C. Davis

I think some of it has to do with the terrain and what kind of woods you have. I hunt in a part of the country that is close to being a tropical forest. It is very hard to walk through. After I married my wife, I later found out her family had interest in 500 acres of land near the National Reserve referred to as "The Big Thicket." If I had known this before we were married, I probably would have proposed to her sooner than I did. When I first started scouting the land, I ordered a topo map of the 500 acres. GPS and phone apps were non-existent then. I felt a little foolish when I received the topo map and it had a grand total of one contour line on the whole 500 acres. The little bit of rolling hills start just north of here.

Also, how you supposed to catch a nap when you are walking all the time?

C. Davis

kidoggy

lol. yeah ,I am aware.that is why I said I was being facetious ,in my above post

rockport

Everything that takes skill,hard work, patience, and commitment is dying.

Oldtimr

Very true, for the most part the mind set is I want it now and I want it easy and I don't want to spend a lot of time learning. Half our young people can't do math in their head, they need a computer or calculator. That is not their fault, it is the fault of our school systems and the parents for tolerating it. It all spills down to immediate gratification.

kidoggy

certainly can't argue that.

even if I could, I lack the patience, commitment and skill for such hard work.

CalHunter

Most of the "die-hard" hunters that I've met tend to be out in the field hunting, scouting or shed hunting and don't seem to spend a lot of time on computers at all unless it's to scout. There are some die-hard hunters on this website and they also tend to "disappear" for a month or 2 during their particular hunting seasons. If you examine the website traffic more closely, it seems to die down to almost nothing during the fall deer seasons. The OP, like all of us, is obviously free to determine how he defines "die-hard" hunter but I personally don't see die-hard hunters disappearing. JMHO and YMMV.

CalHunter

Yes and no. You'd have to look at quite a few topics but there are some changes and quite a few members stepping up to the plate and helping change things. There are still a handful of people who tend to see a glass half empty and post sarcastically or negatively a lot of the time but most of the members post in a positive manner and don't put other members down. or as Gandhi said, You must be the change in the world that you wish to see (or something to that effect).

Game Stalker

Consider area A,B, and C. Area A has the largest deer. Area B has smaller deer and area C, even smaller. I'm convinced that deer in any of these areas have an innate instinct to survive. They know the predators of the area and that which don't belong. So, they can all present equal challenge to tag regardless of size. Aside from meat on the table, that challenge is more important than rank for many.

Bocajnala

As a "die-Hard" hunter.... I don't plan on going anywhere.... I do think the casual hunter is dying out though.... In my area... Because land is harder to find, because deer numbers are much lower than they were twenty years ago, and probably just because it's a younger generation more interested in other things... Opening day in PA used to seem like a war zone. Hunters everywhere, shooting constantly, and deer running everywhere all day long. It was common to see 50 or more deer a day, even more in the early 90s before I started. I've heard my dad talk about seeing over 40 deer come out on one drive, or a time he counted 57 deer one morning sitting an not a single buck in the group..... Other than my group I saw three other hunters on Monday, and only a handful of vehicles in the parking areas.... So I do think the casual, hunt first day and saturdays type hunters are disappearing. Twenty years ago they could park their vehicle, walk into the woods and shoot their buck, and it's usually not that easy now a days.... So they just stay home.
-Jake

ezearl

Beats the alternative!

We've got a 3 day antlerless rifle season starting this Thursday. Gonna be our most bitter weather of the year so far. Need the meat though.