Not as much as I would like to! I never grew up hunting, it wasn't until high school that I really got into it, with friends of course. I've hunted every opportunity since (20 years ! ) I LOVE to hunt!

Started with upland game, waterfowl and varmint, then big game, mostly deer. Don't consider whistle pigs & coyote "hunting" much anymore, although in college I did a bunch, especially when their pelts are nice. After college it was strictly dove & snipe when we lived in Texas. Moving back home to Idaho I really only go for big game anymore, with the occasional grouse when up north. I focus on deer & elk now. I'd love to get into archery, but the months of August & September are literally the busiest of the entire year (I work in higher ed), so there isn't really any way I can take that much time off during bow season.

Having 2 kids under the age of 3 has put a serious halt to that, but am looking forward to introducing my kids to it here soon. My daughter told me last weekend that she wants to go hunting with daddy this fall.

I named my son Hunter, go figure...

German Wirehaired Pointer owner here. I love watching a dog work. Unfortunately, we have very few pheasants anymore here in southern Michigan even though we manage our property for upland bird habitat. We are on the far north edge of quail range so quail hunting is pretty hit or miss. No dove hunting as the HSUS got it banned via referendum after one season.

Most of my hunting anymore is deer hunting which I can do out my back door. I have to travel 3 hours north to get into partridge or woodcock.

We do have ducks and geese but I'm not a big waterfowl hunter.

Brad my current dog and best friend is a German Wirehair. Different personality from my previous German dogs.

I was an avid hunter for decades. Upland birds, ducks and geese, deer and elk, rabbits, black bear, etc. Health issues and not having hunting buddies any more pretty much ended it for me. I miss it but it was time to hang it up.

Funny, but I still have all of my hunting rifles and shotguns and I'm just going to hang on to them. A lot of great memories wrapped up in them.

Jim

It was practically a genetic thing with me from my Father's side. My ancestors and I grew up in rural environments, and in times when hunting was simply a given out of necessity.

For reasons very much like Jimbo54's I also haven't hunted in several years, but I do miss it.

Over time I got pretty decent at filling my deer tags, but if I were given truth serum I'd probably say that grouse hunting was my favorite.

I've been hunting since I was a teenager. First dove & quail, then deer. Didn't start waterfowl hunting until my early 30's - but it has turned into my passion. Most years I spend 25+ days in the field chasing ducks.

I hunt dove, and there is quail on my new property. I also hunt hog, and would like to hunt deer, but deer are scarce in Central Florida. Part of that is climate and terrain, and part is relentless poaching.

Hog are plentiful in certain areas, but they move about. If you have them, you probably have a lot of them.

Deer hunter here, and some small game also. I used to quail hunt but thanks to the coyotes and foxes and feral cats, there are no quail left in my area.
I'm starting to coyote hunt now, and there is no closed season on them so I can hunt them year round. Maybe it'll make a difference in the deer populations. It's been hit hard around here over the past few years.

I've hunted, and harvested, nearly everything legal in the lower 48 for pretty much my entire life.

Lately, though, I've gotten to a point where I really don't care if I take anything. I'm happy just to spend a day out in the woods. Truth be told, I'd rather not kill anything as I don't much care for the work involved dragging them out anymore.

I took up bow hunting back in the early 80s. I used to love it as I found it far more challenging than rifle hunting. Lately though, I've considered giving it up. I have no problem with the kills, and certainly have no problem eating the kills, but I've gotten to the point where I want my kills to be quick and relatively painless. I can't begin to count the number of animals I've taken with my bow, but none of them were quick. I've just begun to think that it's not all that humane. I don't know. I may hang it up soon.

I do love to get out though. And, if I had to choose one thing to hunt from here on at the exclusion of the others, it would be birds. I just enjoy the snot out of bird hunting with or without a dog.

I hunted quite a bit in my younger days and hunting is a huge deal here in the Yoop. But the technology has kinda spoiled it for me. Rifles, ammo, optics and gear have advanced to such a degree that it seems more about the tech than the stalk. The whole thing with "scent control" seems over the top to me. And living in an apartment limits my ability to store venison.
That said, I may try out predator hunting. Seems fun and helps the deer herd too.

Never hunted. At this point I likely never will. There's more wildlife in my yard than in the forest.

I don't hunt, and never have, but I am not an anti-hunter. My dad was a bird hunter and always wanted me to go with him, but I didn't want to kill anything. I would probably have enjoyed walking the fields with him as he hunted, but I knew that he'd not be satisfied with that so I didn't go. And I'm very squeamish and got sick helping him clean the pheasants he brought home. My dad never did any target shooting--every shot (except for one or two for sighting in) had to bring home meat--so I didn't do any shooting at all as a child. When I entered USAF I was required to qualify with a handgun, and eventually managed to do so (long story). I developed a liking for target shooting handguns, which I still have. Some years ago I thought I'd be able to hunt varmints, because they aren't cleaned for the table. I have very strong ethics about hunting and I believe that if one shoots a creature for the table, one has to do the cleaning for cooking also--I wouldn't feel right about having someone else clean my kill.

I do eat meat that has been raised as such and prepared by butchers--there are many people who have those occupations as their primary livelihood and it does not bother me to avail myself of their work.

Yes, I am one of those who will just die off if SHTF and food is not available on the shelves. At age 79 I'm willing to live with that option.

I enjoy associating with hunters and envy them their abilities. They are better men than I.

flashguy

I am so excited for this year's annual pheasant hunt. For the first time, I'll have a bird dog of my ow, Moses, named in honor of JMB. In fact, he's coming home from the trainer on Saturday. We'll spend the summer chasing birds in the field behind my house getting ready!

quote:

posted April 26, 2017 05:00 PM Hide Post
I am so excited for this year's annual pheasant hunt. For the first time, I'll have a bird dog of my ow, Moses, named in honor of JMB. In fact, he's coming home from the trainer on Saturday. We'll spend the summer chasing birds in the field behind my house getting ready!

That great! hat breed did you get?

I'm afraid I'm more king of the wild front lawn than the wild frontier. My brother does love hunting and fishing.

Somewhere between frequently and occasionally. What and when depends on what decade it is, if life has gotten in the way and what other hobbies have popped up. I used to do a lot more theoretical hunting, bumming around the woods, theoretically hunting what was in season, usually not shooting them when I had the chance. A combination of high gas prices followed by unreliable transportation, then USPSA/3 gun kept me out of the woods a lot for the last ten years, not counting my yearly weeks vacation pretending to deer hunt. Starting to go a little more now though.

I grew up hunting. We lived in a sparsely populated unincorporated rural a area with easy access to all sorts of hunting, fishing, trapping camping and just walking and plinking. I mainly hunted upland birds and mammals, and dove. I didn't get into larger animals until later.

I still love to hunt, but it's expensive in Texas. You either have to pay heavily for a lease or know someone that has accessible land. I usually still get out for an annual dove hunt or, as these can be done for $40 - $50 for a day lease, and now and again for deer/hogs when I get an invite from someone with land, or get invited to some corporate outing.

I take 1 deer a year started a few years back.
When my boys get older I hope to hunt birds with them. We lost our GSD in September when it is time for another pup it will be a lab I hope to train.
I recently joined a Sportsmans Association that has a bird dog group that assists with training. Hope to utilize that group.
I don't see myself expanding much further than that. We have an ever expanding black bear population with quite a few on my property.
But dang the season is short and right around Christmas so it is balls cold.

I grew up in Chicago and no one in my family hunted and no one I knew hunted, so I never got into it.

Hunted and fished as youngster.
Started as my dad's bird dog when he hunted dove.
Have hunted deer, elk, dove, turkey, hogs, quail, squirrel, rabbit, coyotes, city dump rats and javilina.
Pretty much limited to deer, elk and dove now.

Living in Kansas I love to hunt every chance I have. Here is my hunting partner.