Originally Posted by
Exophysical
IMO To me the act of big game hunting involves the reading of sign, the consideration of wind, the use of stealth. For me taking an animal involves immersing myself in the world of that animal, almost living the life of that animal for a period of time. When these things are not present, for me, it wasn't a good hunt. Shooting at extreme distances may take more shooting skill than it does to shoot a deer out of a pickup truck, but IMO it doesn't take a whole lot more hunting skill.
In your case RR, you seem to be one of those hunters that puts more effort into making extremely long shots happen than you do into closing the distance, or any of the other skills that I consider to be the mark of a good hunter. I wont call you a slob, or unethical, or wrong in any way, but from where I stand I feel that hunters like you are completely missing what I feel is "the point". Great shooting, poor hunting, I'd rather hear stories about 5 pin bowling than look at your cardboard score cards, if you shot them from 10 miles I still wouldn't care.
Let's be honest. Hunting is about killing an animal within the laws set by the state. Period. EVERYTHING after that is personal choice to make it more enjoyable to the individual. Anyone who says else, is fooling themselves, if they were right, you'd hunt with a camera or just go without the gun/bow. Killing it the goal, period. There are MANY things along the way that make it a good hunt.
I bolded the above parts to highlight what your PERSONAL choices and preferences are. Personally I agree with you, the closer the better, I get more "freaked out" shooting one inside 20 yards with my bow than with my gun, but I enjoy both.
Would I like to try RR's way? Sure, I'm up for trying anything, but I don't have the skills or the tools to get the skills! Heck I can't find a gun range over 100 yards to shoot on!
I'd rather see RR's stories about his LONG shots, than the stories about "need help tracking" or the infamous "I must have hit void cause I couldn't find him" stories. The guy has a skill that allows him to hunt, and humanely kill deer in a way he chooses within the laws. My hats off to him!
My hat is also off to you for hunting as you enjoy!