Fishing or hunting.

With this cool weekend hopefully some have had a chance to wet a line. I been busy getting things ready for a coastal trip next weekend and the highs are going to be back in the high 90's. LOL sounds like a hot ride in the yak.
When I us to hunt I only had hunting on my mind this time of year. I know some have been busy with your family over the summer but with the hunting shows starting to cover the tv stations the hunting fever has to be growing [emoji3]

So who's looking forward to the fall fishing bite or hunting season.

I used to hunt anytime a season was open. Deer ,squirrel, dove and all the rest. But it got to where it was no fun. I have always fished so I figured I was havin more fun on the water.At least if I dont want what I catch I can put it back for another day. Once you shoot and kill something then you gotta take care of the hard part. Aint knocking anyone who hunts , just I find fishing a better hobby for me. Hope to see some pics of them bigguns yall kill this year.

This time of year I can't wait for 2 things, school to start which means most of the Fleas and ski's are gone during the week and hunting season which means most of the boats are gone. Lakes around here get down right deserted when Deer season opens, Love it.

i use to stay in the deer woods from aug to jan first off getting the deer camp ready for the season and setting up stands cutting shooting lanes and so on then i messed my knee up 15 years ago so the long hikes in the woods got shorter and shorter as the age stared creeping up behind me so i said to my self fishing it is been at it wide open ever cents and loving it more ever time i get to hit the water but do still like to go down to the deer camp and hang out and see all the young bucks having their go at it and helping out at the skinning pole setting around the fire tilling tells and a lot b.s.

I use to duck hunt and shoot doves. Tried some deer hunting but I don't really care for venison so I fish and occasionally go on dove shoots. Don't really care for dove either so I usually clean them and give them to my son.
I was really into dove hunting in the 90s when I trained my only hunting dog, a Black Lab. I went just to watch him work. Then my grandson got interested in dove shoots so I really enjoyed taking him. But.....my dog died and my GS moved to Atlanta so I'm mostly just fishing. My granddaughter loves to fish with me, but she is also in Atlanta so we don't get to go much.

Man, I was just thinking this morning about all the hours I put in hunting anything and everything. I still have my old Remington 870 that has taken everything legal in Illinois except a turkey. Not every specie of duck, but several different ones. Then I got involved with clay targets and slowed way down on the hunting. Still deer hunted and kept a beagle or two (have had beagles for nearly 60 years), but I knew the fire was going out. Failing eyesight and a cancer diagnosis caused me to rethink things, and I'm much more comfortable fishing these days. Wife and I usually put most of 'em back. Any deer I do shoot go to a neighbor with a passel of younguns, and if a lake owner wants fish removed we will oblige. I hate to think about all the wheel weights I melted to make lead shot(hundreds and hundreds of pounds if not thousands)...could have made a whole bunch of sinkers or jig heads for nearly everybody on CDC! Almost forgot-now that August is here the *** turkey mites are out in full force, and I hate getting eaten up by them. Just another reason to stay out of the squirrel woods and on the water.

Well, for me I've had a renewed desire to hunt deer again. I got back into bow hunting last year with Allen and his bride and thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with them in the woods, not to mention the little competition we had going on all last winter. Amy and her bo would also come home and take my rifle hunting and they too had good success. Last year was a pretty good year for our gang and I've spent much of the summer checking game cams and loading feeders on the properties we have available to hunt. Matter of fact, I just got back from swapping cards out in my game cameras this afternoon. From the signs it looks even better as far as having deer to see so hopefully we'll get our chances again this year. I think last year I carried my rifle to the stand 2 times and probably wont hunt anymore than that with it this year either. I'm loving my Excalibur crossbow and that thing IS some more deadly.

Now that said, my days off come more often during the week so alot of times I'm hunting by myself. After a little success and getting some meat restocked in the freezer I'll also be hitting the lake once all those good reports from all you guys gets started. I know I wont be able to stand it until I wet a line or three.:)

We are blessed to have good hunting close (Ozark Nat forest) Bottom land (corn fields) enjoy bowhunting!! Ready!! Then look out crappie!!:yikes If the Deer don't stay out of Brenda's peas and okra!! May have to start early(practice):biggrin

Started throwing a Mitchell 300 when I was 5, wow 40 yr ago now, and have enjoyed every single trip,,good or bad..got into bow hunting for 3 yrs 7 yrs ago and that was a rush shooting my first 3 deer..I enjoyed that about as much as fishing to the point I,d take a camera and take pictures..but then again I prefer fishing for few reasons,,1 being if I gotta fart,,well I let it rip,,,if I gotta burp I let it rip,,I can talk, eat, pee and not scare the fish,,I couldn't do all that in a stand and get away with it.

Fellas,Im sorta in the same boat as John (Ofishalbizness) If you could hunt it,id go after it,and had pretty good success doing it.Got tired of the deer hunting,the ducks got scarce,so I took an urge to try something new that I couldnt kill around home and went on several bear hunts up north.I enjoyed it but like anything it costs.With a loss of a good union job my play money was cut out.I havent set in a deer stand since 2000 or bought a hunting license in 7 yrs.I do however have a alligator on my 'bucket list',but havent drawn a tag..Now all I do is fish a little,and I figure Im doing alittle "hunting" looking for the fish..I my opinion deer hunting has made hunting closer to a rich mans sport with all the leases and clubs in my area.I killed my first deer in 1980,,back then all youd have to do is basically ask someone to hunt,not that way now..Thats why I like FISHING,,theres not many POSTED signs on the water..I am supprised that some of the power companys that owns the lakes dont have a special fee for fishing "their" lakes..

All very interesting post guys. Back when I started hunting there wasn't many deer around but as the state stocked them we had all the game-management land to hunt that was within a few miles from most towns if not inside the city limits. Times have changed a lot since my days in high school when all the guys had their guns in the cars and trucks and would hit the woods after school before going to our jobs. Like most if it could be hunted I have hunted for it. Time in the woods was a passage way from boy to manhood in my time but things change, prices goes up for everything hunting or fishing related. My brother and myself along with a few friends leased land for a long time until we were over bid on the price. With my troubles getting to and into a stand I gave up hunting once we lost the lease. Around 14 years or so now since I been in a stand, still miss the quietness of a morning waking up but do have some awesome sunrises on the lake these days. :ThumbsUp

I love to fish but live to bow hunt :) 53 more days

The only thing I hunt these days are crappie, or trees to cut to make crappie beds. The urge to go deer hunting comes every year as soon as the weather starts to cool and the leaves begin to fall. I use to burn up the roads to get to selected deer woods, nowadays, I dodge the deer on my way home from work, and spook a few from my yard at least once a week when I get home in the early morning hours. I suppose a good dove shoot is the one hunting sport I miss most and would go in a second if invited to a good one.

I've never been hunting, and, if the crazy way fish take up my thinking is any indication, that's a good thing. If I could, I'd fish at least 300 days a year, and I enjoy it every time, even in the heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter. So it's always been fishing for me for around 50 years, and I hope I can squeeze in another 50, before old age begins to creep up on me...:biggrin

I used to live and breath hunting! My dad started me out hunting squrriels when I was 5 years old. At that point in time, all I had was a Crossman pellet rifle and it didn't have enough power to tame the elusive tree rats. By the time I was 7 Santa Clause had brought me a youth model .410 and the squrriels were never safe after that :). Some of my fondest memories as a child are hunting squirrles in the woods around my dad's house. To this day, we still hunt them a few times a year and enjoy making a Brunswick Stew every year.

I was introduced to dove hunting sometime around the age of 9 and killed my first dove with that .410. I started hunting deer with my dad when I was about 5 as well. I either sat in the stand with him or he would sit me in a little 6 ft stand on a tree right beside him. I carried my pellet rifle on those trips too and I loaded and unloaded my gun just like my dad. I didn't realize it at the time, but he was teaching me a wealth of knowlege about gun saftey and hunting saftey in general. I was 11 years old when I was given my first deer rifle, a Winchester Model 94 .30-30 and that year I killed my first deer with it. That little 4 point buck still ranks as my fondest hunting memory and I can still see him stepping out into a shooting lane in the acorn hollow I was hunting. That .30-30 was my dad's first deer rifle and he had sold it to a first cousin of his. When I was old enough to hunt, that cousin gave it back to him for me. I still have the gun and it's the favorite of my collection. I still hunt with it every year and normally kill a deer or two with it. I hope to pass it on to a child of my own one day.

I don't know why, but I've lost a great deal of love for the sport of hunting these days. I still hunt every year and enjoy it, but I enjoy being on the water more. Fishing in the late summer, fall, and early winter was unheard of in my family years ago. That time was reserved for hunting preparations and hunting. These days no one gets in to it like we once did, but we still kill enough deer each year to fill the freezers. I can't tell you the last time hamburger meat was purchased around our homes. Even though I don't have the passion for hunting I once did, you can guarantee I'll be in the woods this fall in search of a deer!!! And I'll probably be posting a few pictures on the board here if any success is had!

if I could only tell you all my stories. I love to hunt and fish. I grew up helping put food on my family table. I've fished probably every pond in and around our county and frog gigging was a good time also. I have hunted all over SC while growing up too! My mother threatened me a lot of times that if I killed another deer she'd well you know whip the out me. She was always glad when rabbit season came in there were always some fried or slow cooked in gravy and enough for everyone. I skipped school once and my cousin and I went fishing and caught a lot of bass and blue gills. My dad caught us and never told my mom but she never questioned where those fish came from in the freezer. But I think she knew but wasn't going to bust us on it because it help feed the crowd. Yep! I like fishing and hunting still at 63. but now it's just deer and crappies and mostly crappie.