Changing Motivation.

[blackbeltbill]

   Has your Strong Motivation to hunt certain Game waned over the Years ? While Perhaps for other Game- it has increased. 

   Thoughts..

  For me,I don't  see many Woodcock anymore.  Not like it was- 30 years back. I still actively  hunt for Timberdoodles. The numbers just aren't  there anymore in my area.

[Caeden4]

thats a good question. i dont think my motivation or interest in hunting any species ever really wanes, new ones just get added. like last fall, before then i never had any strong motivation to hunt deer, but that changed after i had what i consider to be a really nice buck right there and lost the chance.  I never really cared to hunt bear at all, until seeing the sudden uptick in our area this past year and deciding its probably necessary to consider. then with all the woodchucks reappearing this spring after seeing hardly any the last few years, it has resparked my motivation to hunt a few.  i guess that means my motivation for them did wane though when i wasnt seeing any... 

[phade]

Turkey. Some years I have more than hobby interest and in others I could miss the season and not really miss it. I feel like I’ll do more of it when I retire. I have a friend who is a complete nut job over it (Cartel) and it’s good to see the passion and learn from it. Since we hunt mostly in Ohio for Turkey we usually enjoy a solid 1-2 hour phone call on the drive detailing progress for his multi state trip.

[DirtTime]

Rabbits. I used to go out specifically chasing the little cotton tailed bastids, now they are more a target of opportunity while hunting squirrels. I love rabbit, I just don't feel a need to go out solely for them anymore.

My motivation waned a little last year for deer hunting, and still ended up hunting around 30 days. It's more so with hunting archery which I used to love. I find myself looking more forward to the muzzle loading and firearms seasons the past few years.

[blackbeltbill]

26 minutes ago, phade said:

Turkey. Some years I have more than hobby interest and in others I could miss the season and not really miss it. I feel like I’ll do more of it when I retire. I have a friend who is a complete nut job over it (Cartel) and it’s good to see the passion and learn from it. Since we hunt mostly in Ohio for Turkey we usually enjoy a solid 1-2 hour phone call on the drive detailing progress for his multi state trip.

   Turkey Hunting/ Spring and Fall will never Wane for me. 

[Caeden4]

2 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

   Turkey Hunting/ Spring and Fall will never Wane for me. 

i dont know what it is, but there's just something different about turkey for me. even if unsucessful in harvesting the bird, theres nothing quite like hearing that gobble in response to your call.

[Buckmaster7600]

There was a time when I was crazy about turkeys now, I couldn’t care less if I ever killed another. It worked out last spring that I killed them in 4 states. Time will tell if I travel to kill them next year. 
 

I used to travel more to kill deer but now it’s more about the how I kill them, than how many or how big. I guess I’ve passed the numbers game and I’m on to the how and the memories of the animals I kill.

[mowin]

The older I get the less I feel the need to hunt.  I actually like that I don't feel the pressure to hunt, or succeed.  If I feel like going, I will. 

I used to be a turkey hunting fanatic. Still enjoy going after them and hearing them gobble. Killed enough of em to not need to hunt them as hard as I used to.  Send me a new or youth hunter, and that passion returns.. 

[blackbeltbill]

4 hours ago, Caeden4 said:

i dont know what it is, but there's just something different about turkey for me. even if unsucessful in harvesting the bird, theres nothing quite like hearing that gobble in response to your call.

Ahh- You have the " Sickness"!! A few old Time Authors have written  that with Turkey Hunting- You are all in or not.   For some it is hunt on the opening day and the 1st Saturday  and that's it- luck out on a Gobbler or not and go Fishing .  I believe  this past Spring,I hunted 35 days or more. I hate sitting more then 20 Minutes on Public- so plenty of walking.

[blackbeltbill]

On 8/7/2024 at 2:08 PM, Caeden4 said:

i dont know what it is, but there's just something different about turkey for me. even if unsucessful in harvesting the bird, theres nothing quite like hearing that gobble in response to your call.

Yes Sir! Hearing that Gobbler in response to your calling is a big part of it! 

    Guarantee that many new Youths to Turkey Hunting will catch the " Sickness" as well .  Some older hunters will lose all motivation though. Usually in my reading- Deer Hunting is dropped,Pheasant, etc- until only Turkey Hunting remains for them.

[Belo]

In my 20's I was super pumped for all things turkey and that's when I got just about all my birds. The last 4 years my desire to go after them has decreased year over year. This spring my first day out was like the 15th of May.

Deer has done nothing but increase in my desire to take mature bucks with a bow, but much of that is recently fueled by my ability to manage the habitat I hunt. 

Squirrel goes up and down. Some winters I purposely go out and hunt a few hours a few times a season and others none at all. It's mostly about free time I guess.

Waterfowl or upland is all about opportunity and I'll go if a buddy asks.

Trapping is a new found love I have, but will see how long that passion stays. Particularly with how much of a pain these dogs are to skin haha.

[Caeden4]

34 minutes ago, Belo said:

Deer has done nothing but increase in my desire to take mature bucks with a bow, but much of that is recently fueled by my ability to manage the habitat I hunt. 

 

this is a great point. i have found that i seem to focus on adding some habitat management for a different species each year, not really sure what prompts the choice tbh, but it definitely adds to the excitement of hunting that particular species when you see your work paying off.  even for small game in my experience. 

[G-man]

A general overall decrease  in hunting for all game.. enjoy habitat work and  getting others  into it  or keeping  old timers  in it..   actually enjoy the cameras more  than  the work involved  in taking and processing  game.. I'll  still hunt  but it's  simply a meat harvest  now.  The excitement  of seeing and taking  game left years ago for myself  .  I still  get excited for others harvests..   a big  bear  would  prolly get me excited  but  deer/turkey/grouse , small game  nothing.

[Belo]

18 minutes ago, Caeden4 said:

this is a great point. i have found that i seem to focus on adding some habitat management for a different species each year, not really sure what prompts the choice tbh, but it definitely adds to the excitement of hunting that particular species when you see your work paying off.  even for small game in my experience. 

I think it's fruits of your labor. Take for example if you got a chance to hunt some city park and shot a basically tame deer. You're still excited to take this 140 class buck, but there's a little bit of an asterisk that comes with it. Conversally hunting your ass off on public land or working your ass off all winter, spring and summer for years to attract and kinda hold deer and then taking that 140 class is just going to feel more "earned". 

[Caeden4]

1 hour ago, Belo said:

I think it's fruits of your labor. Take for example if you got a chance to hunt some city park and shot a basically tame deer. You're still excited to take this 140 class buck, but there's a little bit of an asterisk that comes with it. Conversally hunting your ass off on public land or working your ass off all winter, spring and summer for years to attract and kinda hold deer and then taking that 140 class is just going to feel more "earned". 

absolutely.  knowing that I personally reworked that land in a way that brought that game to it gives me that much more of a connection to the land and the animal too, which just naturally makes the hunt more meaningful.