What is Hunting anymore?

[SteveTX]

As a kid growing up out in the middle of nowhere we hunted. By the early 80s I had moved to a small town about a hour from where I grew up. As I entered my early 20s the trend was all about the highest stands and more longer range rifles. Next it seemed more and more started accepting feeding the deer. It really didn't set right with me. High powered long range rifles from lookout towers aimed at feeders just does not constitute hunting from my up bringing. 

The way I grew up and taught to hunt was not like that. We hunted using our smarts against the deer just like they used their survival skills to avoid us. We typically hunted by seeking out where they naturally fed, drank, rut, or bedded. To me its far from "sporting" to make a Garden of Eden then set back and shoot them as they come to eat. My grandfather and all the other men back then would have removed my backside (that is a very polite way of putting beat my ) for the things many so called hunters today consider is hunting.

To me this trend is how many small kids with no hunting skills are getting kills. Dad is setting them up in a no lose situation. Only thing that can go wrong is the kid freeze or cant shoot. Back in the day little kids weren't killing big bucks or any deer because they weren't skilled enough. Now days skill is disappearing for a quick thrill. What does the kid have to look forward to? At 10 he/she has killed 5 nice sized buck and haven't a clue what they were doing. What thrill  or anticipation was there in that? Oh dad took pics and bragged to his buddies how his kid got a buck. Between the got to have it now mentality and using technology to a point where its not even a contest is sad.

Taking a 30-30 out and having to actually hunt/track deer on foot in their domain is hunting. Well that is how I was brought up. Your damn strait it was a extremely difficult task. Sometimes you worked weeks or months to get a particular shot. Sometimes that shot never came. Many many grown men and great real hunters would come back empty handed. This is what made it such a rewarding victory when you finally conquered your prey.

Alas everyone wants Christmas every day, and yet seem to not understand the tradition, wait, and anticipation making the buildup is what makes it so great in the end. 

As hunting season again approaches think about this. No one is starving if you don't kill a deer this year. Be selective and leave the little 6, 8, or 10 point to grow. Teach the kids about the tradition not about the kill or number of kills. Build up the anticipation of the bigger buck find. Find a big one and see if you can take it with your feet on the ground. I promise you will find a whole new respect for the hunt. Even the meat will taste better. So for some added excitement try to really hunt, not target practice on live game this year.   

See the definition it says noting about target practice from a stand 30ft in the air at a feeder. 

hunt -
to chase or search for (game or other wild animals) for the purpose of catching or killing.

source https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hunt

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Same could be said with the way some folks fish too, all the electronics, constructed structures, etc, etc. Big difference though, many folks catch and release fish. Can't release a deer from a .30-06 slug.
But I get what you're saying. It's the same way I learned hunting. And ya know what? Only deer I've ever killed was with a pickup!
Dove, duck, squirrel, coon, rabbit, pheasant, so on and so forth, bagged my limit more times than I can count.

Something that tickles my azz like a feather duster, are all the folks in my area "needing" an 800 yard rifle, and many of them can't hit the X-ring at 100 yards, and more importantly, will likely NEVER find a shot over 250 yards round here.
The terrain my stepdad hunts is about identical to the local terrain here. The longest shot he's taken in the past ten years? 80 yards. He actually bow hunts now more than anything, has several stands around his property and has yet to get a deer from any of them! He gets bored and goes on a stalk. No feeders either. Side note, guess who I hunted with the most as a teen?

If/when I get back to hunting, I've already got my hunting guns. A CZ527 Carbine in 7.62X39 and 44 mag Super Blackhawk. Both are easier to handle in thick brush, and are effective at ranges available in thick brush. One of the American ammo makers makes a nice hog/deer round in 7.62X39 with a flat nosed, soft lead semi jacketed bullet. Not quite as accurate as russian milsurp ammo in a rifle designed for russian milsurp, but 2 MOA within 100 yards and should expand quite nicely.
I have a selection of home rolled 44 mag ammo, my deer round selection would be one of my 310gr lead wadcutters. Anything inside 40 yards is going down, and hard. They hit like the hammer of Thor.
I was sitting on my mom's back porch and heard her take a shot with one from her carbine. Noticeable, solid "THUD". I just slugged my coffee down and got in the Mule to go get her without even waiting for the text.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Wizard]

There are more deer today in the Ozarks then when Daniel Boone lived here.You could hunt them in your yard if the authorities would let you. Like you fella's, I learned to track and hunt with both a bow and long gun. I stopped deer hunting in the 1980's when the idiots started hunting. It got to be too dangerous. I like rabbit and squirrel. I would squirrel hunt with a competition .22 and set snares for rabbits. I still set snares in my yard during winter to thin the population a little.
I don't mind real hunters using a stand. Those folks have scouted trails and food sources to locate their stands. The biggest change in hunting has to do with Missouri's Castle Law. It states if you feel threatened, you can shoot anyone on your castle's property. It was made to stop cattle rustlers in Southern Missouri. It is often used to keep hunters off your property.

Wizard

[SteelHorseCowboy]

We saw tons of deer while honeymooning up there Wiz. Several times I just had to stop and wait for 'em to get out of the road.
And those friggin coons! ARMIES of 'em at the campgrounds!

I do take issue with trespassing poachers. My family's land was big before the coal mine moved in, several hundred acres smack dab in some of central Mississippi's most primo hunting terrain.
I don't know how many times I've had to run off poachers. Had several threaten me.
About the only funny episode was on my own little 20 acre spread, caught a poacher on it who swore up and down he had the owner's permission to hunt it, and that I was the one trespassing. After I demanded the landowner's name several times he said he couldn't remember.
"is he a fat fella?"
Yeah!
"black guy?"
No!
"beard?"
Yeah!
"His name wouldn't happen to be Walt would it?"
"Yeah, yeah, that sounds right!"

"alright, I'm calling him."
Called the game warden instead.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Deadeye]

Hunting most definitely has changed since I was a small boy. Two things are the biggest factors IMO, QDMA and TV Hunting Shows.

QDMA while it's intentions were good, taught hunters that if they wanted a Real Deer to pass on every buck until a monster that would score at least 150 inches came in. Hell most guys never even seen one that big. It has made what was a simple enjoyable family outing where if you saw a legal buck you shot it and was proud of it no matter the size, turn into a "what you shoot that for?" demeaning of the hunter that doesn't care if the rack is "so big". It also taught hunter to kill off all the does so bucks would have more food.

When I was young I used to see herds of 10-20 all the time until the Doe Slaughter started.  Then if you saw 2-3 together it was a big deal, see 5 and everyone was talking about it.

TV Shows told hunters that all they needed to do was sit near a field of food and they could shoot any deer they wanted, only what they didn't tell them was these "hunts" they were showing were on Deer Farms basically where the deer were raised for years before any were shot. That wasn't real life for most of us.

Now if you want to be like Mr Big Time you need to own or lease 1000+ acres and only allow 3-10 people hunt there who pay 4000-10,000 dollars to do so. It has become a Rich Man's Sport.

I'm putting in food plots on my new lease for two reasons. 1- to bring more deer from the big woods surrounding it and give them something to eat. 2- bring them out of the Thick Woods so I can see them. Florida is a whole different animal when it comes to hunting than anywhere else I have hunted.

Also I'm getting to old and sore to be walking around the woods like a sneak anymore.

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Now if you want to be like Mr Big Time you need to own or lease 1000+ acres and only allow 3-10 people hunt there who pay 4000-10,000 dollars to do so. It has become a Rich Man's Sport.

That's a huge obstacle here. Some of the hunting clubs back home used to run around $400 a year for members. Where I live now in North Louisiana, you're lucky to find one that only costs $400 per month.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[Deadeye]

That's a huge obstacle here. Some of the hunting clubs back home used to run around $400 a year for members. Where I live now in North Louisiana, you're lucky to find one that only costs $400 per month.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

There are several in Central Florida on land owned by Mormans, that to get on will cost you a minimum of $7,500. Better ones are $10,000+.

And they tell you what you can shoot. I believe from what I've heard most are 2 Bucks a year and a couple of Does. Bucks have to be so wide and score in the 150's+ or your kicked out. 

Rich Mans Game.

[Sandman7925]

In my area the people with money are doing most of the hunting. They have the latest and greatest of everything and the land to go with it. The working class people have no where to go unless you get a mud boat and are willing to get way in the back and work for it.
I see people all the time that are into hunting and fishing that are soft as jello. I guess that's ok but I chuckle a little when I see people who think they are outdoorsmen and their hands are as soft as silk sheets.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fishballer06]

Very interesting write up there, Steve.

Here in PA, it is illegal to bait or hunt over bait for any animal. So we're still left to hunt (or stalk) our deer. However, I am thankful for those "long range" rifles you speak of. We commonly hunt the fields around here as the deer move from one patch of woods to the other down in the valley of the mountains. I took my personal best buck last season at ~250 yards thanks to my 270WSM.

But now that I've finally gotten myself a trophy buck (for around these parts), I'm looking to challenge myself a little more moving forward. I've got myself a Winchester Model 94 30-30 with open sights and I also have a nice S&W 357mag with a 5" barrel. I plan on trying to take a deer on the mountain with these two guns. I think challenging myself to take a deer with open sights or a handgun will had a new dimension to my deer hunting. Maybe I'm crazy, but this is the new thrill I'm seeking.

[SteelHorseCowboy]

Nah man, those are awesome goals for a challenge.
Personally, I want a Win '92, because of the pistol chamberings. I'd like a 44 mag rifle since I already have a 44 mag handgun.

Sent from my SM-G930U using Tapatalk

[SteveTX]

Very interesting write up there, Steve.

Here in PA, it is illegal to bait or hunt over bait for any animal. So we're still left to hunt (or stalk) our deer. However, I am thankful for those "long range" rifles you speak of. We commonly hunt the fields around here as the deer move from one patch of woods to the other down in the valley of the mountains. I took my personal best buck last season at ~250 yards thanks to my 270WSM.

But now that I've finally gotten myself a trophy buck (for around these parts), I'm looking to challenge myself a little more moving forward. I've got myself a Winchester Model 94 30-30 with open sights and I also have a nice S&W 357mag with a 5" barrel. I plan on trying to take a deer on the mountain with these two guns. I think challenging myself to take a deer with open sights or a handgun will had a new dimension to my deer hunting. Maybe I'm crazy, but this is the new thrill I'm seeking.

First let me say that is a beautiful kill ya got there.

As for the long range guns I really have no problem with the gun. I have a problem with the how it's used. If you have open range to hunt that is the weapon you need. I just don't like baiting a deer and turning a child loose to kill it from a distance the deer had no fair chance. To me that is not hunting.

[fishballer06]

First let me say that is a beautiful kill ya got there.

As for the long range guns I really have no problem with the gun. I have a problem with the how it's used. If you have open range to hunt that is the weapon you need. I just don't like baiting a deer and turning a child loose to kill it from a distance the deer had no fair chance. To me that is not hunting.

Thank you, sir. He's currently 15th all time in my county for a typical buck in rifle season.

And yes, I totally agree with hunting over bait as well. Same as chumming for fish. It's not sporting at all.