Are you a hunter or a shooter?

[yorketransport]

As opening of deer season approaches, I'm realizing that I'm really not that excited about hunting. I just want to get out with one of the new "hunting" guns that I built in the last year. The more I think about it the more I find that I really only hunt so that I have a reason to get a new gun.

This got me to thinking that I'm really just a shooter who hunts more than a hunter. I'm curious how others would classify themselves. Are you a hunter, shooter, shooter who hunts, or hunter who shoots?

Andrew

[Pazn25]

Definately a hunter, if I get the chance to shoot then its a bonus.  I just love the good times out chasing and learning the animals.  Dont get me wrong, I love shooting too.

[washelkhntr]

Hunter. If I want to shoot I'll go to the range.

[boneaddict]

hunter
I'm actually to a point where I don't really care to shoot anything except with my camera.

[turkey buster]

hunter definatly, I dont go out shooting no whare near what I should be doing

[woodman]

Hunter, definitely have passed on shots that I could have taken.

[machine]

Both,shooting and collecting guns is what got me into hunting.

[JackOfAllTrades]

Hunter, but I haven't passed.. (well OK, I have passed on shots that I probably could have been successful at)  I challenged myself with pistol for several seasons. Some successful, some not quite so, (but if I had rifle in hand, I think I'd have been more successful more than once).  Just last month I passed on a dandy Bear. I was happy to sip on my water and watch him. Do I pass on Deer? Not intentionally. I love the taste of venison. My weekness. As I get older, I'm trying to appreciate the finer experiences I come across in the wilderness. I'm trying to better myself as a hunter, and as Doug switches to shooting with camera, he could still say, 'gotcha' in many cases I'll bet.

Shooter, in that I appreciate working up the load to be the most accurate that the gun can muster out. Shooter as a competitive pistol shooter; I also wring out the most accuracy I can from my 45acp (capable of less than 2 1/4" at 50yds from a 5" barrel) -with a little fine tuning of the gun and a bunch of load development, and my rimfire pistols (capable of less than 1 1/4" at 50yds).

I'm a hunter that shoots. I'm a shooter that hunts. I'd like to think of myself as a conservationist. (workin on it)

-Steve

[saylean]

Hunter for life.

[BlackRidge]

I think outdoorsman should be another option 

I'm a shooter in the off season, technically a hunter now, but am more looking forward to taking the time off work and spending every minute in the field.

If I tag something this year, I'll be ecstatic, but it won't ruin my experience any. Just make it better if it works out

[bowhunterforever]

Hunter for life.

X2 The gun

[rasbo]

sounds weird but a hunter,Im getting to where harvesting an animal isnt as important as  getting close enough to shoot one is,if that makes sense...I just love the pursuit,and i really get a lot of satisfaction watching somebody else get one,or assisting..

[ICEMAN]

Hunter. I am at the phase where I am trying to pass along my hunting tradition to my kids. So far so good! Personally, I don't need to shoot a deer or elk every year, but I love that steak in the freezer... so 

I can go all hunting season without firing a shot and still enjoy every day of the hunt.

[FALFire]

Mostly, I'm a shooter, always have been. I used to look forward to deer hunting every year but since I have relocated to an area that is loaded with deer (mostly does it seems) I really appreciate watching the wildlife more than hunting them. Yes I will still occasionally take a deer for the meat but I'm certainly not a rack hunter when I do, it is strictly for the meat.

Now, on the other hand if we are talking coyotes, weeeeell then, I go after them most anytime and in most any situation or conditions. I absolutely love predator calling, trying to outsmart old Wiley is a hoot. Plus, I believe, that every coyote I kill, I prevent the loss of perhaps one or two deer or a ranchers calf or lamb, maybe a dozen or more pheasant, ducks or quail. To me, coyotes are a real challenge to hunt 

[jeepasaurusrex]

"Hunting is the act of finding something. Killing is the final goal."
I guess I'm a killer. 

Kind of like how they call it fishing instead of catching. 

[Big10gauge]

After 49 yrs of hunting I just want to be in the woods or out in the sagebrush, it's getting easier every year to pass up shots and just watch. We do try to get a couple of deer each year or a elk just because we like making our own sausage, otherwise I'd be out shooting predators. I actually spent more time hunting predators during archery elk this year than elk. So I guess I'm a hunter than occasionally shoots? Now like Falfire said, coyotes are whole different ballgame. I've spent the last 2 months just working up a load for my new 20 tactical AR, once I find the load I want I figure to load up about a 1000 rounds. I think that puts it in the shooter list. 

[grundy53]

HUNTER. i live for the hunt.

[WDFW-SUX]

hunter who shoots.

I shoot alot...

[KimberRich]

Definitely Hunter.

I don't shoot near as much as I probably should to be classified as a "shooter".  Don't get me wrong.. I load most my own ammo and hit the range a little but I'm personally happy with 1.5" groups from my deer gun and would rather spend more time in the woods than at the range.   

[CMG]

Hunter - That's the only time I shoot. I like to put meat in the freezer, but it's not a must for survival.   

[alecvg]

Hunter.  I love shooting guns, and reloading ammo.  But I get really bored of the range, and of shooting.  I much rather be calling geese into decoys, or glassing a big muley working his does.  I am a hunter.

[hunterofelk]

Hunter, but the shooting and reloading is a hobby. 

[Kent Hunter]

I've gone 180 degrees as I've gotten older. When I was young I was a "hunter" period. Now I would say I'm a "shooter" who likes to hunt. Dad always pounded it into me that "hail mary" shots at long distances just were not the right thing to do. ALWAYS try and make a one shot clean kill or DON'T pull the trigger!
 Now days when I hunt, it's all about accuracy. That's where I get my thrills. I don't look for long distance shots, but when the animal and conditions are right, I get a real thrill of settling in and taking my time and putting that bullet right where I want it. As I've gotten older I enjoy going to the range and just shooting also. When I was young I would go to the range just before deer season and shoot maybe four or five rounds just to make sure my rifle was still "on".

[Jamieb]

Both.
10 months of the year I'm a shooter that hunts yotes. 2 months of the year I'm a hunter, some years I bow hunt deer and elk so for a couple of months I might not shoot a rifle at all.

[quadrafire]

hunter
I'm actually to a point where I don't really care to shoot anything except with my camera.

OK   No more dead animal pics


Except from your daughter!

[woodswalker]

Hunter, but the shooting and reloading is a hobby. Outdoorsman too...I LIKE getting out in the weeds and just letting the life pressures sliiiide off. 

[bow-n-head]

I only shoot because I need to to hunt. I should shoot more.

[Lightning_Rider]

Hunter who fully enjoys and appreciates shooting as well!

[Annette]

OK, I'll bite    I'm a shooter. I can tell because I love to shoot pinecones, targets, dirt banks, small game and large game....love it all and I shoot all year around.    yup...I'm a shooter
Annieoakleaf   

[RockChuck]

  I am a shooter/Meat Hunter

[yorketransport]

It sounds like the hunters have us shooters out numbered. I was thinking back over the last 14 years that I've hunted, and all of the animals that I didn't shoot. In fact I've only actually fired one shot at a big game animal. That was a doe that I took 2 years ago with a Contender. Every year I see animals, I just don't shoot. I don't need the meat, in fact my wife and my 8 year old daughter are vegetarians. My son and I are the only ones in the house who will even eat venison. It's not like I had a hard time finding people to take the extra meat off my hands though.

For me hunting is just a social event. It's a walk in the woods with friends, with the possibility of seeing an animal. I started hunting with my dad and one of my brothers when I was 15. By the time I was 19, my brother was married, my dad's health was going down hill, and I was in college. Hunting alone just wasn't fun, so I didn't hunt for 2 years. I didn't miss hunting but I did miss the time spent with my dad and brother. That's when I got into shooting. I could go to the range and be with a group of folks I had something in common with. When I got married I started hunting again with my father-in-law who would fall into the "hunter who shoots" category. Between the two of us we make the ultimate hunting team. I get the guns dialed in and handle the shooting side of things, and he does the hunting. The funny part is that we've never taken an animal when were were hunting together. The year I got my doe I went out alone on opening day becuase he couldn't make in out. I shot her that evening. He got his 2pt the next weekend.

I wasn't even planning to buy a deer or elk tag last year until my son (5 years old at the time) asked if he could come with me. I'd be a fool and a failure as a parent to turn him down. So now I hunt because that's what the boy wants to do. I suppose that my passion for hunting will  pretty much depend on my son now.

Andrew

[coachcw]

I'm a hunter , even when gun hunting I bow hunt. It will take a masher to make me light the candle ( that means any buck over 130 lol).

[runamuk]

If I ever shoot at something other than paper, targets, cans, golfballs or stumps I will let you know which I am 

[timberghost72]

Hunter-Shooter hum.. well this point in my life its kind of split 50/50  so I guess that makes me a Hooter   Actually I don't get out to hunt as much as I like. Mostly just a week for deer and maybe a few days of elk. Hopefully this year I will get out and find a bear and or cougar. I also want to go for coyote a bunch with my .223 after elk. Need to find a partner for that.

[carpsniperg2]

i get more of a kick out of watching everyone else hunt and shoot deer then myself. when i am hunting i pass a ton of bucks up. knowing i could have shot that buck is a rush to me in itself. it takes a toad to get me to go into green light mode. last day or 2 i will take a nice buck. so i am more of a hunter then a shooter. but for elk i am a shooter  i don't get very many chances at them. so if a legal elk is standing infront of me, its going down i love elk meat

[EastWaViking]

Hunter, in a normal year, I'll pass on 25-40 close shots on decent bucks.

[Wanttohuntmore]

Definitely a Hunter.  When the season is on, I do all I can to be in the woods.  The rest of the year, I could be shooting, but don't shoot as often as I should.  However, I do enjoy shooting long range.  I get a kick out of hitting things at long range, whether it's a pellet gun at 50 yards, a 90 yd archery shot at a weed on a dirt bank, or a 500 yd shot at a pine cone in a dirt bank.  But if I had to, I'd hunt with a spear, and enjoy every minute of stalking my game.

[jaymark6655]

Both I love to shoot.  Reload my own stuff, try to put at least 50 rounds downrange a month.  Looking to try more long range shots 1000+ yards, but during hunting season I hang up my rifles and take out my bow.  I like having a longer season to be out in the woods and the challenge of having to get close for the shot.

[KillBilly]

1st  - HUNTER ...............I love the challenge
2nd - SHOOTER..............I enjoy shooting my guns
3rd - Harvester...............If hunting and shooting go well, then I am doubly pleased but never disappointed

[SCRUBS]

hunter
I'm actually to a point where I don't really care to shoot anything except with my camera.

I feel the same way boneaddict. It`s nice to hear others are to that point. I do still like to eat them though

[Wyoming08]

I love to go out Hunting with my son, and I have loved to see him Shoot 3 Deer over the last 4 years. In that time I have killed 1 decent Bench buck, and I missed a HUGE Muley over in Wyoming.  After which I could have shot a dozen 2 points. SO I ate tag soup. No big deal. This year I would really like to shoot a good Buck, and will probably pass on anything smaller. Cody ( My son)  is thinking that he will hold out for a good buck this year as well, but he still could put a few more bucks on his belt, so we'll see after this weekend. I just LOVE to be out in the outdoors and enjoy the mountains. The thrill, and thought of the hunt intrigues me more than the kill does, but I love the thought of seeing a BIG MULEY on the hillside opening morning and that is what drives me crazy weeks before the opener. Good luck everyone this weekend. Shoot straight! 

[uplandhunter870]

i would class myself as a shooter who hunts, but loves to hunt. in hunting i love the thrill of the chase, trying to figure out where and when the animals will move and how to best try and outsmart them. but im addicted to shooting, in High school i made myself known for being THE trapshooter, i love reloading and building/disecting loads, learning trajectories, environmental effects on rounds, optics, and have a wierd fetish with shotguns in the 6 figure plus price range (i dont own any that expensive but love looking at them they are art in my eyes)

above all else i love all the hard work and determination that it takes to become a great shot, and when i did a lot at ATA shooting i thought it was the greatest compliment to hear someone say as i walked by "hey thats Steve Mylastname, that kid is one heck of a shot", it may sound egotistical but it was proof in my mind that all my hard work payed off.

[phishisgroovin]

so far in the last couple seasons i have been hunting (since not hunting in years), i have been a HIKER carrying my firearms around and watching chipmunks and friggin birds squawk while thinking about all the money i have WASTED on a washington hunting license and tags due to too many regulations on the animals we can harvest and how we harvest..

And that damned Harvest moon sucks too...........

[Gutpile]

I'm both. I love shooting animals with different calibers from 45/70 to muzzy to 30-06 to 260's to 350 Rem Mags. I find that to be as fun as the hunt itself.

To me though the hunt starts with the Anticipation, the packing, the stalking, pulling the trigger, looking at the wound channel, cleaning the animal, cutting the meat. It's all intertwined and I love it all. As soon as an animal is down i'm already thinking about what I'm going to do with the meat. 

[jaymark6655]

so far in the last couple seasons i have been hunting (since not hunting in years), i have been a HIKER carrying my firearms around and watching chipmunks and friggin birds squawk while thinking about all the money i have WASTED on a washington hunting license and tags due to too many regulations on the animals we can harvest and how we harvest..

And that damned Harvest moon sucks too...........

I felt exactly like that last season.  I am hoping it is better this year or I am thinking of never hunting in this state again.

[Ihuntelk2]

I would say im more of a hunter...cause ive only killed one deer and a grouse. Therefore i spend more time hunting and since im a bow hunter im trying to get that perfect shot..