Shazbutt-Steve
Member
I used to drink pretty heavily. At one point I just grew tired of it. It was a waist of money and time and I walked away from it. I had tried different drugs and the same thing happened. I just stopped doing it. I quit coffee on and off. I'm down to a cup to 2 cups a day. So what. But I was born into hunting. My father dragged me along, we had thousands of hunts and fishing trips together. From Michigan to Pennsylvania and New York down to Tennessee and Georgia we either hunted or fished and life was grand. The problem was we hunted grouse. Grouse are not prevalent anymore. Some states consider them an endangered species.
So I moved to Oregon. I poked around the hills and found a few birds. Never had a dog so steep slopes and thick brush made it an endeavor worth avoiding. Still I went. At some point I got the desire to hunt elk and deer. Archery proved more lucrative considering I'm a working man and you just get more time and opportunity. Many years in I had a young deer down but would go whole seasons after without even seeing deer and elk. Or I'd often see them way out of range. Granted some of my seasons would only be 10 days long because of work demand. Either way, I had more desire for meat than anything else, so I started riffle hunting. I put more time into non resident hunts in Idaho. My typical hunts were seeing elk at night on a drive to a new location and does in the day. I spent the big money and bought both elk and deer tags. In Oregon last year I saw zero deer and archery hunted elk following them at night hoping to close a deal in the early AM but to no prevail.
I've grown tired of it. This year I have put in 1-2 hours a day after work and have taken 2 4 day weekends to find a deer. I went to Idaho in September to at least be out in the woods but saw zero deer. I find it never fruitful. I read Aldo Leopold and he writes of hiking days on end in gameless countryside. That was the turn of the century and to be expected. I feel like most of my hunts are revisiting those words. Most of the time I go local. Local is harder considering I'm in Portland Oregon but I'm seeing more guys on the road than anything. Once I'm in the woods I'm devoid of man. I have counted 15 does so far. One buck on private at night on a drive home. I hear very few shots when I'm out. Maybe 2 to 3 a week. I'm tired of it, it's a burden, it's expensive and yet I still go. Like a windup doll I just get out of bed and march to the truck and drive to the woods.
I just want the meat. I've thought about a trip to Alabama where a man can take 4 deer, but the season is in December and that's some horrible driving. I looked up food banks that take venison donations. One thing they don't mention is how to pick up venison. It's drop off only and I'm not broke. I have no friends that hunt. I certainly wouldn't promote it to younger people or anyone my age. Lucky for me they aren't interested anyways. I tried real hard to get people interested. They all hated the physical exertion. I'm glad they physically couldn't hike. It would've been much worse to deal with someone angry they never see anything, crunch the numbers, and sue me for waisting their time and money when they could've been golfing.
It's very much a sickness. I won't stop going. I can't look at hiking any other way. A walk in the woods seems worthless if I'm not carrying a shotgun or riffle. And yet that weapon proves to be a bothersome dangerous useless walking stick that is very much a privilege to have and a waist when it comes to what I intend to carry it for. It truly is sad. I don't confess to hunting to people I work with. I go on hiking or backpacking trips. I grew tired of being asked if I got anything. And as soon as I say no they show me a picture of their cousin's dead elk or deer.
I quit listening to podcasts. They always come around to that one podcast that talks about game cooking and meat grinding and general food prep techniques. All that does is make me want to road hunt with a spot light. I won't though and that's sad in it's own way too. Because it truly separates me from the mindset of a killer and makes me a hunter. A hunter that should've got into animal husbandry 10 years ago and would have a freezer full of various meat to show for it.
Deer season is half over. Hopefully it rains and quiets things down out there. I drew a cow tag but realize now the whole unit will probably be under more snow than any elk would tolerate. I'll cross that bridge in mid November but it doesn't look good for now. I'm very grateful game meat is not the only meat I can eat.
So I moved to Oregon. I poked around the hills and found a few birds. Never had a dog so steep slopes and thick brush made it an endeavor worth avoiding. Still I went. At some point I got the desire to hunt elk and deer. Archery proved more lucrative considering I'm a working man and you just get more time and opportunity. Many years in I had a young deer down but would go whole seasons after without even seeing deer and elk. Or I'd often see them way out of range. Granted some of my seasons would only be 10 days long because of work demand. Either way, I had more desire for meat than anything else, so I started riffle hunting. I put more time into non resident hunts in Idaho. My typical hunts were seeing elk at night on a drive to a new location and does in the day. I spent the big money and bought both elk and deer tags. In Oregon last year I saw zero deer and archery hunted elk following them at night hoping to close a deal in the early AM but to no prevail.
I've grown tired of it. This year I have put in 1-2 hours a day after work and have taken 2 4 day weekends to find a deer. I went to Idaho in September to at least be out in the woods but saw zero deer. I find it never fruitful. I read Aldo Leopold and he writes of hiking days on end in gameless countryside. That was the turn of the century and to be expected. I feel like most of my hunts are revisiting those words. Most of the time I go local. Local is harder considering I'm in Portland Oregon but I'm seeing more guys on the road than anything. Once I'm in the woods I'm devoid of man. I have counted 15 does so far. One buck on private at night on a drive home. I hear very few shots when I'm out. Maybe 2 to 3 a week. I'm tired of it, it's a burden, it's expensive and yet I still go. Like a windup doll I just get out of bed and march to the truck and drive to the woods.
I just want the meat. I've thought about a trip to Alabama where a man can take 4 deer, but the season is in December and that's some horrible driving. I looked up food banks that take venison donations. One thing they don't mention is how to pick up venison. It's drop off only and I'm not broke. I have no friends that hunt. I certainly wouldn't promote it to younger people or anyone my age. Lucky for me they aren't interested anyways. I tried real hard to get people interested. They all hated the physical exertion. I'm glad they physically couldn't hike. It would've been much worse to deal with someone angry they never see anything, crunch the numbers, and sue me for waisting their time and money when they could've been golfing.
It's very much a sickness. I won't stop going. I can't look at hiking any other way. A walk in the woods seems worthless if I'm not carrying a shotgun or riffle. And yet that weapon proves to be a bothersome dangerous useless walking stick that is very much a privilege to have and a waist when it comes to what I intend to carry it for. It truly is sad. I don't confess to hunting to people I work with. I go on hiking or backpacking trips. I grew tired of being asked if I got anything. And as soon as I say no they show me a picture of their cousin's dead elk or deer.
I quit listening to podcasts. They always come around to that one podcast that talks about game cooking and meat grinding and general food prep techniques. All that does is make me want to road hunt with a spot light. I won't though and that's sad in it's own way too. Because it truly separates me from the mindset of a killer and makes me a hunter. A hunter that should've got into animal husbandry 10 years ago and would have a freezer full of various meat to show for it.
Deer season is half over. Hopefully it rains and quiets things down out there. I drew a cow tag but realize now the whole unit will probably be under more snow than any elk would tolerate. I'll cross that bridge in mid November but it doesn't look good for now. I'm very grateful game meat is not the only meat I can eat.
