Are we losing touch with our hunting roots?

[Northpark]

Of course- I agree with you 100% But I’d bet that you’re quite experienced and accumulated your gear over a long period of time. By no means was I insinuating that good gear equals a bad hunter. I was focusing on how I think the industry has evolved to be somewhat of a financial barrier and that to an extent, has clouded sound ethical judgement in new hunters.

Ya I guess I could see that with new hunters especially if they stumble across Rokslide right away. I guess I did gather up that gear over years. I shot my first elk at 50 yards wearing a small day pack with no frame, wearing my leather work boots a cotton button shirt with my trusty ruger .300 win mag loaded with core lokt bullets. Ah the simple days. Maybe I should try that again.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Where is this mythical place that the hunter numbers are down? I’ve yet to find it.

 

[Southwesterner]

Ya I guess I could see that with new hunters especially if they stumble across Rokslide right away. I guess I did gather up that gear over years. I shot my first elk at 50 yards wearing a small day pack with no frame, wearing my leather work boots a cotton button shirt with my trusty ruger .300 win mag loaded with core lokt bullets. Ah the simple days. Maybe I should try that again.

Sounds like a great memory. Thank you for sharing that!

 

[Whiskey_Fish]

Where is this mythical place that the hunter numbers are down? I’ve yet to find it.

I think it’s called “Delaware” or something like that.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rokbar]

As humans we're always on the look out for the next better thing be it hunting or golf. The hunters 50 years ago were light years ahead of the hunters using spears? Whether your an expert stalker or a flaming treehugger, there is that primal instinct in the back of our head to kill and eat. I don't believe we're losing touch, just improving our odds!!

 

[HookUp]

Change is never easy OP. The world and every industry change at lightening speed. Nothing stays static bro.
Put the popcorn away. -The end.

 

[TomJoad]

Agree fully with the OP.

Along with remembering about the sustenance I also think it’s important do do good by the animal with the cleaning, butchering and finally the cooking execution. One of the main reasons I hunt it to stay connected to where things are coming from. When lookIng a cow in the eye and pulling the trigger I’m making a commitment in that moment to using as much as possible as well as executing on the best possible meals that I can. Subsequently, when that steak hits the cast iron skillet (yup preferential to iron and butter basting over a grill) you better believe it’s coming off heat just past rare and it’s going to rest a full 10 min before someone sinks a knife into it.

 

[Opah]

Believe me if I had the money I would be equipped up, I have the best that was in my means and until it is non functional to hunt what I hunt it will be what I hunt with.
Know my equipment, there and my abilities and grow the sport starting with my Grandson

 

[Bubblehide]

I can only speak for myself, but I am not losing touch the huntings roots. I like to consider myself a skilled knowledgeable hunter, and I have no doubt that a few here that know me, and those that have hunted with me would attest to. I say that because like many here, I started hunting as a child, small game, and moved up to big game. I grew up, like many here, in a lower middle class family. So when I started hunting, it was with what I already had, not hunting clothing. And like many that grew-up like me, I harvested a whole lot of animals in regular clothes.

Well I grew up, managed to get a formal college education later in life and proceeded to complete a graduate education and am currently employed with an inner city school district. THe school district I work for pays the lowest in the area but I actually love working where I work; I could moved districts and make up to 50 grand more a year, literally. But that is beside the point. My point here is I make a comfortable wage that allows me to purchase some of the what is considered top tier gear, and I do because it just performs way better that lesser gear (the lesser gear still gets the job done). But at 58 you really notice the difference in comfort level, and or performance level. Okay, you notice it well before hitting 58.

But really, where does the drive for wanting the best come from if you do not yet know the difference. Well guess what, I have a couple theories on that like other replying here. I think there are primarily 3 types purchasing top tier gear. One I already mentioned, those like me. the 2nd is those new hunters that have yet to develop the knowledge skills and abilities to consistently be successful. As such, they have an unquenched desire for more consistent success, or perhaps their first success. So many in this group will fall prey to the hype (the hype may be legitimate in at least some cases) . Then there is the last group, and I am sure many here have recognized them. It is those that most of us would consider above middle class and having the discretionary funds to just purchase the best, either all at once, or at a rate to most of us to be considered all at once. Some old enough call this keeping up with the Joneses. Or perhaps it is setting the bar, an awfully high bar.

Moving on to commenting on some of the comments. Hunter numbers are not going down at the national level. They however have been on a decline per percentage of population in most of the nation. So in short, the numbers of hunters has gone up over the years, just not at the population growth rate. There are however some exceptions to this.

I will stop there. But keep in mind, artistic license was exercised in the writing of this post. So please do not take anything I wrote as an authoritative opinion.

 

[MarcherLord]

I’d be lying if I said I hunted just for sustenance. I also suspect that being a gear whore isn’t a just a modern era thing.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

It has never been easier to be a new hunter, than it is right now.....

$$$$ has always been and will always be a barrier as long as things cost money. But that’s not exclusive to hunting

 

[KurtR]

Haha after hearing the stories on how they used to do it in the 70’s no way I am shooting out the window or running all over private land. I think people like to think all the old timers were out wandering around with the red flannel on but truth is many were about killing at any means necessary

 

[coyoteman]

Lol..i doubt very many of us on here are hunting for sustenance. I myself truly love the meat and that certainly does play a role in why I hunt, but at the end of the day after passing up that small 4x buck I know that I will still have food on my plate. I'm not ashamed to say I like looking at antlers on the wall but also will not hesitate to kill a doe near the end of the season for meat in the freezer and be absolutely pumped about it!!

 

[Jimmy]

I tell every new hunter I talk to, spend money on gas not gear.

 

[Mt Al]

I recently put myself in the shoes of a prospective new hunter and it was a harrowing experience. With the HUGE emphasis on the mindset that getting the latest and greatest optic, rifle, camo, pack, boots; there’s no wonder that hunter numbers are dwindling. Not to mention an influx in folks taking unethical long range shots because their confidence was boosted by a big piece of glass on a custom rifle as opposed to quality range time. I attribute a lot of this to forgetting our roots and the real reason we should all be hunting: sustenance. Let’s be honest, the industry promotes horn hunting and very frequently utilizes images of trophy racks in advertisements. I for one, have found myself getting excited over antlers and totally forgetting the true reason of harvesting an animal: meat. What are some things we as hunters can do to refocus our community on the true meaning of hunting.

IMHO, you make some good points but:
-The HUGE emphasis on latest/greatest is just businesses promoting their business and is simply the awesome process of innovation - which is what keeps our country going and creates jobs. Same for every single industry.
-Unethical long shots: ?? Who chooses how far is too far, how much practice should be required before you're allowed to call it ethical or unethical? If we get started there we need to include angle of the animal, standing/kneeling/prone. It's easy to imagine a long shot being more ethical than a snap shot at short range with a running animal. Long shots are not unethical - any shot can be unethical. The big piece of glass and custom rifle doesn't mean the person didn't have quality range time. Who decides what is quality range time?
-The industry does promote horn hunting, what's wrong with that? So do most "conservation" organizations like Boone and Crocket, Pope and Young, Roland and Wards, SCI, etc.. They have records that illustrate competition - which is right up there in our human core - unless we want to give up on sports, academic achievement, etc.

You can refocus "our" community on your true meaning of hunting. You could be another "non Meat Eater" and do youtube videos celebrating shooting does/rabbits/etc and win a bunch of people over, which would be great. Before the interewebs I used to take people out and help them shoot does and process the meat with them. Huge satisfaction. However, others will refocus on their true meaning of hunting which could be: to be outside, to be together with family/friends, to regain what it means to be human as compared to sitting in an office all day, to look for the biggest rack you can find while letting smaller animals pass by.

 

[hunt1up]

I would agree with this. I have all of the fanciest gear money can buy, the best weapons, boots, you name it. But most deer hunters I know around my area just dust off their old shotgun with a slug barrel 3 days before season and go sit in a tree. Bowhunters, most are shooting a 5-10 year old bow. I enjoy having the best quality stuff but I know it's totally unnecessary.

I think the biggest barrier to a new hunter is land access. At least that's the case here in the whitetail woods. For out west, I'd say it's preference points and a lack of knowledge of how they work. I have friends telling me all the time how they want to someday go hunting out west. I tell them to start banking points and they look at me funny and I then must explain the whole deal.

 

[Jxferg7]

I believe everyone has their reasons. We make it a family affair around here. This was this past years Rifle season. Nephew was in town...”there is a lot of meat”....my son says “that’s a lot of TACOS!” It is a way of life and when taught appropriately everything takes care of itself!

 

[5MilesBack]

I attribute a lot of this to forgetting our roots and the real reason we should all be hunting: sustenance.

I started hunting at 15 in 1980. I can honestly say that "sustenance" has NEVER been one of my reasons for hunting. We raised cattle and hogs for that, and to this day I'd much rather be eating fatty beef and pork than game meat. But I will say that the game meat these days is just an added benefit to the experience. But I've also given away lots of meat in the past as well. I don't hunt for sustenance.........I hunt because I'm a hunter.......and greatly enjoy it.

 

[Poser]

I have fancy, high end and super specific gear. While I’ll often pass younger animals, I don’t really give a shit about antlers. Except for 2 Whitetails euro mounts, my antlers are all sitting in a storage unit. I eat game meat 3-4 nights a week, sometimes 7-10 days straight. However, my primary motivation for hunting is adventure: getting out, getting after it, undeterred by conditions or terrain, out and about in the mountains.

 

[Southwesterner]

I can only speak for myself, but I am not losing touch the huntings roots. I like to consider myself a skilled knowledgeable hunter, and I have no doubt that a few here that know me, and those that have hunted with me would attest to. I say that because like many here, I started hunting as a child, small game, and moved up to big game. I grew up, like many here, in a lower middle class family. So when I started hunting, it was with what I already had, not hunting clothing. And like many that grew-up like me, I harvested a whole lot of animals in regular clothes.

Well I grew up, managed to get a formal college education later in life and proceeded to complete a graduate education and am currently employed with an inner city school district. THe school district I work for pays the lowest in the area but I actually love working where I work; I could moved districts and make up to 50 grand more a year, literally. But that is beside the point. My point here is I make a comfortable wage that allows me to purchase some of the what is considered top tier gear, and I do because it just performs way better that lesser gear (the lesser gear still gets the job done). But at 58 you really notice the difference in comfort level, and or performance level. Okay, you notice it well before hitting 58.

But really, where does the drive for wanting the best come from if you do not yet know the difference. Well guess what, I have a couple theories on that like other replying here. I think there are primarily 3 types purchasing top tier gear. One I already mentioned, those like me. the 2nd is those new hunters that have yet to develop the knowledge skills and abilities to consistently be successful. As such, they have an unquenched desire for more consistent success, or perhaps their first success. So many in this group will fall prey to the hype (the hype may be legitimate in at least some cases) . Then there is the last group, and I am sure many here have recognized them. It is those that most of us would consider above middle class and having the discretionary funds to just purchase the best, either all at once, or at a rate to most of us to be considered all at once. Some old enough call this keeping up with the Joneses. Or perhaps it is setting the bar, an awfully high bar.

Moving on to commenting on some of the comments. Hunter numbers are not going down at the national level. They however have been on a decline per percentage of population in most of the nation. So in short, the numbers of hunters has gone up over the years, just not at the population growth rate. There are however some exceptions to this.

I will stop there. But keep in mind, artistic license was exercised in the writing of this post. So please do not take anything I wrote as an authoritative opinion.

Thank you for your super thought-out post. I really enjoyed reading it and you brought up some excellent points!