Do you get tired?

[MTTW]

I sat out the last day of season last year with a deer tag in my pocket and didn't like the feel of it one bit. I can't ever remember doing that and don't intend to do it again. I shot some of my better bucks the last day of season years ago and can't get that out of my head. My wife gets run down by me getting up at all hours, but she can't stand it when I am walking from window-to-window staring at the mountains. She tells me that I should go hunting it will be over soon enough.

 

[hank4elk]

Damn straight I do.
But I'm about to give it a go.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Sorta, but mostly tired of how things have changed. Im 68, spent just over three weeks in a tent this year. Draw odds keep getting worse, those kinds of things are frustrating. Heading out with the dogs this morning. Not many roosters left in this valley but we’ll give it a couple of hours. The dogs are old too.

 

[Nameless Range]

Montana's general deer/elk season is 36 days long. Because of favorable work circumstances and a hell of a lot of comp-time, I have hunted more than half of those already - often just a few hours walking for whitetail with my shotgun in a morning or evening - and will hunt a few in the remaining 4 days. With an elk and a deer in the freezer, I am not tired of hunting. There's still tags to fill if I choose, and more birds to hunt than I have time to hunt. I don't really get hunted out, but I do become quite sensitive to the capital I am burning through in my marriage. Maybe moreso, it's not really even about hunting. I had the other day off of work to go hunting, and instead I set some muskrat traps and cut a load of wood with my boys. As good a day as any. As cliche as it may be, I just like being outside. I suppose it doesn't hurt that, sans one 2-foot snowstorm in late October, we are having a hell of a nice fall.

Maybe one reason I don't get burned out is that, outside of the initial drive to get my elk tag filled, for me hunting deer has become a cerebral/leisurely activity. Having abandoned the mule deer in my geography, I'm more in the willows with a shotgun now than the mountains with a rifle, and don't care if I fill my buck tag.

 

[sclancy27]

I hunted 45 days so far this year. I am guessing I will go with my youngest brother and try to get him an elk after Thanksgiving. After 17 days (including driving) in AZ and MT I had lost almost 10 lbs, so I needed about 5-7 days to recharge. Weight is up a little and I am ready to be in the woods again.

 

[Jamen]

Two years ago i had 3 ND deer tags. Rare occurrence here, mule deer rifle, archery, and muzzleloader which took 15 years to draw. I deer hunted over 70 days that year. I was burnt out. Filled my muley tag on a nice one. never filled the muzzleloader, archery i settled for a doe to just be done and put meat in the freezer. It was way too much in one season. It did not leave time for anything else.

 

[belshawelk]

Never tired, but I consider hunting different than some. I do not need to harvest anything to hunt. I take others out all the time so they can. Just being out hiking and wondering what around the next corner or hill for me is what's its about for me. So far this year "hunting" I have found the following, all I could have harvested:

Elk
Deer
Mountain Quail
California Quail
Chucker
Rabbits
turkeys ( lots of damn turkeys)
Grouse
Coyote
Lots of various Hawks, eagles
Wild horses and cattle
Rattle snake
Bull Snake
Squirrels

plus lots of other little things

How can that be tiring. Plus I am a exercise guy so I can either be on a treadmill and stair master or hike my mountains.

I am going out next week. Already got my buck, elk, turkey, but I have a bear and lion tag. Wont see any but I can go see all of the above again. never ever gets old.

 

[Hunting Wife]

This is the first year that I have ever struggled to find motivation to go hunting. I took a week off, hiked nearly 50 miles, saw very few deer, saw tons of people, witnessed a lot of jackass behavior, and it just became really frustrating. There were a few really nice mornings where it felt like old times, but overall I feel like the quality of the experience in my area has really diminished significantly the last few years. I’ve just struggled to get the same enjoyment this year for some reason that I can’t identify.

 

[Greyman]

I've been burned out crispy on hunting hogs. I was trying to help thin out the hog population on a friend's property that was overrun with rooters tearing up his hay pastures. We were shooting with night vision every weekend for months. What started out as fun turned into a chore real fast. I realized that I'm to darn old to be staying up all night every weekend. Now, I just loan my gear to my sons and let them do it while I get a good night's rest.

 

[thusby]

Oh yeah by the end of December I’m hunted out.
Hunting grouse, ducks, deer, squirrels, rabbits and an annual trip west.
I get done with being cold, tired and wet.
But, invite me on an Argentina dove hunt in a month and watch how fast I pack.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

saw tons of people, witnessed a lot of jackass behavior, and it just became really frustrating

To the OP's question yes and no, the biggest buzz kill is this , mostly the reason why I've stopped duck hunting other than occasionally jump shooting them. I'm just over the agro bro rage in the parking lot, on the river, people peppering you, walking in on your set up etc.

I've found similar throw in the towel points with skiing and mountain biking as well. I don't mind sharing the trails/hills, or long hikes without seeing much, but the Karens and folks being jackasses I'm generally over.

 

[MNElkNut]

I don't get sick of hunting, but I do get sick of the quest for big antlers. When the focus of everything is on antlers, it really ruins it for me over time. Now I like to shoot big bucks as well, but there is a limit and other types of hunting need to be emphasized more. The social media craze with big antlers really rubs me the wrong way. I completely quit posting any hunting pictures on social media.

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

I get super excited to hunt and go hard. Most of my friends think I am nuts. But I start on Labor Day weekend and go until Thanksgiving Weekend every year. Even on years I get my bull early, I still go hard for a deer. I pretty much always end the season with a tag in my pocket. Part of this is if I have one tag left, I start hunting hard for that once in the lifetime buck/bull. But I will say that by Thanksgiving weekend I am ready for a break. I go hard and get after it when I get out, backpack trips and all. But by Thanksgiving weekend I need a break and am looking forward to a weekend of doing nothing. It doesn't usually last long. About 2 weeks later I am already getting excited and scheming for next year. But I do need that break. This was true as a 20 year old and still true today.

 

[Irrelevant]

When the hunting sucks why do it? I get why Buzz hunts so much, or at least I think I can. But outside of chuks, there ain't shit to get excited about in WA.

I definitely got hunted out in high school. For 4 years up util 16, I hunted every day of elk season (I got to skip school or the entire season - 8 days). And never saw an elk. So at 17, I basically stopped hunting and took to fishing much more seriously. Steelhead became my thing. High mt creeks were a go it. I got into bass and panfish. I caught a dump truck load of sturgeon. It was much more fun to actually have a chance at success than just wander around in 34 deg mixed rain and snow freezing and never even seeing anything.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I never quit. I would quit my job tomorrow and hunt full time for a living if it paid the light bill. Maybe when I am super old, I can see me slowing down. I just did three all day sits in a long wolf hand climber. I guess you could say I'm pretty serious. lmfao.

2023 season for me has been:
1 bull elk
1 Black bear
3 Whitetail bucks

I still have the drive to go out and get it done. I doubt I will ever top this season until I am retired and have the ability to hunt the entire season in multiple states.

 

[406dn]

I've been at this hunting thing long enough, to know how much is just right.

This fall because of the circumstance of bringing my horses to our property, I have hunted less than than any year I can remember. It is the first year in over 30 that I did not go to NE Montana to hunt pheasants. The behavior that Hunting Wife pointed out has been increasing up there for a while. That made my not making it up there easier to swallow.

Given I killed a 5x5 bull this fall, it will go down as a good fall.

 

[rogerthat]

Now let’s talk about does your wife get tired of hunting? Second day of archery my wife “I can’t wait for hunting season to be over”. Me: “Well we might need to move then”

 

[Joe Hulburt]

Once I have enough meat in the freezer the urge to kill another big game animal goes away for me. I still get out and look for grouse and scout for next season but I have no desire to kill just to be killing and have to find someone to take the meat.

 

[MTNTOUGH Fitness Lab]

Oh man we have a long hunting season here in Montana. Archery starts in September and rifle ends here this weekend. There is a week break in the middle. "Wearing out" does happen to a lot of folks. I always feel for the out of staters who only get that planned weeklong trip to hunt. You have to push it every day and in a year like this one, you are climbing to the top of the mountain every day. We always find that staying in the game mentally is the biggest game changer. You don't want to hang it up knowing that you could have pushed yourself a little more. But when you are done, be okay with that and reflect on all the memories you made that season because the next season is coming fast. That is the truth and you recognize that the older you get!

 

[BirdManMike]

Yes.