The “Average” Hunter..

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This really needs to get broken up by game pursued as well. The culture around waterfowl hunting is very different than big game and even more so than pheasant or small game and that is just listing off the things I know enough about to think I know what I don't know. The one thing I do see as a constant is people working their butts off to get things done so they can take the time to get out in their field/woods/blind. The other constant is everyone seems to have a story or two they wish their buddies would forget because they are embarrassed at a moment of poor judgement or discipline. Besides that I've met too many people that span the gambit to really say their is an average that has any useful meaning.
I completely agree. So for the sake of not making it to inclusive to actually discuss, let’s leave it at deer hunting as the the thread that sparked this was centered around a cartridge primarily used for deer. Though it is certainly capable of taking much larger game.
 
Especially if you showed up with your 375.
Or Molokai to hunt Axis deer with your inlaws....

Didn't stop me from using it on these two..........
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I think another part of being an EFFECTIVE hunter is applying those skills you DO excel (or are at least better than average) at.....Average Joe from X area, might still be average (or at least effective) elsewhere if he's lucky, keeps his head about him, listens to what advice is available, and applies the abilities he's got down pat.
Ive actually gotten to hunt with quite a few mainlanders here, and while IMO our hunting is in a lot of ways easier (perhaps simpler?), the necessary skill sets are still different enough that it takes some explaining, and figuring out what they do well to give them the best chance of being successful.
 
Didn't stop me from using it on these two..........
Well if I remember right your 375 Ruger is an A-Bolt. Not exactly cheap, especially with the Shaw rebarrel, granted. I’m just assuming (possibly incorrectly) that H&H’s is likely a more expensive brand. Again, I could be wrong. It was in jest, but I’d be willing to bet you would also likely be the brunt of a few “Jesus we aren’t hunting T-Rex” jokes as would if I brought my 45-70 or 444. I may suffer fewer since they are levers. And if I brought those to say, Idaho or Montana, they’d likely razz me and say I might as well have brought mortars because the trajectory is going to be the same.
 
Well if I remember right your 375 Ruger is an A-Bolt. Not exactly cheap, especially with the Shaw rebarrel, granted. I’m just assuming (possibly incorrectly) that H&H’s is likely a more expensive brand. Again, I could be wrong. It was in jest, but I’d be willing to bet you would also likely be the brunt of a few “Jesus we aren’t hunting T-Rex” jokes as would if I brought my 45-70 or 444. I may suffer fewer since they are levers. And if I brought those to say, Idaho or Montana, they’d likely razz me and say I might as well have brought mortars because the trajectory is going to be the same.
Amazingly enough, its actually one of my cheaper projects....it SHOULDNT have been, but the stars aligned, and it turned out that way.
The family heckled me quite a bit the first few days, fortunately for me I made both shots I took right off the bat....so It never got much beyond..."brah, you sure its dead?" If id managed to miss it woulda been a whole lot worse LOL. I had a couple of buddies along on that trip, and one was shooting one of my older 6.5CMs. The 147s were blowing bigger exit wounds than my .375 (mostly because I hadn't upped the velocity yet, and the loads were still running 2650ish), so even that tapered off after the first couple days.

But then that's part of what I meant with my earlier post.....back home the .243s considered a small gun (remember were shooting axis deer, and pigs as our largest animals), but everything from .22 on up is acceptable, as long as the shooter doesn't screw up....you screw up we blame YOU! lol.
The .270 is probably the standard, and a .300 is a damn big gun. Thus making fun of my .375 as a waste time, penis extension is perfectly reasonable.
Were we on a plains game hunt (I'm having to assume here based on what I've read, the few "plains game" animals that were in the trophy park back home, and my experience hunting feral cows here) in Africa...or where ever, then my .375 would probably be a little heavy, but fairly ordinary...probably wouldn't get a mention even if the primary thing I was shooting with it were stuff like smaller antelope.
Average Joe, shooting a .30-06 or .270, and doing it well, would fit in just fine in both situations....as long as he did his homework and was polite, I'd expect him to be successful.
 
I worked with a few people that would go to Colorado for 2 weeks every year and hunt deer and elk on public land without a guide . They did their homework and studied maps . They camped there the whole time and they were pretty successful. I will say I don’t know how long they had been making this trip , so I don’t know how long it took them to become successful there . IMO the most important traits a hunter must possess is hunt and a brain .
 
Which is a bold statement. Because I bet you consider yourself at least average or above (and I wouldn’t disagree based on your posts). You have some very fine firearms. Does the average hunter have a Searcy or Chapuis? Probably not. But some people have more money than sense, or skills. So while you may be at or above average in Colorado or Africa, you would possibly be the brunt of many jokes at a southern deer camp. Especially if you showed up with your 375.

You figure that if I showed up in camp with a slouch hat, shorts, and grass gators on it might be a source of ridicule? ;)
 
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Amazingly enough, its actually one of my cheaper projects....it SHOULDNT have been, but the stars aligned, and it turned out that way.
The family heckled me quite a bit the first few days, fortunately for me I made both shots I took right off the bat....so It never got much beyond..."brah, you sure its dead?" If id managed to miss it woulda been a whole lot worse LOL. I had a couple of buddies along on that trip, and one was shooting one of my older 6.5CMs. The 147s were blowing bigger exit wounds than my .375 (mostly because I hadn't upped the velocity yet, and the loads were still running 2650ish), so even that tapered off after the first couple days.

But then that's part of what I meant with my earlier post.....back home the .243s considered a small gun (remember were shooting axis deer, and pigs as our largest animals), but everything from .22 on up is acceptable, as long as the shooter doesn't screw up....you screw up we blame YOU! lol.
The .270 is probably the standard, and a .300 is a damn big gun. Thus making fun of my .375 as a waste time, penis extension is perfectly reasonable.
Were we on a plains game hunt (I'm having to assume here based on what I've read, the few "plains game" animals that were in the trophy park back home, and my experience hunting feral cows here) in Africa...or where ever, then my .375 would probably be a little heavy, but fairly ordinary...probably wouldn't get a mention even if the primary thing I was shooting with it were stuff like smaller antelope.
Average Joe, shooting a .30-06 or .270, and doing it well, would fit in just fine in both situations....as long as he did his homework and was polite, I'd expect him to be successful.

A true hunter - should not be judged by the caliber of rifle he shoots, but by the quality of barbecue he throws.

:D




GR
 
Interesting that range of kills was mentioned. I shot animals at longer than 200 yard ranges.

But I started bowhunting around sixteen years ago as a way to extend my season.

What happened is that I became more cognizant of wind, movement, scent, and camoflage. Interesting that even when gun hunting I was doing the same things that I did when I bowhunted. I started shooting deer closer.

Now the long shots, at least in the piney woods, are an indication that I didn't do as good a job as a hunter.
 
Interesting that range of kills was mentioned. I shot animals at longer than 200 yard ranges.

But I started bowhunting around sixteen years ago as a way to extend my season.

What happened is that I became more cognizant of wind, movement, scent, and camoflage. Interesting that even when gun hunting I was doing the same things that I did when I bowhunted. I started shooting deer closer.

Now the long shots, at least in the piney woods, are an indication that I didn't do as good a job as a hunter.
I think how you start plays a major role in how good you become. I started out bow hunting. So getting close was a must. Took awhile to learn to be successful, but eventually I became, what I would say, was really good at it. At least for someone who didn’t horn hunt. Tagging out was a common occurrence each year as was multiple kills in one sit. Then when I transitioned to gun hunting, which was for the sole purpose of filling my brothers freezer (and spending time with him), it was that much easier.

Last year in Arkansas, I shot 3 deer and a coyote in one sit. My first “quad”. Every animal was inside 35 yards. That’s from the ground, no blind, no scent control, no nothing. Just me, my camo, and my 44mag. Had we wanted to be outside the law and use his tags for deer I shot, I could have killed 8 deer in that sit. I put crosshairs on them all at various times throughout the morning. All inside 35 yards.

So I definitely subscribe to the idea that being a successful bow hunter, anywhere, makes you a better rifle and muzzleloader hunter, IF you apply those same tactics.

That being said, I still would say I’m average or possibly below because as a whole, there are things I can’t do, like shoot long distance. And just because I can kill deer almost at will in Oklahoma and Arkansas, with a bow or rifle, doesn’t mean I would have the same success with either method out west on flat land or in true mountainous terrain.
 
Well if I remember right your 375 Ruger is an A-Bolt. Not exactly cheap, especially with the Shaw rebarrel, granted. I’m just assuming (possibly incorrectly) that H&H’s is likely a more expensive brand. Again, I could be wrong.

I’ve got two .375H&H Rifles both are stainless Model-70 Winchesters. Both wear McMilian stocks, one has a cut down and fluted factory barrel, the other wears a 22 inch Er Shaw. Neither of which I’d call expensive rifles in the grand scheme of high dollar rifles.
 
IMO, many times somebody making the statement "the average xxxxxx" is either trying, purposely, to portray a specific
group in a stereotypically bad light; or they are assuming they know a lot more about the subject matter, than they actually do.

At 6:35 am I was out, in the blind, watching for wild dogs, coyote, feral cats, and wild boar. I saw a couple does walk up to within 35 yards of the stand. Later I was watching a turkey, 80 yards behind me, picking thru a freshly planted feed plot. The animals were feeding, naturally, in their environment. For me, they were acting as bait, I just let them be, and waited for predators to move up on them. Sat out, till 10:40 AM. It was, IMO, a fine morning. Does that, somehow, make me not average, below average, or more average, as a hunter?
That my friend makes you a hunter.
 
I’ve got two .375H&H Rifles both are stainless Model-70 Winchesters. Both wear McMilian stocks, one has a cut down and fluted factory barrel, the other wears a 22 inch Er Shaw. Neither of which I’d call expensive rifles in the grand scheme of high dollar rifles.
Then that would make me wrong. Still expensive for me as I haven’t paid over $650 for any of my hunting rifles, though a couple were/are worth over double that. But even at double, that’s nothing in the hunting rifle world.

Which could be another dynamic. How many rifles does the average hunter have? I don’t believe price or value of rifle really plays a role, because a rich man can be a below average hunter, and a poor man can be above average.
 
Yep, I've never even seen a "tree stand" for real, and the first time I ever heard of a "deer blind" was right here on THR - that was probably less than 2 years ago. Yet I've been hunting deer here in Idaho since I was 15 (58 years ago), and I was tagging along with my mom and dad for a long time before that.
Maybe one of these years I'll get lucky and actually get a deer. Do any of you eastern deer hunters think a tree stand would help?:rofl:
Chances are in Idaho it would just give you further to fall. Pretty steep territory out there. Good hunting.
 
I learned to hunt and fish when I was a kid 12 or 13 I think, started with a single shot Stevens 12 gauge and an old Zebco push button reel and rod.

There was a time when we didn't have a pot to p*** in, and you could get a combo license for $7 a buck or doe tag for another $5, and an extra doe tag for $2. I had an old 30-30, and a (hand me down) spinning rod to help keep my family in protein. I used to prefer going out after a light snow, helped me see the tracks better, would find some fresh tracks and follow them. Last deer I shot was about 15-20 yards away, I had tracked him for about an hour and he jumped up from his bed from beside some scrub in the bottom of a bowl, I think he spooked me as much as I spooked him. He turned and looked at me, and I dropped him there. Had to drag him a mile and a half to get back to the truck The one before that I saw a bunch of guys running a tree line about 500 yards to my right, and a herd come out at a 90 degree angle to where there were hunting. I took the 10 pt buck off a shelf road about 150 yards away. At that time I was about 50 yards from my truck, and my intent when i parked was to work the same woods they were until I saw and heard them. I drug him down hill, and slid him into my k5 blazer and headed home. The other hunters never even saw that dozen or so deer they spooked out of the trees.

I don't have any trophies on my wall, I gave those to relatives who wanted them, and for fish, I take a picture or I don't, but I put them back in the water except for one or two smaller ones for dinner on the campfire - monsters go back in the water so they can breed or someone else can have the joy of catching them.

That was 30 years ago, since then, I have gotten a little more successful in my "day job" and have not had to feed my family by what I can hunt or fish for and put on the table. I still shoot, quite a bit, and can still put 5 in a 1 moa group at 100 yards, but I don't hunt anymore, maybe I will again when I retire, and I still keep the skills up in case the world goes to heck in a handbasket and I need to. There are lots of reasons why I don't hunt anymore, one is because I don't have to, one is I got tired of stalking an animal only to have some guys in a quad come blazing by me as they head to their deer stand scaring everything for miles around, another is I focused on my day job and picked up other hobbies. I still fly fish, but practice catch and release these days.

I know some guys just like me, those that hunted because they needed to, or because they wanted to put venison or Elk on the table, or that just like to fish to get in the outdoors and take a break from the rat race.

Now I don't know if any of that makes me average or not, I would say I am an average hunter/fisherman. I enjoy (or enjoyed) getting out in the woods, the tracking, and the moment of truth and I still enjoy taking a fly rod to the river or lake. I have been successful hunting, and I can still catch a fish or two (yeah I have been skunked a few times also).

For better or worse, time and mileage have changed me a bit, and I don't do some of the things I used to do or as well as I used to do them. Truth is I am not in terrible shape and I can pretty much still do what I want to within reason, but I don't really feel the "want" to hunt anymore and thank the lord, I don't have to in order to feed my family.

I guess it is somebody else's turn to hunt and I will just shoot at the range and fish the river or lakes for now, if that changes, then, maybe I will have a success or skunk story to share.

circling back, to me, the average hunter is (or should be) the guy who follows the laws, is respectful of others in the woods, hunts or fishes for the meat (the trophy if it comes is a bonus), enjoy the surroundings and challenges of the hunt, has the skills it takes to track and hit their prey, and is above all else safe to be around.

What they really are these days I don't know, it has been a few years since I have been among them in the trees

Dave
 
the average hunter is (or should be) the guy who follows the laws, is respectful of others in the woods, hunts or fishes for the meat (the trophy if it comes is a bonus), enjoy the surroundings and challenges of the hunt, has the skills it takes to track and hit their prey, and is above all else safe to be around.
Great post. And according to DocRock’s link, I think you would likely be considered average based on age and stage of life. And your skill level seems to be adequate to successfully harvest. So if the above qualifies as average (your post combined with mine), it’s fairly easy to devise what you feel is below average. That makes 2/3. So what then qualifies as an above average hunter? The guy who targets trophies? The guy who still goes hunting even though he doesn’t have to? I don’t feel that being safe or following game laws should be a marker for “average”. But then again, maybe it is.
 
webrx said "I don't have to {hunt ; anymore } to feed my family."

Either I'm more of a Naturalist, than a Hunter, or the predators I hunt are more rare, to get in the sights, than what others hunt.
If I were hunting and fishing for food, I imagine I'd be going hungry, a lot. If I didn't enjoy the outdoors so much, I doubt I'd be hunting as much as I do. Watched an owl, at dusk, working a nearby field, for 20 minutes or so, at dusk. I guess that's just too Discovery Channel, for some.
 
Dibbs,

I still love the outdoors, maybe I also have gotten more discovery channel as I have aged. I do my "hunting" these days with my neighbor and a fly rod, catch and release mostly but there is still the occasional trout on the campfire with butter and old bay seasoning. My shooting, rifle, pistol or bow, is at paper at the range or on BLM land if the fire hazard is not high. I also dream of my own patch of land to retire on where I can set up a back yard range, but that is a story for another time, and I hope to work a few more years.

We (the wife and I) still camp, still have tents and cots which I will most likely get rid of in the near future, since we usually take the travel trailer now (she likes the shower and other bathroom amenities more than the luggable loo), and we have spent many hours together sitting, reading, chatting and watching the critters at the lake.

Dave
 
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