Quote:
Originally Posted by jkjoshuatree
...shooting a cub?
Come on!
Here's my take on hunting. It's not a skill. You have a high powered rifle against a defenseless animal that has no idea it's going to be shot.
A "real" hunter (IMO) would sport a loin cloth and maybe have a knife or rock (hey, if you can fashion a spear out of materials gathered in the woods, more power to ya!) and then go after the bear/deer/moose etc.
That would take some skill. Would "hunters" die in the process? Probably. But at least the animal would have a fair chance.
And before people attack me (pun definitely intended) I understand that we need to hunt to control the population and to get rid of the sick and weaker ones, but a cub?
Karma baby!!!
*In my best Forrest Gump impression*, That's all I have to say about that.
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Not getting into it because I value your opinion as well as your right to it, but would like to put just a few things into perspective.
I will not disagree with the cub aspect of your thoughts and that type of hunter gets lumped in with the "I shot all my bullets at it, to knock it down" crowd. That is not hunting, that is shooting.
I can hand a gun to any non shooter or hunter and ask that they accurately shoot it the first time. 9 out of 10 will not make the mark, shooting requires practice, but that was not your point and I understand.
You can never have to much patience while hunting, you are persueing an animal that is very in tune with its surroundings. Hunters, not so much. We make a racket, smell awful and look out of place.
Some hunters put time into the activity, I am talking real time. In the last month alone I have just about 35 hours into scouting and stand prep. That is only for bow season which is still a week and a half away. All that time is spent without knowing if I will even see an animal worth harvesting. Other hunters have there own opinions on this, but I pass up quite a few deer every season, because of my own expectations.
The second to last day of rifle season had me in a calling game with a mature buck that refused to come within range. He grunted at me several times to get me to go to him and my efforts (that were good enough for him to think I was worth calling back to) were not enough to change his mind. This lasted for more than two hours. In the end, his senses prevailed over my skill and patience. I was holding a rifle that I have shot accurately and comfortably to 300 yards, he was within 50, but due to topograghy is actually pretty far around here in the middle of the woods.
With my bow I have to perform all the above tasks while getting within a close enough range and line of site that I could actually hit the deer with a stone.
All I am asking is that you don't lump us all together, some of us ARE hunters and we feel the same way you do about the ones shooting cubs and fenced animals.