ever feel a little guilty?

[Ryan Avery]

I've been called a lot of names, out of stater,nonresident,high roller,poser and now fanboy. Man I'm starting to get a complex here! I guess I'm all of those,definitely will be a nonresident elk hunter and I suppose I'm a high roller I bought all the latest and greatest,I should look damn good out their. But I'm not new to hunting. I've hunted most of my life, not always big game birds,rabbit,quail and done some trapping also. But my passion is bow hunting. I love hunting whitetail with a bow,can't get enough! Now my kids are grown and I'm ready to go after elk. I'm fat,old and bald,have to say not much going for me as far as being young and in shape. But I still have a relentless burning desire for bow hunting and ready for new memories. So if you see some old fat guy that is nicely dressed in Kryptek camo and has a Kifaru pack with all the latest and greatest gear in it laying face first halfway up the mountian in your stomping ground,pay me no attention I'm just pursuing my passion for bow hunting. I apologize to you more experienced elk hunters in advance if I ruin your hunt.

NL, that is the best post yet!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[Bighorse]

I just want to say I'm witness to huge tracts of land available to all of us as Americans. The National forests and National monuments are all open. As hard working resourceful taxpayers should you choose to wander about the game is rich and the challenge real.
As a former lower 48er I'll say take the bold step and move north and any sense of crowding can easily be remedied. Find your own piece of wilderness. It's up here for the taking. I don't fear any Internet bulletin board. I'll even say come on up launch your boat and head down to Whale Bay, climb the first 2500' hill you come to on the left. September is great! File a float plan with search and rescue and carry communications. Best wishes for a rich hunting season. If we cross paths on the hill. I hope you like chocolate cause I'm sure to offer you some.
At the same time.....a good bit of hard eared intel and a trail should be protected. Only super good friends and family get that. After all I wouldn't let just anybody into my refrigerator.

I love the hunting culture yet I also understand we all function as consumers of a finite resource. Like a good alpha bear or wolf it's natural to protect our territory.

My .02 while I sit on my couch waiting for August and September to unfold.

 

[Manosteel]

I've been called a lot of names, out of stater,nonresident,high roller,poser and now fanboy. Man I'm starting to get a complex here! I guess I'm all of those,definitely will be a nonresident elk hunter and I suppose I'm a high roller I bought all the latest and greatest,I should look damn good out their. But I'm not new to hunting. I've hunted most of my life, not always big game birds,rabbit,quail and done some trapping also. But my passion is bow hunting. I love hunting whitetail with a bow,can't get enough! Now my kids are grown and I'm ready to go after elk. I'm fat,old and bald,have to say not much going for me as far as being young and in shape. But I still have a relentless burning desire for bow hunting and ready for new memories. So if you see some old fat guy that is nicely dressed in Kryptek camo and has a Kifaru pack with all the latest and greatest gear in it laying face first halfway up the mountian in your stomping ground,pay me no attention I'm just pursuing my passion for bow hunting. I apologize to you more experienced elk hunters in advance if I ruin your hunt.

Just..... AWESOME!

 

[LazyV]

I've been called a lot of names, out of stater,nonresident,high roller,poser and now fanboy. Man I'm starting to get a complex here! I guess I'm all of those,definitely will be a nonresident elk hunter and I suppose I'm a high roller I bought all the latest and greatest,I should look damn good out their. But I'm not new to hunting. I've hunted most of my life, not always big game birds,rabbit,quail and done some trapping also. But my passion is bow hunting. I love hunting whitetail with a bow,can't get enough! Now my kids are grown and I'm ready to go after elk. I'm fat,old and bald,have to say not much going for me as far as being young and in shape. But I still have a relentless burning desire for bow hunting and ready for new memories. So if you see some old fat guy that is nicely dressed in Kryptek camo and has a Kifaru pack with all the latest and greatest gear in it laying face first halfway up the mountian in your stomping ground,pay me no attention I'm just pursuing my passion for bow hunting. I apologize to you more experienced elk hunters in advance if I ruin your hunt.

No limits for the win...

 

[tstowater]

Well crap, NL ruins it for all of us by making LB happy. I really want LB's secret hunting spot so I can come and pee all over it. As you can see, NL wants to do it for the "right" reasons, not just because it is popular. I personally still do a lot of guided hunts strictly because of time limitations and trophy expectations. If I get the monster elk I want in a couple months, I will be in the backcountry chasing them for fun in the future. Damn, I enjoy the country and bugling bulls. It makes putting up with the B.S. in the office worthwhile.

 

[littlebuf]

LB's always happy. you should see the smirk on my face when I start threads like this

 

[Manosteel]

... I enjoy the country and bugling bulls. It makes putting up with the B.S. in the office worthwhile.

x1000... I am stuck in the office or on the road attending meeting with clients etc... nearly all year. Every year I use up a week of vacation to take the family some where hot like California or Mexico in March/April, 4 days for the wife and me in Vegas and the remaining 2.5 weeks of holiday time is spend in the mountains or the backcountry. God bless seniority in the workplace. Plus every year I somehow sneak in weekends and statutory holidays in Oct & Nov.

 

[tstowater]

LB's always happy. you should see the smirk on my face when I start threads like this

Glad you are happy. I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. No, I don't want to pee on your sacred hunting grounds.

 

[robby denning]

I didn't read all the posts, but I don't feel guilty. The more that people that get on board with our sport, the less power the anti's have. Most of them think we're a bunch of uneducated bubba's shooting out the window at bambi. I've hunted Wyoming for 20+ years, and you won't find more hunters in the backcountry than there yet still produces good bucks/bulls/ and memories. Come one, come all. The days of hunting alone ended about 1975.

 

[2rocky]

No question, having an informational resource such as an internet forum unlocks the mystery of remote public land. Information is quicker and easier to obtain with Google earth. We have at least three national magazines that celebrate Western Back country hunting. What outdoor shows are getting the higher ratings from viewers? The Western/back country ones. I'd venture to say I know of 5 hunting forums with backpack/wilderness hunting as a main focus. I've lost count of the Blogs and hunting celebrities whose claim to fame is western backcountry hunting.

The increased exposure has certainly made more people interested in remote mountainous country. The surge in specialized hunting gear shows that. But by and far the year in year out backcountry hunter is generally a solitary person. There are secrets to hunting areas that are only learned from years of experience, and tendencies of the animals and the "other hunters".

The day's of hunting "unhunted/unpressured animals" probably came to an end in the 1950's. As the learning curve has become easier, the drive and desire required to be consistently successful has increased. So what is the role of a website like Rokslide in that? I think that it is putting better prepared hunters in the mountains, who don't get lost, hurt or overwhelmed by the country. The moral support of a community imparts a new western out of state hunter with enough confidence to follow their dreams if they have the desire.

For some, the effort/reward ratio might be too great and they find another type of hunting that is easier and more accessible ( Like duck hunting ) But the committed guys will be returning to their places year after year.

 

[orionsbrother]

All right, I'm definitely a no limits fanboy.

Whether I'm hunting, hiking or wilderness canoeing, it seems to me that a little distance culls the guys without capabilities and heart. I haven't come across a lot of people "back in a bit" who are there only to check something off a list.

Being on a mountain, alone, listening to the elk, formulating a plan for your hunt, or crawling out of your tent in the pre-dawn of the big woods with some fresh snow, or paddling up on a feeding bull moose, or camping on a frozen lake listening to the growl as more ice forms are all much cooler to do than they are to talk about.

 

[AK_LOST]

Your not hardcore unless you live hardcore........Jack Black School of Rock

 

[gelton]

All right, I'm definitely a no limits fanboy. Whether I'm hunting, hiking or wilderness canoeing, it seems to me that a little distance culls the guys without capabilities and heart.

Exactly. Remember for the most part we are talking about National Forests, public land that ALL of us pay for.

If someone is willing to walk through fallen timber that no horse or mule could ever make it through while climbing 2,000 ft. to hunt where I hunt, then more power to them, they deserve to be there. I was watching one of those "programs" that western hunters hate because it makes their hunting popular to us flatlanders and the hunter was complaining about how hard it was to hike to the spot they were hunting and the Indian guide looked at him and said - "I know, thats why its a good spot."

If you are concerened about too many people crowding you on PUBLIC land then - (1) you arent going far enough and/or (2) start hunting private land.

 

[TheRambler]

Mother Nature and Darwin will weed out those that don't need to be in the backcountry. Otherwise if someone wants to hike in with all their gear and go hunting then they have a right to do so, jut as you and I.

 

[littlebuf]

If you are concerened about too many people crowding you on PUBLIC land then - (1) you arent going far enough and/or (2) start hunting private land.

you don't quite get it. this post is referring to internet sites such as these de mystifying the back country and thus flooding it with people/guys/fan boys (that one seemed to strike a nerve ) every tom,dick and harry, what ever you want to call it now being ultimate super extreme back country wilderness hunters because they had the money to spend on gear they read about. im never concerned about "my spots" because I know how to hunt and hunt them. and "far enough" is a relative term I think I coverd in the organal post

 

[gelton]

you don't quite get it. this post is referring to internet sites such as these de mystifying the back country and thus flooding it with people/guys/fan boys (that one seemed to strike a nerve ) every tom,dick and harry, what ever you want to call it now being ultimate super extreme back country wilderness hunters because they had the money to spend on gear they read about. im never concerned about "my spots" because I know how to hunt and hunt them. and "far enough" is a relative term I think I coverd in the organal post

Fan boy definitely strikes a nerve (and I know thats what you were trying to do when you posted it anyway, and, it worked) with basically any out of stater that is new to western hunting. The term needs to be defined. I think the thing we need is an urban dictionary for roksliders. The first two words in our dictionary can be fan boy and butthole sandwiches.

I guess anyone who is new to western hunting is a fan boy because they have no gear suited for that style of hunting, are starting from scratch and have brand new everything - all in highlander of course.

Maybe its just me but I dont think anyone is basing their decisions to backcountry hunt because they found rokslide. As I said before, they found rokslide after they had already made the decision. Its a chicken and egg thing.

 

[Hardstalk]

Fan boy definitely strikes a nerve (and I know thats what you were trying to do when you posted it anyway, and, it worked) with basically any out of stater that is new to western hunting. The term needs to be defined. I think the thing we need is an urban dictionary for roksliders. The first two words in our dictionary can be fan boy and butthole sandwiches.

I guess anyone who is new to western hunting is a fan boy because they have no gear suited for that style of hunting, are starting from scratch and have brand new everything - all in highlander of course.

Maybe its just me but I dont think anyone is basing their decisions to backcountry hunt because they found rokslide. As I said before, they found rokslide after they had already made the decision. Its a chicken and egg thing.

Dont forget manscape in the dictionary.

 

[littlebuf]

what do I win for creating a rokslide dictionary term. that's gotta be worth something. and this post is not rokslide specific, I stated "web site" in my OP not just rokslide. and I would have to disagree I would say there is a large influx in this style hunting due solely to web sites creating the hype. if there weren't pics of big fuzzy horned bucks from the high country and endless sales pitches for gear to get you there I imaging the number of flat landers no longer content with there tree stand,food plot and white tails would be considerably lower, and theres plenty in the mountain states that would have stuck with the classic road hunt too.im not trying to pick on any one its just a thought that's crossed my mind more than once, still I m pretty proud of the fan boy dust cloud I kicked up

 

[orionsbrother]

Outside magazine generated interest in the 90's and Backpacker in the 80's. The world has been going to hell in a handbasket for a while. REI, Patagonia and North Face have catalogs that soccer moms utilize for sporty wear in the 'burbs while driving their four wheel drive SUV's exclusively on pavement, backpacks that are used car camping...good for them. You drop the coin on top rated and upper echelon gear to go to the store, because you can, so be it.

You can bemoan the potential influence of websites, but don't leave out National Geographic, Peter Hathaway Capstick, Hemingway, Jon Krakauer and others. Getting out back a bit is cool. It has nothing to do with recognizing it or selling it. Being there is cathartic. Introducing others is invigorating and rewarding.

My honeymoon was dogsledding and ice fishing in Northwest Ontario. The colder it is, the better looking I get.

Fanboy has the negative connotations of a fawning sycophant. While that may be harsh, it doesn't smack me as hard as the original post talking about the guys who don't belong up on the mountain in the back country. #@&$!!! I certainly don't BELONG here!



Just some random thoughts while winding down...

 

[Jager]

littlebuff, the way I read your post is that you feel you have the right to be back in the badlands, but others do not, simply because they don't measure up to your perceived abilities, does that mean you don't have the right to be back there when not measuring up to Joe Bloggs abilities, no, off course not. Your op set out to inflame, no idea why.

I hear you on the fanboy thing, but so what, if people are getting enjoyment out of visiting a website, buying up some not needed Gucci gear and heading for the hills, big deal, they are living their life and having fun. So what if they only do it once and realise it is not for them, doesn't make, you, me or anyone else superior to them, or give us the right to criticise.

I really get a laugh out of things like this. Remember our Coalition soldiers are fighting regimes around the world that criticise and condemn peoples choices.