Find a place to hunt. Take your bow and arrows and head into the woods. Look for something to kill. No worrying about whether baiting deer is ethical. No worrying about shooting the greatest bow on earth. No worrying about the moon phase. No worrying about wether shooting your urine on the ground or the smell of the tobacco in your mouth and what it might spook. No worrying about Rage broadheads. No worrying about wearing the latest greatest camo outfits. No worrying about someone else killing a 150 inch buck while you may only have a shot at something half that size. Is it that simple or do you get caught up in the middle school hallway type stuff? I mean to me it is that simple b/c I could give a darn less.
I hit the woods for enjoyment and relaxation- I shoot the right deer for me and no one else - I enjoy shooting does as much as bucks and my equipment choices are what I can afford and enjoy - I don't bash others and have no time to argure about rage Pretty basic here rubber boots, good camo, sharp broadheads, safe stand and thats it no hype here
Here Here Brk....I am not saying people should not be serious about what they do, because I am, I am just saying I am not worried about what YOU do or things out of my control. Call me out b/c I am in a chessy mood today but for some reason I think more in pictures than I can express in words.
yep couldn't agree more - have taken a simplistic route for years and just now getting into aerials and maybe a little topo-look at the older photos no camo there only plaid - but can't look cool in plaid
I hunt the way that makes me happy, thats all i know. Never heard it refered to as "middle school hallway" though...
Jeff, I am about using technology as well, not judging anyone on that....I am just saying when I hit the woods I don't think about anything negative or worry about what other people do. I just flashed the pics to get sense of peacefullness and trying to figure out the very reason we hunt. I don't care if peope use rifles, shotguns, crossbows, mechanical heads...I DO NOT care. Siman, I said middle school hallway b/c I think we all get too worried about what others do. I am not worried at all about what others do.
A hunt based only on trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be...time to commune with your inner soul as you share the outdoors with birds,anmials,and fish that live there---(Fred Bear) I wont say that i dont take part in moder day accories but i NEVER spend outside my means and dont buy into hype. I hunt with what works for me.
Maybe what I am trying to say is, once the hunt starts, what is there to worry about? I think I approached sports like this as well....I practiced hard and did whatever it took prior to the game. Once the game started I didn't get caught up in all hoopla and bs. I just enjoyed the moment. I mean, can you shoot at an animal and hit it in the vitals at 20-30 yards?
And I am not saying don't worry about things that are IMPORTANT. Things like Billy Bob tromping through the woods to mess up a hunt just "cause" is bs. Ronnie Johnny using X brand broadhead or worrying about everything from someone shooting a 1.5 year old buck to not using X brand bow because it is too cheap is not important. Sure it is cool dicuss things as I like to all the time. I just find it funny that we talk about crap on here that gets 100 posts and then someone posts a thread about something important like hunting near X food source and it gets 4 responses.
Its easy to look back and say that you hunt "your own way", but in reality... most people don't. Wether it is the guys you look up to on the hunting boards, or t.v. celebs, maybe authors... most people have influences on how they hunt. For me, this was a problem for several years. I became ingulfed in shooting the latest/greatest equipment, doing everything how the "pro's" do it, and try to find and shoot the biggest bucks that I could.... but in the end it wasn't for me. Anymore I don't want to put more into archery hunting than I could get back. I want my experience to be totally relaxing and enjoyable. I honestly don't care about the wind one bit.... hardly ever use scent killer spray... never wash my clothes or store them in scent proof containers... and I never avoid hunting a stand because of the wind. For me, I just want to pick a tree that I like, not worry if it is the best tree, and I want to enjoy my sit on stand. I will say that I am spoiled as the deer I hunt are use to daily interaction with humans and scent isn't really a concern for them. I am also not one to jump onto the "age/maturity" band wagon.... to me, if you kill a buck at 2.5 he is still the exact same deer at 4.5. Yea, he has a couple years under his belt, and he maybe more warry, but plain and simple... that is the same deer. If he makes me happy at 2.5, I am not going to risk it and try to tag him at 4.5. I always get a kick out of the "maturity" talk when it comes to big bucks.... most guys talk about age being the #1 factor in killing a buck when about 99.9995% of guys determine that based on antlers. As far as gear goes.... I still update my bow every 1-2 years.... not because I buy into the advertising, but simply because it gives me something to tinker with during the off-season. I know that my first true bow (a early to mid 1990's Browning Mirage dual cam) would still get the job done every single time I used it. The biggest thing that I have noticed lately is the explosion of the treestand market. I can remember back when API/Ol'Man were battling it out for treestand supremacy.... that went to API vs. Summit.... then Summit vs. Lone Wolf.... now Lone Wolf vs. Muddy. I kind of laugh everytime as I think back to the 15 page posts about which of the old stands was better.... now they are pretty much regarded as an afterthought. The marketing in bowhunting... along with the pressure to kill the biggest racked buck... is killing the sport. I remember back in 2000 or 2001 when I signed up for HNI and how drasticaly different the atmosphere was then. Nobody really talked about age structure, herd dynamics, home range, or anything of the sort.... we simply talked hunting. Those were the days......
"Those posts usually have someone in them saying basically "I use this, and I do it this way. And you're a dumbass if you don't also"." Agreed.
I guess you have said something better than I could say it myself in my own thread a few weeks ago. I have stated I will not go to my land until opening day this year. My unlce calls when he is glassing telling me what he sees and I get so wound up I feel like I gotta go drop a deuce. I love it that much, but I am that guy in the tree worried about how our "stupid" neighbors are spooking off all the big bucks I would kill if it was not for them, and I am that guy pissing and moaning about the poachers and tresspassers (metro lease bordering subdivision, etc...) This year I want to NOT, I REPEAT, NOT be that guy...I want to be the guy who goes out and enjoys every hunt, not the one mad as a hornet because I lagged around the house and now I am climbing the tree at sunrise instead of an hour before it. I just want to be the guy who is thankful for each day God allows me to get up, kiss my wife and daughter, and go sit in a tree. I know it's cliche, but so what.
Great pics guys, I often wish I could go back in time and live just a month as an American pioneer. That was a hard life, and the core of our hunting roots.. and the native Americans of course.. I am really interested in native american history, especially their hunting tactics. Its cool to learn about the native americans that lived in my area and how/what they hunted.
Nope, it's not quite that easy for me... Don't get me wrong I get total enjoyment out of what I do. It's not so much worrying about the camo, the bow, the... whatever. It's about finding the "right" place to hunt, making sure that my bow and arrows are behaving, and finding the animal I want to kill. My toughest decision is which crossbow to take to Iowa. :D That more closely resembles the philosophy I take when I go fishing (which I don't take nearly as seriuosly)... Find a place to fish, take my rod and tackle, find some fish to catch.
Dubbya, I hear ya. I am not acting like I just wake up and walk out in the woods without showering, nor taking the right path into my set-up, etc. I am just saying, I don't get caught up in a bunch of bs like some of the things I described above. Because when it is all said and done, it is all bs. Being prepared prior to the hunt is paramount. Being too involved in things mentally out of our control is a negative charge that sucks the life out of our well-being and hunting enjoyment. MichelP--I hear you man. Do any of you have any good hunting books that get you back into the "spirit" of hunting?
Find a place to hunt. Take your bow and arrows and head into the woods. Look for something to kill. Try as you might you can never boil anything down to this kind of simple statement. We all view each decision or action in infinitely variable shades of grey. It's as unique as our DNA. Right vs. wrong, good vs. bad, all varying degrees. You have to draw the line somewhere. What one person sees as simplicity, another might see as unethical. For instance, "Find a place to hunt. Take your bow and arrows and head into the woods. Look for something to kill." I say that if you haven't practiced and made sure your broadheads are sharp, and don't know exactly where the neighboring properties boundaries are, and shoot the first moving thing that comes your way... yeah, you're unethical. You want simple like the pioneer days, quit you job, spend 5 years learning how "simple" it is to locate, track, and kill a deer with primitive weapons because it's the only way you are going to survive. It quickly seems less "simple" doesn't it. They worked 10 times harder than even the worlds most successful bowhunter Chuck Adams.... Don't get me wrong, I try to keep it as simple as I can, and I agree that there's a ton of Middle-school hype infiltrating bowhunting, but I also think that there are just as many people who have the same romantic middle-school feelings of how nice and simple things where back in the day. Sorry, I agree with a lot of what's being said, but If you say its that simple, I'm going to throw the BS flag... I'm not putting you down or saying I'm right, this is just where I'm drawing my grey shaded line.
Brett, were you asking me if I had any good books, or just general question for the board? I have none and would like to hear if you or others do...good thread.
