Thread: Doc land hunting report or lack of!)

This won't be much of a consolation for some of you younger guys in a deer drought.

But quite a few of us on here were in our teens in 80s when commercial deer recovery ( dead and alive ) was at its height.
Tahr were nearly wiped out.

We used to make a lot of trips and not even see any sign.
We could hit a barn door with our budget rifles
Binoculars were pretty basic
We didn't often see animals and shot very few.

But we learned to be persistent because it was what we wanted to do.
We grew up on cullers stories of huge numbers shot.

As we learned the art and craft of hunting and shooting things slowly improved.

Currently these are the best of times for several generations.
Deer and tahr numbers are easily the highest I have known in my lifetime.
Both species ( and fallow) are vastly more wide spread and abundant.
They all pop up in some very unexpected places ( CHCH suburbs recently ).

About 25 years ago when numbers increased and I had time ( after farm, business and family sorted ) to hunt more often again.
The gear was vastly improved.
I was older, stronger, wiser and more patient.
We started see and WATCHING a lot more animals.

In my younger days when deer were rarely seen we tried to shoot everything we saw.
I learned very little.

Once I stopped shooting everything I saw, I learned a lot and saw even more.

So to you new aspiring hunters.
Knock over a few to get started but then slow down, sit for a day in a place with good sign, learn how to hunt and not just shoot.

Stay fit, active and healthy and even when you are older like some of us you will still love hunting.
And you might even get pretty good at it once you slow down.

And don't worry that you get home with nothing tangible to show for your efforts.
It's just part of the process of becoming a Hunter