Are we really hunting?

[DonV]

What are your thoughts. All is legal. Whitetail deer hunting, over bait with cell cameras and a crossbow. Personally I think this going to far and not hunting, harvesting. This is night and day from when I grew up bowhunting deer, no bait, no cameras. Killing a mature hunted whitetail was HARD and required a lot of work to do it consistently. Now you dump corn, set a camera, pattern a deer, check the camera before you walk into your stand so you do not spook deer, and then kill him. To easy?

 

[207North]

If you don’t agree with it don’t do it.

Don’t worry about what the other guy is doing.

I personally do not use trail cameras and legally cannot use bait. If the next guy chooses to… congrats on the buck.

 

[DonV]

It is someone I let hunt my property. He started out with bait, longbow and cell camera. The more I thought about the cell camera and bait the more I personally was hesitant. He then switched to crossbow. I will not criticize someone for hunting legally even if I disagree.

This post is 2 fold

1. Curious what others think about this topic in general.

2. My own personally decision about if I let him continue to do this.

 

[207North]

If it is your property absolutely set some boundaries.

They can hunt elsewhere if they disagree.

 

[83cj-7]

I kill quite a few deer each year and I don’t bait or use cameras or a crossbow. I like not knowing what might walk up to me in a stand.

Like this guy who came in with a doe and stuck around for 2 1/2 hours because she bedded down. Finally got stupid and allowed me to get an arrow his way.

 

[Yoder]

Crossbow is a no go, but a rifle is ok? How about a $2k carbon fiber Hoyt with an auto ranging illuminated sight, two stabilizers and a drop away rest? I don't think the weapon is a big deal, but I get not liking the bait and cell cams. Hunting bait or food plots doesn't interest me. I also wouldn't want any kind of permanent stand or blind. Maybe if I was too old or disabled, but to me it would just be shooting, not hunting. I don't care if other people do it. I went on a pig hunt with my two boys like that once and it was fun, but not something I would do again. You can make hunting as hard or as easy as legally allowed. It's up to you.

 

[Yoder]

It is someone I let hunt my property. He started out with bait, longbow and cell camera. The more I thought about the cell camera and bait the more I personally was hesitant. He then switched to crossbow. I will not criticize someone for hunting legally even if I disagree.

This post is 2 fold

1. Curious what others think about this topic in general.

2. My own personally decision about if I let him continue to do this.

I didn't see this post when I replied. I thought you had more of a general issue with crossbows, not that it was used on your land.

 

[Marbles]

Semantics of hunt vs harvest is really a personal distinction.

Baiting can be work, personally I don't enjoy still hunting nor do I enjoy the work of maintaining a bait site, so even though I would be more successful, I don't bait bears.

Nothing wrong with putting meat on the table in the easiest way possible. Though it certainly looses some of the prestige.

Perhaps, seeing as your question concerns your property, you could let him hunt, but forbid the taking of trophy level bucks. Put something in writing about what can or cannot be taken.

 

[MuleyFever]

Your house your rules. If they done like it they don't have to be there. I would not allow bait or let an able bodied person use a crossbow as a replacement for a bow on my property.

 

[BreechFace]

I hunt the way I hunt to get what I want out of the hunt.

I don’t *need* the meat, we raise a few head of beef, but enjoy venison as well. I hunt because I love the outdoors, love shooting, and the thrill of stalking game up and down hill and the tough work that comes with it.

I have no desire to hunt out of a blind, talk about boredom and too sedentary for me.

But I’ve grown and hunted only in the west.

 

[Forestryguy]

I am not into baiting. If I had my own property maybe supplements but not just a corn pile. To each their own on tool used to shoot an animal as long as its legal. Cell cams are becoming more regulated. They are nice for us that hunt out of state and are going after older and bigger deer. You are not spending your week of vacation just trying to find animals. What if the cams were just for locating does to shoot for meat? Most of us do not have the luxury of taking extended periods of time off to go hunting. I see cell cams and just cams as my personal outfitter that I would otherwise be paying to find and know deer that I want to hunt.

 

[grfox92]

Baiting deer is a big no no for me personally. I would never want to shoot a deer over bait.

Bears are another story.

I wouldn't say it's not hunting. Just not my cup of tea.

I know if I owned a good whitetail property the last thing I would want is someone messing up the natural patterns of the deer with a bait pile.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

 

[Dexter Grayson]

Killing an animal that has 5+ years of experience trying not to get killed is not easy no matter what circumstance. Does over a feeder, yes it’s harvesting. Mature buck? Not so much. I do what I legally can to put the odds in my favor.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I’m from the west, so I think whitetail are vermin and need executed any way possible.

 

[83cj-7]

I’m from the west, so I think whitetail are vermin and need executed any way possible.

This is how farmers in my area feel about them. “Field Rats” is what one farmer calls them.

 

[Fetty Wapiti]

I get it, but chill on the xbows... compounds are even worse. If it has wheels, it ain't a bow.

 

[TxxAgg]

You still have to combat the wind, sit still, know when to move, combat buck fever, make a good shot, blood trail the thing….plus the preseason work that goes into selecting a spot, trimming, setting up a stand, etc.

It’s totally different than western hunting, but that’s ok. Different strokes for different folks. There doesn’t need to be solely one way that defines hunting…fishing is similar.

I went a through a 5 year trad bow phase and got a little snooty. Now, after having kids just getting into hunting, I realize the fun and excitement in all types of hunting.

Using a word Iike harvest is just disingenuous.

 

[IAm_Not_Lost]

It’s all relative.

Is using a modern bow really hunting? Is using a range finder hunting? Is using a rifle with a scope that you can shoot at 600 yards hunting? Is getting to your hunt site with a vehicle hunting?

Do you not think that hunters throughout history have baited deer? Native Americans would absolutely bait deer and set up right on the site.

 

[SDHNTR]

If legal, I have no problem with any of that for whitetails. There are plenty of them. If I don’t like the tactic, I simply don’t do it and don’t let what someone else is doing bother me.

Now mule deer? Different story. They need limitations.

 

[dieselchessy]

I see baiting as being closer to trapping than hunting.

But if its legal, then cool.
I like trapping too.