Until I was about 67 years old I had only killed a few deer from an elevated stand and never one over bait. From my youth I was a walk and stalk hunter, often shooting them in their bed at high noon, whitetail, mule deer, mountain deer, desert deer, did not matter they were deer and they were bucks.
I grew up hunting in Texas where bow hunting from a tree was OK, but with a gun, not at all. It was like shooting quail on the ground, below the dignity of any grown man and certainly not sporting. Much like shooting deer with a spotlight, a despicable thing to do, unless a person was feeding his kids, at which time it was just fine. But that was long ago.
Now being limited in mobility and not able to chase them down or sneak along creek or river bottoms, or even walk very far, I justify them as necessary, although, I have found ground blinds work just fine also.
Then there are feeders. Feeders train deer to come to a single spot on the planet to get their daily ration, in fact they train the does to not stray far and the bucks have zero choice but to come close if they want time with the ladies. So "hunting" is easy, just get comfy and wait.
That prompted this question. Have we changed the challenge of hunting into just manipulating an animal into a single spot on the planet so we can pop him, take pictures on the cell and send out to everyone on the planet showing how great a hunter we truly are?
For reference recall the great Benoit family a guy and his 3 sons who killed dozens of huge bucks by tracking and stalking and traditional still hunting, what was simply stealthily sneaking through the brush. Before comments consider the following.
1. https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2014/5/12/legendary-whitetail-hunter-larry-benoit-lives-on/
"They're hiding in a treehouse somewhere, and if the guy had a suit and tie on it wouldn't make any difference. And they're whispering. Why are they whispering? The deer comes out and he's at the deer feeder, which goes off every day at the same time. It's all prearranged. The deer's getting killed on Wednesday."
2. https://benoitsbigbucks.com/
Lanny and Shane have hunted public land from parts of Canada, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont where they grew up and honed their hunting skills as boys and young men. Since then they have taken over 150 200lb plus bucks (all on public land
3. Unethical hunting definition, Texas. Deer genetics and high fence hunting.
5. Killing deer with corn. https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/whitetail-365/dont-feed-the-deer-how-corn-can-be-a-killer/ Feeding corn to deer can kill them, and generally not good for them.
Just wondering if we have gone beyond the point of being sportsman. Just because the local legislature says it is legal does not make it sporting. Comments.
I grew up hunting in Texas where bow hunting from a tree was OK, but with a gun, not at all. It was like shooting quail on the ground, below the dignity of any grown man and certainly not sporting. Much like shooting deer with a spotlight, a despicable thing to do, unless a person was feeding his kids, at which time it was just fine. But that was long ago.
Now being limited in mobility and not able to chase them down or sneak along creek or river bottoms, or even walk very far, I justify them as necessary, although, I have found ground blinds work just fine also.
Then there are feeders. Feeders train deer to come to a single spot on the planet to get their daily ration, in fact they train the does to not stray far and the bucks have zero choice but to come close if they want time with the ladies. So "hunting" is easy, just get comfy and wait.
That prompted this question. Have we changed the challenge of hunting into just manipulating an animal into a single spot on the planet so we can pop him, take pictures on the cell and send out to everyone on the planet showing how great a hunter we truly are?
For reference recall the great Benoit family a guy and his 3 sons who killed dozens of huge bucks by tracking and stalking and traditional still hunting, what was simply stealthily sneaking through the brush. Before comments consider the following.
1. https://www.americanhunter.org/articles/2014/5/12/legendary-whitetail-hunter-larry-benoit-lives-on/
"They're hiding in a treehouse somewhere, and if the guy had a suit and tie on it wouldn't make any difference. And they're whispering. Why are they whispering? The deer comes out and he's at the deer feeder, which goes off every day at the same time. It's all prearranged. The deer's getting killed on Wednesday."
2. https://benoitsbigbucks.com/
Lanny and Shane have hunted public land from parts of Canada, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont where they grew up and honed their hunting skills as boys and young men. Since then they have taken over 150 200lb plus bucks (all on public land
3. Unethical hunting definition, Texas. Deer genetics and high fence hunting.
- Hunting game confined by fences or enclosures, or game transplanted solely for the purpose of commercial shootinghttps://tpwd.texas.gov/education/hunter-education/online-course/responsible-and-ethical-hunting/hunting-ethics.
5. Killing deer with corn. https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/whitetail-365/dont-feed-the-deer-how-corn-can-be-a-killer/ Feeding corn to deer can kill them, and generally not good for them.
Just wondering if we have gone beyond the point of being sportsman. Just because the local legislature says it is legal does not make it sporting. Comments.