I grew up in the Adirondacks much the same as you. Poor family with 5 kids, about 2 1/2 acres of gardens, ran a trap line, raised our own chickens for eggs and food, picked and canned everything that grew wild(didn't have a freezer so you had to can) I'd unload the bus, be stripping off "My School clothes" so I could get in an hour or two of hunting. Our season went from walleyes in the spring to bullheads to partridge, to rabbits and deer, to snow shoe rabbits, the trap line twice a dayand back to walleyes. Did it until I went off to college and got drafted. My hunting style has changed for a couple reasons. One, time restraints. Todays families are hustle bussle from sun up to midnight. Land restraints limit how much sneaking and peaking most of us can do today. Most of us could only stalk for about 15 minutes and we'd be on posted ground and arrested. You can't do a lot of stalking on 25 and 50 acre patches. You sit and wait for the deer passing through in most cases. Even those lucky enough to have a sizeable chunk of ground have to share it. Nothing creates more hard feelings than sitting in a tree with deer around you and have someone come walking through scaring them away. Many more hunters today. In the old days deer herds were dismal by todays standards. Bow kills were also dismal. The guy who got a shot was lucky. You had to cover ground or you might see nothing for days. In those days you pretty much could hunt where you choose when you choose. A lot of the stalking was done in conjunction with drives. There were few if any bowhunters. There were no posted signs. Today the smart choice with so many animals is to sit and wait in most cases. It's not hunting as it was 40 years ago, but it is hunting the "SMART" way today. THe animals often don't realize you're around. You can let them pass and take your pick or wait for a specific animal. In the days 40 years ago it was, "If he has horns you shoot him". No need for that today. I don't think we've necessarily forgot how to hunt. I think we've learned a new and more efficient way given our personnal time restraints, land restraints, traspass laws etc. Oh it would be great to set out and not have to worry about crossing a property line or messing up the other guys in the woods. Today we work further from home, the kids have more time restraints parents are involved in. It's just the times. My brother still stalks the Adirondacks. The boy can't sit still. He doesn't bow hunt, but piles up a ton of deer meat every year. It took me 15 years to get him in a tree. He'll sit there until the sun is up and then he's moving.