Let'd do all of our community a favor: If you hunt, let's not call ourselves anything but "hunter". We try to make distinctions though: "bow" hunter, "subsistence" hunter, "trophy" hunter. Exactly what do those names serve?

What is "hunting"? Learning a quarry's habits, reading sign and tracking, going out into the woods and beating the quarry at its own game and on its own turf. Walking, sitting, waiting, watching, listening. Caringfor game after the kill, butchering, preparing meals. All those make up about 95% of the hunt. The shot makes up much less.

But then, look at how much time we spend here on this forum talking about "the shot" and the tools to make "the shot"? When was the last time you saw a post about game recipes? As hunters, isn't that an important part of the hunt, too? In comparison, how many "trophy" shots are posted here? We've all dreamed of a big buck, and there's nothing wrong with being proud of one you've taken, but they'll all look pretty much the same on the dinner table.

Just my opinion, but here's how I look at it: There are hunters, and there are non-hunters with guns. Go out to the woods and look for signs of the "hunter" - you might find boot tracks, maybe you'll stumble upon them if you trail them. The "non-hunters with guns" you'll find signs of everywhere - beer cans and McDonald's trash in the ditches, bullet-riddled road signs, four-wheeler tracks on other than approved trails, you'll hear them before you actually see them, clogging up the access road as they crane their necks out the windows looking for game, on and on and on....

Non-hunters with guns only soil the reputations and images of those of us who actually DO hunt.