Refreshed...slightly

[jmcd22]

Long story short...we left for our typical September archery elk hunt few weeks ago and after one day of hot temps, not much activity and a sh*t ton of people in a lesser known unit, we decided to bag it and hop over the mountain to go fly fishing for the rest of the week. That was really our only planned hunt for the year other than a local archery deer hunt we do on weekends. I haven't bagged a year of hunting ever...I've been hunting since 16 (32 now) and going with my dad since 11-12 years old. I didn't feel burnt out but after spending a week fly fishing and not grinding it out elk hunting, I feel refreshed...slightly. I did find that I cannot get enough of fly fishing though! Anyone else take a year off and feel refreshed?

 

[FLAK]

At 54 y/o I've got to the point that I dont "Have to Kill".
I just try to enjoy myself, whatever that might be.
I still hunt big game but not exclusively. But I also hunt alternative, less pressured species like Gallinule, Nutria, Bobcats, ......and I do love to fish.

 

[CorbLand]

Actually have been contemplating this for next year. The last two years of hunting have been rough. Lots of time and effort, no animals to show for it. I get that this is hunting and I am not mad about it but its been a grind and I am tired. Spent 3 days on the mountain looking for a cow elk for my wife this weekend and cant even turn up fresh sign. Its been hard to say the least and I am finally just accepting that I really suck at hunting.

In college I spent a lot of time bird hunting and have a couple friends that do that a lot. I may take next year off and smack birds. Maybe head to Wyoming for a doe antelope hunt. Thinking next year may be a simple fun year to get back on track.

 

[Ucsdryder]

11 months is a long time to wait. I can’t imagine 23 months!! I wish more guys would take a year off. Just not me!

 

[ODB]

I’ve never seen missing a year hunting as a bad thing. I just missed three when I lived in Virginia, ok, I took three days to hunt upland in WA, but there’s plenty of other stuff to do.

conversely I’ve never been burned out from hunting either, and never frustrated I didn’t kill anything. I think I was born directly into that third stage of hunting. Kind of like Syd Downey and most of the better PHs.

 

[AKBorn]

I'm just taking a guess here, but...

I'm not sure if it is that you're burned out on hunting, or that you really enjoyed scrapping the plan (that you probably contemplated at times for several months) and doing something totally off the script. I think at times we humans (whether hunting or doing anything else) get a little too intense about our plan and our goal, and sometimes we need to step back and just enjoy a little spontaneous, unplanned FUN. Kinda like we did a lot, when we were kids...

 

[dreamingbig]

Long story short...we left for our typical September archery elk hunt few weeks ago and after one day of hot temps, not much activity and a sh*t ton of people in a lesser known unit, we decided to bag it and hop over the mountain to go fly fishing for the rest of the week. That was really our only planned hunt for the year other than a local archery deer hunt we do on weekends. I haven't bagged a year of hunting ever...I've been hunting since 16 (32 now) and going with my dad since 11-12 years old. I didn't feel burnt out but after spending a week fly fishing and not grinding it out elk hunting, I feel refreshed...slightly. I did find that I cannot get enough of fly fishing though! Anyone else take a year off and feel refreshed?

After one day? I would NEVER have done that but that is me:


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ODB]

I'm just taking a guess here, but...

I'm not sure if it is that you're burned out on hunting, or that you really enjoyed scrapping the plan (that you probably contemplated at times for several months) and doing something totally off the script. I think at times we humans (whether hunting or doing anything else) get a little too intense about our plan and our goal, and sometimes we need to step back and just enjoy a little spontaneous, unplanned FUN. Kinda like we did a lot, when we were kids...

your last two sentences are spot on. This is very much the sentiment of many old time hunters. The adventure was always the impetus, never just the killing. As my friend Harry Selby once said, a great animal at the end of a good hunt was the “gilt on the gingerbread,” and not getting one should have never ruined a safari. That’s a proper hunter.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I bailed on a hunt and went fishing instead a few years back, it was absolutely horrible, I felt like such a weak ass for bailing on the hunt and doing comfortable stuff, the facebook photos started rolling in with all the sheep and moose people had been taking and I didn't have anything but a few caribou to show for the season. It was humiliating and I'll never do it again. If I don't kill an animal, from now on, its not going to be because I stopped hunting.

 

[5MilesBack]

I've been known to take 1/2 day on the river during elk season. I've even been known to get my elk hunting, fly fishing, and golf all in during a hunt. But not this year. My knees are still recovering and I've been home for 2 weeks. Not sure they are going to be much more than 50% when my sheep hunt starts soon. Maybe next year I'll be fly fishing the entire elk season.....who knows.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

I've had plenty of seasons where I didn't kill as big of deer/elk as i had in mind, but as long as i gave a full effort every day i never felt discouraged or burnt out. We never know how many more hunting seasons we get, so taking a year off is definitely a no-go for me.

 

[NV HUNTER]

Man I spent so much time with my daughter (she was playing travel softball and now her last year of college softball...maybe) and I don’t regret it, but I feel like I missed a bunch of good hunting years!! I could not think about taking a season off.

 

[njdoxie]

Yeah, by the end of my elk hunt, I'm tired as hell and burnt out, takes me 10 days before I wake up not tired.

 

[FLAK]

The past several years and this past year esp., by the time I take care of all the stuff I MUST do, I dont have time/energy for what I WANT to do.
Many days I could sit slack jawed in the woods and just watch the ants crawl.

 

[Michael54]

I find myself being geared up to hunt with my dogs more and more and big game a little less. Between having a 1st season beagle and 1st season dk I'm super pumped to see how the young dogs do this year. Big game its usually a few days before season before i get the It's go time itch. Not going anywhere special and staying home this year is kinda making deer season an afterthought. Might go steelhead fishing in erie the first weekend of deer season here.

 

[Next Ridge]

Long story short...we left for our typical September archery elk hunt few weeks ago and after one day of hot temps, not much activity and a sh*t ton of people in a lesser known unit, we decided to bag it and hop over the mountain to go fly fishing for the rest of the week. That was really our only planned hunt for the year other than a local archery deer hunt we do on weekends. I haven't bagged a year of hunting ever...I've been hunting since 16 (32 now) and going with my dad since 11-12 years old. I didn't feel burnt out but after spending a week fly fishing and not grinding it out elk hunting, I feel refreshed...slightly. I did find that I cannot get enough of fly fishing though! Anyone else take a year off and feel refreshed?

No.