the taking of animal life. There were other reasons such as time away from other things, driving time, costs, but those were minor.

Got back into it through PD hunting about 5 years ago. I took about 40 animals and then asked myself what the heck am I doing this for, visiting death on critters that I will not be eating. That was my last PD hunt.

Got back into hunting deer for food after the PDs. The taking of a deer's life is a solemn occasion. I butcher my own to marvel at the beauty within, and because it is another way to honor the animal.

How long will I be able to balance my feelings and keep hunting deer I don't know. It's one year at a time for me.

Incidentally, I have heard a number of men who are past 50 mention the same loss of passion that the OP brought up. They all have their reasons, which are similar to the ones mentioned in this thread.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

My grandfather was like that.

At a certain age, I think it hit him that it wasn't as fun as it used to be. He'd start passing shots on deer that weren't huge. Then started driving deer for everyone else. Then decided to hike with his rifle and not wait for game. Then decided just to hike because he wasn't going to shoot anyways.

Life evolves, and that is internal as well. Pursue what you are passionate about. Stay moving, stay healthy, and enjoy life, no matter the activity!!!

 

[rszwieg]

I'm not as chronologically gifted as some here but have experienced the same thing. The desire isn't the same.

I've been fortunate enough to have a family farm to hunt but firearm deer season doesn't excite me much. Practice with my bows would be more enjoyable if my shoulders felt better. Now I'm using a crossbow.

My brothers got into waterfowl hunting and after I gave it up for twenty years went along with them. That did help some. Predator hunting is less of an option with my job taking more of my time when pelts are prime but there are still rabbits around.

It seems trapping is so much a part of me the whole year sours if I can't run a small line. This is an activity that gets me outdoors and not cooped up in a shop on weekends.

In a few years my nephew will be of legal age and hopefully interested in the chase.

 

[DRYHUMOR]

Priorities change in life, that's what life's about.

Somewhere I reached the point where I decided whatever I'd hunt, I'd make the best of it. If it's deer, I usually go during the rut. Ducks, geese, and doves. it's gonna be that first day.

And to think, I used to sit a deer stand from dark to dark. And duck hunting is DEFINATELY a younger man's game.

I do think one of the most pleasurable things about hunting is the time to think and just watch what's going on around you. You don't have to pull the trigger to have a good hunt.

 

[Skyshot]

Time for you to become a mentor to a younger hunter. If you don't have a grandchild to take, there are lots of young hunters out there that would be thrilled to have you share your experiences.

The spark will come back when you see them get excited.

This^^ Time to pass on your knowledge, lots of kids out there that would like to go but have no one to take them.

 

[Sav .250]

Things change as we get older. Just the way it is.

You can still go and enjoy the experience. Being in the field or woods gives a person ,"piece of mind." A great relaxer.

For me, I still go with my boys (men now) deer hunting. Been doing it for over 40 years with them.

I know what your saying/feeling. I`ve come to the point were I don`t shoot spikes, doe (never have, Personal choice) Gone back to a peep sight on a Win 94 just so my shot choice is 100yds or less and I pass on a lot of those. Gone back to old-school.

Still love to go but the need to shot something is not the object of my hunt.

Unless a deer comes by me looking like a Moose they all get a .....pass!

Your not alone Buddy.

 

[red rick]

Time for you to become a mentor to a younger hunter. If you don't have a grandchild to take, there are lots of young hunters out there that would be thrilled to have you share your experiences.

The spark will come back when you see them get excited.

I agree , I have more fun hunting when I am with a nephew or two .

 

[Sniper66]

At age 68 and having retired 2 years ago, my interest in hunting and shooting has grown. I have the time now and, fortunately, good enough health to pursue it. The type of hunting has changed. Don't care much for cold, wet duck blinds any more. I hunt squirrels because I can always find a place to go and squirrels are tasty. I shoot prairie dogs for fun and to help out rancher friends. Doves because I get lots of shooting and I know how to cook them. i help my brother and nephews pursue deer, but let them shoot and clean them. Turkeys are fun because spring weather is a joy in the woods. I have an opportunity to hunt antelope so am looking for an appropriate rifle. It's always fun to shop for new guns. But, BY FAR, the most important thing is being outdoors with a gun in my hand. I fish too and it's enjoyable, but it's just not the rush that hunting is for me. It is raining/snowing today and about 30 degrees, but I think I'll toss 2-3 guns in the car and go for a drive. All this talk about hunting has me stirred up.

 

[Elkins45]

It's funny how things change. All my life I wanted a piece of land for my own that I could manage as I wanted, and to hunt and be alone. I finally got my wish five years ago and it was really nice. A few months later my Dad died and it seems like that really took a lot of the steam out of me in a whole bunch of different ways. He loved to farm and now I can hardly plant a seed without thinking about how much I would have loved for him to have seen our farm. A bunch of other bad stuff happened in my family during that time as well, and I think maybe it all gets associated together so that the farm and my reasons for buying it are a reminder of not-so-good times.

I killed a nice buck this year but my enthusiasm is starting to wane. I'm letting some relatives and in-laws hunt the place so it's not just setting idle. I'm the only one in the house who will eat deer and all the people I used to give them to have died or don't want to fool with cooking anymore. Deer are the only game I have hunted in years. My Grandmother used to love to eat squirrels but after she died in 92 I couldn't find anybody to feed them to, so I stopped hunting them a long time ago. I never did develop an interest in turkey. I don't hate hunting or anything like that--but more and more it seems like I enjoy a warm house more than the cold woods these days.

I'm set to retire in a couple of years. Maybe if I can do a little gardening full-time and spend time other than weekends on the place then my enthusiasm will come back. Maybe when all I have is free time I can take up turkey hunting and enjoy it. Who knows?

 

[redneck2]

Few years ago I took one of my best friends deer hunting. First time he had ever been on the property. Gave him the best spot. Maybe an hour later he shot a 183.

He was thrilled beyond words. Me, I'd much rather see him get it than me. I've had my chance at the brass ring. Time to pass it on.

 

[MCgunner]

I quite understand the OP. I used to go duck hunting at least once a week, more often two trips, on off days. I worked rotating shift and had days off mid week which was great as the crowds in the marsh are thinner weekdays. I often had the place almost to myself and I had a hunting buddy that relied on me kicking him out of bed, responsibility, ya know.

I turned 62 in November and now days, my only hunting buddy is my lab, but she just LOVES going. If I didn't have her to satisfy, it'd be even tougher to travel down to where I once lived, get a spot for the trailer, and get up at 3:30AM.

My box blind is about 200 yards behind the house, now, and overlooks my feeder. I took two bucks there last season, but didn't see anything, but doe this season. I really prefer bird hunting, but it's just too easy to stumble back there and sit in a comfy high back office chair with a heater to keep me warm and a thermocell to keep the skeeters at bay. I can catch up on my reading in the afternoons and sit and hunt. I often see small game there, too, usually shoot with a pistol if I get a shot, but really, I could take my .22 rifle back there with me, too, and set it aside. And, then, on my walks, there is often ducks on the tank to be jumped late season. Then, too, there's doves here big time, just hard to get a clean shot on one as they're always covered by trees. I mean, there's things i can hunt right here, small game and deer/hogs, coyotes and other predators, this and that. Makes running down to the public marsh seem like a chore.

No, I haven't quit hunting, but my duck hunting which once defined my existence has waned a lot. I only went twice this season, but ya know, once I got up and moving and got out there, I still had a blast! It just seems a hassle now and, well, it's tough on my old knees to get around in the muck of the marsh. I have a marsh chair, stopped standing up the whole time 10 years ago. Now, i bought a canoe and use an electric motor with it to get across a little lake down there to some decent spots that are hard to get to without a small boat or kayak or canoe, but easy in the canoe. I had a kayak I've used for a few years, but the dog can't ride on it and the lake this year was too deep for her to wade. Some years that lake is fantastic, but this season they were back further in the marsh. I picked up a few ducks, but it was slow both trips. Still love to go to the marsh and watch the sunrise, though. It's no longer about getting the limit, rather about the experience. I don't know if that's maturity or and excuse for laziness.

 

[Manny]

It's been years since I've hunted, my younger brother moved away and he was really the one who loved to do it. Thought I might take a crack at it this past year when Ohio legalized certain centerfire rifles for deer, but starting a new job made that a non-starter. Can't say I love the early hours and cold weather associated with most hunting, but I still feel the urge at times and hope to get back in the field in the future.

 

[gamestalker]

You know, I'm kind of glad you brought this topic up, out in the open.

I'm dealing with an almost identical transition. My last German Short hair died, I'm getting up there in the years, my health isn't what it was 10 or 15 years ago, I've raised all my children, and I've killed a lot of animals over my life time.

I actually broke the news to my oldest Son yesterday afternoon. It was the last day of archery deer season, and he almost started balling, I could see it on his face as we drove off into the sunset. Hunting has been a part of our family since the beginning. My wife is having difficulty dealing with it as well, and said I'll feel differently after some R&R, but I know better than that.

So I agreed to finish this year off with our annual spring turkey hunt, an antelope hunt, and an elk hunt. Unfortunately, one of my son's is in Japan (Marine Corp), and one is in Idaho and can't get time off for at least a year, new career, so I'll be finishing it off with 3 of my boys, and my wife.

The good news is I have about 35 years of priceless memories. And like I told my son's, now it's their turn to create their own legacies and memories with their children.

But I know I'll never lose interest in reloading and shooting, and also fishing.

GS

 

[sjdude]

Time for you to become a mentor to a younger hunter. If you don't have a grandchild to take, there are lots of young hunters out there that would be thrilled to have you share your experiences.



The spark will come back when you see them get excited.

This sounds like great advice. I turned 59 recently and have experienced something similar with a life long pursuit of my own: music performance. Have gotten back some spark for it helping a friend who took an interest. I wish I had a hunting mentor! But, also, age changes us, too. Nothing wrong or bad about that. Step back and see what happens. Best wishes and good luck!

 

[Dinosaur1]

Everybody wants to get older but nobody wants to get old. Unfortunately they go hand in hand. I don't that much interest in shooting another deer but the only way to get to get woodcock and onions is to hunt'em, which I still do but most days I just get a walk in the woods. Still like to shoot. Calling coons is fun. Taking the sparrows off my blue bird houses still entertains me as does keeping the starlings out of my fruit trees but just not to the degree it once did. Nearly every hunter, and I mean a real hunter not just someone who has hunted, I have known in my life is a rabid conservationist. This is a fact most antis find hard to believe but true. They truely love the animals they hunt. Strange huh. As you age this will manifest more and more. My dear old Dad in his 70s liked to see others hunt and shoot but no longer did himself. He told me, "I have made my peace with the animals." If we are good and God loves us we all get there.

 

[MCgunner]

My ranch has a big pond on it and I've jumped ducks on it for years, This year I stopped doing it - just didn't feel the desire to do so. Part of it was the lack of need (two kids off to college, so we don't go thru protein like we used to!), part was just preferring to watch them paddle around.

OK, I did shoot two one day, just enough for a good duck stew!

I never hunted ducks for the protein. I hunt ducks for the experience. I've been doing it since age 14 because it's the one thing I can do and not own land. I didn't grow up on a farm, wasn't privileged to be able to hunt deer every season. I had some woods I chased squirrels in, but duck hunting was far more exciting. The deeks, learning to use a call, the boat ride to the marsh, it was an adventure. I'm still addicted to it and will take a duck hunt over sitting in a box blind any day of the week and twice on Sunday. But, I'm looking at local options now so as to make it a might less of a logistical problem since I've moved away from my old haunts. A duck hunt now involves taking the travel trailer about 80 miles and paying for an RV spot. Now, I enjoy that, but can't do it every day. There's lots of good waterfowl hunting around here, just got to find an affordable club or day lease option. I hear 'em every morning of duck season and it makes me envious. I also love to hunt geese and we have goose hunting locally. I'm 20 miles from Eagle Lake, Texas, the self proclaimed "goose hunting capital of the world". Google it, it MIGHT be true, at least for snow geese. I don't know about that "the world" part, though. I hear Saskatchewan has some decent snow goose hunting.

 

[phcaan]

I've been hunting upland birds, doves and deer for at least 30 year, I'm 62 now. Opening day has been almost a religious event. We went at it the whole seasons, frequently missing work at the end of the bird season to get in one last hunt.

Something has changed. I only went out 3 or 4 times this year. My dog died last year and I just don't want to start a new pup. I did an all-day pheasant hunt yesterday to end the season and I enjoyed the company of my long-time hunting group but I have to admit I didn't enjoy the hunt. Part of it is there are so few birds, part of it is we've lost all our private land access to outfitters, part of it is losing the dog, but it's more than that. I still really enjoy getting out for deer but I have little interest in actually killing one. Maybe I have enough nice racks on the wall.

Hunting has been such a part of my life for so long that I'm wrestling with how I'm feeling about it these days. It has nothing to do with becoming anti-hunting or such as that -- I'm just losing interest and I have never expected that to happen.

I wonder whether others on the forum have experienced this and how it played out for them?

No I don't think anything is wrong with you, people change as time goes on, your interest varies.
When I was young I loved to hunt, but after I returned from Vietnam I simply did not want to kill anything I did not have to, and when our children were young I hunted for the meat, we needed it.
I love shooting, and have no problem shooting any varmint after my chickens or stock, they are doing their job and I am doing mine.
I don't feel that shooting is just about hunting. There is a great deal of pride in being able to put a bullet where ever you want it to, downrange, there is great sanctification in owning, maintaining and loading for fine weapons.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

57 and hope the fire never dies in me.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I started hunting again about 25 years ago when I was living in Oklahoma. I'm 60 now.
Had access to plenty of public land and between hunting ducks, deer and quail had some good times with the dogs and my neighbors. Heck, my wife even liked to duck hunt and we had a flooded timber spot an hour away that was a true "Honey Hole" for ducks.
Well, we moved north and as the dogs died bird hunting lost it's charm plus, as rc mentioned, quail are almost extinct in this region of Kansass.
I go out deer hunting but I'll admit that I sorta suck at it based on my success, or lack thereof, ratio.
( My wife says that I put off a "vibe" that keeps them away. )
And yet, I went and bought another hunting license at the fist of the year. Once again the triumph of Hope over Experience...

 

[jrdolall]

At 50 I started to lose some of the fire. I went through some life changes with deaths in the family that sort of changed my perspective on a lot of things when my wife and my mother died within a month. Something like that will certainly change your way of thinking.
I still enjoy doing all the work of stand building, food plots, firewood, checking feeders and cameras, etc but the desire to go sit in the stand has dropped considerably. I did not go duck hunting a single time this year. Of the 10 or so times I went deer hunting I had a kid with me at least half of that time. I took on the responsibility of mentoring an 11 year old whose father is in prison. His grandmother got him a 20g for Christmas and he has nowhere to shoot so his mother brings him to the farm almost every weekend. He didn't get a chance at a deer this year but maybe he can get one next year.
I feel that it is time for me to pass the torch and make certain the younger kids get the opportunity to experience even half of what I have done in 40 years of hunting. I learned from my grandfather. I have taught all of my kids to shoot and hunt and I hope to do the same for their kids some day. I own the land and can manage the deer herd and turkey populations to insure that we have a place to hunt for the foreseeable future.

 

[Hunterdad]

I've lost interest too. Getting up at 3am to find a good spot to hunt ducks just doesn't sound fun to me. If I had private property to hunt, it'd be different.