At what point does a casual bow hunter turn into a weekend warrior? When does a weekend warrior turn into an avid bow hunter? What about the avid bow hunter in an obsessed bow hunter? Just a few definitions I would like to hear your responses on. I see such terms used a lot and want to know what the consensus is for defining them.
Good question. I am mainly only able to hunt weekends other than a 1 week vacaction I normally take the first part of Nov. I also like to hunt Thanksgiving and the Fri after. I guess I think of myself as an avid bow hunter.
Hm, interesting questions. I suspect definitions are going to vary greatly on this one. Here they are for me though. Casual bowhunter - the person that gets out when they have time now and then. They enjoy the sport but not enough to make sure they are in the woods every weekend. Weekend Warrior - the person whose work hours don't allow them to hunt during the week, but they make darn sure they're in the woods nearly every weekend. Bowhunting is a priority in their life, and they spend as much time in the woods as possible. Avid bowhunter - the person that hunts with their bow during firearms season, where allowed. They would rather hunt w/ a bow than firearm. To me, the weekend warrior and avid bowhunter are very closely related. Obsessed bowhunter - This is the big one. This person is either bowhunting at every available minute during the fall, or preparing in some way for archery season. This is the guy that's hanging stands in march and april, shed hunting, continually shooting and working on their equipment. Everything they do is done w/ archery season in mind.
Your answer is exactly why I asked this question.... Thank you. I know some guys who can really only hunt weekends.... But I do not consider them "weekend warriors" by a long shot. These tags that people label others are kinda bogus... I look forward to others responses. *edit* I really like the responces so far guys
Casual guy gets out MAYBE a few times a year...has a bow, practices maybe 5-10 times a year. Interests mainly lie elsewhere. Weekend Warrior takes it more seriously. Practices atleast a few months before season, hunts maybe half of weekends available to him. Many guys can't leave this stage simply due to family and work obligations, nothing wrong with that. Avid bow hunters take their stuff seriously. The usually are up to par with their equipment, practice year round, go to shoots in some cases, hunt as much as humanly possible without their life falling to shambles during season. They really truly enjoy bowhunting, and it is their main hobby. Obsessed bow hunters are as hardcore as they come. They again hunt as much as possible, usually are somewhat successful. They are uptodate with the industry and gear in most cases, most guys traveling to hunt seem to fall in this category. They definitely shoot year round, and a lot of which are crack shots. Bowhunting can define these people, as most of their time is consumed with it. Just my simple take on it. I'd fall somewhere in between Avid and Obsessed I think. I hunt as much as I can, but could hunt a lot more if I truly wanted to probably. I don't do 3-d or target shoots, and I don't constantly upgrade equipment. I buy a lot of gear, but once I have something...I usually don't feel the need to update it every year or in some cases even more often. I do go on trips to hunt places, some of which are more social outings than hardcore bowhunting, but the Alaska trip in the works just screams hardcore, and I hope I am up to the challenge.
I used to live much closer to where I hunt and had a job which allowed me to hunt almost every day after work. But, I actually consider myself to be a much better and more effective bowhunter now than I was back then. I now put more thought into everything I do since I have to make the most of the time I spend in the woods.
I think after we get to the heart of this matter, we should all personally define ourselves based on the majority's opinion of what constitutes each label. We should then embroider the definition that most closely resembles our hunting "work ethic" on our hunting hats so that everyone knows if we are a "casual" bowhunter, etc. Then as we begin to speak after defining ourselves, we should always be cognizant of who we really are so that we do not "step out of bounds" when talking about important hunting related matters. For example, if a "casual" bowhunter stopped in on a conversation about working hard all season to kill a deer, he should be reminded that he has no business in the conversation unless he turns into an "avid" bowhunter.
I see it as 2 categories: Hardcore... the guy or gal who give up there life to HUNT, and I don't consider talking about it on the internet, making dvd's, going to conventions, 3D shoots etc... even part of it. Then there's the rest of us who are obsessed with it!:d
Casual bowhunter- This could mean allot of things. Weekend warrior, Avid bowhunter, Obsessed bowhunter- These could all be the same person. I fit all of these myself. Some years my job doesn't allow me the time off to hunt as much as I normally would, does that make me not a serious bowhunter?? Other years I'm broke from taking too much time off to bowhunt.
Jeff, I don't care about being defined while hunting either. Many people go hunting to get away from the real world and all the bs that goes along with labels, definitions, and who is top dog(based on reality or perception). I agree with your quote Jeff: "I see them all as mindsets.....or how one approaches their hunting. I assign no inherent abilities to any of them."
Well put my friends! I for one hate to have a label put on any of it, kinda separates and divides, which is not good!
I think they are basically self induced titles. I'm all of the above, depending on what is going on in my pers. life. SB
I agree.... But, are you saying you have never called anyone a "hardcore" hunter or an "avid" hunter ever? I call BS if you say no. I am headed out to go shed'n. Catch you guys later. :d
Quite a philosophical bunch we have here ... All good descriptions, here's my take: What separates one from the other is how they approach their endeavor. A casual bowhunter would like to be successful (I use the term "successful" in relative terms b/c everyone has different goals) but if he can't do it without taking time away from family or other activities, then so be it. It's more important for him to be home for a birthday party or watch a big football game on TV than it is to be in the woods. Conversely, a more avid bowhunter will do what it takes to be successful no matter the costs. If it means skipping out on Thanksgiving dinner, driving several hours to hunt when the time is right while leaving the family behind or spending thousands of dollars on equipment, then that's what he does. Bowhunting is what he eats, sleeps and breaths and to him it is more of a do-or-die mission than a hobby. Nearly every waking moment is spent in some form or fashion preparing him for achieving his goal. It's what defines him, if he isn't successful, then he has failed in his mind. One is not better than the other, just different mindsets.
I work M-F 8-6pm, no weekday hunting for me unless its a holiday or I take a vacation day. I usually hunt every weekend morning and evening until I kill a buck. I'm not a weekend warrior IMO, I put more time in scouting, shed hunting, glassing etc than most hunters that I know. Hunting isn't the #1 priority in my life, but it plays a big role from October thru December.
I never really put much thought into different classifications of hunters. I really only concern myself with how and why I hunt. You'll notice that I didn't insert the word "Bow" in front of the word hunt(er). I mainly hunt deer and turkeys and any time that I'm in the woods whether or not I have a gun or bow in hand or I'm shed hunting, scouting, hanging stands, roosting turkeys........ I call it hunting. Seeing as how I spend at least 80% of my vacation time and the majority of my free time to pursue these activities, I feel that I am, at least, an avid hunter.
I seriously cannot define a hunter by those standards. Jeff's response was most accurate to how I feel.. and I think spot on. If I was to define a hunter it would go more like... ..talented hunter ..stupid hunter ..lazy hunter ..good hunter ..girl hunter ..Peakrut:d (c'mon i keed i keed) ..you get the picture. :d
I too like Jeff's definitions. Back in the day I would have considered a weekend warrior to be casual. But then I met many more people and landed a job that relegated me to being one, and I realize just how wrong I was. I also agree 100% that obsessed has NOTHING to do with skill.
When a hunter goes on this site every night, they are obsessed with bowhunting! (Like me!) Seriously, I hunt when every I can, which is every available day. I also take about 1 month off of work to hunt. I sit and sulk on Sundays because New Jersey has NO HUNTING on Sundays! Stupid law. And, I daydream about hunting. That pretty much makes me obsessed with it. However, I tell my friends, it's not about killing the animal; it's the planning, scouting, strategy, and preperation that makes it all come together into one great lifestyle!
