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Poll - how much satisfaction do you get from killing a deer on your hunt?

What percentage of your enjoyment is actually killing a deer?

  • 10%

    Votes: 10 8.8%

  • 25%

    Votes: 25 21.9%

  • 50%

    Votes: 40 35.1%

  • 75%

    Votes: 29 25.4%

  • 100%

    Votes: 10 8.8%
  • Total voters
    114
I went with 10%, because I don't really get an enjoyment out of the killing. I get way more enjoyment out of the challenges before and after. I enjoy the puzzle aspect of hunting, especially on public land, and the satisfaction that comes from a plan coming together that gives me an opportunity to harvest an animal. I enjoy when my aim is true and all that practice pays off with a successful shot. I enjoy the butchering process and trying to get better at that. And I enjoy the delicious reward of eating the meat I worked so hard to obtain for me and my family.

And I enjoy the adrenaline rush when my prey comes into range.

I've got multiple deer in my yard everyday, and I could pretty much harvest those at will. But first I want to see how my season goes on public before I resort to the yard deer for freezer meat.
 
I thought this question was about a hunt in which you kill something, not just hunts where something isn't killed. If you're on a specific hunt where you kill something, and that kill is not the most significant part of your experience, then why kill? Just leave the weapon at home and climb trees and enjoy nature. If the kill is just an "aside", then why do that part? I feel if you're hunting and kill something, that act should bring you the most satisfaction out of that particular hunt. I get the hunting to enjoy being apart of nature, but I took the question to be about a hunt in which you killed something. If it's a hunt where you didn't kill, then the kill would be 0% of the experience because it didn't happen.
 
I went with 75%. I love the planning, scouting, tree prepping, shooting practice etc. but I also take pride in the fact I can stay cool under pressure and make a quick clean kill. I'm a better shot on game than in the backyard and when I decide to loose an arrow I love that feeling of pride and confidence I get in the skills that I have developed in over 40+ years of bow hunting.
 
To answer the question from the OP, I answered 100%. Based on that question alone. Killing is the goal, the endgame, the point of going. It's the "reason" we go into the woods hunting. Now I'm talking in the most basic terms here and as it applies to the specific question posted. Now the fact that I get 100% satisfaction from killing a deer, does not mean I judge my hunts based upon that. By far, hands down, with no competition, the very best hunts that I fondly remember, no kills were made, or some one else did the killing. I also get a lot of satisfaction in that, just not the same type, it's not personal or singular satisfaction. Hunt because I enjoy hunting, and the occasional kill. It's the process that keeps me hooked, or addicted, or obsessed. What ever you want to call it, it's not the kill the keeps me coming back, it's all of it, including the kill, but also eating deer meat in July, and watching my son make a pretend gunshot noise when he sees deer because he wants to be like me. It's the whole life style, but that doesn't mean that I can't take 100% satisfaction in the kill, knowing what it drives!
 
I’m not asking how satisfying killing deer can be. That’s a quality question. I’m asking everyone to think about why you hunt. And that why is a big pile. And I want to know what portion of that why pile is the deer killing. It’s a quantity question.

It’s pretty abstract, but that should get folks thinking hard.

Answers mean very little on an individual basis, but we can learn a lot by assessing the group’s answers collectively.
 
kyler1945 said:
I’m not asking how satisfying killing deer can be. That’s a quality question. I’m asking everyone to think about why you hunt. And that why is a big pile. And I want to know what portion of that why pile is the deer killing. It’s a quantity question.

It’s pretty abstract, but that should get folks thinking hard.

Answers mean very little on an individual basis, but we can learn a lot by assessing the group’s answers collectively.
Click to expand...
Shoot, might as well ask why are b**bs good, or how's the positrack on the rear end of the Plymouth work....... it just does
 
kyler1945 said:
I’m not asking how satisfying killing deer can be. That’s a quality question. I’m asking everyone to think about why you hunt. And that why is a big pile. And I want to know what portion of that why pile is the deer killing. It’s a quantity question.

It’s pretty abstract, but that should get folks thinking hard.

Answers mean very little on an individual basis, but we can learn a lot by assessing the group’s answers collectively.
Click to expand...
I hunt to kill, period, that is always the objective. The killing feeds me and my family and most years several friends that dont hunt but prefer or enjoy eating wild game.
 
ThePennsylvanian said:
Shoot, might as well ask why are b**bs good, or how's the positrack on the rear end of the Plymouth work....... it just does
Click to expand...


Haha, I agree. Those are self answering questions.

But they are also quality questions. I’m asking something different.

Here’s another way to put it - how much would you pay for the Plymouth without positrack, if the cost with it is 20k? Would you pay 19k? 10k? 5k? Not buy it all because it’s not worth buying at any price because positrack is all I care about?

See the difference?
 
I voted 25% cause I get sooo much enjoyment from the breaking an area down, the views, the unexpected encounters, the quiet, the peace and on and on.

I'm not hunting because I'm hungry, and if I were, I certainly wouldn't be chasing the most expensive meat per pound. Have you ever broke down the cost of deer per lb?
 
I’m only content to a certain point with just being in the woods. If the season ended and I did not kill a deer, I’d maybe be 25% content so I went with 75% to the question. Probably even higher but not 100. Perspective is also variable. Had a year where life sort of took priority and I was just happy to get in the woods. Hunted 3 times that year and was able to take a nice deer but would have been 90% content just to get out.
 
BTaylor said:
I hunt to kill, period, that is always the objective. The killing feeds me and my family and most years several friends that dont hunt but prefer or enjoy eating wild game.
Click to expand...
So...if it's all about the kill, how do you feel about canned hunts?

I live in an area where I could kill several deer a night with a spotlight and a .22wmr. Super rural. Out of everything but sheriff jurisdiction. Anybody who I met with at night would likely be doing the same thing I was.

Don't get me wrong, I like killing deer. But if you found me a job where all I did was bonk them on the head as they came down the assembly line for 40 hours a week...i'd pass.

I hunt to kill, but I guess my testosterone has dropped enough I can admit I don't just hunt to kill.
 
I voted 25% Really enjoy the act of scouting, setting up correctly at the right time. Killing is probably the least though an exhilarating finish to a culmination of success. But enjoy everything that got me to that moment more than punching the trigger….
 
It varies from day to day. Depending on where I am hunting and with what. If I walk out onto public and figured it out and arrow one it's 100! If I am on the private where there is lots of deer and I just have to pick the right tree and hope, it's not 100 at this point. 75 more. Unless Its a big buck, doing something new like trad hunting or with my kids.
 
25%.
arbitrary based on adventure, food conservation, challenge etc
I enjoy getting close more than anything, sometimes I don’t take a shot and that’s all part of the hunt.

the parts I struggle with in answering this; are consecutive hunts without seeing deer, misses and unrecovered hits - they are not enjoyable and I should rank kill enjoyment higher based on avoiding these scenarios; however they can be viewed as forging a better hunter/ person.
 
I like the process a lot, but without the kill at the end eventually it feels..... pointless or like a waste. Without the kill, it isn't a puzzle to solve and more just a walk in the woods. Still enjoyable but a much different experience without an objective to keep you focus and a culminating moment of success
 
BackSpasm said:
I like the process a lot, but without the kill at the end eventually it feels..... pointless or like a waste. Without the kill, it isn't a puzzle to solve and more just a walk in the woods. Still enjoyable but a much different experience without an objective to keep you focus and a culminating moment of success
Click to expand...
I’d say I kill to have hunted. It’s the whole experience to be enjoyed but the goal is the kill. This isn’t paintball! It’s BowHUNTING.
 
So for everyone that said 100%, that would mean every time you leave the woods without killing a deer you view that hunt as a complete failure? You gained 0% enjoyment from that hunt?
 
I would answer different if there was just one question. There seems to be 2 different ones.

1. "how much satisfaction do you get from killing a deer on your hunt?" Probably 75% if we're talking about a hunt in which a deer was killed. 0% if I didn't kill because the kill isn't a factor on that hunt.

2. "What percentage of your enjoyment is actually killing a deer?" Enjoyment of what specifically? That particular hunt? Hunting in general?
 
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