Low tech hunting

[savagehunter]

With all the top end gear I've bought in the last 5 years and being  that it's the off season. I thought I would post a pic of my buddies 2013 buck. He exemplifies where I came from and how we got it done growing up. Now I wouldn't trade all that gear and go back to Jean's and a t shirt but it made me nostalgic for a simpler time

[TheStovePipeKid]

It's the beard.

[Angry Perch]

Everything that worked then works now!

[boneaddict]

There is a part of me that believes that tech was/is a factor in what ruined hunting.    Nice throwback pic.

[pianoman9701]

I grew up in NH hunting in jeans, no electronics, cheap binos, cheap boots, shot plenty of deer. Moving out here and experiencing the great NW woods had me change. I rarely wear cotton, need great boots, GPS, good binos. I don't want to get stuck out in these woods without the right gear or because of not having it. I've been lost for a short time out here. It made me take a long look at how to be in the woods from then on.

[Okanagan]

There is a part of me that believes that tech was/is a factor in what ruined hunting.    Nice throwback pic.

+1

Gear overshadows game for many hunters I know.  That's OK, especially if they are making a conscious decision about it and decide that they enjoy engaging with gear more than game.  A lot of folks are muddled in the middle without making that choice, however, and confuse shopping for high priced camo with the act of hunting wild animals in the wild.  And if we seldom get any game, then playing with the gear gives us some enjoyment during the time spent, but it is a poor trade off for me.  YMMV.

I started with iron sights and a recurve bow.  I will admit that I really like having a scope for my old eyes; that a gps can be useful though I don't use one; and that my InReach is the greatest advance in wilderness communications and safety in my lifetime.  But I still like crawling and calling for critters big and small, wearing second hand store wool pants and cheap plaid acrylic shirts because they work.

When I was younger and poorer, in school in California and filling multiple deer tags with my 30-30 open sight carbine, a friend who had all of the latest gadgets, gear, guns, optics and reloads, was amazed that I kept killing deer without all the gear.  He never got a deer during the years I knew him.  I LOVED to go shooting with him and shoot his many guns.

Some people learn faster than others but after all of the gear and research, to move beyond luck we gotta pay some dues with time afield engaging critters first hand, with no tech between us and the game.

[cbond3318]

Awesome pic!!

I guess maybe I am in the middle I suppose. I do take a great deal of pride and satisfaction doing it with/for less. Middle of the road optics, no more cotton but the synthetics are cheap but work great. Old Bushnell second hand range finder I rarely use. 60$ surplus store pack that I’ve carried heavy loads in. Clearance sale boots that work. GPS I never use although I did just get a Garmin watch to pair with my ONX on my cell phone. My teepee shelter is an old rain fly from a tent. Sleep on a 3$ foam pad, stove is a cheapo. Make my own food with the occasional MH or MRE etc.

I’m not sure i’d Say hunting is ruined but highly commercialized and I despise that.

[elkchaser54]

All the TV shows and YouTube videos are all just guys selling their hunting souls for gear advertisements.  Thank god those companies help contribute to conservation cause at $300 for plants they are making some money . Any new hunter seeing these videos thinks you have to have the best gear before you can find game, when in actuality to find game you just have to spend time in the woods and learn the outdoors.  In gears defense tho I think synthetic fibers like gore tex are awesome and a lot better then trounching around in wool hahaha.

[Karl Blanchard]

I've got THOUSANDS of dollars in gear.  As good as it gets and I'm not trading any of it for anything! I've done it the hard way. I've suffered in the heat and the cold. I've been wet and miserable. I've fought the headaches and migraines from glassing for hours through low end glass.  I've carried a 6lb sleeping bag and no sleeping pad. I've packed hundreds and hundreds of pounds of meat on a junky old bimart pack frame.  I've had to navigate off mountains after getting turned around with no GPS.  Better gear makes you more effective and I'll argue that to the bitter end 

[7mmfan]

I agree with Karl. Better gear does make you a more effective, efficient hunter. But you have to have the basics, skill, and drive to be out there and know how to kill or that gear will just make you look fancy. I've upgraded my gear substantially in the last couple years and it has 100% lead me to better hunts and allowed me to go places and haul meat out of places I previously wouldn't have considered. So I dont think the fancy gear has ruined hunting, it's just made the effective hunters more effective and the ineffective hunters look better.

[elkchaser54]

Make ineffective hunters look better 

We all know sitka patterns are slimming on us big guys. Worth the money right there.  Haha

[Skyvalhunter]

Us? 

[Birdgetter]

I've got THOUSANDS of dollars in gear.  As good as it gets and I'm not trading any of it for anything! I've done it the hard way. I've suffered in the heat and the cold. I've been wet and miserable. I've fought the headaches and migraines from glassing for hours through low end glass.  I've carried a 6lb sleeping bag and no sleeping pad. I've packed hundreds and hundreds of pounds of meat on a junky old bimart pack frame.  I've had to navigate off mountains after getting turned around with no GPS.  Better gear makes you more effective and I'll argue that to the bitter end 

[Jonathan_S]

Nice gear has just enabled me to do it more comfortably. Those low tech hunts can be rewarding as long as things go pretty well you

[theleo]

The most high tech piece of hunting equipment I have (excluding my bow and rifles) is my light weight rain pants I use for archery hunting, everything else is from discount racks. My rifle hunting stuff is even more out of date. Still using the same wool coat my dad gave me when I was 15 because he wanted a new Filson one, the shirts are also various hand me down wool, the pants are milsurp green wool, rain gear is various forms of oil skins. The end result means I have a tendency to stick out in a sea of gucci-flage. Knowing how to navigate the country I hunt and the confidence I get from riding a solid mule far out ways those "deficiencies" though.

[CAMPMEAT]

I never owned any of the hyped up hunting gear. Levis, Hickory shirts and logger boots was how I rolled...

[rasbo]

Yeah,I hunt areas that are up hill both ways..   :chuckle:to each their own. I use a Garmin in my travels, other than that I like to keep it as simple as possible

[PolarBear]

There is a part of me that believes that tech was/is a factor in what ruined hunting.    Nice throwback pic.

I know a lot of folks that if it wasn't for technology would never kill a decent animal.  They rely too much on electronics and have zero idea how to track, pattern or even where to look without a dozen cameras, satellite imagery, etc.  It doesn't really make you a better hunter. I really enjoy those guys with $7K of gear on them that only wind up with does and spike every year.  They look like the Cabela's catalog exploded on them.   

[npaull]

I grew up in NH hunting in jeans, no electronics, cheap binos, cheap boots, shot plenty of deer

The most amazing thing about this sentence is that you shot plenty of deer in NH! After being in college there and spending years chasing deer, I saw way more moose than deer. NH has my vote for worst deer state in the union!

[blackveltbowhunter]

   Its always funny to hear about what they wore and used in the "good old days". You mean when seasons were months long? When a gate was something you used to keep cattle in? When driving 4x4  and jeep trails into elk camp was common place? When hunting the muley migration in November was a matter of timing it before the snow got to deep? When getting information on areas with bugling bulls was as easy as stopping in to the local watering hole and buying a few rounds?  I'm not saying that their aren't guys who overcompensate for their lack of know how with excess in money spent on gear. But to compare the needs of today's hunter with those of the past is foolish.

   Most old timers I know can't fathom being over several miles away from a trail head without a horse, mules, wall tent, wood stoves, and all the trappings. They are tough men no doubt. But I would trade all their "disadvantages" for my pile of sitka, fancy bow and pup tent any day.

[idaho guy]

Optics, new bows and I think the new more accurate guns are all way more than worth the extra money. Some of the hyped up hunting clothes I think are a bit of a rip off. For the colder seasons wool is still king in my book! I have some kuiu that I really like especially early archery. For the clothing to each his own but I still harvest way more game in my red and black wool shirt than any other piece of clothing. Its got holes and missing buttons but I refuse to get rid of it.    I was thinking about when I first started bear baiting and the things we did too know the color of the bear, the size and how we tried to time them coming to the bait. We would put a small piece of barbed wire where they had to reach to pull some hair, made the ground really soft and put down flour to see the tracks and size them the list goes on and on. Now hunters have a trail camera that sends us a picture to our phone immediately.  I say all this because I do think technology has changed hunting a lot and in some cases for the worst. People are losing the woodsmanship skills that were necessary to find animals, read tracks, use a compass even etc. . I had some great "unknown" shed spots that I found chasing my hounds that I never saw anyone at until google earth! They were just those places so out of the way most people never thought of even going in there but they looked them up on the computer!  With that said adapt or die is my philosophy! I have bought the cellular trail cam for my bear bait but still cant get it working ha ha. I am kind of in the middle when it comes to all the fancy new gear but I think technology is taking away the development of a lot of skills hunters used to need. The over commercialization of hunting is terrible for hunting but that's another topic. GREAT picture thanks for posting! I love to see guys getting it done OLD SCHOOL! 

[elksnout]

Yeah I get it. I quit wearing cotton in the late 70's. Still shoot an '06 with factory ammo and carry a compass and I refuse to hunt behind some one's else's boot tracks. What's that tell you about me? But I'm loving my merino wool and Kenetrek boots. And my Exo 3500 ain't too bad when we're miles from the rig with meat to pack. Sure beats the hell out of my old pack frame that I had to walk all the way back to camp or the rig to get that first load out.....    It ain't the gear that makes a good hunter. It may make his days more enjoyable but all the high tech gear in the world doesn't a hunter make. Just say'n.

Elksnout