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Losing touch with the hunt...

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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.  ;D        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.       

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