I have been reading up on lots of bowhunters in the hall of fame, and I have to say that Chuck is pretty sick with his achievements. I mean I know he is the guy now that the industry may consider to be the best, but I do believe he has his place amongst Bear, Hill, Schafer, and the likes....now let's not get into the trad vs compound thing, all that aside, does he fit in with those guys? why or why not? I say yes. he's pretty impressive with the 5 world records!
I've always wondered why he isn't/hasn't been marketed more? He was always in Easton magazine ads, and I've recently seen him on Block ads, but thats about all that stick out in my mind. Can't argue with his success, though.
If you haven't read Super Slam and Life at Full Draw, you should. Both really good books that get you a little closer to what makes him tick. He most definitely deserves to be mentioned with the greats of bowhunting.
To be honest In my opinion no. Do you actually think Adams just goes to any public land and stumbles across these world records he's shooting? His eye's aren't the only ones hunting.
Exactly Steve, that's why the accomplishments of John Eberhart and others like him hold more stock in my mind.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a whitetail fanatic and a fan of Eberhart, but comparing him to Chuck Adams is almost comical. Many forget exactly what Chuck accomplished. It had NEVER been done. There aren't many firsts in hunting these days. And read the books I referenced above, most of his hunts were in fact DIY. I never understood what people had against Adams. Is it because he was Easton's poster boy? So you wouldn't hunt for a living if you could? I've always found him down to earth considering his accomplishments.
I'm not diminishing what Adams has done, but I'm just saying MY opinion is that Eberhart's experience of successfully hunting pressured public land is more impressive to me. When you're talking about the upper echelon of hunters, it's more of a "which girls is the prettiest" comparison. They're all good hunters in their own right.
Records and such don't do much for me. Eberhart's ability to kill older bucks in heavily hunted areas in a state that doesn't have many older bucks is impressive to me. I respect him as much as any bowhunter out there. To answer the original question, I put Chuck Adams in the category of guys who have a lot of opporunities. That's not a dig on him as he worked hard to create those opportunities. Nothing wrong with that. It doesn't impress me as a hunter, but I would bet Chuck is just fine with that.
He is right at the top of my list. Everything I have ever read about him tells me he is a DIY'er. He may seem controversial at times but I think that comes from him saying EXACTLY what he feels and not sugar coating it. From what I've always read, he answers questions in the manner he feels is truthfull and doesn't care if that's what someone else wants to hear or not. I could be very wrong but the things that I have read have told me that he is pretty down to earth, works hard, saves money to go on nice trips and saves alot of money on these trips by not having GUIDED hunts. To my knowledge he doesn't have companies paying his way on hunts so they can get his kill on film. I am no expert and don't claim to have read a ton of books on any one particular archer but I have read a few things on Chuck and he does get my respect as being one of the best...not saying that should hold true for anyone else's opinion just mine. Just to throw another name in for my list is Bobby Worthington from Tenn. Not in the same category yet but I respect him and love to read his articles...just my .02 :d
I read his book while in the treestand over a few days about 3 years ago..I loved the book. It just reconfirms that hunting success is usually due to a positive mindframe and a large amount of hard work.
Chuck in the old days from what I have read was just like you and me, only with much bigger goals/ambitions. He was taking out loans at the bank in order to pay for traveling expenses there in the last leg of his super slam. He paid for his hunts (the ones requiring guides), and did MANY of them do it yourself. He has well over a hundred of record book quality animals, and broke a few world records. And for YEARS, he wasn't one to plaster his face everywhere. Just getting it done. Recently, it seems he only hunts the mega ranches or outfitters of the west, and has his name on everything from scentlok, rangefinders, scent sprays, bows, etc. Not that I can blame him, I would go for the money as well; it just changes his demeanor imo. To say no one has ever scouted an animal for him is a down right misconception. Has anyone ever had a bull pinned down to the t with scouts following it as Chuck flew in to kill it? Probably not. Has ranch owners called him to say they have a 400+ running around and it would be worthwhile if he came out and hunted their outfit? Better believe it. It puts an outfitting business on the map for good when a name like Chuck Adams or Waddell kills a megabull on their land or on their watch. Chuck seems like a guy who was almost a half nut for attempting to do what he did, and later in life had to change direction to continue hunting for a living and actually MAKING a living. I can't see how anyone holds it against him. The people MOST consider the best hunters of all time have nowhere near as impressive of a resume as Chuck does, and Chuck did much of his hunting DIY or actually paying for a guided hunt just like you or I would. Not much better could have been done.
I have to say the super slam has to give him some credit , plus the 5 world records. Those things can't be disputed, no matter how he has done it...hell take away my private land, and I would be deerless right now...yep, I have taken over 80 whitetails on private or leased property, is that an advantage? you bet. but it is one I will take every time. most of us on here hunt private or leased land and that's the way wewant it....kudos to those who get it done on public land....you are way better than me!
Your right on Trevor with this statement and there also was a big controversy over this when that bull went down In Montana. I know there's other hunts too that others had already located animals but I can't honestly say how many there actually Is. Reasons such as this are why I don't put him In the same class as others. In saying what I said though a guys still gotta make that shot count, the guy must have nerves of steel and either way you look at It he's got some great hunting knowledge. The one thing that I don't see him doing ever Is sticking his chest out saying look at me, at least I haven't seen him do that anyway.
All of the guys that have kill a lot of different animals and put them in books used guides at one time or another. And that goes back to Hill and Bear too. You only need two things to go on a slam quest, which is the Time and money. You also cannot go all over North America and hunt areas that you know nothing about and expect to kill P&Y animals. You need a guide or a local to help you. Unless you have nothing but time to learn the area. I do not believe that as long as you hunt fair chase on open range animals that using a guide or a local to help put you in the right place takes away from accomplishment of Chuck or any other hunter. I was huning in the same area as Chuck when he was whitetail hunting in Neb many years ago. He scouted for almost a week before putting up a tree stand. With in two day of hunting Chuck kill a P&Y buck. By the way we where hunting on public ground. The guy has skills………………
