Do you enjoy being around most hunters?

[Izzy]

I cant blame those big time folks on TV cause if I could make a living hunting Id be doing it in a second.The commercialization of hunting diminishes the true spirit of hunting, to me anyway but lets be honest we'd all be doing it if they were paying us 7 figures and allowing us to hunt around the world free of charge.I personally like all types of hunters, not all hunters but all types of hunters.Lets face it there are turd birds in all demographics.Most of my favorite people just happen to be trad hunters so I guess its people that we find commonality with that we like to be around .
                               Izzy

[tradtusker]

depends on the hunters sometimes the shared memories are the best but in the right company.

"persons of admirable qualities,carry those qualities over into hunting and everything else that they do also" i agree

i was all set to become a PH (professional hunter) and guide in South Africa but the more time i spent around ph's especially BIG 5 ph's the more i disliked them. Friendly in front of the hunters putting down the money, but very disrespectful behind there backs, mostly know it all heavy EGO driven idiots. didn't want any association with them. its a real shame

its always nice to get a big trophy but its not everything

time spent with good hunting partners and friends is priceless.

[coconutdave]

Shakes,
  You should be proud.

[gregg dudley]

Interesting topic.  I love to hunt and I love to talk hunting, but only with people that enjoy hunting for the same reasons that I do.  There are a lot of people on this site that I have come to respect and I think I would like to hunt with.  However, there are only a few "celebrities" that I feel the same way about.  

In social situations I find that I would rather talk to non-hunters or even anti-hunters about hunting than a "hunter" that doesn't enjoy hunting for the reasons that I think they should.  For me, it is not about a weapon or a method.  It is about respect and appreciation.

[pine nut]

"Am I getting old and crotchety"

I prefer to thingk of it more as mature and grounded.  You are not alone, I feel very much the same way.  I cannot stand to watch those shows either.

[TNstickn]

I am defintely anti -social when it comes to hunting. I've just heard to many dumb comments regarding my choice to hunt most of my game with a longbow. I do have a good friend /hunting partner who I regularly share the woods with. He shoots a compound bow,but I got him to shoot 3d with a recurve last year, I will eventually turn him the right direction.  LOL.   Morally, ethically, politically and religously are views are dead on.                                              I do get some trad videos, and watch them.
I do try and take a mature buck every year. Killed an 8 pt last weekend, that the TWRA bioligist aged 4.5 yrs old, that makes me proud.
But honestly, I was shaking like a leaf when I dropped the string on a big doe opening weekend.
If I could afford to chase trophies, I probably would.Filling the freezer is more important to me, then I horn hunt as a challenge.
Raisin 3 kids in this economy, Im happy to afford gas to drive to the TWRA refuges on the weekends!!  All the places I hunt are bow only outside of the few draw hunts.

[DannyBows]

I haven't watched TV for over five years, so I don't know the shows. However I bought one of the videos on sale awhile back, and not ten minutes into it I threw it in the trash. It just made me sad, and I could almost see how the anti's that weren't raised in outdoor traditions get there attitudes. I can watch "Primal Dreams" over and over, and the TG video's are great. It's just the attitudes on the other's. I feel the same about the Bass tournaments. Seems sad to take an outdoor recreational activity and turn it into a gross competitive spectacle. No offense meant to anyone who anjoys that type of thing. I have no friends or family around so I do everything alone, but if I had a choice I'd surely enjoy hunting with trad people. I'm also sure most wheelie hunter's are cool, I just don't know any. It's just too bad the company's that make the gear have degraded everything for marketing purposes.

[Tom L]

I hunt alone 99% of the time. I hunt with a longbow and on the ground so most of the bowhunters I know would not go with me if I wanted them to. And I don't. They look at a kill as what makes a good hunt. I think being in the woods is a good hunt.

[Squirrel Bait]

Dang Matt , you've been OLD and Crotchety for 10 years!!!!!

[cahaba]

Originally posted by Blackhawk:
"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."

George Washington (1732 - 1799)

My feelings exactly.

[caleb7mm]

Originally posted by Dave2old:
 This is not elitism, but a clearly observable and measurable reality.

I disagree, it is elitism. I love the realm of trad and the mindset that goes along with it but I HATE a lot of the comments I see on hear. The "training wheelie" comments are among the top. I dont hunt with a compound bow anymore but it was a personal choice, not because im better than all the guys that do. The mindset I have I had with a compound a shotgun a rifle a muzzeloader ect. I think a lot of the talk on hear is just as bad as the talk at the local gun shops with all the "whack em stack em" types. Just my opinion, but everytime I read comments like this it turns my stomach. We are all hunters and we all stand for the same basic rights. there are to many people out there trying to take or limit those rights and everytime we fight amongst ourselves they gain another inch.

my .02

--c--

[RC]

I like to hunt with big fellas that can drag deer and pigs a long way. I don`t have to like`m.lol
  Actually there are very few folks I hunt with . The ones I hunt with the most love it or they would`nt put up with me.Now Bald guys they....Rc

[TRAP]

Do I like other hunters?

Heck, I fell in love with a hunter once.  

Our time together was always a good time, she never failed to be ready to go on time, never complained about the weather, didnt care where we hunted, traveled out of state with me several times in pursuit of several different species, worked her tail off on wounded game, always searched for new opportunities, she actually lured me away from trad bowhunting and challenged me to hunt other critters for a couple of years. I learned alot from her, but taught her very little.

I actually missed several white-tail ruts because of her.  She was the only hunting partrner I've ever had that took hunting as serious as I do.  Hunting was as much a part of her life as it is mine. I've had other hunting buddies, but mostly weekend warriors.  I don't hunt with them anymore either.  

My hunting partner was a Black Lab my wife named "Shadow" for appropriate reasons.  She's been gone for about 3 years now and I have reimursed myself in bowhunting.  For me, It's a solitary activity which suits me well.  

LOL, I do have a new pup that is showing real promise, so I may enjoy hunting with another "hunter" some day.

   

Trap

[Sam McMichael]

I agree with Matt. Many hunters seem to feel successful only if they kill the monster buck and almost sound apologetic when take "only a little doe". Any deer taken leagally and ethically is a trophy, but the pride to me is better expressed with the quiet feeling that I really had a good time today. A kill is not even necessary to get that good feeling. Just this morning I hunted a ground blind that I set up last week.  Two does approached - one of them only 6 or 7 yards from me.  I didn't even raised the bow but sat totally fascinated by wathing them check out the blind. No, a lot of "show" is not needed to make a hunt stand out. I guess I'll never be featured on the TV screen, but like a lot of the guys on this forum I prefer a simple hunt with a few good guys.

[Toklat1]

Since I moved to Texas from Alaska, I pretty much hunt alone.  I don't know any trad hunters here yet.  I was not into trad archery when I lived up North....I hunted with a rifle and my hunting partner was 8 years older than myself. He had been hunting up there for 17 tears before I came along.  His ways were old school, he was patient & determined at the same time. He was never in a hurry and there was purpose in everything he did. We hunted on foot and back packed everywhere we hunted.  To say the least, this guy took me to school. He and I went on an Elk hunt 3 yrs ago in Idaho. Sad to say, I broke my ankle the day before the season ended and had to be medivaced out. I was looking forward to having the chance to hunt with him again. I Haven't seen him since but we do speak over the phone once a month and talk hunting.  I have hunted with a few people here but really have not enjoyed their company.

[Toklat1]

On the previous post I meant to say before the season opened!

[MikeW]

and really came to the realization that I honestly don't care to be around most big-game hunters. I don't have that much in common with them and find myself increasingly irritated at the antlers-are-everything-I-wanna-be-on-tv-always-looking-for-an-edge attitude of a lot of them. Of course, I am always willing to talk to anyone about bowhunting with a traditional bow and try to fire up as many folks as I can about our sport and I don't attack anyone - I usually just disassociate myself. Am I just getting old & crotchety or does anyone else feel like this.

I know what you mean...and I do too.

[String Cutter]

Well, I ain't got no friends cept for Killy... And I can't even get her to make a pie for me anymore. So I guess I hunt mostly solo. Nobody will put up with me.

[Shaun]

Originally posted by George D. Stout:

They really ought to get Viagra to sponsor them.

One of those spew-coffee-on-the-keyboard moments there George, good one!

I have had it from several partial and impartial observers that I am a grouchy old curmudgeon. Whether folks hunt for horn scores, mature animals, with high tech or limiting equipment, are just are just good ol' meat hunters - its all good. Its lack of humility that gets to me. God save me from arrogance, mine and others.

[tippit]

It's the person's inner soul that equates to their humility or ego not what they hunt with.  I'd hunt with anyone of like minded soul...Doc