I could write a novel on this subject but just a quick challenge that I'd recommend doing as I just did it myself. Just a quick list of things that are better or worse since you started deer hunting. I won't go into my personal list but I will say my "worse" list had 3 times as many things listed as my "better" list. It will make me reevaluate some of the choices I make in the future.

I started thinking about this as I was thinking about how excited I'd been getting over starting goose hunting this year after just taking it up last year. I really don't have many expectations of having a lot of success with geese this year but a lot of that excitement relates to how I started out hunting and the time spent with friends and family. Also after shooting a really good but not a "giant" buck this year and feeling a little dis-satisfied.

Don't get me wrong I spend more time throughout the year focused on deer and deer hunting than anyone I know but it's worth the 5 minutes it takes... at least it was for me. Good rest of the season to all.

Probably the biggest change for me is in what I'm hunting. My first day in the woods, I killed a 5 point buck and a 4 1/2 year old doe (aged by DNR at the check-in station).

I killed a lot of does over the years. But for the last few years it has been buck only. I shot a 2 1/2 year old in 2013, and a 3 1/2 year old in 2015. Both nice deer, but I let three 2 1/2 year olds walk by this year. I guess I'm still waiting for that majestic 10 pointer to come by. If he doesn't, that will be fine.

Heading out tomorrow for the last trip of the year to SW Indiana.

The other big change is that I gave up hunting in Marion County. The property that I had access to through a friend was 55 acres. Unfortunately, it is bordered on 2 sides by an anti-hunter and way too many deer have run off of the property and on to her land where you cannot retrieve them. It has happened to someone in the group of hunters every year, it is just a matter of how many times.

Dad and I talked about this how I went from if I had a tag shoot it to just shoot a few to gotta be the biggest buck in the woods. In the last 5 years I can say I lost the fun in it over the big buck craze. I have only taken one buck in the last 5 by the way. Rest of the year is about fun. Last weekend I put a stalk on a button buck and shot it haven't shot a button in 10 years I think. That was fun honestly.

My whole hunting experience changed for the better when my son started. Everything, and I mean everything, the past 9 years has been to see him succesful and growing as a sportsman.

The memories made and people we have met (several on here) have made our outdoor experiences great. JB, Zeb, Tony, and Bill have invested into Luke and Evan.

The downside for me has been the rule changes made (and keep changing) to make it easier and easier for people to shoot something. I am not comfortable with where some hunting is going.

We have had more adventures in the woods than most people have in a lifetime. I am grateful.

For me it used to be me and 1 or 2 other buddies that hunted together for 10 years. We would take the first deer we saw. Looking back at it now, either we were really bad hunters, or we were on a really bad piece of land.
Since then my main partner moved out of state and the other doesn't hunt.
I bought my own land 15 years ago, although only 14 ish acres, it is the best land I've hunted. I only will take bucks these days, preferably one that is bigger than any I have in the wall.
I solo hunt now, and really enjoy it. Come when I want, leave when I'm ready. My kids are entering the age now that they may be ready to venture out with me soon, so I'm excited for that!

In no particular order. You decide which is a pro and which is a con

When I started hunting, you couldn't kill does with firearms except on special draw as I remember it.

Populations boomed and that all changed, first in KY and then here in IN.

Now we have these non-sensical antlerless tags. The pendulum has swung. I think it is starting back down now but I am not sure yet.

There are more women and minorities hunting.

A lower percentage of youngsters are hunting.

Urbanization and habitat destruction continue nearly unabated in good economic times.

The internet gives voice to a wider variety of opinions, perceptions, misperceptions, and misrepresentations.

The internet allows anyone with a device to learn nearly everything about every piece of property in the country. Secrets are really hard to keep.

The internet allows anyone to learn an amazing amount about hunting.

Surveillance cams add a different challenge to maintaining a fair-chase ethic.

"Primitive" weapons like bows and muzzleloaders are not at all primitive. Seasons designed for them become less and less meaningful.

The golden age of whitetail hunting has come and gone in my hunting career.

Out of state tags are ridiculous.

Leasing.

Monetization of wildlife, particularly whitetails is a regular source of my disgust.

I can still sustainably kill nice deer and plenty to fill my freezer so I am a very happy hunter despite all that.

I am guessing your talking HPR or is there something else on your mind?

Over time, I've come to the realization that I really don't have alot in common with the majority of my deer hunting peers. Lots of reasons for that, but most of those reasons are likely driven by my own evolution/values as a hunter.

I was once "one of the boys" swapping stories at the local deer check station. Today, most of those stories would make me cringe for one reason or another. Being young and naive sure was alot simpler.

That would be part of it but that doesn't mean I am opposed to hunting deer with a firearm. I would add deer reduction through crazy doe tags and legislation in charge of wildlife management.

I guess I see hunting following the "entitlement" culture this country now has.

When I first started deer hunting, it was something you did along with hunting squirrels, birds and rabbits. If you did manage to kill a buck, people might ask how many points the deer had and if you had managed to kill an 8 pointer people would congratulate you on a "nice one"...

Then deer hunting evolved into the what it is today. Score driven, way more expensive, way more competitive and something some of us take way too seriously IMO.

So how has deer hunting evolved for me? When I first started hunting, I was happy to kill a deer. I will admit to being caught up a bit in the "trophy" phase of hunting, only wanting to kill a "mature" buck that was bigger than the last one. I've been lucky enough to kill a few nice bucks, but I've eaten a lot of tags over the years waiting on "the big one" too.

As for now....I've simplified my hunting. I don't care about having the latest, greatest, whatever anymore. I don't run cameras and I surely won't won't fool with "real time" cameras as I don't consider them to be sporting.

I would rather spend my time planting trees, putting in a few food plots, figuring out where to put stands based on sign and then watching the deer as the season passes. If a good buck comes by and I can get a shot, I'll take it. But if I don't, I really don't care that much anymore. If I really want/need meat, I can kill the occasional doe.

For several years deer hunting had turned almost into a job for me. Now, I'm enjoying it like I did when I was younger and treating it more like another season, instead of the only season.

When I started hunting in the late 80's it was about just killing a deer. The 90's were about fumbling around and figuring it all out, some successes and a lot of swing and misses. It was a fun time looking back on it. I remember trying a lot of "gimmicks" back then and I just laugh about it now.

In the early 2000's it seemed like I had it all figured out. I was dropping a solid mature buck every year and kept raising the bar for myself. VHS videos from Realtree, Hunters Specialties, and others fed my addiction and pushed my desires to be some legendary big buck hunter ... LOL.

When my kids started hunting, it totally revitalized my feelings towards deer hunting. Deer hunting was becoming about competing against myself and others to a degree and hitting some minimum score or other subjective achievement. When my kids started I found a fresh perspective by watching them kill whatever deer walked by with more excitement than I could ever get out of me killing some record class buck. I can say that at this point in my life, the past 10 or so years that my daughters have spent time being the hunters, has been the most enjoyable time of my hunting life. They have made me realize that it isn't about inches of antlers.

In the past few years I have shot several bucks that most arguably in today's horn porn era would pass up. Many have asked "why" or made the comment "he would have been good next year". But the reality is that I don't care about inches of antler anymore. Right now I hunt for me. I hunt for enjoyment. I hunt the way I want to. I set goals in how I want to hunt a deer and I don't settle. For example, right now I want to shoot a doe with my recurve out of one particular stand. I refuse to shoot a doe in any other location or with any other piece of equipment the remainder of this year, because I set out with this one objective for the next few weeks. My reasons are personal and to challenge myself. That is what hunting deer is to me these days.

Overall I am enjoying deer hunting more than I ever have. Deer hunting as a whole isn't perfect right now. I have things about regulations, seasons, the general culture, etc that I don't like about it and probably liked better 20 years ago, but they don't matter really because I cannot change it, nor would I likely change it if I could.

At the end of the day I just feel blessed to be able to climb in a tree stand on land that I own and watch what the Good Lord has put out there for me to enjoy. And I am extremely thankful that He gave me two young ladies that enjoy spending time with their Dad in the deer woods as well.

Most of us started big game hunting with whitetails. But the evolution for me started in '91 when my eyes were opened to hunting some of the other 28 big game species we have here in North America. Access to hunting these other animals is less convenient than hunting deer in your backyard, but what a shame it would be to miss out on the huge variety of big game hunting opportunities available on this continent.