Losing touch with the hunt...

[zenmonkeyman]

I watched a hunting show online last night.  It was a bowhunt for mulies.  It ended with the hunter ranging a mulie at 70 yards with his rangefinder, and making the shot with his 330fps wheelie bow.  Then he exults about how great it is to harvest a mulie with a bow, and what a feat it is.

Apparently there are guys who can shoot tighter groups at 100yds with their contraptions than I currently can at 10 yds with my stick.  Is it just me, or have bows been turned into muzzleloaders?  Nevermind, muzzleloaders have been turned into rifles, too.

I just think it's sad that we start off these hunts wanting more challenge, more tradition, more closeness with nature, and end up perverting the whole works.  Like everything else in this world, hunting has been turned primarily into shopping for newerbetterfastersexier toys -- with money we don't have.  It makes me laugh/cry to hear people say they're hunting "primitive" when they're not doing anything of the sort...  There's no flint on their muzzleloaders, and there's no black powder pushing projectiles that aren't lead balls, down barrels that aren't smoothbore blue steel, anchored to stocks that aren't wood.

Same thing of course for archery.

Did you hear about the website that has a webcam attached to a riflescope that you can aim with your mouse and shoot a deer with a click, and then they mail you your mounted head and the meat?  For a fee of course.  Paypal accepted!  Hunting in the 21st century.
 
I wonder how many people in the US or Canada can say they feed themselves even one meal a year that had fruit and vegetables grown and harvested themselves and meat they raised or hunted, or fish they caught.   I wonder how many have ever considered how they might feed their families if they suddenly couldn't pull into the supermarket parking lot anymore.  Worse yet, those that could do it would be attacked by those who couldn't.

Sorry for the rambling!  Thanks for sticking with me this far!  Hope I didn't offend anyone, just musing, not attacking.

[JW_Halverson]

I know how you feel, I quit watching ALL HornPorn a couple years ago.  Since when is hunting and fishing a spectator's sport?  Yeah, of course I celebrate with a hunting buddy when he tags out, but I was there with him. 

I build the bows I hunt with, I built the flintlock I hunt with, and my roto-tiller died so my tomatoes are raised thanks to a shovel.  I do it this way because it feels soo good deep down.  How do we get this across to the rest of the world? 

How about we adopt the concept of "each one teach one"?  Kinda like what happens down at Pappy's place.  That place needs to be cloned, I tell ya.

[skyarrow]

Amen to that 

[huntertrapper]

I know man it aint right. these guys now adays just go to the woods for one thing, the horn and kill. they dont respect the animal or how it got there or what it WILL do for them. no respect.

[aero86]

i just like making and shooting all my own stuff.  its a wonderfull thing when i know i can walk into home depot, and walk out knowing that with that board and garden stakes, i can take it hunting.

and one of these days, ill see a rabbit and take it!  for once!  and everything will have fallen into place

[hedgeapple]

Zen, I hear you loud and clear.  And like you I go into the woods for the same reason as you do.  I'm not after the "deer of a lifetime", but after the "hunt of a lifetime."  And right now that "hunt of a lifetime" is to take a deer with a bow and an arrow that I made myself.  I'm only guessing, so I'm assuming your journey as a hunter is similar to mine.  Early in my life as a deer hunter, the deer population was very sparse.  Seeing a deer during deer season was a treat.  Actually, harvesting one was an accomplishment.  Fast forward 30 years and there are deer everywhere.  I feel there is no nobler of a hunt than challenging man against nature, with man building his weapon from materials found in nature.

That being said, might I begin to play the devil's advocate for a moment.  I did not start my hunting life with quite as noble of designs.  I used the most high tech weapontry I could afford--first a shotgun with slugs and later a high powered rifle with scope.  Even though I could kill a deer at 100, 200, 300 or more yards with the scoped rifle, did I learn woodmanship and hunting skills?  You bet I did.  And a little success along thet way just helped to fan the flame.

Back to the main topic of your post-- commercial hunting shows.  Do I find them repulsive?  Not quite that strong of an emotion.  Not extemely challenging--Yes.  Here's how I see it.  Many of the new hunters, viewers of these shows are like we were as teenagers.  We wanted to kill a deer, hopefully a "trophy deer".  As we've become older and wiser it not some much the size of the antlers but the size of the experience of being in the woods and testing ourselves and our equipment against the game at hand.

What I'm getting at is these hunting show may draw folks into the hunting the world of hunting and with time and maturity this new generation of hunter might walk the same path that we have.  And, learn to cherish the experience in the wood more than the antlers on the wall.  At the very least, they are supporting hunting and not PETA or the Humane Society of the US.

On a positive note, while at my mother's last weekend watching the Outdoors Channel, I saw about 15 hunting shows.  Eight of them featured bow hunting and 2 of them had hunts with recurves.  I see this as a possitive trend.

[El Destructo]

I will not put anyone down for using any modern way of Hunting Game....as long as it's for putting Meat on the Supper Table.....and not a Trophy on the Den Wall....I have trapped....snared....deadfalled....used Rifles...Compound Bows....Pistols....and Stick Bows....and I have done it all with as much Honor and Humility as I possibly could....I am a Hunter....period....I don't buy meat from a Grocery Store very often ....if I can help.it...I believe God provided Us with all We will need to live a good life...and as long as we take only what we need and protect this great gift....we will be taken care of...but to boldly go out and kill an Animal for.bragging rights...and a Head for the Wall....is one of the Vainest...and Hypocritical things a Man that calls Himself a Hunter can ever do.....and for this I have no Respect...jmo.

[zenmonkeyman]

I should clarify a bit; I sure don't want to sound all high and mighty and purist.  I don't begrudge people hunting any way they want to.  Most people who spend time hunting in any form by any method come away with an appreciation for the importance of nature, the environment, untouched wilderness, conservation, etc.  And some of those people will advocate for preservationism, environmentalism, conservationism, sustainability, diversity, etc.

I'm just lamenting the fact that we, as a species, tend to simplify through complication.  Irony alert!!  Like putting wheels on bows so we don't have to get as close, or learn how to hunt as well... Heck, we do our best to dispense with hunting at all, and proceed to the killing part.

I think pretty much everybody starts out with a gun.  Many want more of a challenge, so they progress (regress?) to muzzleloaders, bows, maybe even atlatls or dogs and knives.  Why then do we immediately try to divest ourselves of the extra challenge through fancierpricier technology?  Why not just stick with the gun?  Is it just about bragging rights?  Do people want the "right" to say they hunt with a bow, but without the challenge of it?  I don't understand.

My own epiphany came in November.  I've always been a rifle hunter, (also had a brief flirtation with a 1990 Browning compound), and this last year was no different.  My first morning out, along happened a nice buck.  With hardly an emotion, let alone any excitement, I placed the crosshairs and squeezed.  As usual, I felt the mixed emotions of guilt/pride and sadness/happiness.  I was just out for meat (for once) and felt no real sense of fulfillment... I realized I hadn't hunted.  Hadn't earned the right to take a life.  This magnificent animal had spent his whole lifetime of approximately 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 years honing his survival skills. and then along comes a dork with enough money to buy a car and a gun -- to end it.  So I rededicated my hunting life to hunting, with or without killing.  And here I am.

[sailordad]

i watch all them hunting shows,even the ones with hosts i dont like and the ones where they are always taking bad shots
i watch them for what they are,ENTERTANMENT.thats it nothing more.
the people making these shows are doing their jobs,making an entertaining hunting show.
there for they need to put on film what most people want to see,BIG DEER DOWN.

i have met and talked with several of these hosts.some are down right good people and others are arrogant asses.
some i have talked with hunt with gear that is given by sponsors(people that pay their wages and pay for their shows)
some of the ones i have spoken with would rather be using a recirve bow,but their sponors dont make/sell them so they hunt with a bow woth wheels on them.
others i have talked to will only hunt with recurves,regardless of the sponors(Brooks,co creator of my fav blinds,Double Bull)
now you cant blame these people for trying to make a living(the best way they know how),after all we all for the most part are just trying to provide a good life
for our families.

if a tool company were to come up to me(since i am a professional auto technician) and say "if we give you all these new tools and you use them exclusivley
we will pay you $xxx on top of what you already earn,are you interested?"
well iwould have to say "hell ya!"
because thats why i go to work every day,to make as much as i can to provide for my family and pay for my addictions.you know the addictions,like
living in my house,driving my nice cars and bikes,my hobbies etc.

so i think before anyone knocks them for hunting the way they do on them shows,fitst they need to remember that they are just like most of us
working people trying to provide a living for their families.
do i agree with the way they hunt or what they hunt for,no most times i dont.
but i do however keep in mind that it is just a "T.V." show,entertainment.so if ya dont like it you could shut off the tube nad get off your dead asses and go shoot at something with a stick.          thats mho


as a side note.like some i started with a recurve in my hand,then went wheelie then became primitive.
but primitive came from me being cheap and not wanting to spend $1000 on the latest newest hunting bow one year.
i wanted a new one but they got to pricey for me to justify spending that much money,after all i have a family to support,so i started making my own.
i have yet to hunt and kill with my own.and i still hunt with my wheelie bow,i probably always will to some extent.
i have a realy nice osage selfbow that was given to me by a very kind person on this site.this will be my "go to bow" for hunting now.
as long as its not raining cats and dogs,if its is then i will take the one with wheels.its a little more weather resistant 

[billy]

Wow, Zen..

I have to say first off that you really write well...I agree with you totally.

I don't have a problem with people hunting the way they hunt.  But the way it is presented on TV is really done in poor taste.  Not only are the shows edited so they all look the same, but the hunters even act the same way (hitting fists) and they say the same things "Oh man...you SMOKED him!"  It's just another example of how producers have no creativity and use a template to make all their shows the same as though the audience is like a colony of bacteria in a petri dish....nothing new, nothing different, and nothing worth watching. 

When I was up in Iowa visiting my brother back in March, I saw a big tour bus parked in town.  It said "The Crush with Lee and Tiffany" and it had huge pictures of these two hunting "celebrities"  plastered on both sides of the bus.  Is this what hunting celebrities have become? Wanna-be Rock stars?  Isn't it incredibly ridiculous to drive around town in a giant billboard with huge pictures of yourself on it?  Wouldn't you be embarrassed?  I know I would be.   What if these hunters painted their house with a huge picture of themselves?  Would that be ridiculous? Would they be embarrassed then?   If it were me, I'd rather follow the bus in my beat up Honda than to be riding in it.  I would be THOROUGHLY embarrassed to prostitute myself by riding in such a blatant marketing tool. 

All these hunters end up going to private ranches where they get a free hunt.  They know nothing about the land, the animals, or how to hunt them.  They have someone else tell them where to sit, what time to be there, and which direction to be facing.  And it's all so they can get a kill shot on tape and broadcast it on TV. The ends justify the means.... 

I'm sure a lot of TV hunters are good people, but unfortunately it's the puppeteers who control the $$ that tell them what to do and how to do it.  And it's how hunting is presented on TV that leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.       

[Grunt]

I think this speaks to a larger concept. As long as man divorces himself from the natural world it is easy to justify the destruction of the earth. I think our only hope is for man to recognize that he is a part of the fragile web of life that makes up our world.
I taught hunters safety courses in Indiana in the early 80's that were centered around muzzleloading. Everybody had a caplock or a flintlock. Along came technology and away it went. The concept of a blackpowder deer season was to honor our past and to give the critters more of a chance. Now the attention has refocused to the technical future and the concept of more, more, more. All it took was one generation.
If we don't accept the fact that we are a part of the natural world and act accordingly the kids don't stand a chance.

[El Destructo]

                                   Ah-men Brother...could not have put it any Simpler....or closer to the Truth

[mullet]

 I have to agree, Zen. As , much as I like watching Turkey hunting on TV, I had to turn one off this morning. I kept looking at the shotguns and going, "this ain't right". They must have had five pounds of camera, battery and microphones, attached to them. I just couldn't get that out of my mind while thinking how exciting and fun it should be.

[DanaM]

Eddie did the term arm chair quarterback come to mind Lots of folks like to think they are hunters and by watching these silly shows they feel they are actually participating.
Hunting shows or pro sports all the same to me entertaining at times but mostly useless

[mullet]

Yea, Dana, you nailed it. But then it comes back to introducing people to hunting. They probally influence a lot of people that would never try it. All you need is a Gift Certificate to Bass Pro Shop to be a new hunter.