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Deleted member 16014
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I can identify with a lot of this. I more or less have the career I have so I can better understand the whole picture of how nature works; that makes hunting a lot more meaningful to me. That said, while I'm no trophy monster, I have at least a few solid public land, general tag animals of each local species that represent a lot of hard work and dedication to the sport. I've started a transition to care a lot less about killing stuff, even though we eat a lot of wild meat, and more about helping friends who are new hunters and engaging my kids in the process. I passed on a herd bull at 60 yds this opening day because it didn't have a chance at making the wall inside my house and I didn't want to be done hunting. Five years ago that elk would be dead no doubt.I've watched my dad's motivation to hunt wane to the point that I think the only reason he goes anymore is to get me to quit harassing him. He's 70, is plagued with arthritis, and I think that really affects him.
Personally, even if hunting became something that was cumbersome to my happiness and interest, I would still do it for the sake of the meat. I don't "need" the meat, but I value it so greatly year-round that it is still the chief product of hunting for me. That said, I think I understand some of why folks quit hunting. On public land it can be stressful and expensive. I've always enjoyed scouting for hunting more than hunting itself. Hot July days in the mountains, or hiking as high as I can in May - I value the solitude and exploration, void of the rat race that hunting can sometimes be. I hunt, seek enjoyment out of, and try to understand, chunks of land - more so than the animals upon those chunks.
In the same way having children redefined love for me, I am looking forward to hunting with them, and seeing how that redefines hunting for me.
I think I could be just as happy vastly reducing my hunting to meat-centric endeavors and doing more backpacking and mountaineering again. That's where I found adventure before hunting took over, and I bet it would fill that void again. One of the primary reasons I will keep hunting at the forefront in the short term is to give my kids the experience that I had, hunting with dad/granddad/uncles/friends. Those are among the best childhood memories I have; we probably all understand why, whether or not we are able to put it into words.