Killing the future of hunting

[Bowwild]

The only good thing about all this is I can skip several isles when I'm killing time in the big outdoor stores. I skip all the isles of scent "control' products and the attractants. Don't care much for the game camera isles either.

[Gerry]

Okay it is a good letter but let's keep it in perspective.  How many use tree stands?  That alone improved kill rates by getting hunters up out of sight and kept their sent off the ground.  

I agree there needs to be some control but let's be fair - not all technology spelled doom.  Just my humble opinion.

[Roadkill]

I would hazard the guess that many hunters go thru the "kill over the hunt" phase.  Stuff over skill.  Hopefully the young readers get to looking at the hunt as the challenge.  Many here prize their hunts over the kill, skill over techno stuff.  Am honored to be among such here

[Crittergetter]

     
I'll add a little story of my own. I recently ran into an old aquantence and we got to talking about bow hunting. I asked him if he had any luck this past season. He told me how he saw the biggest buck he had ever seen at 20 yrds but couldn't get a shot because of some brush. When suddenly the deer jumped and ran off! He said he couldn't for the life of him figure out what happened. I asked him if the wind was right or not or maybe even swirled. Honest to goodness this is what he relied, " I'm not sure, but it shouldn't have mattered! I had on all my scent lock and even had my ozonics going!    

[Crittergetter]

To be fair I have to admit that I do use dead down wind spray from time to time. But I don't depend on it! I worry more about my approach and wind direction and things like that first and foremost!

[MR BILL SHORTY]

my ozonics going! [dunno]

   

[Amberjack]

An excellent letter that skewers the modern commercial approach to hunting.

I saw a 'smart phone' mount for your wheelie bow the other day - presumably to video your hunt, take a call or to play Tetris while you sit invisible in your elevated hunting pod with ozonic protection.  

The whole thing depressed me so much I had to shoot twice the number of cedar arrows out of my '59 Alaskan before I felt better. ;-)

[lilbobby]

Excellent letter!

[shedhunta]

Well done!

[Clay Hayes]

Originally posted by Gerry:
Okay it is a good letter but let's keep it in perspective.  How many use tree stands?  That alone improved kill rates by getting hunters up out of sight and kept their sent off the ground.  

I agree there needs to be some control but let's be fair - not all technology spelled doom.  Just my humble opinion.

Thanks for the comment Gerry but I think you're missing the point. It's not the technology or the companies that I'm poking. It's the ridiculousness of this article being promoted as educational to new hunters. Like I said, this article was supposed to be about "beating a buck's nose" yet they never once mentioned the wind. If they want to include product catalogs, that's fine, but call it what it is. This isn't education, it's advertising. We shouldn't be telling new hunters they need a bunch of junk to be successful. We should be focusing on the thing that has always made hunting great, and that's the personal satisfaction of overcoming the challenges it presents.

ch

[Lady Frost]

Well spoken sir.

[Thumper Dunker]

Good job.  

[Dirtybird]

Great letter Clay.

[twitchstick]

Thanks

[Jayrod]

Amen to that!!

[Scott Barr]

Thanks for writing the letter.  Love your humor!  Scott

[elkken]

     the lesson I have learned over the years trying out new gadgets and technology is that it can diminish your hunting skills. Every once in a while we need to step back and see where we are going and remember why we are on this journey in the first place.

[Mark R]

The animals we hunt don't read the books we do. Being  sent free is misunderstood, everything smells like something especially to deer.Finding what does not spook them is more important and can very with there habitat,and understanding that I think is key. The wind and thermals rule.

[hart2hart]

Been there...done that..you just have to shake your head and wonder what all they've been missing.

[Jerry Jeffer]

Good letter. My father often offers to buy me subscriptions to a variety of magazines about hunting. I remind him, "Dad, those publications never talk about the kind of hunting I do."
When it comes to scent systems, I get clean and try to hunt the wind as much as possible. As for getting around in the woods; a (sXs)won't get me there. I hike in quietly.