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Your Favorite Part...

HuntNorthEast

HuntNorthEast

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2020
Messages
1,027
Location
Southern Maine
So, I was watching a video during lunch break just now and hearing the noises in the background got me thinking. Season is rapidly approaching and so is my biggest stress reliever of the year.

To get to the point. I want to know what your favorite part about hunting is. I am NOT talking about the chase, the harvest, the bragging rights. I am talking about the one thing that doesn't actually have to do with the harvest aspect of it. Is it the gear, the silence, the experiences that your average Joe wouldn't ever have if they didn't hunt? I'll start off with mine, but I am curious to hear what you guys enjoy.

Myself, I love the dark. I walk in/out without a headlamp if conditions permit. I use to have a stupid childish fear of the unknown in the dark, over the years hunting and growing up I have stuffed that fear away and turned it into a love for the stale, brisk air, silence (besides rodents and such), and the sneaky approach to my spot. I have learned that in the dark, you really find an intimate knowledge of the area you are hunting. It gives you a bearing in all conditions and you quickly learn every twist and turn like it's your own living room.

Also, I really enjoy sitting in the dark in the morning and watching/listening to the woods wake up. There is nothing more peaceful and stress relieving to me. Watching every little critter start its morning routine while fog of my breath rolls up my face. Then, a twig breaks, game on...
 
First thing that comes to my mind is that day or three every November that are borderline completely miserable, cold, windy, snowing sideways (not rain though, rain just sucks). I love bowhunting in the snow and feel jipped seasons we don't get to.

Pushing mental toughness and gear to the limit, knowing I could drive home and be comfy in my climate controlled living room within the hour. Gritting it out for hours, swaying in a tree, waiting for a stupid deer to walk by. And then whiffing the one shot at a decent buck you get all archery season as I did last year this day. Don't know why that comes to mind I guess it's the power of type II fun. And that I've had some great encounters with big bucks in the nastiest, windiest weather in the rut.

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HuntNorthEast said:
I am NOT talking about the chase, the harvest, the bragging rights.
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To me that's the stuff that kinda separates hunting from hiking, fishing, driving the scenic route, sipping coffee on the porch in the morning and watching the ducks fly, etc. Like asking what your favorite part of smoking cigarettes is other than inhaling nicotine. Why the heck else would you do it?

I do like seeing new places though. I badly wanted to study abroad and got accepted. Then we had to rebuild the house and mom got sick and I stayed home due to a sense of eldest son responsibility. Closest the wife and I have come to a serious disagreement was her shooting down me joining the Navy. I've always had a rambling bone. Hunting is a good excuse to go exploring with a purpose. I've found all kinds of cool places and things along the way. Scratches the itch and keeps me relatively happy living in my hometown for now.
 
For me it’s a couple things, can’t decide on one. It’s feeling the forest alive, like I’m an observer bearing witness to a perfect ecosystem. It’s the stillness in the air that the forest gets when something is coming. Its testing my skill against years of evolutionary biology and one of the best noses on the planet, forgetting all the gear and nonsense, do I have the minimals to get the job done.
 
I think my favorite part is observing. It’s like once you’re in the woods and up the tree, set up and motionless, you just see things. Things you might not usually see. I’ve watched wild squirrels chasing each other up and down trees leaping branch to branch and chattering all the while. I’ve been up close and personal with a hawk who thought my fingers would make a good snack lol I’ve gotten to see bucks chase doe all over the place and seen them pin a doe down in a creek and mate her nearly to death (bucks can be brutal). I’ve seen mother sows rush out and protect her babies. It’s just so neat to sit and observe nature in its purest form…. Right up until I pull my bow release lol then it’s right back to genuine focus and the stress of recovering the animal.
 
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It's pure "me time" and all of the insignificant nonsense means nothing.

Watching nature, listening to the winds in the trees and waiting for that deer to walk into range makes everything else go away. Don't have to worry about work, family or the clock. I also take pride in the process of processing the deer. I hate deboning, butchering and packaging because it's a long process yet from woods to table, I and I alone (and maybe my daughter this year) are the only ones who ever touched that meat.
 
For me, its being at deer camp in Ohio with my friends. We are from Michigan so its 6 hour away weeklong dream vacation.We have 12 of us that go every year. We lost one of us in an accident at work and its gonna be a tough year for us. 40yrs old is too young to go His Dad will be there with us, Josh too from above, and we will all heal together.
Its a week long celebration whether we harvest any deer or not. I look forward to the rain day sleep in, we usually get 1 day per trip. I love the food, nobody eats better than us. I love the post morning hunt stories over a quick lunch. I love the blood trails. I love the misses and the double lungs! Im blessed to have such a great group of friends & thank God to even be able to do such a thing every year.
 
TNbowhunter said:
Mine is 100% the quiet time to think and pray on-stand. It definitely brings a peace I can't find anywhere else.
"'Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!'
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress."
Psalm 46:10-11
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1000% this^^^^^^
 
I have a few.
1: time to think and pray
2: that moment when you’ve quieted down in your setup and the wood comes alive. Not that it wasn’t already, but that you have just begun to listen.
3: the nap that typically happens. The most refreshing naps I’ve ever taken are usually in the trees.
 
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