Mike: Each deer season in Nebraska is our big event for our family. I’m 36 now and as I get older it becomes less about the buck and more about getting together with family and telling stories and reminiscing about hunts from long ago.
I appreciate your TV shows and insights and couldn’t agree more with
you that the hunt itself wouldn’t be anywhere near as exciting or fulfilling if we didn’t have someone to share it with.
My oldest daughter, Kayla, is 8 and we will be getting her a bow for her 9th birthday to get her ready to start hunting the following year. I’m excited that she is willing and wanting to join me in the woods.
My son, Luke, is 6. For the last 4 year he has been spending the week of deer season with me on the farm. Here’s one for you. Two years ago I took my largest buck ever on a morning that I wasn’t feeling well and had planned to sleep in. Luke woke me up before daylight, wanting to go out hunting. If it wasn’t for him dragging me out of bed I never would have gotten that buck. It was priceless that I got to share that moment with my son, and it’s still something he talks about.
Thanks again for what you do for the hunting world.—Tony Woodruff, CPT, MP
Do you take the time and make the effort to hunt with family and/or good friends? Or you are too consumed with killing a big buck each fall that most of the time you go it alone? I used to be like that when I was younger, consumed with secrecy and obsessed with killing my buck every year. But as the years have flown, I’ve changed for the better.
Tony’s great post should make you think. As I have blogged and said on TV many times, a deer hunt is more fun and meaningful if you share it with people you love and respect. The older you get, the more you understand that. Life flies by and is too short. Don’t miss out.
I used to take the secrecy thing more seriously, but the older I get I realize that it’s about sharing with your family and friends. Perhaps the funnest time I ever had hunting was a few years ago when I had the pleasure of filming one of my best friends killing a good buck on his property. I honestly think I was more jacked up than he was with everything.
While there is quite a bit of pressure on the bucks that I try to kill, I’m not as super-secretive as I used to be. I do work at it a bit harder than others, so I guess I still “justify” my tight lips more (to myself). But, I’ve learned to share some of my info. with friends and my brother. It’s the way God wanted it to be. I figure he wants us to share his creation with each other, so why not oblige. Life is too short to get bent out of shape if someone else shoots “my” buck. LOL!! There are plenty to go around.
Tony, I couldn’t agree with you more. The best thing about deer hunting for me now is passing it on to others and seeing their excitement and the sparkle in their eyes when they experience the thrills that deer hunting offers. Each time they do, they have a story to add to any conversation about hunting that you have and, to be honest, I never get tired of hearing them, even when they are repeats. As for getting a big buck, I try for one each year and so will they, but it is like icing on a good cake………really sweet but not really necessary! Each meal of venison, be it steak, taco’s, chili, or whatever, Brings back a great appreciation of a harvest that is appreciated and remembered with a smile. The mounts on the wall aren’t about size so much as they are reminders of a thrilling lifetime experience. The more you can get others to experience these same things, the more the stories grow and the more fun deer hunting gets. It really is about others! God bless you all and I’ll see you in the thick stuff.
As we get older we cherish the total experience of the hunt with friends and family. Waking up to all mother natures sounds and sights is what it’s about. A successfull harvest is just a bonus……..
I’d rather kill a small doe sharing a camp with friends and family than any of the bucks I have on the wall. Was a time before my own son was old enough to go along that I was obsessed with killing P&Y bucks and other species hoping all over the country to do so. I still hunt all over but my son goes too when he can get away from his family and career. And I still enjoy looking for a nice buck passing others but I ALWAYS enjoy a camp with family in it more than a bunch of strangers sitting around a lodge. BDT
right on Daddy!