Concern for direction of hunting

[1Arrow1Kill]

Jon Stewart, sounds like you've mentored your grandkids well.  I travel by Norton Shores frequently heading from Holland to the Walhalla area where I wander the Manistee National Forest.  Hopefully I'll meet you and/or your grandkids someday in the woods while we're TradGanging down some nice Michigan whitetails.  Keep up the great work Grandpa!

[Terry Green]

Great stuff Jon,.. that's what we're trying to promote AND preserve here.

[Roy from Pa]

Trad Bowhunting is an individual thing that can be taught, passed on, or lost by those not interested enough.

Took my first deer in 1971 with a stickbow and I haven't stopped shooting sticks since, and I'm pushing 71 years old.

The hills seem steeper and longer now and the mornings seem colder than I remember them being.

But ain't no room in my soul for high tech stuff.

That's up to those who choose to use it and doesn't concern me at all.

Give me a compass and I'll be back at camp come sunset.

Look how young I looked in 1971, LOL.

[TIM B]

I ain't sure if Roy is braggin or complaining.  Did ya leave the arro in yer deer till it hit the table Roy?

This has been an interesting thread I read daily.  I just really like shooting these trad bows.  I had a wheel bow when I was 12 I think - switched shooting fish about 14 and never looked back and I'm knocking on the big 50 next week. 
Tim B

[Roy from Pa]

Ya I know, that picture is in poor taste by today's standard.

I was young and dumb then.

[Terry Green]

No Roy... you weren't  young and dumb...... That picture would still be find  And dandy if it wasn't for the PC police!!!

 I love the quote about the compass!!!

 I remember Gene and Barry posing for photos with their deer and still having an arrow nocked!!!

Great Stuff!!!

[TIM B]

Reminds me of my dads pics Roy!  And that's a compliment.  My dad had a slide protector and would show us kids hunting roll after hunting roll of pics like that.  I loved looking at all those pics
Tim B

[Bvas]

Trad Bowhunting is an individual thing that can be taught, passed on, or lost by those not interested enough.

I agree. I also believe a lot has to with an individuals journey. Where ya been, where ya start, where ya are, and where you’re going(or want to go).

There are lots of folks like myself that didn’t start with trad. Got my first “real” bow in the late 80s and it had wheels. That was normal to me. That’s what all of my friends and family shot. My dad had an old Bear super mag 48 hangin on the wall that I thought was just decor. I didn’t know people hunted with that kind of bow.

At some point and time I’ve tried more gadgets, gizmos, bells, and whistles than I care to admit. Some worked some didn’t. Some were fun some just frustrating.

Then at some point in my life, quantity of kills became less important than, for lack of a better term, quality of the hunt. Part of me wanted more of a challenge and part also wanted deer season to last longer. The first step in regression was the bow. I dabbled with a recurve doing late season spot and stalks in the snow. After successfully shooting a shed buck in his bed.....I was hooked. A year or two later I ditched my wheels completely. That was five years ago, and have no intention of going back now.

I still use gadgets, feeders, cameras to help keep my seasons successful. My wife says I enjoy the trail cameras as much as the hunt. Sometimes I think she’s right. I love it when I get pics of deer and other critters I never knew existed. I’ve been getting pics of bobcats for four years and have to see one.

Slowly though, I find myself wanting or needing the gadgets less and less. For now though, they still add to my enjoyment of the great outdoors. So I will continue use them as long as they are legal.  But I will admit, my most enjoyable hunts are still those snow covered spot and stalks with nothing more than a trad bow and a quiver of arrows.  Well...maybe some binos

[Jon Stewart]

1arrow1kill: My camp is by Whiskey Creek. You are most welcome anytime. My son and family built a house on our property and live there. I would be proud to introduce you to the most polite kids you will ever meet.

Roy that photo is just fine. One heck of a nice deer.

Thanks for the kind words, Terry and 1arrow.

[bucknut]

I agree a lot with the original post. I feel the same way! I think some of it may have been taken wrongly by others. I took it as feeling sorry for the future for what they are missing out on. Not bashing anyone for their choices! We as a whole are losing our roots day by day to technology and the old timers that hold the knowledge are dwindling fast. I was fortunate to grow up in the woods and learned it all the hard way. I've hunted public land my whole life. I wouldn't want it any other way either. I know that I can pick up and go hunt anywhere in the country and be successful at killing game without a corn pile or all the gadgets they promote on the outhouse channel. I can Identify all the trees and natural food sources available and the times they will be used. The reasoning for the post was to open our eyes to the things that we are leaving to the next generation. When it's gone it's gone! I try to teach any of the younger group that I take to the woods with me everything I can every trip in the woods. I think this is the best thing that we can do for the sport in my opinion.

[Babbling Bob]

Just have to realize it's often more difficult now for those from cities or who don't own land to bow hunt.   Used to be nobody bowhunting on the public land I hunted (in OK) in the early sixties, so would only share the camping areas with a few if any others. Farmers would let you on their land to hunt for free then too. However, the input to the state was minimal too ith so few of us shooting.  It took a few more years for  our state government to allow us to wear camo clothing, and not the mandatory red outer garments the same as the rifle/shotgun fellows had to.

But we still have lots of folks hunting somehow and somewhere.   Not too worried about it as we might have to drive further and spend some money to hunt is all.  I have a small summer home in a tiny village without a stop light (Westport, NY) and sometimes drink coffee at the round table where court is held each morning by the town folks. There will be a patch of ground  to hunt somewhere around there.   

[GCook]

Just have to realize it's often more difficult now for those from cities or who don't own land to bow hunt.   Used to be nobody bowhunting on the public land I hunted (in OK) in the early sixties, so would only share the camping areas with a few if any others. Farmers would let you on their land to hunt for free then too. However, the input to the state was minimal too ith so few of us shooting.  It took a few more years for  our state government to allow us to wear camo clothing, and not the mandatory red outer garments the same as the rifle/shotgun fellows had to.

But we still have lots of folks hunting somehow and somewhere.   Not too worried about it as we might have to drive further and spend some money to hunt is all.  I have a small summer home in a tiny village without a stop light (Westport, NY) and sometimes drink coffee at the round table where court is held each morning by the town folks. There will be a patch of ground  to hunt somewhere around there.

I know where Westport is.  My brother lives not too far from there.  Beautiful part of the state.

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[Overspined]

The direction of hunting will be forever evolving. There are things I can’t even decide on myself....

Man, I hate baiting for deer, but I would for bear, and have for pigs. So what’s the difference? I have opinions but really baiting is baiting I suppose...

I love the youth hunt for my children but not for shutting deer movement down early...not that I can prove it does. I have personally seen no issues but can see where there may be in some areas...but when competing with video games it’s basically a way to get them going and early success. Unfortunately it seems a necessary step to get their attention. I couldn’t hunt until i was 12, and my son’s killed like 6 deer before he turned 11...and now he’s learning the “how”.

I’m not a xbow or compound fan, yet there were years I killed a lot of deer with a wheelie bow when I tried it...

I just got my first game camera for Christmas and love looking at pics of others, but feel it’s shut down more hunting permission than anything because now folks are aware of what’s really out there on the back 40...even though they’ll probably never see the big dudes during daylight...

I think when hunting within regulations, hunting becomes a very personal thing and people will find their way. Probably not my way, but that’s ok.  I won’t videotape my hunts or my son’s because I think it’s not about anyone but the one doing the hunting and shooting. I will shoot or pass animals because it’s my personal decision, based on many factors, and find my son already is doing the same.

I’m not going to tell people what to do or not, I just know I love hunting with a stick bow and all the work I put into making the equipment, and doing it, and hope to pass on what I’ve learned. The words written by Leopold and other authors quoted in this thread have inspired me, even back in college when I first read them.  Hunting isn’t meant to be a competition, I don’t need to “get it done”, I have a ton of success not killing, and also when I do kill. I decide what’s success. And there’s not an advertisement around that would make me think differently, but that’s from experience.  It’s easy to get caught in the hype.

The threat we face is from non-hunters and their opinions, and those are formed by the direction of hunting. As things get easier and more high tech, I would think opinions degrade. Period.

[Kevin Dill]

Overspined:  "The direction of hunting will be forever evolving."

Exactly right and true. Hunting is a human endeavor. As different groups of humans evolve, so do their societies, cultures and practices. Ours just happens to be evolving faster than many and so are the reasons and ways we hunt as a nation. Much of evolution is centered around efficiency and improving it....same or better results with less effort. It's the reason for CNC machines, carbon limb designs, baiting, rangefinding binoculars, and better golf clubs.

If someone is concerned for the direction of hunting, they're probably concerned about evolution overall....which I am....and which I can do little or nothing to stop from happening. I can't decide anyone's personal path in their chosen sport....just my own. I decided a long time ago not to judge others for how they do things. I just gravitate toward people who seem to share the same values that I do. It is....after all...a very short life.

[bucknut]

As a side note.  If you think hunting hasn't changed just go ask for permission to rabbit hunt.  Everyone that does hunt deer think you'll run all their deer off.  Farms that we've hunted forever are off limits now. This could be due in part to the cameras as stated above.  Thank God I live in an area with lots of public land. Kevin you do start to notice these little things more as you get more sand in the bottom of the hourglass!

[McDave]

As a side note.  If you think hunting hasn't changed just go ask for permission to rabbit hunt.  Everyone that does hunt deer think you'll run all their deer off.  Farms that we've hunted forever are off limits now. This could be due in part to the cameras as stated above.  Thank God I live in an area with lots of public land. Kevin you do start to notice these little things more as you get more sand in the bottom of the hourglass!

Speaking of rabbit hunting....

In the early 1950's when Sacramento State College was opened, there were regular Saturday morning rabbit hunts on the campus.  Flash forward 60-70 years and imagine the shock and outrage that would occur if a rabbit were run by somebody's dog, let alone hunted, on campus!

[bucknut]

How Times have changed!!  And not for the better.   As a very young kid I would carry a shotgun right down the road with hounds or squirrel hunting.  How would that go over now?

[Roy from Pa]

Yup, I used to shoot the big guns off the back porch...

Now the swat team would come ah calling for me...

[Terry Green]

Heck...in high school in the 80s we had a shot guns and an 06 in our vehicles....some were even in rear window racks in plain  view.....and knives in our pockets.

And yes....bows as well

[pavan]

When i was in high school in the 60s, I had to stick to bows that were 58".  Anything longer wouldn't fit in my high school locker.