Low tech hunting

[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