fishin for steel vs huntin for doe

I can get more food out of a deer than a few steelhead, its just what my family depends on for food every year, i know theres less an less deer every year but its my familys prime food source every year.
 
Ronnie

Two reasons why I would choose hunting over Slime Fishing right now:
 
1. Deer Season will be over soon.  Slime fishing will be lasting until April, if not beyond.
 
2. Deer are smarter and a bit tougher to kill than catching Slime - as a good buddy says "You could teach a monkey to catch one of these things."
 
Doc

deer hunting, or hunting period, has been in my blood before the steel so I almost have to go. I saw my first 2 doe of the season yesterday and almost shot one. That would have been way more excitng than catching 20+ steel. But thats just me. 

Save a doe, shoot a button buck!  

LOL, that didn't take long.  I love getting you trophy guys all riled up.

Yeah, those guys should find a better place to hunt that has more deer.

See you on the water Saturday ! Wouldn't miss the rising water for anything. FISH ON - goT tHe ShakeS ALreAdy

ORIGINAL: Ironhed

If you are on stand and thinking about how much fun it would be to be steelhead fishing...you hunt for the wrong reasons...period.
If you are standing in the stream thinking you'd be having a better time sitting on stand...you fish for the wrong reasons.

 
Or you just might have A.D.D. really bad
 
Seriously not trying to be a prick or bashing you, but I wonder if you could explain that a little more.  What are the right reasons, in your opinion, to hunt or fish?  What are the wrong reasons to hunt or fish?
 
To answer that myself, gotta admit I hunt and fish mostly for the thrill of the chase.  Probably second is for relaxation, third for the meat (though 99.9% of fish I catch go back in the water, unless they're flounder or speckled trout from the Gulf) and fourth for the fellowship with friends and family.  I'm sure most guys would give similar answers, though maybe not in that order.
 
I mean, my mind wanders to all kinds of things when I'm hunting, especially putting in a few hours on a stand for deer.  I'm not the most patient guy in the world, and definitely not always the most focused - no matter what I'm doing.  I enjoy hunting for deer, but I've been pretty casual about it the past few years since I don't bow hunt anymore and have picked up a few new hobbies and interests.  Deer hunting doesn't get my blood boiling the way that it used to, even 3 or 4 years ago.  Maybe it's time to quit hunting deer till my kids get older and want to do it?
 
In all seriousness, I gotta say that more than a few times this deer season, I thought "Hmmm, wonder how the steelhead fishing would be today?  I'd probably be enjoying it more than this."  Of course, where I hunt is about 6 miles from home.  Most of the tribs are around 120, so that was definitely a limiting factor in why I was hunting instead of steelhead fishing.  If it was the other way around, I might not deer hunt anymore.
 
Now, on the other hand, I think I can honestly say that while I've been steelhead fishing I've never once wished that I was doing something else.  This is my 5th season fishing the tribs, and I average about 5 or 6 trips a year.  Maybe it's because I rarely get to do it. 
 
 

Actually I think you just proved your own theory wrong. If I hunt to harvest game and fish to catch fish (and I do) then if I am having a slow day my mind cannot help but think maybe I would be doing better had I decided to pursue the other species. As for conveience, Since I enjoy both activities and I can be hunting in five minutes or steelheading in 70 minutes, if time is short, hunting is the logical pursuit, except if I am not seeing any game then damm-- I should have found more time and gone fishing. Oh the agony of it all--- Maybe I should just go back to work-----NOT

Thanks for a well-thought out response, hed.  I think I agree with most of what you way.  When I said I primarily hunt & fish for the thrill of the chase, for me that implies that I hunt for the ultimate goal of a kill.  I usually still enjoy the day, even without a kill or catching a fish, but I would definitely agree that I hunt with the expectation - or hope - of harvesting an animal and there's always some disappointment when that doesn't happen. 

I guess where we disagree is on the matter of "convenience."  And it's just a disagreement - not saying one of us is right or wrong.  I'm sure you work long hours like most guys on this board.  Don't know if you're married & have kids or not, but that's a huge factor for me in how I spend what little free time I might get.  Usually, my opportunities to hunt & fish & play are 1 or 2 hour windows, the main reason I gave up bow hunting (didn't have the time to put in shooting every day and scouting as much as I needed to).  So, when I get one or two hours, even though I might rather be steelhead fishing, I'll take deer hunting even though I might like it less.  There were a couple times this year, where I got into the woods before dawn and was heading back to the truck at 7:30 because my wife was on her way to work and I had to get my daughter off to school and my son to grandma's and me to work.  I guess to sum it all up, I'll take what I can get, even if it's not what I'd love to be doing the most. 
 
And for the record, my wife is the only one who has diagnosed me with A.D.D.

I hunt and fish to be out in the outdoors.  When I am hunting though, seeing game is kind of important.  I don't shoot at everything I see just like I don't rope every fish I catch.  This wholesale slaughter of Does has really hurt the deer population.  If anyone tells me that there is just as many deer in the woods as there was back when buck season and doe season was seperate, I'd call you a liar.  I learned long ago that you need to fish where the fish are at and hunt deer where the deer are at.  I guess there aren't many deer left where I used to hunt, must be time to move on to new territory.

It all comes down to personal prefrence.
Mine is fishing.
I go every season 10-15 times. And NEVER not once have I ever though about anything else.
Hunting I'm either sleeping, or thinking about Steel or girls, or beer.