I am not advocating drinking while hunting. There really is no justification. Have I been playing the role of devil's advocate? Frankly, yes. What this really came down to to me was tiring of what comes across as self-righteous posts by some. Some seem to really enjoy being whistle blowers and pointing out every rule and regulation. That in itself is not a bad thing, but i didnt join this site to read people sprinting to judge other posters. The guy (whether he was legitimite or not - I have my doubts) was just sharing a light-hearted account of a memorable hunt. Thats all i got from it. Then folks started dissecting things and entirely missed the point of the story. A good friend of mine is a warden that approached his job the similar to how i believe some have gone about posts - by needling and pointing out every single rule infraction he could. Of his own admission, he quickly learned that this approach can actually do more harm than good for hunting, and he changed his approach a bit. By trying to work with some people instead of constantly needling them, he became much more effective at his job. The point I'm trying to make is that we don't need to constantly seek out others to point fingers at.
Growing up in northern wisconsin and the u.p., you come to understand the 9 or 14 day seasons as guy's vacations. Drinking a beer in the stand is very common. There is no justification for it, but he was probably doing the same thing that the other 20 hunters in his camp were doing. I no longer rifle hunt much simply because I no longer enjoy this atmosphere a whole lot. Call it -dare i say -Maturing
Hunting is about a lot of things to me, but getting drunk for a week isnt one of them. Having said that, I can appreciate that others have different views than me. This guy in the OP didnt say he got blind drunk in the stand, he said he cracked a beer. But we made it a federal case. So, did i take it upon myself to point out some hypocricies and challenge some view points - yeah i did.
I'm sure I've stirred up a hornets nest with this post, but believe me, that wasn't my intention. I can only imagine the responses I'll get
I guess my whole point is, let's lighten up a bit eh guys