idahoelkinstructor

hillbillyhunter1 and AlaskaMagnum , I agree 100%. These guys who hunt a canned hunt, seem like cityslicker wimps to me. I dare them to even go on a guided wilderness horse back hunt. Where you have to travel 15 or so miles a day with and without a horse. I don't know how many miles I put under size 12 boots a season. But its a lot, I for sure know that I travel 8 or so miles a day, some days it can be a lot more. If your saying to yourself yea right, well think of this, an elk travels/walks slow at 9 miles per hour. Now if you found a big bugleing herd bull that you want to kill. And you are following it around, waiting for an opprotunity to sneek into or near the herd, under 100 yards or so and set up and start calling. Well lets just say if you can do that and only walk 1 or two miles then you have had a very easy day. In all honesty you might not travel very far in a strait line, but with sneeking in, trying to stay with the wind in your face, that might mean running in a very big circle around the elk herd. At the same time trying to stay out of sight until the moment of truth, that all adds up miles fast. Plus if your like me, I sometimes work a herd of elk all day, and sneek in only to have the wind switch directions at the last second when things seem perfect. At that point I try not to push my luck and beat it out of there quick so the elk (hopefully) don't bust me. That way I can comeback in the morning and do it all over again. Now thats hunting!

idahoelkinstructor

To be fair I should also add that all the whitetail boys who spend all spring and summer scouting and then during the season put hours and hours up in a cold tree stand. Only to have a chance or maybe two at a nice or trophy buck, well thats real hunting too. And they have earned it. That is a big difference like others have already stated for someone to hunt on a private ranch with overgrown deer/elk feeding on antler growth. To me it just wouldn't be fun. But to each his own, if someone wants to do it thats fine by me. Just don't expect me to watch a film or listen to you, or even read about your hunt. Heck I could go hunting for Texas Long Horns at a local cattle ranch and have almost the same experience. And I bet I would bag a big one too.

Slamfire

In a way we are responsible, everybody measures their deer by the P&Y or B&C score and nobody just weighs 'em and talks about how heavy they were. No sir, a big deer is 180 or some such and 400 is a nice elk. Then you sit in front of the tv and watch all the shows that don't cover any other kind of huntin, and buy the sponsor's products.
Keepin' track of how big was the rack has nearly ruined the sport, and given the antis ammo they were too dumb to think up for themselves.
End of speech. [:@]

Mr. BOARMAN

Now look here mate.hunting comes from within and if i were rich, i would have a rhino,cape buff,elephant,all the big cats etc etc,displayed in my own trophy house. A hunter is born,not made.Us poor hunters can only look on with envy,but not loss of heart. PS. We had a warm day on friday,95F.

muley69

Envision this: A guy spends 8,000.00 to go somewhere and hunt deer. He sits in a tripod, heated shooting shack. He is using a high powered rifle. The buck, whose semen was imported from somplace else to create him, comes into a food release station and is dropped at three hundred yards. The guide guts him and throws him in the truck. Shooter gets slap on the back, congrats, and has the B&C buck mounted and put in his office. How could you even look at that mount with any pride? Unfortunately B&C makes no distinction when it comes to entrys other then enclosures. In my opinion B&C is a crock, it means nothing to me. As an earlier poster pointed out, we really have ourselves to blame, hunting has become comercialized and we have bought into it hook, line, and sinker.

Californiadoctor

I agree with MR. BOARMAN, if I had $8,000 to spend on a hunt, I would much rather spend it on a cape buffalo hunt in Botswana than a deer hunt in Texas.

Californiadoctor

usa

I guess we are pretty quick to judge other folk's, I wouldn't have any part of a (canned hunt ) but who am I to judge what someone else can afford and take's pleasure in ? It's all part of the trickle down system, everything from the movie /camo/optics etc add to the hunting economy. It seem's to me that if a guy can afford to hunt where he want's to and buy the most expensive equiptment than he is close to being the anti-christ ! Where is it written that if you work your a&& off all your life and can finally afford to buy or do anything you want you become a (rich guy/jerk). I can afford any of the above but I choose to hunt alone/on foot/ on public land most of the time because thats what hunting is all about for me, and yes I've humped 12 miles into the wood's and packed out my game alone one piece at a time, so what ? How doe's that make me any better than the next guy ? How is hunting in Africa any different than a canned hunt here ? you can't hunt alone, a PH is with you all the time and tell's you what to shoot and when, he sets up camp and the trackers take care of getting your game for you plus you are hunting in the middle of the greatest concentration of game in the world ??? what's the difference ?? It's all in the perception of the hunter, why can't we just agree to disagree and let everyone enjoy whatever their version of hunting is, isn't that what our sport is supposed to be about sportsmanship and comradery ? Stop throwing stone's guy's and let's just share info and brag about our own persoal accomplishment's without putting someone else down to make us feel more important !

RandyL

This kinda goes with this thread in Big Game Hunting! "Are hunting shows stabbing us in the back?"

It is just a show, designd to sell products and draw viewers. But the reverse is taking place. Almost every outdoor forum I visit there are more and more posts concerning outdoor shows.

AlaskaMagnum

USA,

I don't think the question here is IF it's enjoyable or even if it should be legal, or even considered ethical, the difference here and the question posed is basically - is it REALLY hunting when you pay $10,000 to shoot a huge buck on a high fence ranch where the deer are especially bred to be gentically huge over 180 B&C?? Is that the same "trophy" as some guy who shoots a whitetail on public land during the regular season that is 160 B&C?? For some of us, its a no brainer. The smaller buck is the better trophy. It was done on open lands with fair chase on a regular old deer herd.

I would love to go Africa one day, and when I do, sure I will have a PH, and yep, the guys will do the butchering caping etc. Those trophies will be special, but I will know the difference between them and the caribou that I had to back four miles through some of the nastiest swampy tusskocks over two days. The pleasure will be from the Africa experience, but I guarantee you I know what trophy was actually harder earned.

Call me an elitist, but watching 300 lb Billy Bob sit in his heated deer stand on a high fence ranch just is not hunting in my book.

RandyL

Almost every hunt that takes place on those ranches with 300# Billy Bob sitting in a tree stand and the video camera wheeling, are also setting over bait. I have hunted Texas, for black buck, about as challenging as Wyomings, antelope, but there were feeders every where, and every so often they would come on automaticly and scatter feed and about as quick turkey, deer, axis, and hogs would come running like some one rang the dinner bell. But on the hunting shows the "Great White" hunters don't show that. Watch a show some time, the deer walk out, heads down feeding on barren earth, they are eating grain that was scatterd prior to the hunt.

I don't fault anyone for this type of hunting, it's thier choice. I just don't partake in it. The black buck never came into the feeders for some reason, so they had to be spotted and then stalked.