Elkcrazy8

I have been on both sides of the fence here. I have been an oportunistic hunter when it was important to fill all the tags to help feed my kids through the winter. At times I am still oportunistic. I have however passed on smaller to acheive the bigger when the freezer was full and have a few wall hangers to show. However, I would not gauge my good hunter bad hunter on either of the trends. I beleive that a good hunter is one who properly prepares for the hunt and has the patience to make sure that his/her kill is as clean and humane as possible. Yes there is a sense of satisfaction when the quarry is down, whether it be a button buck, doe, or huge buck. The hunter has acheived that level of satisfaction from properly preparing and executing his hunt. When I look at websters dictionary, I would tend to beleive that the ultimate hunter would be the one who never bags an animal, because he is always hunting ,and has the drive and determination to return even if unsuccessful. All will never answer this question in the same manner as we all have different satisfaction levels, and different needs. I bagged a 100 class buck in NY that made me happier than heck, the woods were absolutly pounded with hunters, this buck gave me the same satisfaction level as the 26 inch mulie I killed this year. It was a different place and different time. I also got the same satisfaction level when I killed a doe many years back that put meat in the empty freezer and fed my kids. I was just as good a hunter when I killed that doe as to when I killed a wallhanger buck. It met my level of satisfactionfor the moment I was was there. To try to comapare all on this board would be very difficult as we all are different. I say who ever does the best they can with what they have and doesn't take any animal for granted is in my book a good hunter.

nubo

I agree 100% with you on this one .
I also have a friend and he's taken far more deer than I have in the past 3 year's and he doesn't understand why I must let soooo many deer walk .
He's told me many time's that what ever ,when ever walk's in front of him he take's it ,I don't believe in this myself ,I've passed on 10 deer this season with my bow ,some fawn's ,doe's and inmature buck's .
Although I hunt the rifle hunt here as well ,I know that I'll have meat in my freezer ,but as for taking a deer with my bow ,I only want to take a deer that will be hung on my wall .Don't get me wrong here ,I'll definately put the meat to good use ,but this is just my opinion on how I like to hunt .I'm not a hunter who like's to take what's standing in front of me ,I'm very selective on my harvest's .I get such great enjoyment of being in the wood's with my bow ,and I know that by taking a big assed buck with it would be the greatest of accomplishment's for me,and by just taking any deer would end my season without any sense of real accomplishment's . I love being in the wood's ,and having deer roaming around in front of me is a sense of accomplishment ,knowing that I could have taken deer . But for me I'll wait out for my wall hanger when it come's to my bow . I'm definately not saying that it's wrong for people to hunt in this fashion ,because everyone get's enjoyment or accomplishment in different way's ,everyone has their own set of guideline's on what they expect from themselve's during a season . I find the longer that you spendusing different tactic's ,is fully rewarding and it just make's you much more complete hunter for the following season .
I may or may not get my wall mount this season ,or maybe not even next season ,but the growth in knowledge will be far greater than the bowhunter who take's every deer that he see's .
I hope that I haven't offended anyone by my opinion .

If you feel I'm wrong ,I'm interested in hearing your thought's .Maybe I'm overlooking something ,please let me know how you feel .

Elkcrazy!

Sorry I just read your thread ,but I also agree with your opinion ,great point made .

nubo

nubo

wolfen68

So if there are "natural funnels EVERYWHERE", then the deer could go ANYWHERE right? So then where do you hunt...or can you bilocate?

Even in remote Kansas farmland areas where there are few trees and only draws and waterways there is usually a sea of CRP grass that can sometimes reach head high and thick as hell and I've seen deer literally live in these spots and only travel 100 yards to a 320 acre crop field to eat and then return to the grass to bed....unless you gun hunt I can't think of a more challenging deer to hunt. And you can watch them from several hundred yards away nestled in your little tree line which I guess you would assume is a "natural funnel".

alwyshntn

I don't know where I personally land in this discussion but I consider myself a fair hunter. I can most generally figure out and read deer sign to some extent and be successful at it. Being successful at it doesn't mean that I get to take a Booner or even a P&Y buck. Being successful at it means that I have deciphered the sign and the result has been sighting of deer and if lucky harvested one. The harvesting of a deer might mean a doe but the end result was a success. I love to harvest big bucks but it just doesn't happen all the time. I have been lucky enough to harvest several very nice bucks but I don't expect it all the time as I'm sure most of you don't. But for me to say that I would have to consistently take a Trophy animal every year to consider myself a good hunter is insane. I pass up alot of small bucks every year ,but I don't neccessarily think it makes me a better hunter over another. A hunter that does his homework on his hunting land and figures the patterns and travels of his deer resulting in his/hertaking one is tome a successful and good hunter. A GOOD HUNTER to me is not only measured by his or her ability to take a mature buck or pass a small one but the ethics and sportsmanship he or she possess. I know some local hunters that take a HUGE buck every year and lack the ethics or sportsmanship for me to consider them good hunters. They will and do anything and everything to live up to their Big Buck Hunter mentality even if it is illegal or immoral.

I'll leaveyou with this....I have a friend who holds himself very high on the WHITETAIL HUNTER totem pole. Hepreaches every year how he will not kill anything less than a 150'' deer. He has been fortunate enough tokill two very nice bucks in his 15 year hunting career one being a 130'' and the other a 150'' class buck. Since then hehas become a proat this whitetail hunting stuff. Hehas only killed6 bucks in his hunting. This year he been out hunting alot but has yet to connect on a big buck or even see one which is often times the case. He uses the excuse that he didn't get one this year because he didn't see oneBIG ENOUGH. Well that isjust what that is IMO"anexcuse". It is a crutch that he uses for hisinability to hunt and live up to his selfmade whitetail expertise. He will putdown my deer at times when I know if he were just presented the opportunity he would gladly take them.

nubo

As I said earlier everyone has their own opinion's and standard's for what they're trying to accomplish ,in your friend's case maybe he has set his standards too high ,but regardless because he didn't get a deer isn't a excuse ,it just didn't happen for him . Although I don't know your friend and how he brag's himself up or goes on about his abilities as a whitetail speacialist ,he's obviously drawn a line to what he will take and what he won't .This doesn't make him a bad hunter. This is his opinion on how he want's to hunt ,not his excuse.

nubo

alwyshntn

Well I failed to give you the full insight NUBO... Yes, It is his excuse....He has not drawn a line of what he will take but instead drawn a line in what he will allow you to think he will take. He has two younger brothers who are not really into hunting but will tag a buck he has shot so as he can keep hunting for the one he will tell you he shot. These are the same 120-130in. deer he will tell me I should have let walk. It is a standard he has set for himself one that he will do anything to live up to. I think sometimes wanting to be considered a GOOD HUNTER by fellow hunters overshadows what hunting is all about. Whether or not you consider yourself a good,fair,or bad hunter if you are ethical and legal in the taking of the game you are after you are a good hunter in my book. It's how you get there that matters the most.

Double Creek

Oh my bad Wolfen, there is no reason that hunters from across the country travel to the mid west each year..... They must be gluttons for punishment and love the challenge of "hard" hunting.....

MOTOWNHONKEY

They come to the managed ranches here Einstein.

atlasman

You're not the odd man out........judging by the post counts of a lot of the gushy replies they haven't been around long enough to spot the pile of BS in sheeps clothing.


Exactly........but that's not all it is......his desperation for everyone to tell him he is a great hunter is so overwhelming that he is forced to try and bait people into it to get his fix.......since no one else is saying it he says it himself by giving a description of himself as what he considers a great hunter. It's really quite sociopathic. Remember when he started that thread asking who were the best hunters here (and checked it every 2 minutes praying his name was mentioned)......as if that is something anyone could tell online anyways...........truely bizarre. I have rarely seen someone so desperate for the approval of others in all my life. Sad.

davidmil

Atlasman.... tell us how you really feel. Don't hold back.