Anybody hunt fair anymore? Straight up man vs. wild

I've seen quite a few elk hunters using tree stands.

All of my hunting is on public land with a wood longbow or recurve. No stands, food plots, cameras, scent blockers, 4 wheelers etc. I really don't care what's fair I'm just glad I can still hunt the way I like best.

Packing an elk out solo is getting tough and I hope I can do it for at least a few more years.

I don't use game cameras,as where I hunt trees are pretty scarce.I took a seven year old buck last year after walking several miles into a wilderness area.Just me,a good rifle(purchased in 1979), binocs, and a good pair of boots. I brought my hunting buddy to help spot and drag,but he's pretty low tech. I find doing it the hard way increases the reward.

Well I use feeders on my small 100'ish acre place year round as I can afford to fill them. I set out cameras during the year just to see whats coming to fill their bellies. I really enjoy getting up there to see what we have caught on the cameras, as sometimes it is simply great pictures of deer doing what deer do, and not necessarily having their head in a feed bucket.

I strive for the utmost accuracy from all of my firearms, and can usually take full advantage of the power of them to ranges most folks figure is too far. Even with my revolvers I have no hesitation reaching out to 100yds or more in the right situation to smack a fat hog through the shoulder.

I got into archery a couple of years back with the anticipation it was going to be something a bit more than it turned out to be. Don't get me wrong, it is totally an up close and personal thing, and to date I have only killed one deer. This said I can usually easily hit the orange ear plugs I use for spots on my targets out to 40yds. The hogs which run amok through our woods and pastures have found that the swish of air they hear, as my arrows slip through their buddies, is not something they need to stick around for.

To be honest, no matter what I hit the woods with I have an advantage. Even if I didn't feed I still would have the advantage as I know just which trees drop the best acorns or pecans, and just where to sit to keep the wind in my face while hunting there. All this said over the past dozen or so years, I have only shot 5 deer period. It's not that I couldn't have taken many, and in fact I have seen plenty that any hunter would have been proud of. I simply enjoy hunting and in most cases simply knowing I could have, is just as good or better to me, than if I would have. That is for deer, the hogs, well they don't ever get a break.

Despite some of the sarcasm contained in this thread, I can appreciate what the OP is saying; in fact, it is precisely the reason I enjoy black powder shooting so much---after I put meat on the table with my scoped .270, that is. This is the reason many of us hunt with longbows rather than compound; flintlock over percussion or cartridge; hand tools over machinery. It is not to say that primitive means are superior to technology, but there is something very soul-satisfying about harvesting game without all the bells and whistles.

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All simply your opinions. I can point out to you that even flinters were state of the art in 1830. Hell, long bows were state of the art when the Brits defeated France at Agincourt in 1415. This was "high tech" and running down hogs and sticking 'em (which I've done) was "primitive". That was done with hog dogs which could be considered as "high tech" somewhere back when dogs were domesticated, I suppose.

Hell, even Cochise gave up bows when he got his hands on a Winchester. It's all in your perspective. I sorta like my scoped CVA inline, myself. Helps my old eyes avoid an errant shot. What I like about black powder doesn't really have to do with iron sights and ignition style.

The story of human history and evolution involves developing BRAINS and getting an edge up on the game we needed to feed our families. It helped us to THINK since we didn't have the teeth, claws, and speed we otherwise needed as predators.

BigShep85 said:

deers don't have heat detection goggles, fancy camo, tree stands to hide from me,or super quiet boots to put on to give them a better chance of sneaking by me.

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really.....where do you hunt deer, ive always felt like even with my equuipment the deer have the advantage. Sure you might kill one, but how many were you 20 yards from that remained undetected?

BTW, is the term "modern muzzleloader" an oxymoron?

Straight up man vs wild means your naked with only your hands, feet, and teeth. I think I'll pass on that experience.

Man vs. wild? How far back do you want to go? Paleo Indians used spears and atlatl/darts. Somewhere after the time of Christ they figured out "bonearrers". We all know the evolution of the rifle and of sighting apparatus.

Homo sap is a tool user and has freedom of choice as to his tools. The deal is to minimize wasted effort in the use of one's time. I'm seriously lazy, so a scoped rifle seems to be about as "man-up" (whatever that stupid phrase means) as I ever intend to be.

I personally don't like scopes (irrational prejudice, maybe), and i don't think deer see well enough that camo makes much difference if i stay still. (I've never shot deer while wearing camo). I don't like tree stands... i prefer to be MOBILE when I hunt. Me, tryin to be quiet and keep them upwind of me with a halfway decent rifle, that's hunting.
That said, their hearing is better than mine by far, and they can smell the sulphur compounds in my sweat and breath from a ridiculously long way away, if i'm not downwind of 'em. I can't smell them pooping 50 yards upwind on a hot day.
I like to keep it simple, but I'm not above taking an advantage where I can, if it puts meat in the family freezer.

One truck, one or two rifles depending on where I'm stepping out, binos, my backpack full of knives, saw, tarp, rope and other dressing needs, and beer in the cooler for after the kill or the mid-day drive back to the cabin.
Every marketeer will sell you all sorts of useless junk and you will even see it being used on those hunting shows to really press the market. It's the same thing in the fishing world.

Planting food plots, technology, baiting, anything so called advantage is null if you can't employ the basics. Preparation such as food plots, building blinds just give me a chance to spend time with my friends.

For those of you that can't kill a deer, don't feel bad. 10% of the hunters kill 90% of the deer. Works the same way for fishing...

if ten percent of the fishers are killing 90% of the beer, you might need new fishing buddies.... or did I read that wrong?

...that and 90% of the fish live in 10% of the body of water you are fishing. In other words, you need more beer.

i dont hunt fair. i dont use a bow and arrow. i never saw a fat indian.

i dont put doe piss on me or whatever gimmick is the latest craze.

ive had to scramble to get my rifle lined up on a deer while i was leaning my thang out of the deer stand to take a whiz more times than i can remember. ive had to put down a cigarette a few times to hold the rifle just right when a nice buck came into view...

peterbuilts with headlights on, deisel smoke billowing and a roaring engine kills plenty of deer on pavement. they are not that smart.

I hunt fare every time.

JERRY said:

.....i dont use a bow and arrow. i never saw a fat indian.

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Try the Casinos.....

lol... some people on THR might not catch that... but I'm assuming, since you studied law at Baylor, that you're hunting 'fare' because it graces your table.
The only real shame is people who don't know the difference between 'playin fair' and 'plain fare'... in which case, they need better recipies.

Try the Casinos.....

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thats because theyre using slot machines to trap the chumps, erah um i mean game.

I would say that anyone in the southeast who hunts public land is hunting fair. And for us, there is fairly little chance of a harvest. Westerners know how to do public hunting grounds... we just take the scraps we are given and do our best. (and we need every advantage we can get)

There's really only one guy in the history of THR who really wanted to take game "fairly."

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=409071

AAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA.... CLASSIC! SOOIEE THAI!

i needed that.... i'll stick to lever-action, though.... thanks!

That thread was EPIC. We won the internet that week.

This became a kind of catch-phrase for a while, brought up in response to any suggestion too mind-bogglingly daft for prime time:

Did someone just ask if he could kick a pig to death?

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I would think that deserves to be added to H&H Hunters thread "Most Challenging hunts in North America". Thanks for the laugh.

and beer in the cooler for after the kill or the mid-day drive back to the cabin.....

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....while posting on your IPhone to THR about your kill while driving the truck with your knees? Hell, sounds safe to me!