DallanC wrote:

I wish I had someone to hunt with... 99.999% of my hunting I'm solo, off doing it myself. Even elk I'll shoot, gut, load and take home solo. Last year i took my boy hunting a couple times in the evening and it was really fun. Hopefully I'll get to take him more this fall as hes about old enough to do full days. One other thing though, I hunt to kill something. Other times of the year i love watching / photographing wildlife but when its open season (and our seasons are drastically short), I'm trying damn hard to fill my tag. I have 359 days a year to enjoy the mountains and watch critters... but 5-6 days out of the year when its open season... I hunt hard. Its all fun though -DallanC

Couldn't agree more Dallan on havin a huntin buddy..especially your kiddo! Enjoyed goin solo when I was younger, but the older I get the more I enjoy the comraderie. The family has gathered at our place the last two years for the long Thanksgiving weekend & while the hunting is a little less serious with all the kids and brides out there, it is a weekend I enjoy greatly...and of course there is nothin like an openin weekend with the fellas. Some of my foundest memories are of 9 guys in an old run down one room cabin. Bunkbeds on every wall. Couldn't get to sleep until the last lie...er..I mean story was told

I'm gettin all misty just thinkin about it! .............

I have only gotten one deer in my life, and that was a first 1/2 hour of last day when i was 16. was after the horns and the meat, since i didnt get a doe lic. but i always found no matter how long you boiled them the horns dont get tender.. but now i go out with my kids, and 1/2 the time i dont even carry a gun with me.. something you see a million times looks brand new when you hear a whispered "hey dad look"...

shrpshtrjoe wrote:

Howdy. I just realy enjoy being in the woods I'll go out sometimes with no intention of shooting anything!!. When I am shooting it's to fill the freezer!. Don't get me wrong if there's a ten point standing next to a spike I'll take the ten point but I will not pass on a smaller buck until my freezer's full. Joe

I am very envious of you whitetail hunters... long seasons, multiple tags. As Azhunter said tags are by drawing now out here and there is a good chance you might not even draw a general season deer tag! Seasons are as short as 3-5 days and with only a single tag... its easy to see why there is a high pressure among hunters out here to be successful. "Fun" is slowly being eliminated from the sport.

I think its destructive in the long run. Auction tags for better units are now fetching rediculous amounts of money... like more than most of our homes cost! I think Utahs Gov Tag deer went for like $140,000 this year. Its that mentality that is causing all kinds of problems and to be frank, its really turning me off to hunting sadly.

I just want to do as Joe does, wander out, have a good time and enjoy nature. But alas things are different ... we are just now getting into the "Hunt application" period where you begin to apply for the species drawings. I have 13 points for Moose this year I think... 13 years of applying and not drawing... my odds for this year I think are around 1 in 250. With the number of tags they issue per year I think I'll draw out in 15 years if I'm lucky.... my boy never will.

Maybe I'll buy some ground back east to retire ... I doubt you guys will run out of whitetails by that time


-DallanC

Dallan,

Your welcome to join us "Easterners" on ether side of the boarder.

Dimitri

Dear Dallan;

That's such a sad commentary that attests accurately to the misnomer of 'game management'. Seasons and tags for our Eastern whitetiails are liberal, but here too, game animals are a 'cash crop'. They are managed for 'earnings' just like strawberries or potatos.

Sadly there is only so much dirt. If it's needed for a parking lot, the animals loose. If good wishes bear on the odds for your moose tag, I hope you get it soon.

Your well written and informative description of how things are becoming should be a wake up call to us all.

Gee Dallan....nothing worse than being out in the wild on your own.....means you are not sharing the magnificence with a friend. If I wasn't a pensioner (and I could convince the missus) I'd be over there in a heartbeat to accompany you....even if only as a gun or camera bearer.

When I hunt my primary aim is to put meat in the freezer. Having said that the only things that I take home is venison and rabbit. I don't trust the "cleanliness" of wild pigs out here and of course feral cats are only good for target practice.

I have only ever bought home one rack, although they are pretty crappy he was my first so I couldn't leave it behind.

Cheers, Vince

the meat and as far as the outdoors and the camaraderie you fellas mentioned, hey, a bad day in the bush with my bro's is better than a good day sitting in this office, lol

Like a couple of others have said.... Neither!

I hunt because I love to hunt. Any meat or trophy are just a bonus.

But it is really nice to be successful.

I hunt because I enjoy hunting, I wait all year for hunting season to start. I would like to kill a big rack sometime but I hunt for meat, never found a set of horns I could eat yet.
One more thing about hunting, I think that hight priced ranch hunts are going to be the ruination of hunting in this country. It will end up that you don't have to hunt a deer just buy one, which in the long run means only the wealthy will get to hunt.
Sorry for being long winded.

Good Shootin

Say DallanC, what if any are the hog tags going for . Here in calif, last time I checked, was 10.00 for 5 tags. When my daughter grads from grad school, we're going on a hog hunt. She is an excellent shot with her m94 win 30-30. I load 170 h.p. for her. Here in calif, we hunt for the hunt and maybe a little meat also. Dave

fireball 3 wrote:

When my daughter grads from grad school, we're going on a hog hunt. She is an excellent shot with her m94 win 30-30.

Fireball 3, your daughter is obviously a very smart girl. I mean, apart or the fact that she goes to Grad School (Iam assuming that this is University) she owns a Winchester Model 94 in the greatest hunting calibre of all time...30.30 WIN.

Give her my regards. Better still.....get her in here to keep us old buggers in check.

Cheers, Vince

Vince,

Grad school is ABOVE universaty, thats where you go after graduating universaty and going to get a Masters degree or a PhD. So yes she must be pretty smart.

Good to hear about another girl in our sport.

Dimitri

vince and dimitri, not only does she own and shoot, so does my lady own and shoot a win 94 30-30. I load all their ammo as well as mine. my lady's 94 hoever is pre-64. I use a marlin 336 in 30-30.

Fireball,

Lots of 30-30's, good rifles, they "won the west" thouse Winchester lever actions.

So I guess hunting trips are alot like family get togethers ??

Dimitri

so we don't hog this thread how about an email. I'm at mauserman48 @ yahoo.com., I'd love to chat about other stuff too! Dave