I like to mix up my hunting. I get bored hunting from tree stands sometimes.It is a great way to waylay a big mature buck though. I love to hunt from ground blinds{ Blowdowns{}however. But my favorite way to hunt is still hunting when the conditions are favorable. Shot a young buck last year from 22 yards after a 45 min. stack. My proudest deer kill of my life. A true trophy is how you shoot it, not what you shoot.Pleasure is in the prospective.Oh yea, with a long bow and woodies.

the thrill to me is not only being outdoors but the chase, not so much the kill anymore. Just enjoying Gods woods.

I have gone exclusively to hunting from natural ground blinds.

I'm not a hardcore hunter like some and I often fall asleep when hunting and I like the fact that the fall from my stool of the ground is only a couple feet.

I have killed deer every year and do not miss all the bs of having to hang stands, wear harnesses, etc...

I've never hunted with a mechanical arrow launching device so all I know is the stickbow. My shots are generally 15 yards or less so   I don't need much in the way of high tech.

I wear Woolrich plaid shirts, carry my arrows in an old Delta quiver with a strap for hanging over my shoulder.

Sit on a three legged chair.

I like to keep it pretty simple but if other fellow hunters like all the gadgets, more poser to them.

I believe Shakes described it Best, there is no  better feeling when I can carry my bow and arrows into my favorite woods too.  

What other past time is there that you can roam around in the woods, climb trees, hide in the bushes, sneak up on wild animals, get dirty, ride horses, 4 wheelers, 4 wheel drives, mingle with wildlife, shoot stuff...course it's a thrill every time I go and when I don't go my mind is there anyway.

Depends on the situation for me.

Where I live, about 1/2 mile down the road, I can bowhunt small feral pigs. I only take a my bow, broadhead tipped arrows, hunting knife, a chair and my cell phone (for an emergency) and use natural cover for a blind.

But, when I go on a package hunt 300-400 miles away, I take what I stated above, but I take much more such as a commercial pop up blind, both of my recurves, bow stringer, extra bowstring, a few RPS inserts, hot melt cement, compass or GPS, first aid kit, nocking piler, nockset, etc.

Everytime I step into the woods is special to me. All the stress and hustle of work and such fade away and a "new" life comes in. It can be a week long trip in the swamp or just a couple of hours in the swamp behind the house and Life is good.
 I enjoy the gift God has has given of being able to appreciate the life outdoors. Birds singing , flowers blooming...etc. But make no mistake about it, when I take to the woods with my bow to hunt. Thats what I do and killing something is my main objective. I`m not bloodthirsty or a game hog by any means. My family was raised on wild game and is our preferred meat be it fish or fur bearing. But I`m not a guy that is content with hunting all year and not killing something. I could wear no camo or face paint and hunt strictly from foot and with my lack of skills I would kill very little down here other than maybe a few pigs. Deer are tuff to kill like that and my hat is off to you fellas that get it done...I don`t on foot very regular.
 But the main question was " is your hunt a thrill"? You better believe it is.RC

Good stuff from everyone. Shakes, I agree, I feel home out there. It's not what you take along, or use tree stands etc. I just changed all that for me. Though, I've been known to carry a pack full of clothes if the weather requires it. RC, you just keep up the killin' cause I like the stories!

I love it in the woods and only take what I need. My hunting stool, arrows, bow, and a quart of water. Where I hunt you can go in any direction and be at a road in 15 to 20 min.

p.s. and my Chew  

I tend to get bored in a tree stand and also worry more about falling out of a tree as I get older!  Have not been in a tree for about eight years.

I only carry what I need.  On an elk hunt that gets to be quite a bit of stuff.  On some hunts not much is needed at all.

The woods has been my happy place since ten years old.  Just as exciting now as then.  Does not matter to me if it's a bow, rifle, fishing rod, etc., the tools of the hunt don't change the excitement or anticipation!

I too started with a compound bow about 33 or 34 years ago. It was quite a challenge and more fun than I could have imagined. Over the years I have increased the challenge by changing to recurve and finally making my own selfbows to hunt with.

It all elevates the level of challenge, but what that really means is: each time I make it just a little harder to bag a deer, the more rewarding and memorable it is when I do get one.  Through each progression: rifle to compound to longbow, you have to penetrate a deer's defenses getting closer and closer to make an accurate shot. That means more and more chance of error or wayward scent allowing the deer to detect you and evaporate in a flash of white tail.

It wouldn't mean a lot to me now to shoot a deer that stepped out on a field 200 yards away with a rifle. How tough is that with modern firearms?  But, shooting one so close I can count the hairs on his chin without him even knowing I was there and with a bow that I made from a tree and with a wooden arrow fletched with turkey feathers from the turkey I shot last spring..... I'll never forget that!

WoodsyDave

I love it when my doctor asks "what I do".  The look on his face is priceless when I reply, "climb trees".  

He even once suggested (sore shoulder) that at my age I should consider giving it up.  As long as I can crawl to the tree, I'm climbing it. I love the view!

This going to basics is a good trip. I've always been a stalker and don't spend much time in tree stands.But i still like wearing a plaid shirt or something to break up a solid blob moving through the woods, and I still do use my predator cammo a lot. (15 years old and still going!)

as far as going into the woods with just minimum gear.... NOT!  i never leave the road without my day pack. i like having a first aid kit and my basic survival gear at all times. I hunt alone way too much to not be prepared.

have fun.... challange yourself....Hell,  hunt naked if you want....but be safe, and use your head while you are at it. a broken ankle could cost you your life if not prepared.   Kirk

Just knowing I'm going on a hunt starts the THRILL for me.

I gave myself the challenge of shooting only a mature buck this year. Im 23 been hunting since I was 9 and enjoyed and learned more this season than any season past. But every day above ground and out hunting is a thrill.  

I took two gun hunters with me rabbit hunting.  They tell everyone that I am a fart in a skillet when hunting.  Looking under all the brush moving to cut off the hill climbers and sprinting along trails.  I get ever more excited when hunting big game.
Do not feel that excitement in fishing or rifle hunting. The longbow makes me hunt, rifle allows me to kill