I have hunted on Thanksgiving but I just would not want to harvest anything on Chhristmas. That is a day for family anyway. Also I think all GOD's creature need a break on that day. Of course there are prey animals that are harvested by other prey animals on that day. However we are superior to animals and I think that is one day that we need to be with family and only talk hunting.

I do on Thanksgiving , yes....and up until my girl was born, I did on christmas morning too . We'd always just hunt the first few hours after daylight, and get home by 10 a.m. Mom would always do cooking all through the night for to take to the "family get-to-gether", so, it was her "sleep in time" anyhow. Then, we'd go, about 11 to my gramma's and spend the day with all the family.
But now, I am still in the "excited about child being excited" phase, and start the day with her right at daylight now on Christmas morning. And now, I'm a "mom" and do nightly preparations for the "family get-togehters"and am due my "sleep in time" if I want it.

But, I see your point though...about giving the animals a break. If it's any condolences, there has not been a christmas morning yet where I have harvested anything. So, in a way, I did kinda give them a break.

(And, I'm not too "family"-ish. Not entirely true..but, thing is, my entire family, the whole lot of them....they (and I guess , me too at times, although, I'm not a clingy or "mushy" person, and like a little privacy now and again) are SO close, and "they" go absolutely MAD if they don't talk to you or see you EVERY SINGLE DAY! Not entirely complaining, because I know I'll miss it once it's gone...but, may give a peek as to why it never occurred to me until you said that about giving the break...that it should be more focus on family. Every day focuses on family (the whole lot of em..lol), in my mad mad world. Hunting on holiday mornings...it was always a "break to have some alone time in the fresh air" before the "hectic" day began. But, yeah...seeing as how the day is about Jesus... I get what you mean about the animals.

I never really did any hunting that I can recall, on Christmas Day... But, with traps that must be run, I have spent alot of Christmas mornings and part of the day out and about... Years ago when my family and I were young and we pretty much lived paycheck to paycheck and were still in hock up to our eyeballs, the money I made from trapping is how Santa managed to make his rounds. So Christmas generally saw me out in the woods. We would have "Santa" early, then I'd run my lines, and we'd have Christmas dinner late that evening.

If I too would have had traps set over the Christmas holidays. I would have checked them too. You should be commended for doing this. That is a sign of an outdoorsman.


Hands that is neat to that you did not harvest anything on Christmas even if you hunted. I have to be honest. When I hunted Thanksgiving morning. I never harvested anything. However I can remember one Thanksgiving when I said I was going to be home at 12:00 noon and got home at 4:00 PM. Talk about being in the doghouse. It was my first year of marriage too. LOL LOL

Family time At Christmas.Back when we had pheasants it was a tradition to hunt on Thanksgiving morning.Kinda like harvest a bird on the harvest day.If I lived in grouse country I would probably go out.

I have never hunted on Christmas and only once on Sunday. Just not my thing. But I won't condem anyone that does. It just ain't for me.
I have told the story many times but to make it short, I went hunting on Sunday one time. I was sitting comfortable in my tree stand . It was a beautiful still morning. About 10am I heard a church way off in the distance start singing" Sweet Hour of Prayer ". I listened until the song was finished, then I got down and never hunted on Sunday again. There is more to the story but it will hold for another day.

My family is grown and scattered about so it makes no difference if I'm hunting unless of course I'm spending the holidays with one of them. As far as the wife is cocered there's nothing she could be mad about that won't wait until I get home. So far as deer are concerned he's got eight pulling his sled. He can make it with seven so blaze away. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal