A recent thread to which I posted has really provided some fodder for my consideration. Maybe I have just arrived at the age where I have become anti-technology. I hope not, but I do raise the question; have we become so obsessed in our fast paced world of immediate gratification that we have taken advancements in archery technology and hunting in general too far? Let me describe a scenario... An archer has a 25 acre parcel of land he would like to hunt. There is a little sign of deer on it but nothing really noteworthy. Undeterred, the hunter brings in a tractor, a chainsaw, a cultivator and some certain brand of seed, guaranteed to attract deer. Once the plot is established, he notices that many deer are now regularly visiting the site. Success! He then begins strategizing his stand locations. To do this, he purchases game cameras to be placed at each trail entering the field to determine which trails are being used most. Soon, he identifies each deer, some by whatever name he assigns them such as Blade, Droptime, Raggy, or whatever suits the description of the buck. He becomes so familiar with each bucks movement based on what he discovers on his SD card, sometimes even remotely with his Smart Phone. He soon knows the exact location, the exact time he should hunt, based on moon phase, temperature and a variety of other factors, all recorded on his cameras. Then he sits a stand and passes a 120 class 8 point because he knows, a 135 class 10 point will be here in exactly 7 minutes. He knows the deer is going to walk down a certain trail and where he will be when he gets to the preplanned spot to let an arrow fly. The bow he will be using is a technological marvel of composite limbs, constructed of high tech, nano fibers capable of reaching nearly sound barrier breaking performance. Sights, releases, drop away rests, sound dampeners and a variety of other innovations on miniature looking bows with giant oversize cams, make the shot almost anticlimactic. Arrows also made of carbon fibers, with broadheads with their exposed blades hidden in the body of the head, waiting to be deployed on impact with a deer’s flesh. I am being silly, but how far is too far? How much advantage goes beyond the intent of doing it the hard way? Gone are the days when archers had to tune and tweak and sharpen broadheads. Gone are the days when an archer would sit in a stand for days sometimes hoping for a single deer, any deer, to get close enough to offer a shot. Gone are the days when those who could take a buck using archery equipment were seen as legends in the woods. Were the old days better… were they worse? I can’t say, but I do just wonder where it will all end? At what point have primitive weapons gone too high tech? The list goes on… and I am thankful for the advancements but I just wonder if anyone else feels we may have missed something along the way?
Even with all of the advancements in equipment bow hunting is still very difficult. You still have to get within 30 yrds of your prey, draw without being detected and make a skillful shot on that animal. Don't get me wrong I know what you are saying but it still isn't easy
Interesting thought. Don't know if it could ever be that simple but you did mention an awful lot of work that went into that one shot. Don't think I'd call that easy. Another point is how much time do you have to hunt? Bottom line is we really don't need to. Enough businesses out there that can deliver food to your door. Who would you look up to more as a hunter? A guy living off the government hand outs that refuses to work but gets out and hunts everyday 10 hours to still hunt record deer with a recurve or, a surgeon that volunteer most of his weekends he has off helping under privileged kids but when he hunts twice a year it's with an outfitter? I think to each his own. I think just choosing to hunt with any bow is challenge enough.
I sort of get what you're saying, but think of all the time and work that went into the scenario you describe...is that any less of a challenge than the "good old days" ? Different kind of work, sure; but any less? I don't think so. To me, the "good old days" consisted of shooting for a month before season, till you were capable of hitting a paper plate on a haybale at 30 yards, going into the woods to "scout" 2 weeks prior to opening day to hopefully find where a crop corner intersected a woodline with maybe a couple of rubs and/or an apple tree, and then hanging a creaky unsafe stand in hopes that you might get a look at a deer to fling an arrow at. Thanks to QDMA, nowadays there are bigger herds, bigger bucks, and more opportunities. But, it's still a game of chance and no outcomes are guaranteed. Therefore, it's still Hunting. I think I like it better now.
Never has been easy... but it is much easier. I don't even think about the distance of most shots any more... and release aids have increased accuracy exponentially. Sitting in a stand with a picture of the deer one wants to shoot? I do think that is cool at some level but the more I think about it the more I wonder what happened to the joy of just being out there, wondering what you may see.. What about the guy who just pays someone to do it for him? He just shows up to kill something. I am not sure that is what Feed Bear had in mind. Again, I for one am thankful for the advances... I saw a quiver... a bow mounted quiver for 110.00. A sight can now cost well over 200.00. A dozen arrows, another 200.00. All claiming some technological advancement... but as was stated. 30 yards is still the standard for most hunters, though most of us can probably shoot better or as good at 50 today than we could at 20 yards back in the day of 50% let off bows and finger releases. Few made even easy shots without a lot of practice... now most break out the bow a couple days before the season and shoot pretty well.
Then why comment on the question? To the op. I think it has become easier to a point. Even with the cameras and better bows, you still need plenty of scouting time and practice. This relates to me well. I have land 2 hrs from me that I own. I cannot get down there enough to scout, and haven't been too successful down there. A friend of mine has land that he lets me hunt that is 30 mins from my place. I can get there with ease all summer long. I've seen more deer at the closer property, simply because I scouted it more. I have cams on both properties, but with the limited time I spend on my own, I don't get to really scout it effectively.
I think it would be hard to assume that no deer would be at least walking through a wooded or unplanted field so I don't think putting up a plot magically brings deer there. The deer are already there, the plot just provides food and an aid for inventory. The cameras help with night time scouting when "old fashioned glassing" would be impossible and they're also helpful because you have a lasting image. I don't see this as anything more advanced (minus the night time scouting ability that cameras have) because anyone can look at the weather and moon phase and scout with binoculars if they wish. Lastly, passing a 120" deer is simply a choice, I don't think hunting technology has anything to do with it. Deer management, property management, and the ability to encourage bigger deer are why people pass 120" deer. So I see what you are saying, but does it make sense to not use these tools simply to say that you hunted the "hard" way? What does one benefit with not utilizing new technology? As they say, work smart not hard - and even with all that, you still have to make the shot which technology has nothing to do with. Just my $.02
I have to say I'm on the fence about this issue. I love my new bow I love running trail cameras and hunting land I've found using the latest hunting App and feel confident in releasing an arrow at an animal I just sighted with my range finder so a very large portion of my hunting utilizes the latest technology. I start having a problem when it comes to certain things like ozonics machines and little devices that attach to your arrow that can be used to track down game that has been shot. Wether or not these things actually work is besides the point really, I for one hope that a whitetails senses cannot be beaten by the latest technology I don't want it to get to a point where you can do everything wrong and still kill an animal just because you bought the latest hunting gear. I don't know if that will ever happen but I certainly hope not. Even though I love a lot of the new gear I wouldn't be overly upset if game laws were passed outlawing all of it, I think I may still manage to kill a deer or two. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Been there done that-- Here now doing this... Based upon my experience alone I kill more deer now than then. Is it the advancement of my equipment, or the knowledge gained through the process of getting here now... Still a close range game of under 30 yards-- Check-- Deer noses are still the same and their best defense--- Check-- We have more deer now than then-- Check Easier it is not.. Tools to do it with are better --- yes.. Do they make me a better hunter -- no -- but a more efficient one--- Yes
Just got home from spot and stalk publicland.If I could what you said I would, no question. I shoot a PSE that was made last century with shop arrows that are carbon express 2nd's that are eleven years old may broad heads bought when bought arrows. So yes I would do it. You still have to hit the spot . Besides how many times have we patterned a nice buck only to have it disappear.
I remember when... If you wanted to shoot faster you had two options. 1. Increase draw weight. Not having to do this is a good thing because youngsters and women can now join us with bows that are easily capable of taking deer size game. Increasing draw weight meant developing muscles to pull 70 or more pounds, which meant practice, practice , practice. 2. Lighten the arrows. Overdraws were an option that led to lighter faster arrows. They were terribly hard to tune with large fixed broad-heads. It was simple physics; heavier arrows were harder to steer off course than lighter ones. The result, mechanicals... or expandables as they were first called. Good grief those bows shooting those light arrows were loud bows. Many put puff balls made of yarn on the string. I used the rubber bands in shock cord to make home made cat whiskers. Drop away rests are IMO the most important technological advancement in tuning and accurate shooting ever. They are so easy to set up compared to the old TM Hunter style rests... Those were an absolute pain, though I do see them still. There is no doubt, enormous technological advances have made shooting way easier and archery hunters far more successful. That's a good thing and its good that there are more people in the sport. I meet traditional guys from time to time that look down their nose at anyone using a compound so I definitely don't want to do that. The introduction of game cameras doesn't bother me as much as the concept that a buck is somehow not a shooter because we can go in once a week, month or whatever and see what is there without ever scouting for tracks, nibbled ends of branches, etc... The idea of turning down a shot at a buck that is not up to one's trophy standards is a personal choice, I agree. Turning down a shot that you would take but choose not to because you have a scouting picture taken at 2:00 in the morning while you were sleeping is a different matter. IMO (Not judging)
haha... I will be soon. Alabama changed our season, splitting it into a north and south zone. I live in the South zone... by 200-300 yards, so I have 10 more days on this side. (I am crossing the line tomorrow) But while I am bored... I get to regale you all with thoughts that are a "non-issue."
Here's where I stand on this topic. First off, I agree with almost everyone who has posted this far. No matter the advances in the technological field of archery and bow hunting, this will never be easy. With that said, I keep myself in the old days as much as I can and here is why. 1) I don't have enough money, while raising my family, to spend a couple grand on my gear. I tell myself this is the least important reason I still hunt the old fashioned way, but if I'm honest with myself... If I win the lottery the archery shop is probably one oft first stops. 2) I've been hunting the same property for the last 20 years and my dad hunted it for the previous 10 years before that. It's not a big property and has not changed much over the years. That means aside from a few subtle changes the patterns and "hot spots" don't change much from year to year. 3) I tell myself that this is the biggest reason. I want to continue to enjoy used in the woods no matter the outcome. I have so many buddies that scout year round and plant their food plots and run 2 dozen cameras and when the season finally rolls around and their notepads are full of plans and approaches things still don't work out. What happens then??? They get discouraged, they start to think that the land owes them something for their hard work. I can honestly say that I love spending time in the woods, every time, no matter if I'm successful or unsuccessful. I want it to stay that way which is why (for now) I'm still hunting in the "old days". Enjoy the woods folks.
All one has to do is try traditional for an hour to realize how far we have come. I wonder how many of us would continue hunting if all our modern technological toys were taken away? I sat on the ground tonight... made a make shift blind of sticks and vines. I didn't see anything... but I sure enjoyed the hunt under a canopy of falling acorns. Not that I want to abandon my tree stands (which I build myself) but I think it would be extra satisfying to take a deer from the ground without relying on technology.
SHort version: I call it a "non-issue" just based on the opinion that there is nothing whatsoever that dictates to us that we have to use any modern tech. I get the nostalgic element of what you're saying, I just don't get why anyone would be down on tech as a whole. {stop here if you don't like long reads} Long version: (because I'm waiting until time to go get in a stand) Hell, I couldn't care less if you went out and split and crafted your own longbow and strung it with gut or use a spear any more than I'd care if you invented a 1000fps ibo Co2 compression assisted compound as long as you don't wound and maim deer after deer or poach. Technology has not changed archery at all, archery is what it was when native americans stalked the prairies. People have changed a great deal though, we no longer hunt from a subsistence based need. We hunt for sport and to maintain a link to nature (mostly). Time is short that most of us have to spend on something that's a passion and not a necessity. ANy technological advantage available that strikes a balance between the nostalgic purism of primitive archery (subsistence hunter/gatherer lifestyle) and our modern needs/time restraints is going to be used by the majority. That in no way is a preventative from you or anyone else being a purist and going full out old school but it does create a lot of opportunity to be seen as hypocritical because at some point it's arguable that everyone is relying on a modern convenience in some form or fashion. Amish use phones and electricity, you drive your vehicle to get from home to your hunting spot, use electricity and modern medical care and so on and so forth. There is always a more primal level of life or practice that one can be nostalgic about, doesn't mean anyone really wants to be confined or restricted to those limitations again. I grew up hunting through these "technological advancements" from the late 70's through the 80's and 90's, I hunted through it all from recurves (dad's old hand me downs) to primitive compounds and every level of compound between then and now. I grew up and learned to scout visually, used the old trail timers and every generation of crappy trail cam in the same given time frame. I leaned to field dress and butcher game using full tang knives (again hand me downs from dad) and graduated to folders and folding box cutters to folders with replaceable blades and now back to full tang with gut hook and also a multi-tool with two knives and a gut hook. My point is that archery has not changed, I have. I could easily go back to some lessor level of tech like when I was a kid. Deer are the same, the farm is the same, I can go on ebay (<oops, more tech) and find a modern replica or an antique of the original recurve I shot growing up or I could pull out my kiddie compound bow I harvested my first deer with. Sure, I'll give up the comfort of my modern compound, it's still a <50 yard game, I still have to use the same prowess an Osage Indian used to get within that range no matter the equipment. I could gather up all my trail cams that take pics 24/7/365 and sell them. The deer are still going to travel the same areas and stick to the same seasonal changes, I'll just have a less informed management plan. I'll still limit myself to does and 5+ year old bucks but will have to accept the increased rate of error that comes with judging deer on the hoof during quick and limited encounters in the stand. You see where I'm going...the old tech is all still there, I've (we've) changed. It's not a bad or a good thing...it just is a thing. Good or bad is dictated by our personal opinions and experiences.
Very good post. I love the technical advances... but for some reason the new fangled gadgets bother me some. When I first picked up a bow... I would almost never see another hunter; maybe that's what I miss.
I see what you are saying but... do you not think that the bow of the good ol ' days was the best that they had? First what with rocks, then Spears then bows rifles and so on. What I'm saying is that technology has always been around. No matter how primitive it seems it's just the ways it is. Look at the any of the bows from the past they have changed. And we as human always want change. Just my 2 cents
