Thought provocative......Good hunter????
11-23-2005, 08:41 AM
#12
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Southeast, TX
Posts: 818
RE: Thought provocative......Good hunter????
I also agree!
I must be a terrible hunter, because I haven't figured out what the deer are doing on my lease. I've been trying for 5 years, and I still have seen any deer do the same thing twice. Once I think I've got them figured out, they change it up on me. Oh well, I'm stilllearning every time I go out.
I must be a terrible hunter, because I haven't figured out what the deer are doing on my lease. I've been trying for 5 years, and I still have seen any deer do the same thing twice. Once I think I've got them figured out, they change it up on me. Oh well, I'm stilllearning every time I go out.
11-23-2005, 09:10 AM
#13
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 7,208
RE: Thought provocative......Good hunter????
A good hunter is one who makes the best of the situation dealt to them. They hunt "smart" by reading the area, and knowing the deer's behavior. They don't blow the moment of truth either. You have to finish. A good hunter shows consistency over time.
11-23-2005, 09:35 AM
#14
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: The OH-IO
Posts: 7,103
RE: Thought provocative......Good hunter????
For meit has nothing to do with how many bucks they let pass waiting for that big one.
Anyone can go out and shoot a few deer a year without knowing anything about them. That to me is not a"good hunter." That to me is an opportunist.
I am not saying that an "opportunist" is a bad thing, I am just saying to me there is a big difference between the two.
11-23-2005, 09:58 AM
#16
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: North Lima Ohio & Clarion Pa
Posts: 6,453
RE: Thought provocative......Good hunter????
ORIGINAL: BOWFANATIC
To me a "good" hunter is someone who gets the job done on a regular basis and has good hunting ethics. Luck plays a role once in awhile but not repeatedly year after year. For meit has nothing to do with how many bucks they let pass waiting for that big one.
To me a "good" hunter is someone who gets the job done on a regular basis and has good hunting ethics. Luck plays a role once in awhile but not repeatedly year after year. For meit has nothing to do with how many bucks they let pass waiting for that big one.
Being a good hunter is a personal thing. You are the one who must be proud of the animal you choose to shoot. I let many bucks walk. If I wanted to just put notches in my bed post, I could score every year. I know I let deer walk that many of you would shoot. (and I wouldn't argue if you did). I'm not saying I'm at some higher and mightier place than you. I'm saying that my personal standards are set, and I'm not going to lower them just to post a kill. I congratulate everyone who gets their deer, be it doe, spike, or trophy. If it makes you happy, shoot it. But don't condemn my methods either.
I know this sounds brash and I don't mean it that way, I've retyped it several times but it keeps sounding the same. Maybe I've quit worrying about what everyone else thinks of my hunting skill, and just enjoy the hunt itself.
11-23-2005, 10:09 AM
#17
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Elkview WV
Posts: 2,369
RE: Thought provocative......Good hunter????
To me "good hunter" or "bad hunter" isn't the question. It's a matter of ethics. I don't have the land or time to spend hours upon hours scouting and patterning the deer that I hunt in the fall, so I guess in a way that I'm a opportunist in your eyes. But I don't take bad shots and I don't poach deer. I kill my share and miss my share every year. Am I a good hunter, I don't know, but what I do know is that I love to hunt and I do the best that I can with what I do.
11-23-2005, 10:20 AM
#18
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Jackson,Michigan
Posts: 953
RE: Thought provocative......Good hunter????
Great post.I couldn't agree more.Finding sign and reading it are two different things.Odds are if you spend enough time in the woods you'll see deer and maybe even take one.To many people don't understand deer the way they think or even give it a second thought.I think they miss out on alot of neat stuff.I have this same argument with my brother. He has killed a ton of deer but can't tell you when the deer are using his spots or why.I don't know everything nor will I say I do,but I always try to keep a opened mind and learn as much as I can.At the end of every year I find I've made atleast 10 mistakes or misjudgements.I haven't taken a buck going on 3 years now but have passed on many.I don't need to take one to enjoy my hunting time.This is my 26th year bowhunting and every year I seem to love iteven more.Sorry for being so windy.
11-23-2005, 12:21 PM
#19
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location:
Posts: 21,043
RE: Thought provocative......Good hunter????
Wow. What a great post.
I'm a first year deer hunter. My background is waterfowl and turkey hunting....and I was, I guess, mildly successful....and a huge enthusiast.
"Successful Hunter" .....man that's a great thought. Here's how I measure MY successes, to date....and I haven't harvested my first deer, yet. I started out by gaining access to some private lands for my son and I to hunt on. We honestly scouted and set up the first time near some rubs we saw. We knew NOTHING of where the deer were bedding OR feeding. This was fairly early in the season. I THEN gained access to the land I REALLY wanted to hunt (Adjoins my land)....and that's when the fun began. I looked for all the signs .......and soon had 3 stand placements staked out. We had a place to hunt....whichever direction the wind blew. I finally found out which way they were coming from (and going TO).....by viewing the aerial photography(available to anyone)....and just trial-and-error stand placement. I felt like a world-class hunter when I had deer under my stand the first time. I was grinning from ear-to-ear.....at 41 yrs old.
I've now seen 5 bucks on the property....(only 24 acres)....numerous does......3 bucks work the same scrape in a 2 hr period.....bucks chasing does (grunting).....and FIFTY turkeys under me that didn't spook. I also haven't released an arrow.....though I've drawn down on a nice little 6 pointer....only to let him pass (Facing almost directly away from me).
Now....I'm a novice.....but....
Do I consider myself a better hunter than the fat-axx that pays his fee to go on a canned hunt in Tx to shoot 180 class whitetail deer.....from a box blind @ 240 yds???
You damned right, I do.
Jeff
I'm a first year deer hunter. My background is waterfowl and turkey hunting....and I was, I guess, mildly successful....and a huge enthusiast.
"Successful Hunter" .....man that's a great thought. Here's how I measure MY successes, to date....and I haven't harvested my first deer, yet. I started out by gaining access to some private lands for my son and I to hunt on. We honestly scouted and set up the first time near some rubs we saw. We knew NOTHING of where the deer were bedding OR feeding. This was fairly early in the season. I THEN gained access to the land I REALLY wanted to hunt (Adjoins my land)....and that's when the fun began. I looked for all the signs .......and soon had 3 stand placements staked out. We had a place to hunt....whichever direction the wind blew. I finally found out which way they were coming from (and going TO).....by viewing the aerial photography(available to anyone)....and just trial-and-error stand placement. I felt like a world-class hunter when I had deer under my stand the first time. I was grinning from ear-to-ear.....at 41 yrs old.
I've now seen 5 bucks on the property....(only 24 acres)....numerous does......3 bucks work the same scrape in a 2 hr period.....bucks chasing does (grunting).....and FIFTY turkeys under me that didn't spook. I also haven't released an arrow.....though I've drawn down on a nice little 6 pointer....only to let him pass (Facing almost directly away from me).
Now....I'm a novice.....but....
Do I consider myself a better hunter than the fat-axx that pays his fee to go on a canned hunt in Tx to shoot 180 class whitetail deer.....from a box blind @ 240 yds???
You damned right, I do.
Jeff
11-23-2005, 03:47 PM
#20
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 1,253
RE: Thought provocative......Good hunter????
I've got a similiar situation, the "good hunter" passes on the same younger (fawn to yearling) deer that the other shoots. I can't count how many times the poorer hunter comments on how many he has killed, usually from pure luck more than skill. The good hunter can always make the call on deer's comings and goings and although he might not shoot his deer till later in the season, they are always mature deer.