Hunting with a rifle is unfair!

[Art Eatman]

Len S, a lot of people who've never done some particular action tend to think it's just not all that hard. And there is that percentage who tend to look down on the people who do things of which they disapprove. And, mostly, they've never really given it any thought.

I used to run across people who thought that the driving of a race car wasn't any big deal; the noise, smell and danger was all that was off-putting. And we'd see folks show up as Novices in their first sports-racing car who figured they'd run right out front: Hey, new car, new driving suit, gotta go just as fast as those other guys, right?

Wrong.

Lotsa stuff looks easy to an outsider when he's watching somebody who's been at it for years and decades...

Art

 

[schmidtbender]

Excellent post!

+100... should be required reading for all hunters. The belief that technology is the cure all for hunting success is very popular and very wrong. I can tell from your "handle" that you know whereof you speak. Love those H&Hs. Just finished up this one (400 H&H) in spring 2006 and my 244 H&H is getting final chambering work as we speak. BRAVO wonderful post!

 

[Rabbi]

Hunter,

Thank you so much for your post. You speak eloquently for all of us who love the hunt and the outdoors.

Hunting satisfies a primal need in men to take their own food and supply their family and tribe. It is something the non hunters will never get to understand, let alone share in. I tend to think of hunters as better quality people than those who go thru life sheltered and dependent.

Thanks again for a post done well.

Best regards,

Rabbi

 

[MrDig]

What do you mean Difficult? all a guy has to do is walk into the woods and pull the trigger once to send hundreds of rounds off in any direction then look for what you hit. We all know hunters pull the trigger indiscriminately and Booze it up before handling a loaded firearm, It is a wonder we don't have bodies stacked like cord wood when hunting season is open.

Sorry just kidding, what I hate most from some of the non-hunters I know is the patrenizing line "But you are one of the few good (ie ethical ) hunters, you're not like the rest"
What a load of hooey I'm the only hunter they know.

P.S. Great Post H&H thanks

 

[torpid]

To be "fair" the hunter would have to be out in the wilds naked with opposable thumbs taped shut, and drugged to lower the intellect to a primal level.

I admit it, I'd watch.

 

[ConfuseUs]

If hunting was as sure and certain a way of killing animals as has been implied ... it would be as boring as shopping for your meat at the supermarket.

Actually, I remember sitting in a cornfield for a whole weekend waiting for the deer to show up and they didn't. Probably the most boring 2 days of my life.

People who don't hunt don't know anything about how hard it is to stay focused on the environment and wait for hours or days for something that might never happen, never mind the physical activity involved. The use of a rifle just means you don't have to get as close. People who have never hunted deer probably think it is only slightly harder than plopping a target out at 50-350 yds and shooting it once or twice.

 

[ArmedBear]

the hunter would have to be out in the wilds naked with opposable thumbs taped shut, and drugged to lower the intellect to a primal level.

Ironically, that sport is called "college," which is where anti-hunters get their ideas about things.

 

[torpid]

Ironically, that sport is called "college," which is where anti-hunters get their ideas about things.

I admit it, I'd watch.

 

[MinScout]

Deer hunting probably requires more persistance than "skill" in my area. Try sitting in a blind or stand for hours on end. Your butt gets sore, your fingers and toes are numb from the cold. Heading back to the truck for a hot cup of coffee starts to seem pretty tempting after awhile.

 

[ranger335v]

Antis are ignorance in action. Most of those I've spoken to are convinced that modern rifles are so powerful they shoot a mile before starting to drop and all can hit quarter sized targets within that range. They also assume the movies showing targets (critters) within visual range of a high power scope are dead meat, everytime.

I try to give a quick lesson on the facts of gravity and also that scopes only help SEE the target but don't improve shooting skills. A few get it, most of the self-styled "intellectuals" don't.

All of them seem to dream that meat markets have someone like holy priests who gently put the critters down and the parts magically fall into plastic wrapped packages in the store coolers without mess or pain.

Liberals are dumm and live in a world of illusions. Most are college trained too.

 

[TimboKhan]

To show how easy it is, I hunted elk for about thirty years, and I had the best mentor (my dad, who killed about 35 elk in his career). Hunted hard too. I blew a couple shots over that time, and let a few go because "something" wasn't right. Climbed umpteen thousands of feet of Rocky Mountains, in all kinds of conditions, from dark, snowy, hot, raining, you name it.

My total kill? One elk!

I always feel so guilty when I read stories like yours, larry. I have a nice bull to my name that I got on my very first, and to date, last, elk hunt back when I was in High School. Even worse, my dad and I were on the same ridge, and TWO bulls ran out. My dad shot his straight away, and had time to walk over and coach me through my bull fever while I shot. I am looking at the photo now of my dad and I, each with a bull, and it's a great memory.

 

[KD5NRH]

i can gaurantee you that if you sent me out in the woods tomorrow with the most expenisve hunting rifle to get a deer, i would come back with absolutely nothing.

And I could drive ten minutes, hike another ten, and get two does and a buck with my .357 snubby. They've stayed in pretty much the same spot for two deer seasons that I know of, and they've survived those seasons because it would be like hunting cows to take them there. I've been surprised when they spooked about 15 seconds after I'd fired a pistol at a squirrel while standing within 30 yards of them.

Now if they happen to wander through my scope in another place, outside their pretty obvious trails, they might be dinner.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Love those H&Hs. Just finished up this one (400 H&H) in spring 2006 and my 244 H&H is getting final chambering work as we speak. BRAVO wonderful post!

Schmidt,

That is a fine looking rifle! What action is it? I have to admit that the .400H&H has come to my attention recently.

If I didn't have a very nice Vecktor actioned Mauser, .404 Jeffery in the works I'd be getting started on a .400 right now.