Are we losing touch with our hunting roots?

[Outdoor Writer]

Wow, someone resurrected an oldie but goodie. It was interesting reading some of the responses. I'm gonna sit this one out, however.

 

[sasquatch]

I think a lot of people are losing sight of whats important and why you should hunt but its not the fancy gear that does it, its the " I'm only doing this to post a photo on Instagram ".

I think if social media went away we'd be surprised at the outcome of who sticks around and who doesn't.

THIS


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[Behlftball]

Yes its very sad. I actually unfollowed all my states whitetail pages

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[Outdoor Writer]

THIS


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Okay, you made me do it.

Theses are two of my replies from another thread here. The discussion was about a desire to kill a 200" buck.


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Thanks for the kind words. I really do appreciate your comments.

Probably should be carrying on this discsussion in another thread, but...

Back in the day when I began hunting in the early 1960s and there was no internet to brag about scores, you rarely heard or saw score mentioned. If someone killed an outstanding buck to get a photo published in a mag or the newspaper, the caption generally cited the numbers of points and/or spread where relevant. Yes, some were measured for recognition in the trophy books, but the emphasis on score was quite minimal in the grand scheme of things. It wasn't until the mid--to-late 1980s that scores became the the cat's-meow. In order to stay relevant, I had to start tailoring my articles to the trend. While I much preferred writing about a youngster's 1st buck, regardless of size, my editors wanted the biggest of the biggest. This trend was only promulgated more by the arrival of the "look-at-me" magazines such as Eastman's, etc. that used hunters to supply them with free copy & photos. while raking in the profits from advertisers.

Now back to our scheduled programing.

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I've never been a meat hunter or trophy hunter. For many years my goal was simply to kill the first legal animal that came along. When I hunted in Africa the PH says to me that he can guarantee every animal killed would make SCI's books. I told him I didn't really give a damn and merely wanted to kill a decent representaive trophy. So that's what we did. We diid kill a couple that he said would make SCI and wanted to score them. I just said, "No need to."

I probably have 50-60 mounts of one sort or another spread over a couple rooms. Each one brings back memories and I recall evreything about it. And yeah, I'm proud of them even if I don't know what they score.

 

[magtech]

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.

I'm not sure what your hunting "roots" are but growing up nearly 40 years ago id go to camp and everyone would be piss drunk, driving back roads popping deer from a blaze of glory. Doing deer pushes through swamps half strung out and shooting whatever moved. This "heritage", or roots, has lasted longer than our current generation of hunting.

Would you consider this unethical? Would being 3 sheets to the wind hunting from a blind be unethical? You attempt to cast judgement on hunting styles really shows how disconnected you are with the roots of hunting.

Maybe listen to "The second week of deer camp" by da yoopers.. If you want to really know the "roots" of hunting.

 

[MuleDeerMike]

I think a lot of people are losing sight of whats important and why you should hunt but its not the fancy gear that does it, its the " I'm only doing this to post a photo on Instagram ".

I think if social media went away we'd be surprised at the outcome of who sticks around and who doesn't.

I hate censorship as much as the next guy but if all of the social media companies, including YouTube, decided that they wont allow pictures of dead animals anymore, I wouldn't be upset.