Ok so Im sure Im gonna piss some people off with this thread and maybe thats kinda my point. Here goes.
I was just reading some responses to a thread on baiting when it occurred to me how many people on here are convinced that the way they do things is necessarily the best way. I am lumping all comments on that thread with hundreds Ive read on here and gathered from people Ive met in the WA woods.
There is a big big feeling like still hunting is the most noble form of hunting in the woods today. Its clearly the 90+% answer for big game hunters on this forum . Let me tell ya, ya might wanna reconsider that as the best answer to proving EXPERTISE in hunting.
Ive heard lots of even the more "experienced" hunters on here talking bad about baiting, treestand hunters, food plot hunters, and the like.
Well, heres a shot back! Theres a whole lot of hunters here in WA and on this forum that are HOPE HUNTERS in my opinion. You can call them ACCIDENTALLY ELITE hunters too...Ill know exactly what ya mean. They don't have a strategy or a game plan other than "Im gonna walk 20 miles today..see a lot of land and hope something hops out in front of me". Is that a strategy? Sure Is it even effective? Sure
Is that the measure by which Im gonna strive? Hell No!
Heres my thing, ...is HOPE HUNTING more complicated or refined than say tree stand hunting? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
In a tree stand, I can shoot about 45 yards in any one direction... Now, that means even if Im in a huge field I
have to guess where the deer is gonna walk through this 200 mile wood within 90 yards at best and thats rarely ever the case. I normally have a shooting lane or two...this one is 23 yards and that one is 17 yards. Thats it in a big big damn set of woods. Thats a pretty small margin of error with no chance of readjusting...relocating...ect. If ur wrong ur wrong and theres no 2nd chance..at least this hunt.
I digress.
My point is... Why is it that still hunters feel like they are the most elite hunters? Because they walk a long way?
Let me tell ya, I am an Infantry soldier and I could bring ya 1,000 NON-HUNTER men that can walk 30 miles in one day with a rifle and 40 pounds on their backs. If I have them do that in the entiat or some other big animal backwoods in WA and also tell them to shoot any big deer, bear, or elk they see....
Does that mean they ELITE hunters the first time they get out in the woods and shoot something because they walked aways up the road before they ACCIDENTALLY ran across a decent animal?
I say NO. They were good hikers that got lucky.
Sound like a BS example? Its not just an example. At my office at work, Ive got pics of my animals. People all the time ask me to teach them to hunt. I always tell them I will after they get a license. 3 did. They had never ever hunted but all 3 were Infantry soldiers...meaning they can ruck (hike with packs and weapons).
I knew stand hunting is hard to teach so I took all three HOPE HUNTING. They were all afforded legal shooting opportunities. That means with a first or 2nd time ever hunting... behind a logging gate 10 miles in... they ACCIDENTALLY ran into game. How many of you still hunters are ready to call them equals as hunters?? Ill wait for the list to pile up full of still hunters that say these guys are just as good at hunting as they are.
Now, there "can be" a difference between hope hunting and still hunting.
....still hunters that have a strategy including cutting off animals between bedding and feeding or whatever...then ur now getting closer to true hunting....rather than hoping.
Walking to a high point where you can see a long way to glass and make 300-400 yard shots.... = HOPE HUNTING augmented by 800$ binos and 20x power ultra mags. That isn't trickier nor does it require more skill than stand hunting with a bow. Anyone wanna take that challenge with me next year we can go head to head and Ill loan you a stand if you loan me the 800$ binos.
Ive heard lots of WA hunters telling me that black tails and elk cant be patterned... BULLSH*T .Ive done it time and time again this year. Ive sat and watched deer and elk day after day walk under my stand. The same deer and elk over and over. Sounds like to me they can be patterned and if I had 10 tags I could have filled them from a treestand on deer or elk. These hunters are either too impatient or lack the understanding of their prey to figure out a precise game plan.
These people say stand hunting doesnt work here...Yet Ive seen on here and even more in the woods that have still hunted themselves right into a unsuccessful year of cow elk hunting and no deer in the freezer.
Strategy driven still hunting which has a specific game plan which factors wind, bedding, feeding, travel routes, escape routes, ect. into the plan... is very respectable.
Walking 27 miles along a logging road behind a gate...HOPING to ACCIDENTALLY see and shoot a big animal requires no skill and IS NOT "HUNTING" to me. Its hiking with a gun and fingers crossed! And Ill do that with you as soon as you admit thats not a complicated game plan and it doesnt take 20 years of Elite hunting experience to do it.
Any way,
I said it on the other thread Ill say it again.
HUNTERS HAVE TO SUPPORT HUNTERS!
-still hunters
-stand hunters
-bait hunters
-hound hunters
-hope hunters
-spear hunters
-accidental hunters
-ect
Theres lots of ways to hunt. I dont do lots of those ways. If you are respecting the game animals and the laws...I support you even if thats not how I do it.
I suggest many of you wake up, evaluate ur stance that ur way is the only way or the best way and realize its just a way. Its a technique... and maybe not the preferred technique.
Stop judging other hunters. Stop being so damn sure ur way is the best way or the only way. Ill see you in the woods!
PS- theres a good chance Ill see you and you wont notice me 27 foot over ur head...and maybe asleep in my tree stand...lol
dave
