I can't stand it!

[MNElkNut]

I have the fever! No, not Covid. I turned 50 this year and have been deer hunting since I was 12. Since deer hunting in MN is only 9 days, opener is a big deal. My kids are so excited for deer hunting (16, 12, and 12) that I caught the fever this year earlier than usual and with Saturday's opener only 2 days away, I can hardly sit at my desk. I just want to go out and drive around on a beautiful fall day, no wind, blue skies and deer fever in the air.

As I ponder this, I cannot help but feel sorry for the nonhunters out there that never get to experience the giddiness, the excitement, the anticipation, and the total lack of coherent thought for anything else. I really hope that I never grow up and outgrow this feeling. There really is nothing else like it. Maybe a little like Christmas morning when I was a kid. But other than that, nothing (other than other types of hunting) comes close. What gives you the fever???

 

[Big Fin]

Growing up is overrated, don't do it. Take the kids out, skip work, skip school, and smile the entire time. Odds are you will get more worthwhile work done and the kids will learn more out in the field than any of you will accomplish at the office or classroom. If you need a permission slip, I'm happy to write one.

Good luck out there.

 

[thusby]

I wish I could say that I sleep through the night before deer opener but I usually have so many bucks running in my head that I don't.

 

[A207X2]

Big Fin has a great point. Growing old is inevitable; it’s like toothpaste - once it’s out of the tube you can’t get it back in. I missed a lot of things I would have done with my kids when they were that age by putting other things in front (Work, career, etc.). The result now is that window is gone.

Listen to this old guy — you get this window once. Let the fever take hold of you and enjoy it.

 

[Europe]

Growing up is overrated, don't do it. Take the kids out, skip work, skip school, and smile the entire time. Odds are you will get more worthwhile work done and the kids will learn more out in the field than any of you will accomplish at the office or classroom. If you need a permission slip, I'm happy to write one.

Good luck out there.

without a doubt, at this stage of my life, what I remember the most are the exact things mentioned in Big Fins post. Spend time with your children, grand children, great grandchildren ! You wont regret it and neither will they. But every child will not want ro do the same thing. Spend time with them doing the things they love, not just the things you love. But definitely as many outdoor activities as possible. I have received gifts from the children in my life that included the sound track--"and you thought we were just fishing". They didn't "get it" then but they do now and they are spending time in the great outdoors with their children.

However, I would be amiss not to respond to MNELKNUT in another way as well---"What gives you the fever? "

Clark Cable Gone with the wind
Robert Redford Barefoot in the park
Paul Newman The Long Hot summer
Clint Eastwood, Play misty for me
Tim Sellack Magnum P.I.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Haha...being a hunter I get about ten “Christmas Morning” days a year. Can’t sleep, can’t focus, work suffers, all thoughts drift to game in the crosshairs or between the pins. If I can put everything together and make it happen my wife ends up getting a goofy text in all caps followed by about 20 exclamation points. She humors me with a hearty congratulations or a quick phone call to hear my hunt recap which hasn’t diminished in exuberance or dramatic telling since I was a grade-school kid. She also playfully pokes at me for missing the big one when “the fever” strikes at the moment of truth.

I’ll be 37 next month and I’m no closer to feeling like the polished, refined hunter I thought I’d become someday. I’m guessing at this rate I’ll be doing cartwheels in my head at 77 when that big rack hits the dust.

 

[OntarioHunter]

This is the first year in maybe twenty years that I planned to hunt an opening day. Too nutty. In fact I usually waited till snow was on the ground and lightweights were out of the woods. I'll hunt birds till then. Anyway I PLANNED to hunt the opener but my brother didn't arrive in camp till the following day (bad blizzard) and the terms of my special license dictates that he has to be with me to hunt big game. No big deal as there are no elk to be had in that area this year. A very big concern as there usually are thousands (no exaggeration).

I can't remember when I last got jacked about start of hunting season. It's just what I do. Even in Africa I slept like a baby the night before we started hunting. While grabbing coffee in the morning my PH asked if I was excited for this big adventure. Not really. Guess I should be. However a few of the animals got my blood pumping. The first one a couple hours later, the blesbuck, I had trouble steadying on the sticks but probably mostly because we had just hustled to the top of a rocky hill. Still made a bang-flop. Kudu always got me excited.

 

[NMGuy]

I always get excited and have trouble sleeping before a hunt, but this year was different for me. I was more excited about my deer hunt than I have been in many years. I don't know if it was from all the time spent at home due to Covid or if it was the new outlook I was approaching the hunt with. Like ElkFever2, I too sent an absurdly goofy celebratory message to my wife. It was good to be a kid again!

I can't think of anything that gives me the same feeling as an approaching opening day for big game.

 

[Panda Bear]

I get very wound up before a whale hunt. Also when a hunt involves teaching children and young adults. Sometimes even an older adult who has never hunted via dog sled or some of the animals we have is very rewarding and enjoyable. I really get wound up when getting myself or even when helping someone else get ready for a race ( dog sled )

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I am right there with you! In almost 30 years of whitetail hunting with a bow and 15 with a muzzleloader in MN, this will be my first year hunting with a rifle. Winter of 2019, a buddy and I bought some land and a cabin in north central MN, and of course work had me gone all of october-december, so I didn't get to hunt the rifle season on my new land. This year it is on....

It is big timbered ridges and swamp country...finally starting to see some of the big boys com out of their hidey holes....

 

[JShane]

I'm so peoccupied with the up coming season I can't people right now.

 

[Howie]

An old sage once uttered

" Grow old, not up"

 

[Clam]

With me and my crew, the anticipation is every bit as enjoyable, and even sometimes more enjoyable than the hunt. I thoroughly plan all year long, actually start planning on the drive home from a trip.

I’ve also spent many years developing and enjoying relationships with landowners- it is always exciting to see them again.

 

[ErictheRed]

I have the fever! No, not Covid. I turned 50 this year and have been deer hunting since I was 12. Since deer hunting in MN is only 9 days, opener is a big deal. My kids are so excited for deer hunting (16, 12, and 12) that I caught the fever this year earlier than usual and with Saturday's opener only 2 days away, I can hardly sit at my desk. I just want to go out and drive around on a beautiful fall day, no wind, blue skies and deer fever in the air.

As I ponder this, I cannot help but feel sorry for the nonhunters out there that never get to experience the giddiness, the excitement, the anticipation, and the total lack of coherent thought for anything else. I really hope that I never grow up and outgrow this feeling. There really is nothing else like it. Maybe a little like Christmas morning when I was a kid. But other than that, nothing (other than other types of hunting) comes close. What gives you the fever???

There is a rumor here in Michigan that our hunter sensitive governor is going for hard covid shut down on Nov 15th - our opening day! Hope she doesn't do it.

 

[Happy Myles]

First photo landing in isolated Tanzania bush eagerly anticipating a 21 day safari. Second photo waiting for a ride out of Alaska wilderness after 2 weeks in the wilderness. grand hunting adventures

 

[QuazyQuinton]

Growing up is overrated, don't do it. Take the kids out, skip work, skip school, and smile the entire time. Odds are you will get more worthwhile work done and the kids will learn more out in the field than any of you will accomplish at the office or classroom. If you need a permission slip, I'm happy to write one.

Good luck out there.

It's chaos in our house his evening, because we are getting ready to leave for Colorado tomorrow with the whole family for third rifle season. Homeschooling is on hold, and very little other work is getting done. Oh, well. I was stressed enough from working three nights and dealing with logistics, that my enthusiasm was waning a bit. Then last night at the dinner table my daughter spontaneously said, "I'm getting really excited to get to Colorado," and it's game on again!

QQ

 

[Jbotto]

I grew up in MN and was invited into a good group for deer hunting. This week was always the worst at school, college, and later my job. I was always in a rush to get to the cabin so we could go to the potluck at the neighbors cabin where all the hunters in the neighborhood would gather the night before. We’d point out the same mounts on the wall and tell the same stories before heading back to the cabin to pick our stands for true next morning. It never really changed every year, so it was more just going through the motions of talking through the strategies of weather, wind, and where the big ones were captured in the trail cams. I miss the camaraderie but am happy to be starting new traditions. I do have a WT doe tag here in WY that I’m going to try to fill Saturday morning for the heck of it. Be nice to be in touch with all my MN friends and family who are going to be doing the same on Saturday for nostalgia. I hope all hunters who are getting out for their openers this weekend are safe and successful! Enjoy the memories with friends and family!

 

[lodgepoleJoe]

I have the fever! No, not Covid. I turned 50 this year and have been deer hunting since I was 12. Since deer hunting in MN is only 9 days, opener is a big deal. My kids are so excited for deer hunting (16, 12, and 12) that I caught the fever this year earlier than usual and with Saturday's opener only 2 days away, I can hardly sit at my desk. I just want to go out and drive around on a beautiful fall day, no wind, blue skies and deer fever in the air.

As I ponder this, I cannot help but feel sorry for the nonhunters out there that never get to experience the giddiness, the excitement, the anticipation, and the total lack of coherent thought for anything else. I really hope that I never grow up and outgrow this feeling. There really is nothing else like it. Maybe a little like Christmas morning when I was a kid. But other than that, nothing (other than other types of hunting) comes close. What gives you the fever???

Don't worry. I've been hunting for a little over 50 years now and I still get that feeling. Some kind of a freedom thing I think. I don't even care if I kill anything a lot of times I go. I still hunt with my grown kids and I wouldn't trade those adventures for anything.

 

[diamond hitch]

As I approach 70, I don't get as excited about the opener as I did in the early years. I find I have to struggle each year in the transition from working to hunting yeteach year I transition over the first week to full time hunting. Every day takes me to places of strong memories. My kids growing up, horses I loved and lost, friends and experiences that come to life as I travel to places I love in my search for this years meat. I reserve the month of November for big hunting so I can bury myself in my memories and new experiences.

This year especially I have been inundated with requests for work that won't go away. Money can not replace my life. The feeling I get on top of a mountain meadow on a horse can't be bought or substituted.

Cherish every moment, every experience, every emotion. It's all you will ever have.

 

[JShane]

Mr. Hitch has my vote for that statement to be a sticky.