I have become my Grandfather.

[NYDAN]

When I was a young man and first hunting with the men in my extended family, I was surprised at how many times my Grandfather passed up shots on deer. He always had what sounded like a pretty lame excuse to me, "They were so small", "I don't have time before chores to properly dress it out", etc.

I was out all day yesteday hunting in temperatures in the teens. I had already filled my buck tag and I had an anterless tag. About 3:00 PM a doe stepped out of the brush and commenced feeding on the brush ends. She eventually worked her way over to the food plot and was still there feeding when I snuck out of the blind at 4:40 PM. I remember hearing myself thinking, "She is so small". "I would have to go "all the way back to the barn" to get the tractor and roll her into the bucket to take her back to the barn." (No dragging, mind you).

Since it was only 5 degrees when I went to bed last night, I decided to sleep in. I got up at 7:00 AM and looked out the windows on the back porch. There were two does within 100 feet of the barn. (The barn is only 50 yards from the house) All I had to do was to slide open a window, place the sand bags in the window opening, and pull up the shooting chair, which is kept at the ready. I can't even come up with an excuse why I didn't shoot. I just enjoyed knowing that I could have, if I wanted.

I guess I have finally learned what my Grandfather knew all those years ago - "hunting isn't always about the shooting."

 

[sask boy]

Yup you got it :mrgreen:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[DrMike]

Dan,

This is a great post. We do get wiser as we age, discovering that we don't always have to pull the trigger to have had a great hunt. I've passed on a lot of shots in my dotage, including a good buck yesterday! The shot didn't feel right and I quickly determined that it wouldn't be a safe shot. I hated to pass on the shot, but I'm comforted by the thought that I did the right thing. Other times, I've walked away from moose I tracked, because I knew I would be there the remainder of the night. Knowing I could have killed the animal was sufficient to quell the questions in my mind. Good post.

 

[Hegland]

Great story, thanks for posting it!

 

[Elkman]

Very well said. I have a very nice yearling doe hanging around my place. She has no fawn, even tho I have had numerous opportunities for a shot. I have passed, i told my wife "she is to small". Probably won't get our second deer this year, but the elk will take care of us for quite a while. Next year she will have a fawn so I will look for an older doe.

 

[longwinters]

And here I thought I was losing it. The last couple of years I have passed on lots of does and a few bucks. I keep thinking "if it walks over there I'll shoot", or "if it puts its near front leg forward I'll shoot" etc...and when the deer have done it - I don't shoot.

I'm even thinking about giving the boys some of my guns and going to one deer rifle, a couple shotguns and a few handguns. I always figured they'd get them when I went to meet my Maker.

I must be getting old.

Long

 

[DrMike]

I must be getting old.

Long

There's a lot of that going 'round, Long.

 

[rjm158]

My family's season thus far hasn't been good with only one small deer taken. That said, however, I am extremely gratified to see my two stepsons being selective in shooting deer, not just shooting the first brown thing they see in their scopes. We've seen deer, they just haven't had the proper shot, were way too little, or weren't legal.

I have long believed in the "that's why it's hunting, not just killing" idea and am pleased they have followed that idea as well.

Ron

 

[Vince]

Great thread!
My Pops didn't hunt but as I age I find myself more and more like him in mannerisms and actions.

 

[Kodiak]

Yup, I'm gettin' to be my ol' Gramps also. When he was in his 70's he would challenge the youngsters to "beat-me-if-you-can" shooting matches. We do that alot lately now too :lol:

To add, Gramp's challenges were not to just hit a wooden match positioned in a hole in a tree, but to light the match with a .22 open-sighted rifle. He always won.

 

[Oldtrader3]

My dad hunted but not many times for deer. He mostly hunted birds and the occasional moose. I am older than he was when he died.

 

[super-7]

To pass or not to pass that is the question.... I find my self passing on many deer that a few years ago I would have harvested. That's a good thing about predator hunting more shooting and less thinking about it. Lol.

 

[cloverleaf]

Well my Grandfather (the one who hunted anyway) was a wild one. He used to sit on the hood of his (later mine) '54 ford with a remington model 10 and shine Jacks. There would be a rope tied to each side of the steering wheel and run out the opposite window. Pulling on one or the other of the ropes would slightly turn the wheel. This was enough to keep the car turning in a circle in the big pasture south of the house. To top it off he "installed" a screen door spring to hold the throttle so he could give it a little more gas to get over the occasional rough spot w/o getting off the hood. Of course by the time I inherrited the '54, as a senior in highschool I was threatened with my life and suspension of driving privileges forever if I ever tried a stunt like that. The old '54 fell part way through the isce in the lake fishing for crappies a warm march day, and through the ice on the slough pulling us kids around on the sled one thanks giving. I shot my deer from the front seat this year (not of the 54 unfortunately). Perhaps I too am becoming like my Grandfather. I hope so....

Seriously, these days I am most satisfied, with taking a good shot. Witness this years "button Buck". It was the right shot, right time. I could have passed, he could have grown up, but it was a a shot I could make and my hunting partners were glad to see me make it. Especially since it was a double shoulder shot and they didnt have to track him far CL

 

[SJB358]

Great story Dan. Sounds like a good time either way.

 

[JD338]

Excellent read Dan!
Thanks for posting.

JD338

 

[Dwh7271]

Neat story Dan. Thank you.
Never knew my grandfathers but sure do find myself sounding like my dad a lot. I also find as I age that sounding like him isn't a bad thing at all.
Dewey

 

[elkeater2]

I've passed on a few lately myself. Now, I talk to them in a soft gentle tone, telling them how cute they are and I hope they get smarter in the near future. Surprising how often they stick around for the lecture. I do believe they can pick up on malevolent intent sometimes. Great thread!
EE2