I know nothing about hunting...

[Rightwinger]

The bottom line is there are those that love to hunt and those that don't. Generally trying it a few times will decide which side you fall on and there is hardly any wiggle room for fence sitting.

I guess another good classification would be that for all the deer or other game I and other hunters have taken, there are probably 10x as many times I have not taken a shot but everyday in the woods is a good one. Time to reflect, recharge, see a bunch of God's creation (still fun if you have other or no believe but it will work on ya). I've watched satellites fly over, meteors shooting by, every bird in middle TN seems to have visited me when I'm in a tree. I've seen fox and taken coyote. Watched hawks wing through trees so thick you'd think he'd be dead but they can snatch an unwary squirrel right off a branch and never slow down. Whispering owls going home for the day. Chipmunks competing with squirrels. Ground hog and armadillo rooting around. Beetles so big the leaves move and you don't see them till you dig....lizards that jump from tree to tree and will stare you down. Snow in your face or trying to keep still in a swarm of mosquito's and the most beautiful sunsets where you can hear the sizzle as it drops below the horizon...

Okay, I like hunting.

[ShaunM]

The bottom line is there are those that love to hunt and those that don't. Generally trying it a few times will decide which side you fall on and there is hardly any wiggle room for fence sitting.

I guess another good classification would be that for all the deer or other game I and other hunters have taken, there are probably 10x as many times I have not taken a shot but everyday in the woods is a good one. Time to reflect, recharge, see a bunch of God's creation (still fun if you have other or no believe but it will work on ya). I've watched satellites fly over, meteors shooting by, every bird in middle TN seems to have visited me when I'm in a tree. I've seen fox and taken coyote. Watched hawks wing through trees so thick you'd think he'd be dead but they can snatch an unwary squirrel right off a branch and never slow down. Whispering owls going home for the day. Chipmunks competing with squirrels. Ground hog and armadillo rooting around. Beetles so big the leaves move and you don't see them till you dig....lizards that jump from tree to tree and will stare you down. Snow in your face or trying to keep still in a swarm of mosquito's and the most beautiful sunsets where you can hear the sizzle as it drops below the horizon...

Okay, I like hunting.

Well put rightwinger.

[Rightwinger]

If I could bottle it, I'd sell it by the keg!

[Guest mosinon]

The bottom line is there are those that love to hunt and those that don't. Generally trying it a few times will decide which side you fall on and there is hardly any wiggle room for fence sitting.

I guess another good classification would be that for all the deer or other game I and other hunters have taken, there are probably 10x as many times I have not taken a shot but everyday in the woods is a good one. Time to reflect, recharge, see a bunch of God's creation (still fun if you have other or no believe but it will work on ya). I've watched satellites fly over, meteors shooting by, every bird in middle TN seems to have visited me when I'm in a tree. I've seen fox and taken coyote. Watched hawks wing through trees so thick you'd think he'd be dead but they can snatch an unwary squirrel right off a branch and never slow down. Whispering owls going home for the day. Chipmunks competing with squirrels. Ground hog and armadillo rooting around. Beetles so big the leaves move and you don't see them till you dig....lizards that jump from tree to tree and will stare you down. Snow in your face or trying to keep still in a swarm of mosquito's and the most beautiful sunsets where you can hear the sizzle as it drops below the horizon...

Okay, I like hunting.

that's some nicely written stuff!

[Rightwinger]

Get out there this November and feel/see it for yourself! It really can't be written. I didn't even include the part about actually sighting in, having time slow to a crawl, hearing and seeing the details just before the shot and the exhilaration and shakes that follow the shot. Won't take you long to decide if you like it. Make the trip to decide though.

[Good_Steward]

Get out there this November and feel/see it for yourself! It really can't be written. I didn't even include the part about actually sighting in, having time slow to a crawl, hearing and seeing the details just before the shot and the exhilaration and shakes that follow the shot. Won't take you long to decide if you like it. Make the trip to decide though.

Well said, RW.

[Guest mosinon]

Get out there this November and feel/see it for yourself! It really can't be written. I didn't even include the part about actually sighting in, having time slow to a crawl, hearing and seeing the details just before the shot and the exhilaration and shakes that follow the shot. Won't take you long to decide if you like it. Make the trip to decide though.

Heh, the last thing I need is another (expensive and/or time consuming) hobby. I think I'll stick with fly fishing for now. I can't make it sound as good as you make hunting sound but I like wading up the streams in the smokies, the cold water and the time spent outdoors.

Of course, I am a sucky fly fisherman, so I'm more likely to step on a fish than to hook one but, for me, it's not really about catching the fish. When I want to catch fish I'll go to a farm pond and tape a treble hook on a matchbox car, those fish will eat anything.

[Rightwinger]

Not expensive compared to many things we do weekly. I can hunt all fall, bow, muzzle loader and rifle for less than a weekend trip to Destin. Rifle, doesn't need to be fancy. Scope optional and a box of shells. Muzzle loader? Can get a good one for 75 bucks after season (like up to Sept as the guys sell their old ones for some new Thompson Contender thingy). Bow? Same thing, buy used and get in for under 150.00 with top rate serviceable equipment. License? 28.00 bucks I think for single season big game of your choice plus you already have the small game and fishing license. Land to hunt? TWRA and other public land is free. Time to recharge by yourself or with a hunting buddy, priceless.

[Guest mosinon]

Not expensive compared to many things we do weekly. I can hunt all fall, bow, muzzle loader and rifle for less than a weekend trip to Destin. Rifle, doesn't need to be fancy. Scope optional and a box of shells. Muzzle loader? Can get a good one for 75 bucks after season (like up to Sept as the guys sell their old ones for some new Thompson Contender thingy). Bow? Same thing, buy used and get in for under 150.00 with top rate serviceable equipment. License? 28.00 bucks I think for single season big game of your choice plus you already have the small game and fishing license. Land to hunt? TWRA and other public land is free. Time to recharge by yourself or with a hunting buddy, priceless.

I think this kind of gets to the heart of my original query. You are in it for a lot of different things. My father and law is just in it for the meat. Which is fine, no problem at all with that. But I think there is a difference between someone who goes out there for the kind of stuff you talk about and someone who goes out just for meat. (which again, I'm fine with. I eat meat all the time, those cows didn't commit suicide to end up on my plate). I can tell you hunt for the same reasons I fly fish. Well, mostly. One of the biggest reasons I fly fish is to hang out with a buddy and chat. If he hunted I probably would as well.

You're right about the expense. It isn't that much. I think I could actually do it for free if I wanted. We own some land in Missouri and I'm pretty sure I could shoot one on that land and farm tag it. I'm also pretty sure it would take about fifteen minutes.

Thanks for sharing your insight Rightwinger!

[56FordGuy]

Thanks for sharing your insight Rightwinger!

Makes me want to start hunting...

[Rightwinger]

Makes me want to start hunting...

Been trying for what 2 years now?

[Guest clutepc]

Rightwinger said it all !!

I started hunting Deer for the first time last year, I didn't know anyone, just read and asked a lot of questions here on this forum.

I hunt the WMA Public areas around Nashville and I use a Bow all season..

At first I thought hunting was all about the deer, it didn't take long to realize the deer are just a part of the whole experience..hard to explain, but when your in the stand and you find yourself watching and listening to everything around you and enjoying just being out in it all, it'll make more sense..

The whole experience of it all hooked me more than harvesting the two bucks I did take last year,

Needless to say I'm hooked for life.

[56FordGuy]

Been trying for what 2 years now?

Nah, haven't really tried. Maybe this season.

[Rightwinger]

No, I have been trying to get you to go hunting for about 2 years. Wasn't asking you to go to Wayne Co cuz I needed a maid or cook. But since we're talking about it, can you clean and cook? Bronker just watches the rain. McFlurry scares away turkey.

[kb4ns]

Rightwinger said it all !!

I started hunting Deer for the first time last year, I didn't know anyone, just read and asked a lot of questions here on this forum.

I hunt the WMA Public areas around Nashville and I use a Bow all season..

At first I thought hunting was all about the deer, it didn't take long to realize the deer are just a part of the whole experience..hard to explain, but when your in the stand and you find yourself watching and listening to everything around you and enjoying just being out in it all, it'll make more sense..

The whole experience of it all hooked me more than harvesting the two bucks I did take last year,

Needless to say I'm hooked for life.

Are there stands up in the WMAs, or do you take your own, or what?

[Handsome Rob]

Heh, the last thing I need is another (expensive and/or time consuming) hobby. I think I'll stick with fly fishing for now. I can't make it sound as good as you make hunting sound but I like wading up the streams in the smokies, the cold water and the time spent outdoors.

Of course, I am a sucky fly fisherman, so I'm more likely to step on a fish than to hook one but, for me, it's not really about catching the fish. When I want to catch fish I'll go to a farm pond and tape a treble hook on a matchbox car, those fish will eat anything.

Now to me, that's the mindset of a good hunter. Being out in the woods & just enjoying all that goes along with it is 90% of the reason I hunt. I love the anticipation of just the possibility of seeing game, in a shootable situation, but I'm rarely, if ever, disappointed if I don't. I mainly hunt with traditional archery gear, so I'm aready dropping my own chances by a large margin, but by the same token, I'm heightening the few experiences I do have.

I shot one deer with a scoped rifle last year & honestly, unless I'm starving for protien I hope to never do it again. It felt cold & clinical to me. Bowhunting is up close & personal (I limit my shots to 18 yards & under) & makes me feel closer to the animal. It also makes you a better 'hunter' (Not nescesarily better in the sense of numbers killed, but in skills attained)

Are there stands up in the WMAs, or do you take your own, or what?

Your best bet for hunting public land is to buy a good climbing stand. They're light enough to carry in & out, very simple to use, generally safer than hang-on stands & it can't be stolen off the tree.

As a really rough guide to hunting WMAs, get yourself into the woods in early season & look for a stand of White Oak trees. Set yourself up on the downwind side of the trees & wait. Deer will usually go to White Oak acorns before any other (Unless there's a well planted food plot available) Whitetails travel along 'edges' Not just field/forest edges, but edges along terrain changes, open & closed forest, underbrush & clearcut trees. If you can find a stand of White Oak along an 'edge' like this, find out the direction of the prevailing wind (bear in mind that it WILL shift in the morning/afternoon) & find a good tree for your stand. Something with plenty of back-cover is best.

Keep still & learn to ignore the squirrels!

It's not a guarenteed lesson, but it's a good 'hedge-bet' plan

[Guest clutepc]

Are there stands up in the WMAs, or do you take your own, or what?

I have a summit razor (climber) that I use, I spend this time of the year scouting the WMA's and finding trees that work best for having shooting lanes and easy access without spooking everything within a mile. I use my climber and get up in the tree just like I'm hunting, screw the hangers in so the hole will be there when I come back, everything I can to make things easier when I hunt. Think about the wind, sunrise and sunset, all I can.

Doing that also get you back in the swing of getting through the woods with your gear, getting used to the weight of it all, setting up and climbing quieter before the season starts. Now is the time to find out what is and what isn't working for you and fix any bad habits, like forgetting to bring the line to pull your bow up, or forgetting to bring your bow release..(been there) I carry 2 now.

I ended up hunting one tree mainly last year, not the thing to do, but It was a great funnel area for the first part of the season so I saw a ton of deer and shot a 8 and 5 point.

Where I hunt, once the water in the lake goes down later in the season the deer route completely changes so the great tree became useless. They had a shortcut around me.

I use Google Earth with the TWRA WMA Map import file and Bing Maps with the Birds Eye view to find good areas and parking spots.

It really does work out good.

There is also a free site that will give you all the Terrain maps.

http://msrmaps.com

I try and do all the homework I can about the areas, it'll make a difference, I find it interesting as well.

The TWRA Site has all the WMA maps, The have PDF files, GPS and Google Earth Import Files to mark the areas.

You'll see there are plenty of places to hunt public land in this state and I've never had any problem with any other hunters.

Only issue I've dealt with is 4 wheelers running through the hunting areas a few times but the TWRA has been trying to get the access blocked so they can't get in as easy..

Hope that helps some, I'm looking forward to this year, I've learned a lot and just looking forward to the whole experience of it all again.

I'll answer anything I can to help but I don't have a vast amount of experience.

I do know if you never tried it you might be surprised how hooked you get.

[Rightwinger]

+1 on Summit climbers. I have the Titan and previously a Python. My first climber was a Wally World Hunter's View I think and wouldn't go back to that ever. The Summit's are so comfortable that it's almost problematic as you can sleep in em (not that I would do that...). Probably the second most expensive part of your entry to dedicated hunting but you can hunt from the ground to start. Climbers and ladder stands just give you a better opportunity as your above the normal viewing of deer and other animals. They help, they won't allow you just just hang out. You still have to be still and move slowly and quietly to take a shot.

http://www.outdoorsexperience.com/summittitan.html

[Guest clutepc]

I have to admit, I've slept in mine too much.

A cool Oct afternoon, those can be tough to remain awake after getting up enough mornings at 4 am..

I can't say enough about the Summit's stands though, first stand I've owned but very happy with it.