I would agree with you that hunting NF lands is harder, I have done so myself backpacking far back into the Bob Marshall Wilderness the past two years with good success on hunts that most people could not even hike far enough in to get to where the tags were valid. However I have seen plenty of people lacking hunting skills doing so regardless of food source, that's really another issue though I do see how you could link the two.

But we aren't all hunting the NF lands of Virginia. Most of us are hunting the relatively developed or agricultural lands around our homes. So the methods and issues are different. I know you (and I) would have no issue with calling a skilled shooter who can make a 800 yd shot a hunter. So that 900 yd hunter sitting in the middle of a square mile, 680 acres, of alfalfa could kill any buck entering that field from any route and direction. They have essentially used shooting skills to eliminate the need for hunting skills, to determine where the deer will enter the field and position themselves close enough for a shot because they can cover the whole thing with their 338 Edge or whatever. Yet if a guy plants 5 acres of alfalfa, scouts the plot and identifies the best trail in for a buck and puts himself in position for a 20-yd kill he's less of a hunter?? That is the inherent disconnect in the logic I'm trying to point out.

As this most recent post of yours seems to elude to, I think what you're getting at is more a discomfort with the overall degradation of real hunting skills more than simply the food plot issue. I will agree with you on the degradation of skills issue, but disagree of the food plot issue and suggest instead that it's a much more complicated issue going back to more factors and it's an over-simplification and unfair stereotype against people planting food plots to say that they're only doing it to make up for a lack of hunting skills.

I don't care how skilled hunting you are, you are welcome to come hunt my 15 acres any time. And I'll bet you a steak dinner you'll never shoot a deer because until I get the property more suitable for them they have no reason to set foot here -- 15 acres of flat, open fescue grass with no food or water. If I'm ever to hunt deer on my land I need to modify it. Nothing to do with hunting skills, I shoot my share of nice bucks....on land that has nice bucks. You can't shoot deer that aren't there and unless you have access to large tracts like you do or NF lands simply changing hunting spots is not an option for most people.