very good read, indeed! I wasn't alive in the 70's, but I can certainly say that in the last 15 years, i've already seen tons of improvements in the gear available. The only thing I see getting worse is available private land for hunting. Too many land owners are either getting paranoid or they're getting stingy...but the land is slowly going away (at least in my area!)
Interesting read. For me, I think it can be looked at in two entirely different lights. Is bowhunting better today? Depends on what you mean by better. If you mean the amount of deer harvested, or the number of bowhunters, then yes, its better. We're seeing more and larger bucks taken now than ever before. We're seeing the harvest numbers of deer in general increasing, populations increasing and a general healthier deer population. So yeah, you can definitely say its better from that position. However, IMO, hunting has gotten so mainstream these days, with all of the commercialization of hunting equipment, celebs, ranches, outfitters, etc., that some might argue that bowhunting is getting away from its roots. It's no longer hunting at its most basic form. The days of getting a bow together, some arrows and taking to the woods are few and far between. Now, we're all worried about high tech scent prevention, bows, arrows and other equipment. We're all worried about food plots, management practices, growing the biggest deer, scents, decoys, etc. The list could go on and on. I remember when I first started bowhunting, I was 13 years old. I had a hand-me-down Golden Eagle compound, aluminum arrows and a small camo folding chair. I would come straight home from school, get my hunting clothes on, grab my bow, chair and fanny pack and beat feet straight for the woods. I didn't so much as worry about scent, did I have the best equipment I could have, a treestand, etc. I just simply hunted. Some of the best memories I have of bowhunting are from that period. It was simple and I have to say, more fun in many ways. Dont' get me wrong, I love the new bows, technology and tactics we use today. I love bowhunting more now than ever. But it really does make me wonder sometimes if we're simply making things too complicated and are losing touch with the core of what bowhunting was meant to be.
muzzyman - I agree with what you said, but the way I look at it is that we do this to ourselves. Nobody is forcing us to buy new gear, hunt on a ranch, manage our deer herd, etc. If we really wanted to just pick up an old bow and hit the woods we could. Nobody is stopping us from doing that other than ourselves. A couple weeks ago I had about an hour and a half to kill after work so I snuck out for a quick hunt. I didn't have time to get all my gear ready, get my camera out etc. So I just grabbed my pants, jacket, bow and off I went. No pack, no binos, no calls, just me and my bow. Even though I didn't see a single deer it was probably the most relaxing hunt I've had this year. Although I'm not going to do that every time I go out, it certainly doesn't hurt to just let all of our self-imposed pressures go every now and again, and just enjoy the simple things.
The good ol' days where definitely the late 70's through the 80's in my area. Back before telecheck, when we had check stations and the camaraderie that surrounded them. Back before they stocked our area with lone stare ticks...brought in on the worthless turkey's. Back when we had 100,000+ acres off old mine land to hunt...now its all sold and leased up. We even had alot better deer numbers in my area back then. I still dream of the good ol' days from time to time.....but there long gone around here.
Justin, really good point bud. I struggle with this every now and then. I sometimes remember back to when I was just a kid with a bow and maybe a fanny pack. I miss those days and like you, every now and then I just do it and thoroughly enjoy the hunt and time in the woods. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do now, the preperations, the planning and strategy. But I too try to just forget about all that technical stuff and just hit the woods for the sake of hunting.
