I watch the Outdoor Channel all the time and have been noticing on almost every deer gun hunt that they are hunting out of some house on stilts - choosing which deer to shoot like they are at the grocery store deciding which meat to buy.

My point is it's making hunting look cheap - hunting out of a house (some even heated). I've watched some of these and you never even see the woods - all fields and the inside of some treehouse. Many of these shows have kids on them. I hope the next generatation doesn't think this is real hunting.

I guess that is why I'll stay a bow hunter - where you have to hunt (IN THE WOODS) generally in a stand!

In an ad I was reading,(in an outdoor newsletter that I happened across), the owner of this "deer ranch" said, "You've never known the ultimate hunt, until you've hunted from one of our heated tree blinds, complete with a hot lunch, and shot a nice buck,(or doe), coming in to one of our feeders." Huh???

I am both a rifle hunter and a bow hunter. I am more a rifle hunter then anything. And what you described on your post is exactly how my family and I hunt. We have the house on stilts and our stands are heated also. We have swival chairs to. There is really no advantage to us except we can stay in our stands as long as we want and thats about it. We dont pull anymore deer out of the woods then anybody else. in fact most of the deer we have taken have been on the drives not sitting in our stands. I dont think hunting out of a stand is a bad thing unless you bait the deer. Then I would have to agree with you.

I guess everyone has thier own idea of hunting ,as long as its legal I don't have a problem with it, I just wouldn't do it . Maybe when I get a little older it might look better to me .

here in idaho it is illegal to feed or bait deer during season or not. and if you read the rules closly your not even sposse to shoot deer in an area where they naturaly feed. on the other hand we do have soo many deer that anyone willing to put out alittle effort can shoot a nice buck i havent went without a deer since i was 13 and im 32 now

I know what you mean mferman, I watch, but not for too long. It seems a bit boring to me hunting that way. I'm not against it, I just perfer it to be more challenging. I guess that's why we bow hunt, and I love to watch bowhunting on the Outdoor channel.

The blinds are a great way to introduce the little hunters to the outdoors,I have an 8 year old nephew that got his first deer this year out of 1 with a 45 caliber muzzle loader and I intend on taking my daughter in one next season if she can pass my shooting standards.She will be 8 before deer season.They will stay much more interested if they aren't freezing and can actually move a little,this is a great way to learn.

As for me I also think it is a boring way to hunt,I go out hunting to see the outdoors and not the inside of a blind.

Extreme cold weather and the sick are 2 other really good reasons for using them.


My stepdad has gone almost exclusively to hunting out of these things but he smokes a pipe and refuses to stop,even when hunting,they help him get deer every year.


I don't care what way one chooses to hunt and can't understand why you do.If you don't like that kind of hunting,then hit 1 of those buttons on the remote and it you won't have to see it.

mferman, I understand yout thoughts I think, but keep in mind that not all firearm hunters hunt out of a blind like that. I hunt with firearm and archery in the big woods in a treestand. And all the deer that I've had a chance at (firearm or archery) were all within bow range at the time of the shot...except for one at 45 yds.

I guess sometimes it depends on where you grow up.If I started hunting in a state were baiting was legal I would probably be hunting like everybody else.

Rifle/Shotgun has bored me especially in the last couple years. I can't seem to sit still no matter how I gun hunt. For me it's the complete opposite of bow hunting. But, I do have friends who sit in "Condo's in the sky" and I really don't have anything against it. Like someone stated before, they really do not take anymore seer than anyone else.