Favorite part of Deer Hunting?

[10 poyntr]

With gun deer season approaching, I was wondering what everyones favorite part od deer hunting is? Mine is just before shooting light on opening morning, before the first bird chirps, then the sound of the first "crunch" in the leaves!

[Sgt. Rock]

The sound of a herd of chickadees coming thru the woods. The noise builds and then disapears and if you were lucky they landed on your hat or gun.... dee dee dee

[Boar]

I took my daughter for the first time last year and she would'nt stop talking, she drop a cup hot chocolate, knock over this, dropped that, she fell asleep, could'nt focus and pay attention. "Hey dad, bla bla bla bla, oops, bla bla bla. quiet now lets pay attention here, ok ......................dad, bla bla bla. What a great hunt! True bonding time. did'nt get one, but I'll never forget the time we had. Later boar

[traveler]

The sensation I get when I first spot a buck I plan to shoot. Not the shot mind you, but the moments between first seeing the animal and squeezing the trigger/dumping the string. Nothing else in sporting ( well,almost nothing) provides the rush of those few seconds.

[barebackjack]

EVERYTHING!

[icehousebob]

5AM, opening morning. I'm at the stove making sausage, eggs, hashbrowns, and yelling at Harry to get Bruce and the boys out of bed or their breakfast goes in the trash.[How do I always get appointed camp cook, anyway?] Everyone shuffling to get in their hunting clothes and find stuff that they are sure they brought along but can't find in their dufflebag. The stars are still bright as several flashlight beams set out for the deer stands. Then as first light arrives, you see several things that look like deer, but as the light improves, they turn out to be tree stumps, fence posts, or brush clumps. Then, you hear the first shot of the day. The hunt is on.

[Insp Gadget]

Being in the stand with my son. The 1st time was when he was 10. He wanted to come along so I said ok. Long walk and dark woods later we were settled in. A few questions one "dad I'm cold already" later he was out like a light with my big down jacket pulled over his head. He woke up about 8:15 and 8:30 I see a doe comin thruogh the brush. He sees it and says, "Dad, let's take that one! "OK Son, Cover your ears." BOOM! Hit her hard right in the boiler room. She jumps and doe a circle in the air, hits the gruond and bolts into the brush. He looks up at me and I smile waiting for his reaction. "Did we get her???) "ya, WE did." Showed him how to follow the blood trail and while pointing out how the foamy blood likely means a lung hit, he says," Dad....Shes laying right over there." Now he's the expert! He's 13 and this will be his second time out with a gun. No shot's last year, (mostly 'cause grandpa got one at 8:00 that we had to go find and deal with) but he ready to go this year. It's the anticipation.

Good luck all!

Gadget

[Hossienda]

The whole experience is truly grand. It starts the night before with everybody talking smart and not being able to sleep. It's remarkable how a person can not get up in the morning to go to work, but once the alarm goes off, I'm up like a shot and ready to go.

Sitting in the stand, not seeing, just listening to the world come alive around us. Returning after dark to the shack, listening to stories and hanging out and realizing, this is the greatest thing.

-Hossienda

[10 poyntr]

Wow! Great responses! I love them all! Funny how no one says the actual shooting of a deer. We all know that's not it. It IS the preparation and pre-hunt enthusiasm shared by fellow hunters. And we all get to hear the old "how can you shoot Bambi"? questions from our loving non-hunting friends. If they only knew the true RUSH of exhaltation we all share when we partake in this GREAT experience. After reading the responses, I am SO ready to get goin!! Good Huntin guys!

[Mayfly]

If it was the actual kill that I loved most i'm not sure I would make it back in the woods. I bow hunt and spend countless hours in the woods. I enjoy scouting and learning about the deer. When it comes to the firearm season I would have to say my favorite part is the first cup of coffee in the morning and the anticipation of what the day may bring. I also enjoy Deer camp stories. Stories of the day and of past seasons. Its good to get together.

[tex22]

Pullin the trigger, with that big 10 pointer
on the other side of the Red Dot.

[BDR]

My favorite part of this year already is the hours spent with my 12 year old son, getting ready for his first shooting hunt.Put his stand up yesterday.Hopefully after season I can say it will be the smiling look on his face when he asks"will you gut it for me"!

[BLACKJACK]

The ANTICIPATION waiting for first light!! You've reached your stand 1/2 hour early, put on your extra clothes, loaded gun, then you're watching objects materialize. Is that a deer? I also bowhunt, so I get to do that many times during the season and still love it. Listening to the pheasants, hearing the chickadees, watching a fox - can't beat it! Yesterday morning, didn't go out, was going to have breakfast with the wife before going pheasant hunting, found myself at the window with a cup of coffee, watching the sunrise and watching the world come alive.

[WaveWacker]

In reading the responses I began to try to put a finger on what exactly I enjoy about deer hunting. In thinking about things more I guess that I still can't narrow it down to one thing.

For me it begins with the sight of orange hanging in the back of all the vehicles on the ride up north. My mind comes up with fictitious deer camp set ups that the various vehicles are traveling to. It is like everyone is part of one big family.

It is the sitting around the night before discussing strategy on where to sit and past success' of areas. Then the whole 1 hour of solid sleep a person gets the night before only to wake up feeling more alive and fresh then one has ever felt before.

The walk out to the stand in pure darkness only to be rewarded with witnessing the woods come alive with the new day. The clearing of the mind that one can only get by sitting in deer stand is in my opinion the best therapy for a stressed mind. Shhhh, what was that? Could it be a deer? Turn very slowly....there it is again!!!! Oh only a grouse walking under my stand. Oh well I guess I just have to sit there and wait it out. Rats! I am obviously not dishearted.

Sorry for rambling on but I guess now I have a clearer thought as to what I enjoy about deer hunting and could have went with what BareBackJack said..

EVERYTHING!!!!!

Notice that I don't mention harvesting a deer. That is just a bonus to the whole experience in my mind. Good Luck to all this upcoming year.

WW

[CornPirateKiller]

I think the best part is just being there. I love watching the world wake up as the sun comes up and watching it settle down for the night as the sun goes down. I love listening to the sounds of the leaves rustling nearby and trying to decide if it is a squirrel or a deer or something else. And then when you actually hear that deer coming and your heart starts pumping, you wonder how you could have ever thought that squirrel was a deer.

I hunt with both a shotgun and a crossbow. I'm disabled because I broke my neck 19 years ago. It's a challenge getting into the woods but worth every second. I've hunted wioth the crossbow for 15 years now and never taken a deer with it. I've had chances, but passed on them for one reason or another. I tell ya though, I love bow hunting because sitting there, hidden with camo, you see so much. I've had squirrels and birds sit on my knees and I once had a hummingbird think that my eye was a flower and try to take a drink. He sat on my bow and looked at me, confused because his "flower" had moved. You can't beat stuff like that. I've taken a deer almost every year with the shotgun, but I really love hunting with the bow... maybe some year I'll actually stick one.

------------------
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati

[Granny]

During deer season there seems to be a general attitude of fun in the air or as said by the Yoopers, "its a chance to drink beer and get away from the wife". Some of the best times are sitting at the shacks or local taverns listening to who got the big one or who missed the big one or who got their first one. The 10 point 200 lb. buck eventually turns into a 12 point 250. The beer goes down as fast as the b.s. comes out. A guy who does his own reloads and claims the fastest bullet, "the bullet was traveling so fast that when it hit the doe, it spun her around and the bullet came right back at me and stuck in the birch I was sitting in." By the last weekend most guys in the hunting party have filled out their tags and might make it to their stand and hold out for "the big one". Monday morning we cash in our hunting clothes and take out our "work" clothes and wait for next season.

[10 poyntr]

Again, you guys are right on! I thought I was the only one who gets excited when I see orange coats so proudly displayed in trucks on the trip up north! Wave Wacker, you said it all! The 1 hr of sleep before the opener, the walk in the dark in the morning, and then slowly turning into light and watching the woods wake up! I really pity the people that don't get to experience this. It's truly amazing how we all enjoy all of the little things around deer hunting. I remember when I was 10 years old and my Dad took me in the deer woods to show me his home-made treestand. I thought it was the coolest thing I've ever seen, with the tree limbs formed around a tree and lined with pine boughs. I knew then that the deer woods were for me and have been for the last 40 years, since that great NE Minnesota deepwoods time.

[Havin' Fun]

Anticipation. You never know what might wander by your stand!!!!

[Walleye Wegs]

Deer camp, B.S.ing with the guys in camp, and most of all Sat. night when everyone comes back with a story or two.

WW

[WaveWacker]

Oh yeah, almost forgot the ride up theme songs:

2nd week of deer camp (part 1 and 2) from the Yoopers

30 point buck songs by Bananas at Large.

Thanks for reminding me Granny!

One phrase of the 2nd week of deer camp goes along with the theme of having fun at camp without actually shooting a deer. It states:

"We spent two weeks in deer camp and never fired a shot".

[Coach Dog]

I slug-hunt the doe season down by Rollingstone w/ my dad, brother, brother-in-law, and a couple uncles. Opening morning is tough to beat when woods turns to life.

But what really gets me going is when that first shot goes off by a member of our group. Who shot? Did they get it? I wonder how big it is. Will it head towards me? Then another shot goes off in a different direction! Just the anticipation is what keeps me going back year after year.

Coach Dog

[willowcat]

Counting how many orange dots are on one hillside as you drive past the state land.

[Bushwacker]

My favorite part of the hunt is seeing the next truck pull into our driveway at deer camp. Right now we have a crew of eight, my Grandfather and the original owner of our hunting shack passed away two years ago when he fell out of his bow stand. I think that changed our whole perspective on deer hunting. We do about 5 big fishing and hunting trips a year but nothing feels like the deer hunt. I see some of my buddies four times a week, some a couple of times a month, and one twice a year, but we all look forward to deer hunting all year just the same. It is the best seeing everyone together and enjoying themselves. That is truly my favorite part of the hunt.

[willowcat]

When it's dark and your walking out across the field all hung over,coughing and gaging because of the smell. Not knowing that the field was recently covered with sludge from the sewer plant of a near by town.
OH! This is supposed to be what like about deer hunting.Sorry!

[danny berg]

It is everything for me.The drive up to Glenwood seem to take very very long. I take 8 days off work for Deer hunting, the first 3 or 4 days days I hunt ducks and pheasants and scout the area and talk to farmers in the area. Friday Afternoon I start making the PB & J sandwiches and getting all the snacks and pop in the coolers and loaded in the truck. Then the rest of the party shows up and we scout a little in the evening. We usually fill out by monday am. Then I am back to duck and pheasant hunting for a couple of days, before I have to get back home to get back into my regular grind