76 chevy, you sound a lot like me. I too hunt with a viper that goes in and out with me everytime. I love picking a tree everytime I reach an area... or even better, is running across some sign that I never saw before and climbing a tree right there.
That's the kind of stuff that "drives" me. I certainly want to kill a big buck, but it doesn't define me.
My favorite stories are the ones where I made a decision on the fly to "try" something different and having it work out.
I think that's why I enjoy hunting public land so much. I can do things like that every day if I want to.
If I lease say, 150 acres with a couple other guys, well then everything gets mapped out in advance, stands hung... it's all so planned and formal. To each his own and I'm not judging anyone else's methods. It just isn't that exciting to me.