how much better a hunter would you be...
03-05-2019, 12:46 PM
#1
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: texas
Posts: 1,201
how much better a hunter would you be...
think about this question "how much better a hunter would you be.
".if the game you hunted had the realistic potential to rush in and kill you if it saw you before you could get off a shot?"
having that mindset helps,
I took a local guy into an area I have access to to hunt hogs with a pistol,
he had borrowed my EAA 45 acp and I had a mod 686 357 mag 8.375 inch revolver,
hogs in florida are on private land, are considered pests/vermin and may be shot all year.
I was walking into one of the areas I hunt rather regularly
, its mostly a long ago abandoned orange groove and sugar cane field of about 4200 acres
Im thinking how out of sync it seems with most guys that the skills I've learned,
have become due to decades of learning how to hunt,,
using the basic and effective hunting skill set!
you must see the game well before it sees YOU,
the goal has zero to do with distance covered, reaching that next fire break or old road,
its all about being totally aware of your surroundings, and remaining un-detected by the local wild life
, this can,t be accomplished if you , simply walk through an area.
as I walk in, too the area we hunt, with a new guy I'm teaching,
I try to teach him the basics,
as I walk into the area I move slowly and quietly,
I sure don,t walk at a steady pace,
I take 5-7 steps, hesitate,I try to plan where I stand ,next to old trees,after each few steps taken,
I never walk in the open areas, I stop and observer every 30-45 seconds,
sometimes for 2-5 minutes, time goes by before I will move forward,
I try to stop close too trees when I can, as it tends to break your visual outline,
I stoop and look at a lower eye site level every few stops,
I move as little as possible, while my eyes slowly sweep the area visually at the extent of my vision range,
over between 270-360 degrees, yes that requires I slowly pivot my head and body,
given the opportunity I will sit on a stump or larger rock for 10-15 minutes to listen and watch,
I listen, I almost sub consciously,, watch and feel the breeze, before I continue,
I listen and look... this is obviously a behavior pattern learned long ago
I can see the newer guy wants to plod along, consistently step after step,
I have difficulty in getting across the concept of stealth,
as if he some how thinks the goal is to get someplace as fast as he can, on the most direct route he can find.
that might be his goal, but I can,t imagine where he thinks hes destined to go to!
the goal here is to observe, too be, and remain, totally aware of your surroundings,
this is obviously a rather unique concept to most people,
that and you never move in a consistent strait line, you slowly change the path,
you zig, or zag as required, watch the breeze , everything down wind knows your there,
change directions 45-70-90 degrees every 4th or 5th stop and rest cycle,
you remain alert, you observe and you damn sure try not to either be detected or predictable,
theres no place, you have too reach, no due date or schedule to maintain! my dad was a good instructor, he often said,
its only a deer or maybe an elk, but hunt like it was a man eating 600 lb tiger and its kill or be killed and your only weapons a spear.
you get into a mind set, it takes constant observation and remaining constantly aware of your surroundings,
something, in a skill set, most modern men have ignored learning for decades.
it took me HOURS to get the new guy to even start to grasp the concept,
in minutes he got bored, he wanted to cover ground, to see the next clearing...
to do so he would invariably have to move through the area at a rate that would almost instantly reveal his presents,
in and his direction of travel too any deer or hog in that acreage.
after he seemed to grasp the idea, at least marginally,
we started to after about 30-45 minutes see several groups of hogs, and later a few does wandering through the well over grown brush.
I pointed out tracks, I showed him how to find places to break up his visual outline,
but mostly I tried to get across the idea that the key was observing his surroundings without the upsetting or influencing the local wild life.
after we got back to the truck, several hours later he admitted,
he had never seen so much game, and until that trip never seen game that was not at a dead run...
so it was a productive few hours
(no we never saw anything worth shooting this time,
but it was well worth the time spent and rather enjoyable)
".if the game you hunted had the realistic potential to rush in and kill you if it saw you before you could get off a shot?"
having that mindset helps,
I took a local guy into an area I have access to to hunt hogs with a pistol,
he had borrowed my EAA 45 acp and I had a mod 686 357 mag 8.375 inch revolver,
hogs in florida are on private land, are considered pests/vermin and may be shot all year.
I was walking into one of the areas I hunt rather regularly
, its mostly a long ago abandoned orange groove and sugar cane field of about 4200 acres
Im thinking how out of sync it seems with most guys that the skills I've learned,
have become due to decades of learning how to hunt,,
using the basic and effective hunting skill set!
you must see the game well before it sees YOU,
the goal has zero to do with distance covered, reaching that next fire break or old road,
its all about being totally aware of your surroundings, and remaining un-detected by the local wild life
, this can,t be accomplished if you , simply walk through an area.
as I walk in, too the area we hunt, with a new guy I'm teaching,
I try to teach him the basics,
as I walk into the area I move slowly and quietly,
I sure don,t walk at a steady pace,
I take 5-7 steps, hesitate,I try to plan where I stand ,next to old trees,after each few steps taken,
I never walk in the open areas, I stop and observer every 30-45 seconds,
sometimes for 2-5 minutes, time goes by before I will move forward,
I try to stop close too trees when I can, as it tends to break your visual outline,
I stoop and look at a lower eye site level every few stops,
I move as little as possible, while my eyes slowly sweep the area visually at the extent of my vision range,
over between 270-360 degrees, yes that requires I slowly pivot my head and body,
given the opportunity I will sit on a stump or larger rock for 10-15 minutes to listen and watch,
I listen, I almost sub consciously,, watch and feel the breeze, before I continue,
I listen and look... this is obviously a behavior pattern learned long ago
I can see the newer guy wants to plod along, consistently step after step,
I have difficulty in getting across the concept of stealth,
as if he some how thinks the goal is to get someplace as fast as he can, on the most direct route he can find.
that might be his goal, but I can,t imagine where he thinks hes destined to go to!
the goal here is to observe, too be, and remain, totally aware of your surroundings,
this is obviously a rather unique concept to most people,
that and you never move in a consistent strait line, you slowly change the path,
you zig, or zag as required, watch the breeze , everything down wind knows your there,
change directions 45-70-90 degrees every 4th or 5th stop and rest cycle,
you remain alert, you observe and you damn sure try not to either be detected or predictable,
theres no place, you have too reach, no due date or schedule to maintain! my dad was a good instructor, he often said,
its only a deer or maybe an elk, but hunt like it was a man eating 600 lb tiger and its kill or be killed and your only weapons a spear.
you get into a mind set, it takes constant observation and remaining constantly aware of your surroundings,
something, in a skill set, most modern men have ignored learning for decades.
it took me HOURS to get the new guy to even start to grasp the concept,
in minutes he got bored, he wanted to cover ground, to see the next clearing...
to do so he would invariably have to move through the area at a rate that would almost instantly reveal his presents,
in and his direction of travel too any deer or hog in that acreage.
after he seemed to grasp the idea, at least marginally,
we started to after about 30-45 minutes see several groups of hogs, and later a few does wandering through the well over grown brush.
I pointed out tracks, I showed him how to find places to break up his visual outline,
but mostly I tried to get across the idea that the key was observing his surroundings without the upsetting or influencing the local wild life.
after we got back to the truck, several hours later he admitted,
he had never seen so much game, and until that trip never seen game that was not at a dead run...
so it was a productive few hours
(no we never saw anything worth shooting this time,
but it was well worth the time spent and rather enjoyable)
Last edited by hardcastonly; 03-07-2019 at 06:19 AM.
03-05-2019, 02:42 PM
#2
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: On an Island in Vermont
Posts: 22,571
The object is to be moving and see the game before it sees you. That's what a successful still-hunter does. If your quarry is a dangerous animal or man in the case of war....the threat of harm would make the average person a better "hunter" or soldier.
03-06-2019, 07:09 AM
#3
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 9,230
03-06-2019, 01:03 PM
#5
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: On an Island in Vermont
Posts: 22,571
03-06-2019, 01:07 PM
#6
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: On an Island in Vermont
Posts: 22,571
I watched a video on an archery hunt for Alaskan brown bears. A guy snuck around a bolder to get a 30 yd shot at a big one that looked about the size of a VW beetle. That wouldn't appeal to me.
03-07-2019, 03:33 PM
#7
Fork Horn
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Tug Hill NY
Posts: 420
Without putting it so dramatically....
How good a hunter would you be if you hunted as if your family went hungry if you weren't successful?
Kind of tough to relax and enjoy yourself though if you take the enjoyment away. One reason I may not be a very "efficient" hunter is that I love my time in the woods to much, and happily pass on deer early in the season, to stretch my time in the woods.
How good a hunter would you be if you hunted as if your family went hungry if you weren't successful?
Kind of tough to relax and enjoy yourself though if you take the enjoyment away. One reason I may not be a very "efficient" hunter is that I love my time in the woods to much, and happily pass on deer early in the season, to stretch my time in the woods.
03-08-2019, 07:44 AM
#8
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: texas
Posts: 1,201
how many of you have a few "hunting buddies"
whos total set of hunting skills consist of,
step out of truck ,
load gun, wonder around rather, aimlessly,
visit the truck several times a day for refills on snacks and drinks?
hoping they see a deer, hog etc. at some point in the process.?
one of the guys that was , and is,a very close friend of my next door neighbor
"FRED" came equipped with an invisible chain and ankle shackle,
it runs out of slack at about 300 yards from the truck when its parked,
hes perfectly happy " hunting" as long as he never looses sight of the truck.
hes about 76 now, and has been on hundreds of local hunts,
we actually don,t mind a bit and invite him on lots of local hunts .. its built in truck/camp site security.
I can only remember him shooting a hog once in the last 30 years...
it ran past the truck, at about 40 yards and he shot it with a 12 ga, while he sat on the truck tail gate,
drinking a cold soda and eating cheetos!
he has a 870 rem 3" 12 ga, hes convinced is the best weapon ever made,
it took us awhile, but eventually we found hes good company, and stopped trying to convince him to actually hunt ,and just let him do his thing.
he enjoys the trips, hes pleasant to talk to but acts as if he is absolutely sure if he lost sight of the truck he would never see civilization or home again.
whos total set of hunting skills consist of,
step out of truck ,
load gun, wonder around rather, aimlessly,
visit the truck several times a day for refills on snacks and drinks?
hoping they see a deer, hog etc. at some point in the process.?
one of the guys that was , and is,a very close friend of my next door neighbor
"FRED" came equipped with an invisible chain and ankle shackle,
it runs out of slack at about 300 yards from the truck when its parked,
hes perfectly happy " hunting" as long as he never looses sight of the truck.
hes about 76 now, and has been on hundreds of local hunts,
we actually don,t mind a bit and invite him on lots of local hunts .. its built in truck/camp site security.
I can only remember him shooting a hog once in the last 30 years...
it ran past the truck, at about 40 yards and he shot it with a 12 ga, while he sat on the truck tail gate,
drinking a cold soda and eating cheetos!
he has a 870 rem 3" 12 ga, hes convinced is the best weapon ever made,
it took us awhile, but eventually we found hes good company, and stopped trying to convince him to actually hunt ,and just let him do his thing.
he enjoys the trips, hes pleasant to talk to but acts as if he is absolutely sure if he lost sight of the truck he would never see civilization or home again.
Last edited by hardcastonly; 03-08-2019 at 11:13 AM.
03-08-2019, 10:20 AM
#10
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern California
Posts: 18,380
Agreed. that's probably one of the hardest lessons for many of us to learn about hunting (or many other things for that matter). We want other people to do something just like we do. It's kind of like teaching your kids. You show them what you know and how and then they often take things to a new level from there. It's not always about what we want but sharing something and then maybe learning something back. Some of the old hunters I talk to don't hike a whole lot but then they aren't able to physically. They accept their limitations and then learn to hunt around them. Lot of wisdom in some of those conversations.
