I started deer hunting when my grand pop took me one time as a wedding gift to his lease near Llano at 23 right after I got married...and I have had the bug ever since for critters bigger than the squirrels I had chased as a teen ager. We have moved around the country but except for living in Cook County Illinois for a super short time, have always been able to find something to hunt almost every year ...until I had 5 major surgeries in Dallas VA over a 3 year stretch that really put a knot in my git along .

I liked hunting & fishing enough that I found a new job in the Sporting goods bidnizz when I refused to move to Little Rock from Carrollton...that led to a job as a Rep for Stoeger Industries in 5 states for a total of 13 years 'tween the Wholesale Sporting Goods rep job based in Carrollton covering all of North & East Texas east of I-35 down to Lufkin for 7 years & 6 years with Sako as the primary product.

After my kids got into sports teams, 1st at the city league level and then into the professional coaching league level of soccer and traveling teams, with the younger son's team being invited to a 6 week long trip to Argentina all expenses paid and dinner at Pele's home.... that led to invites for several kids winning College offers from places like Notre Dame and down to several 2 year colleges feeder schools for major big name colleges in the ACC & SoCal schools ....after NTSU dropped their Mens program and gave the $'s to the womens program.

My young son had turned down a full ride @ University of California because it had a red shirt year as a freshman requirement & took the offer from San Jose State...where he lettered as a freshman walk on and started for 22 out the 25 games that 1st year before he dropped out from bad grades ( the mandatory Red Shirt year was why the 17-18 year old hot dog players they had recruited really needed that Rule of no personal car on campus and 1st Year hand holding by their assigned Tutor to make their grades!! FWIW Cal has a Letterman Graduation rate of 94% ) ....all of that put a crimp in my hunting but the other fathers I'd met and traveled with to our son's out of town & out of state tournaments led to a life long small group of fathers that I hunted with for over 30 years. Of the base group of 5 guys 3 have already passed, one is living on an air tank and I am the only semi healthy one left.

FWIW ...young son "Saw the Light " and worked his way thru college with On Line nite courses as a waiter & floor manager for a high end Steak House in Addison, and is now a very successful teacher in Frisco. When he came home from San Jose daddy's wallet went in the safety deposit box ...THAT made all the difference in the world.
Ron

I haven't left the sport, but had to take a hiatus due to medical conditions. I'm staying away from deer camp because they're there to relax and don't need to worry about me stroking out in the middle of the night. I missed last seasons entirely and this year's are still iffy. I'll be back, though! Even before my little incident I hadn't killed a deer in three years, outside a couple does to fill my sister's freezer for her.

You might say that in some areas of Texas, hunting has become like a game of poker. While some look at the stakes and toss in their cards, others just keep raising their bets to stay in the game. And just like poker, it's the house that ends up making more along the way.

I really enjoy the solitude of hunting nowadays more than anything else. If Bambi's Grampa shows up, that makes it better.

My experience with deer leases has been universally bad. People that use it as a beer lease instead of a deer lease, equipment being stolen, bad attitudes, being accused of shooting someone else's deer (I did not see your name on him was my response), or being on a lease for 4 years and not seeing a single legal deer. All of that destroys the solitude aspect. If I did not have a good friend with a farm that allows me to hunt, I would not get on a lease again.

IME that is why people leave hunting in Texas...the whole lease system. I don't and never will consider hunting a "sport", more of a way of life.

Yep. Hunting is a way of life.

Not a sport.

That's how I see it. In my blood. Can't imagine not doing it.

I've seen some guys who just dabbled and who don't go often or don't go anymore but who still probably wouldn't claim to have "quit." They just never were that serious and then they let cost or being whipped by their wives or other demands of life keep them from doing it. I just would never let anything keep me from doing it until my health fails one day, and even then it will take something serious, and I'll be putting myself out there as close as I can as long as possible.

interesting observation but that has more or less been my experience as well. I really really love to hunt, but dealing with lease/ranch drama would be cause for alot of people to throw in the towel.

I've only been apart of a few leases, but our first lease in East Texas was pretty much drama free, it was my two uncles ( twin brothers) and us. Was more or less ok but one of my uncles had three kids who all hunted and only one of them actually did any work or participated in the off season.

The Utopia lease, full of drama, everyone fought over who does what, work weekends, being allowed to bow hunt, who got to use the main house, etc.

The West Texas place....great group of guys and its really laid back. I consider this to be the unicorn of leases due to lack of drama and everyone's attitude towards each other, which is very good, no one is selfish, no game hogs, etc.

My lease in the suburbs, 20 min from my house. Had the place all to myself, very good landowner who let me do my own thing as far as the hunting was concerned. Got along great and they are great people, but they had a old friend show back up who was a bow hunter and they started dropping subtle hints about him....could see the writing on the wall so I let it go when i bought my place.



Even hunting on family land....there was usually some kind of drama. It got old having a non-participating member of the family play 20 questions with you about who does what, why, it got old hearing "man, I wonder what that deer would have looked like next year" when you are the most considerate one on age, you shooting a 4 year old 8 point that scores 120" and hearing "thats an awful nice deer for a cull".....it all got old.

Some of the best hunts I've ever had were on public land out west with friends who were just there to hunt and have a good time. Sure, where sharing the woods with others but normally not any more than you would have on a traditional deer lease.

Yes sir, but it "is not the same."

Yes Sir, I agree.

Venison, feral pork, javelina, rabbits, dove, quail etc and all kinds of fish IMO is something you're supposed to have in your freezer to feed your family. I grew up this way, and am doing my best to teach my Kids & Grandkids to do the same. Things are most definitely different now, but some things will never change as long as I live.

My youngest daughter is 7. We have a lot of neighborhood deer here, and every time she sees one she gets excited and wants to shoot it. She says "Dad, I really want to shoot a deer because that backstrap is delicious!" She gives me the stink eye because she wants fried backstrap & gravy and we don't have any right now.

I know quite a few friends and their elders quit hardcore hunting and just became weekend warriors for these reasons:
1) lease costs are way too much
2) for the younger ones, they have other things going besides hunting

Kids also enjoy being challenged, as evidenced by the longstanding popularity of video games. It's a point that brings to mind if kids might enjoy hunting more if it were more than just waiting for something to show up and eat. It's my understanding the newer video games often require following a strategy to advance deeper into the game.

But then, some might see the solution as letting them play a game on their smartphone until something shows up to eat.

When the last of my dad's birddogs died he quit as well. However, when I was growing up he always made sure I had a good place to hunt and encouraged me to do so.

I really must agree in cases where deer are routinely fed and monitored as if they were livestock. While I’m sure there are those who eventually grow bored with the approach, there are others who now call it a way of life in Texas, which is also true.

You mean at "killing stations"? I really like that term. I'm gonna start using it for my "sets". I hope the "holier than thou" hunters get a self-esteem boost on here.

Many of us go to great lengths physically, financially & time wise to provide enjoyment for not only ourselves, but others. Now I find myself so happy not to be like you.

Like many others here I grew up hunting and then didn't hunt for 20 years. Pop got old and we found other ways to spend time together. Thanks to my nephew, he got me back into hunting, There are places to hunt that don't cost a lot of money or time. The Outfitters and Guide section helped me find the right place.

Sad he is so miserable that he has to project at others pursuits. I'm glad my kids don't pout like him.

That is us. It is a way of life for me. I remember coming up as a kid helping or attempting to help dad debone deer quarters. I remember getting a freaked out look from my first grade teacher when she asked what I did last night and I responded helped my daddy cut up a deer lol. Feeding meat chunks into the grinder, standing on a chair and turning the stuffer crank for my opie or dad, hanging sausage in the smoke house and my opie making us go back for a second round, because the ends had to be even, God rest his sole, I loved that man! Im all into the hunt and the kill and also enjoy picking the promising/special deer and seeing what they can become. We eat some form or fashion of venison most nights and wouldnt have it any other way. My heart is happy when my little boy and little girl say daddy we want to go to the ranch and go hunting, I hope they are as eat up with it as I am.

My 4 year old son is definately interested and my 2 year old daughter asked to go with me the other day so I think there's still hope.

Priceless.

That is one great picture! Very well done.

It has changed a lot for me. I grew up with a passion for hunting and the outdoors. I had several things I wanted to accomplish someday. I worked hard at it. Today I have accomplished all those things. Most of them many times over. I changed methods to make it more sporting and add challenge. I enjoyed teaching the things I had learned and sharing the things I had experienced with my son more than I ever enjoyed hunting before he came along. I still enjoy going today but the fire does not burn as bright as it once did. My interests over time have slowly shifted more toward the appreciation of watching good bird dogs and putting more time and effort into habitat and conservation. I guess over time I’ve gone full circle. Giving something back to the game and land that has provided so many good times and memories, for those in the future to enjoy is now more rewarding to me than killing more stuff.

It's a much smaller group that reaches the sixth and final stage of hunter development. It appears you're one of them.

Six Stages of Hunter Development

Re-reading thru this thread made me think of my relationship with fishing:

As a youth I loved to fish and did it quite often. Was pretty serious about it too, me and a group of guys went about everywhere we could. In high school I lived on a lake and went fishing 2-3 days a week. In my 20’s I would fish pretty consistently and really got into trout & small mouth fishing on the Guadalupe.

Then one day in my early 30’s I just decided I didn’t have time for it. Hadn’t took the boat out in months and really didn’t have a desire. Sold the boat and surprisingly had no remorse. Since then I can count the number of times I’ve gone fishing probably on two hands. I’ll fish maybe once or twice a year at most and am perfectly ok. In a nutshell, I went from having a hobby I really enjoyed and was passionate about to one I could take or leave without really any major event happening.


I guess that could happen to some folks with hunting, they leave the sport or enjoy it on very limited quantities without any one thing causing them to do so

Colt45, YES you do if you can get to Pittsburg, Texas. We even have a spare bedroom that is available. I can take you to my lease and will. I just turned 76 and still love to hunt & fish, the wife and I live on Lake Bob Sandlin. So if you have the time, we maybe can catch some crappie and kill a hog. Daniel