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The drive to kill

Patriot

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2019
Messages
842
I have a weird quirk that I was wondering if other people have and how they manage it. My quirk is that after I kill my drive to hunt plummets. It’s fricken weird but it’s definitely real. Does this happen to other people?

I love to hunt and it’s a year round sport for me. But I’ll be damned, I killed a buck three weeks ago which was no trophy but it literally met my goal for the year to a T and now I took the last three weeks off for “browny points” with the wife but that’s just an excuse. I’m geared up for the rut and going to get out there and put in work but it’s weirdly different.

It happens to me every year which is only 5 years but in three of those years I killed and observed a plummet in my “kill drive” Which is like sex drive but for antler murders :grinning:. The weird thing is that the drive always returns and builds. Like I’ll begin to get driven and anxious by the end of the year and then this winter I’ll scout like a lunatic but still feel like I’ve got to put in more work before season of else I’m going to fail.

It’s weird but interesting. My theory is that I’m just a Neanderthal and once I’ve provided meat for my cave and my hairy cave woman I relax. Think about it, our sport must be born deep in our ancestral genetics. We have a burning desire to kill big animals with a stick and a string for absolutely no reason! I’ve never known anyone in my life to encourage this sport yet I’ve wanfed to do it since I was 8 years old and once I did finally do it I was obsessed. It’s got to be genetic and a deep born instinct.

Anyone experience this? What do you do about it? If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of my dip in antler murder libido I would do it, especially when it’s frickin NOVEMBER!
 
Nope sorry lol. I tagged out in my state(1 buck) a couple weeks again and bought a Tennessee tag now. Driving and camping in my truck every chance I get. If anything killing one makes me more excited to get another one!

I agree the desire to kill is something primal tho! Gotta embrace that primal, carnal instinct
 
I have never wanted to stop hunting the season because I was successful... I have however few years ago when I was hunting public land exclusively I had a really really bad season, I was second guessing everything I thought I knew, I was freaking exhausted from hunting so much and not being successful that made me wanna stop lol.

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I have a weird quirk that I was wondering if other people have and how they manage it. My quirk is that after I kill my drive to hunt plummets. It’s fricken weird but it’s definitely real. Does this happen to other people?

I love to hunt and it’s a year round sport for me. But I’ll be damned, I killed a buck three weeks ago which was no trophy but it literally met my goal for the year to a T and now I took the last three weeks off for “browny points” with the wife but that’s just an excuse. I’m geared up for the rut and going to get out there and put in work but it’s weirdly different.

It happens to me every year which is only 5 years but in three of those years I killed and observed a plummet in my “kill drive” Which is like sex drive but for antler murders :grinning:. The weird thing is that the drive always returns and builds. Like I’ll begin to get driven and anxious by the end of the year and then this winter I’ll scout like a lunatic but still feel like I’ve got to put in more work before season of else I’m going to fail.

It’s weird but interesting. My theory is that I’m just a Neanderthal and once I’ve provided meat for my cave and my hairy cave woman I relax. Think about it, our sport must be born deep in our ancestral genetics. We have a burning desire to kill big animals with a stick and a string for absolutely no reason! I’ve never known anyone in my life to encourage this sport yet I’ve wanfed to do it since I was 8 years old and once I did finally do it I was obsessed. It’s got to be genetic and a deep born instinct.

Anyone experience this? What do you do about it? If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of my dip in antler murder libido I would do it, especially when it’s frickin NOVEMBER!

You questions are a bucket full of worms that could take of any number of tangents lol. The reasons people hunt are as varied as the types of people that hunt. At the end of the day or the start of the day as it were, God created us to hunt. If someone today is a vegtabletarian or vegan or when they come up with some new type of selfrightatarian, they should thank a hunter from their gene pool because without them these people wouldnt be here today.

I dont really care for calling hunting a sport even though some people treat it that way. In my simple mind it has no relation to sport, there is no winner or or loser, you either kill or dont and the outcome may have been in your hands or not. Some killing is done purely for the pursuit and some killing is done purely for stewardship purposes and again some is done purely to provide for ones self and/or family. The variance in motivations is part of why it is so hard to build unity in the hunting ranks.

There is commonly an evolution in the hunter that with experience and growing success ones motivations change. It may be moving from just killing a deer to killing larger bucks, it may be to kill only mature deer without regard to antler score, it may be to become a more responsible steward but the changes happen. I think 2 things are important here, remember that no one goal, desire or motivation is more important or more correct than the other and find for yourself the goals or motivations that are important to you and pursue them. As long as you hunt within the prescribed game laws and with pure intent, no one can fault you.
 
This is the first year that I have come close to my target of 4 in the freezer this soon. I have 3 down and every reason to believe that I will get a fourth this weekend with the rifle opener. My drive to hunt is not less. I have put in just as much work this year as any other. The difference for me is that I do not feel like I am grinding at this point in the year. In the last couple of seasons, I hunted as much as possible during bow season with no kills to show for it. By the time muzzleloader and rifle opened, I was worn out and discouraged. I still got out there every chance, but it was work until I started getting the freezer stocked.

I got one in bow season (my first with the bow). It has changed everything! I have spent as much time as I could in the woods and LOVED it more than ever. I got 2 last Saturday with the muzzleloader (my first double). Now I am out there with no other goal than to enjoy the time and hope for a big buck. Best season yet!
 
Not hunting for a while makes me want to hunt.

Hunting makes me want to hunt more.

Missing fills me with a burning desire to murder every deer in the woods.

Killing puts the taste of blood in my mouth and makes me want to kill MORE deer.

It's genuinely a borderline addiction, with all the symptoms. Reduced work performance, strained relationships, unhealthy eating and sleeping habits, reduced financial judgement... the works. :)
 
Not hunting for a while makes me want to hunt.

Hunting makes me want to hunt more.

Missing fills me with a burning desire to murder every deer in the woods.

Killing puts the taste of blood in my mouth and makes me want to kill MORE deer.

It's genuinely a borderline addiction, with all the symptoms. Reduced work performance, strained relationships, unhealthy eating and sleeping habits, reduced financial judgement... the works. :)

Lol. You always crack me up. I guess I’m just weird? Fortunately for me I got my buck early enough to where the fire is returning with plenty of season left.
 
Lol. You always crack me up. I guess I’m just weird? Fortunately for me I got my buck early enough to where the fire is returning with plenty of season left.
No, I think most folks are the same way. My dad shot a 7 point early last year and just kinda shuffled his way through the rest of the season.

I really try to tone down how much I like killing deer. I feel it makes me seem like a try-hard or a psycho. I'll hit my limit fishing, squirrel hunting, hiking, canoeing, beer drinking, etc. But I'll take off a solid week to deer hunt and be despondent about going home on the last day.
 
I have a weird quirk that I was wondering if other people have and how they manage it. My quirk is that after I kill my drive to hunt plummets. It’s fricken weird but it’s definitely real. Does this happen to other people?

I love to hunt and it’s a year round sport for me. But I’ll be damned, I killed a buck three weeks ago which was no trophy but it literally met my goal for the year to a T and now I took the last three weeks off for “browny points” with the wife but that’s just an excuse. I’m geared up for the rut and going to get out there and put in work but it’s weirdly different.

It happens to me every year which is only 5 years but in three of those years I killed and observed a plummet in my “kill drive” Which is like sex drive but for antler murders :grinning:. The weird thing is that the drive always returns and builds. Like I’ll begin to get driven and anxious by the end of the year and then this winter I’ll scout like a lunatic but still feel like I’ve got to put in more work before season of else I’m going to fail.

It’s weird but interesting. My theory is that I’m just a Neanderthal and once I’ve provided meat for my cave and my hairy cave woman I relax. Think about it, our sport must be born deep in our ancestral genetics. We have a burning desire to kill big animals with a stick and a string for absolutely no reason! I’ve never known anyone in my life to encourage this sport yet I’ve wanfed to do it since I was 8 years old and once I did finally do it I was obsessed. It’s got to be genetic and a deep born instinct.

Anyone experience this? What do you do about it? If I could wave a magic wand and get rid of my dip in antler murder libido I would do it, especially when it’s frickin NOVEMBER!
Yes. This happens to me. If I have meat in the freezer my desire to fill it up more plummets.
 
Deer hunting is still an obsession with me even after 45 years of it. It is the one true obsession I have. Thankfully I have an understanding wife (as I've been home one night in the last 7).

I must admit though as I've gotten older and progressed thru those "phases" of hunting it has become, for me anyway, less about the actual kill and more about a successful completion of the process. At this point I get great satisfaction just from outsmarting the deer. Don't get me wrong, the actual killing is still important, just not the end all definition of success it once was.
 
Ive been hunting as long as I can remember amd can only think of one time when I was excited for a kill and then felt bad about it after... probably 5 or 6 yrs old and shot a chipmunk. Deer however have always been different for me. Personal in a way I tend to spend more time bow hunting for the challenge and if I dont get one no big deal. Dont get me wrong I love rifle hunting too but it almost seems like an unfair advantage and Ill only do it if I really need the meat in the freezer.
After a kill I'm ready to hunt again but its not really a need to kill feeling it more about enjoying nature, being in the woods, the fresh air, cool experiences that lead to stories Ill tell for years and the challenge.
As others have already said... each hunters drive to hunt is different and how we handle the kill/post kill emotions etc will all be different. Follow whatever feels right for you.
 
I've been obsessed with anything hunting or fishing since I could remember a thought. My obsession or drive has brought me countless joy, satisfaction, accomplishment, heart break, disappointment and physical pain. I've been very blessed to get to enjoy my passions and have success in the outdoors. I was once asked a question by my aunt who's husband, my uncle exposed me to this disease why we had to hunt as hard as we do and take every thing we do to the extreme. I was in my late teens and sorta lost for words, I simply told her "I can't explain it where you would understand, it's just who I am." I'll never forget her response she said that's funny your uncle said the same thing last week, I'll pray for the woman you marry. But I too have went through the stages of a hunter, from kill, kill, kill them all. To now where I rarely reach for the bow unless it's a mature buck and don't mind eating tag soup if the one I want doesn't show. I keep things pretty interesting with other hunting/fishing activities it's a year round adventure for me. September is all about the dove hunting, October through December I'm in the deer woods every hour I can. January, February, early March it's non stop predator hunting. March through July I'm tournament bass fishing. As well as June through August I'm competing in long range rifle competitions. So if I kill the one I'm after I don't loose my drive necessarily I just get a jump on the next adventure in the line up. Yes, my wife is a very understanding woman.
 
I am the opposite I just killed a nice buck on Friday night and I am so much more driven to get a second one. I can't stop thinking of ways to get away from work and hunt some more.
 
I have never experienced what you are dealing with but I do find that once I get a good kill I start cutting corners on my scent control, stand selection, amount of noise I make and just about every other aspect. I still want to hunt really bad, I just get kind of sloppy since the pressure is off.

I am not sure if you run trail cameras, but if you do that may be a way of getting you excited again. One pic of a good buck during daylight usually kicks me into higher gear.

Congrats on your early success!
 
I have never experienced what you are dealing with but I do find that once I get a good kill I start cutting corners on my scent control, stand selection, amount of noise I make and just about every other aspect. I still want to hunt really bad, I just get kind of sloppy since the pressure is off.

I am not sure if you run trail cameras, but if you do that may be a way of getting you excited again. One pic of a good buck during daylight usually kicks me into higher gear.

Congrats on your early success!
Second that. I've noticed in previous years ill start slipping on my approach a little. Guess you get rid of the razor sharp focus as you're chewing on a nice new deer stick, but still know it wont last all year.

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I think i would describe it as the pressure is off. I just got back into hunting this yr and feel a need to kill something to prove i'm not wasting my time (not really rational i know, but i somewhat feel this way). if i was able to put something down i would definitely feel more comfortable missing a day here or there.
 
Hmm can’t say I have that problem. I got a real itchy trigger finger. No desire to kill little bucks, but those nanny does better watch out. If I do kill a doe, it satisfies the itch for a few days. But the desire to hunt doesn’t go away, I just hunt for bucks until the nanny does get the itch going again.


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