txjourneyman

This may very well be the best thread I've yet read on this site. I agree, and consider myself to be an average hunter with great aspirations and potential.

Double Creek

I don't consider anyone a good hunter unless they consistently produce bucks from public ground or pressured private ground......I only know of a handful of truly gifted hunters....and I'm not one of them.....

I've seen alot of average hunters consistently kill mature bucks b/c they were hunting exceptional ground......

MOTOWNHONKEY

Looked up good hunter in websters dictionary and it said Motownhonkey. Really, I think a good hunter is one who doesn't worry about what other people say when most times he returns from a bowhunting trip empty handed. I use to get so sick of people asking me "Did you kill anything?" " Did you see anything?" Unless you are a bowhunter you can't even begin to understand the enjoyment you can have on stand for hours on end without killing a thing. Over the years I find myself wanting to release the arrow less and less. When I first started I would shoot any deer that came in. After a few years of that I feel I matured more as a hunter and begin to let deer walk by enjoying them, filming and taking pictures of them. Not to mention all the other critters that come around from time to time. Now I fill a doe tag first off for my land owner. Then I try and better my biggest buck to date. Once I started doing thisI started seeing more big bucks simply because I was out there more and the chances increased. Once you let so many bucks come and go you really start to learn their way's and habbits. I was blessed with a really nice buck this year and as I kneeled down beside him I reflected on all of the enjoying hunts that led up to that moment. Blown hunts, lots of laughs, and many cold winter days on stand. I realized that the kill wasn't what keep me comming back, it was everything that led up to it.

Antler Eater

Great post Buckeyebuckhntr!

I do think you have presented some excellent criteria in a very articulate fashion. For those who chose to observe the rewards can be rich. As has been pointed out I have learned more from animals I have not had the oportunity to get an arrow to or let pass, than I have from zipping an arrow through the ribs, although it should be noted that there is a real learning process that takes place at that time too.

All that said, I do think one must include at least areasonablenumber of kills, under real bowhunting conditions, to his/her resume' should one want to don the title of a "good hunter". What that number is I am notsure,I will let someone who is smarter than me figurethat out.

There are so many issues that arise when a person is trying to "close the deal" that I don't think it should be overlooked in our definition of a "good hunter". It is one thing to sit and watch a young deer go by howeverit is a galaxy away from attempting to draw and get an accurateshot off at a mature animal up close and personal. One or two kills just isn't enough experience in my opinion to cover what can go wrong at the moment of truth.

Further, another aspect of our definitionhas to be the ability to successfullyfollow the blood trail after a hit. If a guy can't untangle this trail all his other skills become moot. Without a certain number of kills this talent cannot be employed enough to gain any practical knowledge.

Of course I realizeyou know all of these points already you just are not as much of a "wind bag" as I am so you didn't include them in your post.

The first sentence of your above quote is outstanding in my mind! I don't think I have heard it put any better. I wish I could say I understand the intricacies of all of the deer sign but unfortunately I can't. It seems the more I learn the less I know.[&:]

tsoc

This really is a great post! What our time in the woods is to each one of us is very personal and can be vastly different.I am a hunter who most every year passes on several legal bucks if I don't see an animal I wish to kill.I don't want to pass judgement on any other hunters but to me being a good hunter is not related to the quantity of animals that you kill.In my mind the best hunters are the ones who consistently kill big deer on public or pressured private land.Even having said that, so much of that type of hunters success is related to the amount of time they put into there scouting and hunting.With greater amounts of time spent and astute observation while scouting and hunting,almost everyone should enjoy greater success.
I guess to me the best hunters are the ones that truly love the pursuit,that couldn't live without it their life and go about it with honor,reverence and dignity.

stoneman

I really like the way you put it Motown. I grew up hunting with an uncle that harvestsa large P&Y almost every year. I started out having really high standards for what type of buck I would take. I just alway thought I should take a doe for eatin', and let the younger bucks grow up...after all, ya' can't eat horns anyway. I don't criticize anyone for what deer they will take. That's THEIR business. But I kill a lot fewer bucks than any of my friends, and I know I'm a better hunter (lol that sure sounds conceited), I just choose to only take mature buck. Like was said earlier, it is sometimes hard, or at least annoying, when people always ask about what I've seen/killed lately. I have a lot to learn yet, and a long way to go before I consider myself really good, and I'm always willing to listen/learn from others.

BOWFANATIC

I guess I'm the odd man out on this one. No disrespect intended for buckeye , but I'm not at all impressed by this thread. I've seen 100's of these threads since I've been around here. It's just another way of saying a "good hunter" is measured by the size of his racks on the wall and how many younger bucks they let pass by to achieve it. Same ol' b.s. if you ask me , just colored different this time.

wolfen68

I have had dozens of shots at immature and clueless 1.5 year old bucks so far this year, and in years past, that the poorest of hunters could have taken but to be disciplined, patient, and skilled enough to take mature bucks on a fairly consistent basis is what sets apart the "good" from the rest IMO.

BOWFANATIC

Thanks for making my point.

Is this thread starting to look familiar now? Maybe not for those who haven't been around here awhile.

schliker

A hunter who enjoys the journey to the final kill or not kill
more than he enjoys the kill it self is agood hunter in my book