What are your core values that reflect your particular hunting style?

[boom]

have fun. whatever that means to you. and dont get judgey if someone does it differently..like from a helicopter. everyone stacks up hunting types by some sort of personal pecking order. DIY, archery, public land? pfft..some DIY, archery, public land, SOLO guy shouldnt feel superior..that DIY, archery, public land, solo guy, shoulnt feel inferior if he crosses path with a guy using a homemade recurve bow..(the list could go on forever - probably ends with a naked guy throwing a spear or something)

i probably wouldnt blog about it either to be honest..just me and my fun.

 

[Transition Wild]

It's a great way to connect with family and friends. After filling both deer tags in Montana I found myself having some good talks with my old man in a hotel. The euphoria of a successful hunt is like no other experience and its even better when shared.

For sure! Time spent with family and friends in the outdoors is time well spent!

 

[orionsbrother]

When I wrote up the story of a hunt, my wife said that she really "got it" a lot better, especially after reading this piece from the end. It's all intertwined;



We slept in a bit the next morning. We headed in to get "Chuck's" bull at first light.
Spirits were high. Chops were busted in hushed tones. We had water.

"Chuck's" quarters were squared away in pretty quick order. The last of the meat bags went into the packs.

We climbed "The Gauntlet" for the last time and took a series of pictures of each other at the top. There was a good deal of cutting up.

I was looking hard across the drainage, reliving some of the trip, taking it all in. "Little Chuck" wandered over.

"You coming back next year?"

I smiled and gave a nod of my head.

"You earned your keep."

We turned and started heading up the ridge.

I opted to hike out wrapped up in my own thoughts. For the third time in three days, I had almost half an elk on my back. It felt good.

I hiked along sweating under the pack in the warmth. The breeze wicked the sweat away from the back of my neck. Pine cones and small twigs crunched nonchalantly underfoot. A camp robber, a Clark's Nutcracker, eyed me from a deadfall.

I thought about what hunting and trips like that mean to me. How hunting trips seem to provide a "time lapse" series of images of friend's lives. Friends that you seem to just mesh with again as though there'd been no interval. New friends. The gift that I'd been given.

I thought about the serious life decisions that I'd made while sweating under a pack, or in a tent, or accompanied by the hiss of a lantern, or in the glow of a headlamp.

I remembered my first child being baptized with water that came from a hole in the ice and the next two who were baptized with water from trout streams.

I thought about the streak of my arrow, the highs and lows of the bloodtrail.

And I found myself at the truck.

"You want a hand with that pack?"

"Nah. I'm just going to drink some water for a sec."

I didn't want to take the pack off.

 

[IdahoElk]

The biggest core value for me while hunting is "Respect"
-Respect the animals through fair chase and if given the chance to harvest,do it in a humane way.
-Respect nature and realized I'm just a guest and that others will come after me that deserve the same experience I was granted.
-Respect the harvested animal by sharing with friends and not letting any of it be wasted.
-Respect the laws and adhere to them.
While these 4 points are short,books could be written about each one.

 

[5MilesBack]

I attempt to illustrate this through my latest article on my blog which highlights my preferred way to hunt which is: DIY, with a bow and arrow, on unmanaged land.

What is unmanaged land? Every piece of land in CO that I know of is managed by someone, be it public or private.

I like shooting anything but am an elk hunter first and foremost. I'll do management hunts on public or private, but I prefer bowhunting big bulls in the backcountry. I was never a trophy hunter until I started archery. But it's so much more common to get on big bulls bowhunting than rifle hunting it just was the natural progression I guess. On the other hand, I'd rather shoot a raghorn or a cow with my bow than a giant with my rifle, but I have passed on a lot of animals over the past few years.

But the biggest thing for me is that I get bored easily so I need a lot of action hunting. That's why I enjoy bowhunting during the rut......it keeps my attention. I also hate sitting for long (that boredom thing) so I'm always on the move. I also normally hunt solo most the season. So solo, DIY, bowhunting, public land.

 

[Transition Wild]

What is unmanaged land? Every piece of land in CO that I know of is managed by someone, be it public or private.

I like shooting anything but am an elk hunter first and foremost. I'll do management hunts on public or private, but I prefer bowhunting big bulls in the backcountry. I was never a trophy hunter until I started archery. But it's so much more common to get on big bulls bowhunting than rifle hunting it just was the natural progression I guess. On the other hand, I'd rather shoot a raghorn or a cow with my bow than a giant with my rifle, but I have passed on a lot of animals over the past few years.

But the biggest thing for me is that I get bored easily so I need a lot of action hunting. That's why I enjoy bowhunting during the rut......it keeps my attention. I also hate sitting for long (that boredom thing) so I'm always on the move. I also normally hunt solo most the season. So solo, DIY, bowhunting, public land.

I agree, there pretty much is no land that isn't managed by someone, whether it be government agencies or private landowners. In the article I paint this picture in attempt to illustrate this definition: Take 10 hunters, put them on 500-acres of land that they have never stepped foot on before and give them five days to hunt with all things being equal, the guy who comes out with the biggest/oldest/most-mature/top-scoring animal is the best hunter, in my opinion. Due to the degree of luck that comes into play during a hunt, this scenario should be repeated over the course of 10 years to gather enough data to determine who is the hunting champion.

Now you might be thinking to yourself, “What the hell does this have to do with illustrating your point?” My point is that the scenario described above eliminates any sort of pre-planning, food-plotting, pre-season scouting, habitat manipulation, and pre-knowledge of a particular piece of land which in turn creates a raw and pure hunting scenario with limited time and resources. This is what I truly believe hunting to be.

This is why much of my big game hunting is comprised of public land hunting or door knocking on private land. These areas and parcels allow me access, not manipulation, which forces me to play the cards that are dealt, which is what I prefer and enjoy as “pure” hunting.

 

[Transition Wild]

When I wrote up the story of a hunt, my wife said that she really "got it" a lot better, especially after reading this piece from the end. It's all intertwined;



We slept in a bit the next morning. We headed in to get "Chuck's" bull at first light.
Spirits were high. Chops were busted in hushed tones. We had water.

"Chuck's" quarters were squared away in pretty quick order. The last of the meat bags went into the packs.

We climbed "The Gauntlet" for the last time and took a series of pictures of each other at the top. There was a good deal of cutting up.

I was looking hard across the drainage, reliving some of the trip, taking it all in. "Little Chuck" wandered over.

"You coming back next year?"

I smiled and gave a nod of my head.

"You earned your keep."

We turned and started heading up the ridge.

I opted to hike out wrapped up in my own thoughts. For the third time in three days, I had almost half an elk on my back. It felt good.

I hiked along sweating under the pack in the warmth. The breeze wicked the sweat away from the back of my neck. Pine cones and small twigs crunched nonchalantly underfoot. A camp robber, a Clark's Nutcracker, eyed me from a deadfall.

I thought about what hunting and trips like that mean to me. How hunting trips seem to provide a "time lapse" series of images of friend's lives. Friends that you seem to just mesh with again as though there'd been no interval. New friends. The gift that I'd been given.

I thought about the serious life decisions that I'd made while sweating under a pack, or in a tent, or accompanied by the hiss of a lantern, or in the glow of a headlamp.

I remembered my first child being baptized with water that came from a hole in the ice and the next two who were baptized with water from trout streams.

I thought about the streak of my arrow, the highs and lows of the bloodtrail.

And I found myself at the truck.

"You want a hand with that pack?"

"Nah. I'm just going to drink some water for a sec."

I didn't want to take the pack off.

This is really great. Sometimes its best to tell a story and let people "visualize" instead of attempting to "define" why we do it. Thanks for sharing!

 

[5MilesBack]

Take 10 hunters, put them on 500-acres of land that they have never stepped foot on before and give them five days to hunt with all things being equal, the guy who comes out with the biggest/oldest/most-mature/top-scoring animal is the best hunter, in my opinion.

10 guys on 500 acres???? What are they hunting? I don't think 500 acres is enough for one guy.

 

[Scoot]

Take 10 hunters, put them on 500-acres of land that they have never stepped foot on before and give them five days to hunt with all things being equal, the guy who comes out with the biggest/oldest/most-mature/top-scoring animal is the best hunter.

Interesting- sounds to me like you and I don't define who is the "best hunter" in a very similar way. Shooting the most and biggest animals to be the "best" implies that the most and biggest is the ultimate goal. Some of the best hunters I know would have absolutely no interest in your competition and they much prefer to pass on most of the shot opportunities they get.

Also, simply thinking about determining who the "best hunter" is through some competition that you set up imposing what outcome is important to you isn't, IMO, a good way to determine "best". In fact, the notion of this kind of competition flies in the face of my core values.

 

[Poser]

10 guys on 500 acres???? What are they hunting? I don't think 500 acres is enough for one guy.

Try hunting in the East sometime....

 

[elkyinzer]

10 guys on 500 acres???? What are they hunting? I don't think 500 acres is enough for one guy.

10 guys on 100 acres isn't unheard of here in some places of PA.

Adam - I liked your initial question enough to look past the self-promotion, but you lost me attempting to define how the purity of your hunting is somehow superior, and how to determine a "champion hunter". Did TMB hack your account?

 

[204guy]

Take 10 hunters, put them on 500-acres of land that they have never stepped foot on before and give them five days to hunt with all things being equal, the guy who comes out with the biggest/oldest/most-mature/top-scoring animal is the best hunter, in my opinion. Due to the degree of luck that comes into play during a hunt, this scenario should be repeated over the course of 10 years to gather enough data to determine who is the hunting champion.

This plus coming here and promoting your blog says a lot about your "core values"... They aren't anything like mine.

 

[Transition Wild]

10 guys on 500 acres???? What are they hunting? I don't think 500 acres is enough for one guy.

I should have clarified further. I meant this as give them EACH their own 500 acres, not all 10 guys on the same piece at the same time. I changed it on the article as well.

 

[Transition Wild]

10 guys on 100 acres isn't unheard of here in some places of PA.

Adam - I liked your initial question enough to look past the self-promotion, but you lost me attempting to define how the purity of your hunting is somehow superior, and how to determine a "champion hunter". Did TMB hack your account?

Did I say anything at being "Superior" to anyone elses hunting style? No - I state in the article this is MY way of doing things and I support any and all legal hunting. The only thing I am doing is attempting to define hunting for me and me only. The "Champion Hunter" was just a play on words and was meant to poke fun at the unrealistic scenario I describe.

I'm glad you were able to look past my "self promotion" but isn't that part of the reason that we are on this forum in the first place? To share experiences, stories, videos, advice, memories, etc? I asked a simple question and provided a link to my blog article to provide further context. No one forced you to click the link. I better not catch you posting a "trophy photo" of yourself on here in the future! That's self promotion

 

[Transition Wild]

This plus coming here and promoting your blog says a lot about your "core values"... They aren't anything like mine.

I describe this scenario/example as an attempt to illustrate what "pure hunting" is to me. Here is what I wrote after I describe that scenario:

My point is that the scenario described above eliminates any sort of pre-planning, food-plotting, pre-season scouting, habitat manipulation, and pre-knowledge of a particular piece of land which in turn creates a raw and pure hunting scenario with limited time and resources. This is what I truly believe hunting to be.

This is why much of my big game hunting is comprised of public land hunting or door knocking on private land. These areas and parcels allow me access, not manipulation, which forces me to play the cards that are dealt, which is what I prefer and enjoy as “pure” hunting.

That's perfectly fine that your values aren't anything like mine. We are all different and value different things, which is what makes the world an interesting place.

What's wrong with a little self promo? I'll say the same thing to you as I did to Yinzer: Isn't that part of the reason that we are on this forum in the first place? To share experiences, stories, videos, advice, memories, etc? I asked a simple question and provided a link to my blog article to provide further context. No one forced you to click the link. I better not catch you posting a "trophy photo" of yourself on here in the future! That's self promotion

 

[Transition Wild]

Interesting- sounds to me like you and I don't define who is the "best hunter" in a very similar way. Shooting the most and biggest animals to be the "best" implies that the most and biggest is the ultimate goal. Some of the best hunters I know would have absolutely no interest in your competition and they much prefer to pass on most of the shot opportunities they get.

Also, simply thinking about determining who the "best hunter" is through some competition that you set up imposing what outcome is important to you isn't, IMO, a good way to determine "best". In fact, the notion of this kind of competition flies in the face of my core values.

I already wrote this to another guy but here it is again:

I describe this scenario/example as an attempt to illustrate what "pure hunting" is to me. Here is what I wrote after I describe that scenario:

My point is that the scenario described above eliminates any sort of pre-planning, food-plotting, pre-season scouting, habitat manipulation, and pre-knowledge of a particular piece of land which in turn creates a raw and pure hunting scenario with limited time and resources. This is what I truly believe hunting to be.

This is why much of my big game hunting is comprised of public land hunting or door knocking on private land. These areas and parcels allow me access, not manipulation, which forces me to play the cards that are dealt, which is what I prefer and enjoy as “pure” hunting.

 

[boom]

i'll ask it this way..what is "unpure" hunting for you.?

 

[Muttly]

Core values?

Personal accountability.

 

[204guy]

I describe this scenario/example as an attempt to illustrate what "pure hunting" is to me. Here is what I wrote after I describe that scenario:

My point is that the scenario described above eliminates any sort of pre-planning, food-plotting, pre-season scouting, habitat manipulation, and pre-knowledge of a particular piece of land which in turn creates a raw and pure hunting scenario with limited time and resources. This is what I truly believe hunting to be.

This is why much of my big game hunting is comprised of public land hunting or door knocking on private land. These areas and parcels allow me access, not manipulation, which forces me to play the cards that are dealt, which is what I prefer and enjoy as “pure” hunting.

That's perfectly fine that your values aren't anything like mine. We are all different and value different things, which is what makes the world an interesting place.

What's wrong with a little self promo? I'll say the same thing to you as I did to Yinzer: Isn't that part of the reason that we are on this forum in the first place? To share experiences, stories, videos, advice, memories, etc? I asked a simple question and provided a link to my blog article to provide further context. No one forced you to click the link. I better not catch you posting a "trophy photo" of yourself on here in the future! That's self promotion

I wasn't going to click on your link but, this caused me to check it out. As I suspected you have partners (sponsors). If you're a paying sponsor I apologize, if not it's extremely unethical to promote yourself here when this site has paying sponsors.

As far as comparing what you're doing to someone posting a trophy photo being self promoting, that's absurd. Guys post extremely time consuming hunt reports all the time and they don't expect anything in return. They do gear reviews with gear they bought at full retail and expect nothing in return. Self promoting? Hardly.

 

[orionsbrother]

This is really great. Sometimes its best to tell a story and let people "visualize" instead of attempting to "define" why we do it. Thanks for sharing!

A point my wife made when she read it was that she thought it defined things very well. It was the culmination of the story. She commented that it highlighted the meat, the challenges, the camaraderie, the bonds, the focus on life's priorities as well as small details, the desire to continue that path...

Core values.

She also noted the details that were left out of the end of the story.