vtbuckrulrss

geesum, dan, i thought you were one of the few that i was getting along with, but ok,since i am mostly healed up, i' ll give it a shot, as long as everyone realizes we are all entitled to our own opinions, we don' t have to agree. i guess forms first, on a scale of 1 being low, 5 high,
from a stand on a game farm, 2
drivening w/dogs( got caught up in one once, not as easy as one would think. deer way in front of dogs, dogs not even close to people, saw as an outsider as they went by me) 3
driving w/people 4
baiting 2
tree stand hunting rifle 4
tree stand bow 5
stalking/still hunting 5 depending upon deer population, the more deer, the lower number i would rate it.

while bow hunt, i don' t know if i would say that we are better bow hunters than 50 years ago, simply because we have so much gear available to attach to our bows, and with the improvement of modern bows, the actual shooting end of it is becoming easier and easier, almost to the point and shoot phase. and with the invention of heat seeking deer finders, we are losing one skill of deer hunting, tracking a wounded animal. judging by post in different areas of the forum, it sounds like many people out there who shoot at deer have the mentality that if it isn' t dropping right off, shoot more lead, and if it still runs, either they are too lazy, or not good enough to track a wounded animal and don' t care. i guess on your skills section, yes, i would say that all of what you mentioned are things to be taken into consideration as being important to me. so many people today seem like they would rather put some food outside the camp window, play cards, shoot a deer over it, and be happy to have done so for the bragging rights. seen this happening in my own family to a group of guys that 15 years ago i would have put their skills up against anyone, if there was a deer in the woods, they knew where it was, what it did, almost even when it went to the bathroom it seemed like, they were that devoted to stalking, tracking, etc. but with age( mostly 40' s+) came ease and laziness. they don' t " hunt" anymore, and because of this, while i visit during the season, rarely do i hunt with them, all they want to do is put on drives or sit on a pile of apple pumice, or talk about hunting( boy, someone should really go walk up by the spring and see what is up there) something else to think about, considering the tech. that we have available, with cover scents, sights, single cams, double cams, how would you rate todays bow hunter of one just 25, 30 years ago? i would say that we are not nearly as good as those 30 years ago, they simply had less to work with to be successful.