Hunting Vs Shooting

[toad490]

Okay I admit this is stirrin' the pot, but there's no recent threads so why not.

I have a problem with baiting and tree stands being called hunting. I've held a British Columbia class B guiding license and have hunted all my life. First off baiting of any sort is illegal in BC and rightfully so in my opinion and anybody with the patients can sit in a tree and shoot any animal that happens by. Baiting, electronic calls and scent lures are cheating, pure and simple. I'm interested in how anybody that claims to be a hunter can justify these methods? BTW prepackaged black powder rounds with bolt action style rifles are in the same league, IMHO. I know alot of guys will say bow hunting is the only pure form of hunting but I've seen too many really messy kills to be a fan.

[Skwerly]

I kinda have to agree, here. Technology is cool and all, but with a gun, you are ALREADY miles ahead of most animals. To me, if folks want an easy slice of meat, they should go to the grocery store.

Hunting is just that, “hunting”. Half the fun is in the pursuit. The chase, the thrill. The competition of it all. And if you come home a few times empty handed – so be it. Them's the breaks!

It's kind of like seeing the really hot folks on TV who can bag anyone they want, at any second. What would be the fun in that? Booooooriiiiiiing.

[Loadrunner]

Interesting question, I'll offer a different point of view. I know of quite a few people who enjoy hunting but don't really play up the "sporting" aspect of the act. It's a means of putting food on the table that isn't tainted with growth hormones or steroids or whatever and it's cheaper than buying meat in the long run. They may brag about shooting a 10 point buck or whatever but their goal is to fill their freezer in the limited amount of time they have to take off work. For these folks hunting may be more about a connection to the way things were done 150 years ago when bringing home some meat was one of the chores, not a sport.

[toad490]

Good point, I grew up on venison so I can understand that aspect. What I have a problem with is what I see on so many "outdoor" shows and in magazines is guys going to these farms that raise deer and other game and going to stands with baited areas and waiting for something to walk into their feild of fire and then call themselves hunters. My dad was the best true hunter I've ever seen he could track and spot game like no man I've ever hunted with.

I should clarifiy my comment on black powder rifles, the problem I have with the preloaded shots is them being used in black powder only seasons. Again it's the spirit of the idea that's not right, kinda like cheating at solitare.

[Loadrunner]

Originally Posted by toad490

What I have a problem with is what I see on so many "outdoor" shows and in magazines is guys going to these farms that raise deer and other game and going to stands with baited areas and waiting for something to walk into their feild of fire and then call themselves hunters.

You got that right, opportunists maybe, but there's not much "hunting" involved.

I tried hunting once...I lasted about a half-hour. I scouted my grandfather's property one Saturday looking for evidence of heavy deer traffic. I found a spot where they were obviously following the countour of the land on the side of a bluff so I looked for a vantage point from which I could use my bow.

The following Saturday I got to the site I picked out just before dawn. I was able to look down on the trail from behind a large fallen tree with another large tree at my back (didn't have to worry about someone behind me), the morning air would be moving up the hillside once the sun came out so I was down wind. The trail rounded a bend and came into my view about 75yards away, then passed below where I was stationed, about 25 yards away.

When the sun came up it was behind me so I was in shadow and the area I had my eye on was bathed in the early light, the valley below was covered in fog. It was beautiful! Then I started to hear some rustling in the leaves around the bend; it sounded much heavier than the chipmunks I'd been watching for the last half hour. I had visions of a big buck as I set an arrow on my bow and waited...and waited...and waited. I hung around until I thought it must be 10:30 or so, when I started getting hungry. I got up and headed for the house. By the time I made it out of the woods and walked in the back door mom was just cleaning up dishes from breakfast...it was only 9:30!

Whatever it was that I heard never rounded the bend, and I never went back.

[Coyote Jack]

Interesting points of view. Personally I don't bait but know many that do. There are many laws that are different in many states and provinces. I believe it is o.k. to hunt which ever way the laws permit in your area. I may not think hunting deer with dogs is all that sporting but in some places that is the only way to go. Where I live, the deer population is less than 6 deer per square mile. I hunt out of tree stands and see nothing wrong with it. I used to still hunt all day when I was younger and I enjoyed it very much. Now that my knees and hips are pretty well shot, I prefer to stand hunt. I do my scouting before the season and try to set up in a likely spot. A lot of good it did me this year though, I just got back from a 2 week hunt and I never saw a deer. I still enjoyed it very much though. I enjoy the hunt and always have. Shooting the deer is a bonus.
Over the years I have shot lots of deer and moose. I don't have to do it to feed the family, I do it for myself. If I can't still hunt like I used to because of health reasons, I don't think I should be belittled for it.

Jack

[aarracer]

It's called hunting when one hunts. It's called fishing when one fishes.

It's called catching the rest of the time!

[74charger SE]

normally im all bowhunter ! but I just got done with shotgun season here in iowa, i used a mussel loader and shot some does for the land owner. It wasnt bad hunting with a firearm but shooting deer from 100 yards or so just dont even come close to hunting game with a bow!! Every thing spooked and running for there lives in shot gun season, people driveing around all over ect.ect.... With a bow things are much more quite, deer are in there normal state of travel. I enjoy sitting on stand and watching them for hours at a time and with a bow there are no 100 yard shots, i haft to get in there core area so to speak witch is 40 yards at the most! This means you must watch the wind and control your sent. No ill stick to bowhunting anyday!!

95 v-10 ram





w

[mopar mad]

should be called feeding not baiting,putting corn out isnt like a deer magnet. you might get some activity but probably after dark. never shot a good buck over corn,might get a doe or spike to come in.
if you think of all the food put out compared to the deer shot over it your actually feeding the heard. look a little deeper

[toad490]

Well call it feeding if you want, just not hunting.

[Walkercolt]

Well, I've shot two deer for a friend's cousin (on her land, and she liked venison) one with a pistol, the other with a shotgun slug. No big deal. I waited at the salt block for her cattle until dawn and bagged 'em. Not "hunting" at all. Now when I've gone wild turkey hunting, that's hunting! The wild toms are as smart as the domesticated ones are dumb. Once, I crawled a quarter-section, twice, in a wet bar-ditch trying to get an angle on a tom that was feeding on cattle feed in front of a breeder bull (using a Contender pistol). The second time I crawled the length of the ditch, I realized the SOB knew exactly where I was all the time and was just messin' with me! He woulda' been a beauty though, maybe 18 lbs. I've been several times more, seen hens, jakes (no beards, can't take them), but never a tom where I could get a shot at. My 56 year-old body doesn't take too well now to setting for 3-8 hours in the cold from long before dawn to sunset calling turkeys, and hoping I stay down-wind and perfectly still and quiet.
I would really like to draw a ticket in the Wyoming One-Shot Buffalo Hunt, but I think it's over $500 now to register, and $500 for the guide (required). Maybe before I die, we'll have a hunt out on the Osage in the Tall Grass Prairie for the buffalo herd there. There's over 5000 out there right now.

[Loadrunner]

Walkercolt, what caliber T/C did you use? I shot a .44 T/C that I was considering purchasing from a friend...after the third shot it tore some skin loose on my thumb so I gave it back along with the rest of the box of ammo I had planned on using that day. I've used .44s before but always revolvers which are a lot heavier. The T/C had a kick that I can only describe as "violent."

[Walkercolt]

I was using a 30 caliber 1.5"/.308 wildcat cartridge for the turkey. It's nearly as hot as a .30/30 in a Contender.(It's a Super 14 barrel). It does back-up on a fella a bit! With the right bullet and my 3X scope, I wouldn't hestitate to try it on an elk out to 150 meters. I've shot a ton of silhouettes with it. If I do my part, it knocks the 50 lb. steel ram down at 200 meters everytime. Very simple "wildcat". Shorten a .308 to 1.5" overall, steepen the shoulder of the case from 20* to 30*, ream the necks and go. If Thompson made a .277 caliber barrel, the same case and a .277 bullet would be darn near heaven.

[bulldog426]

i'm in mississippi, and just recently they made it legal to put out corn during deer season, and i don't see much of a difference, i don't see any more deer or any bigger deer than what i would hunting the same areas in previous years, and in my honest opinion, putting out corn down here makes them older deer more spooky of going in the area, see less bucks during the day, get em on the game camera at night, and if you have it in a spincast feeder, or alot of times any feeder, forget it!! you won't see any bucks around that feeder.. i've had better luck hunting around the acorn trees during the fall.. all putting out corn is, is just something else there for them to eat, its no different than hunting around acorn trees, or a corn or soybean field, or a water source.. and as far as scents, and grunt calls, around here the woods are so thick, and the deer have so many travel routes, and 90% of the time that big buck isn't moving during the day, so you gotta do something to make him get up, and move and come to ya.

[69HemiGTX]

I'm from NW OK, and we have a lot of out of staters who own property there. There are also a lot of guides that work the area heavily. I've never baited, but I know feeders are legal. The guides will use feeders a lot to ensure their clients get a deer. Most clients are businessmen who only have a passing interest in hunting, and feel it's something they need to do at least once to be considered a man. I've actually heard that said from one before, but they all seem to fit the pattern. I have seen many does around feeders at dusk, but I wouldn't shoot one there. It just doesn't seem fair to me. As for bowhunting, I've never done it, but I've been reading about some bows and techniques in passing. Maybe someday.