The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

MEN,
How many of you actually work for a living and BOWHUNT for a hobby and WONDER if the guys we idolize could do what they do if they lived on the income we doAND THE WORK SCHEDULE we do? Yep!!! NONE of them! The Wensels ? LOL, Could you imagine them two fat guys actually working ?? lol !!NOPE !! andTHEN GOING HUNTING AFTER WORK a sweatty back breaking day of workFOR THEM WORLD CLASS WHITETAILS ?? LOL !! Hell ya gotta have money to live where they live and lease 10,000 Iowa acres likethey do ,Heck if they actually had to work you wouldn,t have ever heard a wordaboutthem andYou and I know it ! Traditional Bowhunting has been YUPPIED ! AS well as all bowhunting period. Iam a BLUE COLLAR BOWHUNTER how about YOU !???
TJ

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

The Wensel Brothers didn't have fame, or money, thrown into their laps. Both are college graduates, and worked as chiropractors--yes, WORKED.

They didn't have their massive knowledge of whitetails and hunting thrown into their laps either. Both have been hunters since they were kids. They have guided hundreds of hunters, and helped countless more.

Do they have premium land to hunt on? I'm sure they do--because theypay for it. They aren't raising deer in a fence, and hunt fair chase.

I'm proud for anyone that can make a living, especially a good living, doing what they love. Those men worked hard for what they have.

FWIW, I'm not friends with the Wensel brothers. I've met them a time or two, but they wouldn't know me from Adam's housecat. I don't idolize them (or anyone else), but I do respect them as hunters--just like I do Fred Bear, Ben Pearson, Howard Hill, etc.

Good Lord willing, I'll live long enough to be fat and bald and spend my retirement years chasing whitetails.

Chad

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Best thing about hunting for me is that it doesn't matter what you do for a living. All ofthe shirts I hunt in are pullovers without collars.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

MEN,
Don,t mis-understand my thread, I don,t idolize anyone, and have met GeneWensel several times andI think hes a greatdown to earth personhave nothing against either him or his brother Barry or anyof those guys on thier level. I was making a point That most of our magazines we read are filled with stories aboutDoctors ,lawyers, wealthy buisnessmen, and thier trips around the world on hunting trips that cost a sanitary worker a years wages soHow many of them are factory workers, welders, the garbage man??? You know guys who get dirty everyday of thier lives ? maybe I should have said dirty collar LOL. But when was the last time you read a story in TBM,PBS, ECT, About Joe Dirt and his $500.00 hunt in the next state to hunt a whitetailed deer that he saved a year or two to do ? It,s always about Joe wealthy guy and his $12,000.00 hunt to africa or his $8,000.00 hunt to alaska ect ect, And buy the way Iam not saying doctors or lawyers and such don,t work hard , but how many of them had wealthy parents or grand parents thatgave them everything ? No wadda mean Vern ? lol
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Have you read an issue of TBM lately?That mag is filled with stories from everyday,working-class people who are just doing what they love to do.If they come from wealthy backgrounds-so what.That has no bearing on their love of the sport.They're just more fortunate to be able to do some things easier than alot of other people.A buddy of mine is going to Africa this summer after saving and sacrificing for 2 yrs-and he's a lawyer.
The Wensel's have been at this for years and years and deserve everything they have-they worked for it,and they worked hard for it.To insinuate that they're basically lazy and have had everything handed to them is just plain wrong.Sounds like a major jealousy issue.JMO,men

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

JIM,
You should go back and re-read my post,s ! I never said anyone was lazy ! or not worthy of thier income! specially the Wensels whom I have nothing but respectand admiration forand has given so much to this sport !TBM ? Ivebeen reading and suscribing as a loyal member I might add for 15 years andnever missing an issue and there really isn,t to many guys from the "BLUE COLLARBELT" writing stories And getting them published in TBM,Jealously ? Hardly ? envious emm ,,,,,,,,,,,You Bet ! Ya SeeJim my Ole man worked in a steel mill for 46 years and died of cancer two years after retirement never getting to go on one of them STORY BOOK HUNTS we all read about cause he had 4 kids to raiseand my mother is a retired registered nurse of 42 years and still alive and well at the age of 77 "BLUE COLLAR" Jim,Iam not blasting anyoneI would just like to hear from some real Blue collar type fellas every now and then about thier hunting excursions,
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

"LOL, Could you imagine them two fat guys actually working ?? lol !!NOPE !! " You're quote-not mine

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

JIM,
LOL !!!! and more LOL !! Yep !
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

I don't hear about too many "blue collar guy" hunts in the magazines. That is why I come here to huntingnet. I hear about all kinds of low budget hunts on this site. Guys like me telling guys like me how the hunt went. And not only that but sharing hunts and tips and a joke or two. I would love to be able to go on some of the hunts I see on the idiot box. Reality is, it ain't gonna happen. This coming April I'm going on what for me is a rare out of state hunt, turkeys in Tenn.I've got a $500 budget and its going to be tight making it happen. I'm an electrician with a wife and daughter and a mortgage too. It doesn't get more down to earth blue collar than that. I may envy the Wensels and other celeb hunters a bit but would I swap places with them? NEVER. I love my life just as it is.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

I guess I don't understand what one has to do with another. Other than kinda patting yourself heavily on the back.

I do whitecollar work. And not ashamed at all of it. If people are jealous, they have no one to blame but themselves, when they cut up all the time in class, and spent all thier time playing games.

I am just amazed about doctors, they go thru grueling 12 years minimum schooling, and are dead broke doing it. They deserve all our respect. I know I couldn't go thru thier program. They dont' even start making money until they are in thier 30's. Thats insane. They want to enjoy a hunt, I say go for it.

And when people actually see how many hours I work on salary, (usually low 60's) I usually hear them say, they wouldn't do it. They say they would rather spend time withtheir family and work 8 hours a day. Actually most white collar hunters I know, dont' get to hunt near as much as blue collar hunters, because most blue collar hunters seem to get off more days, and easier, and very specified shifts they are can work around, unless they are self employed.

Fall is the busiest time for us, as its end of physical quarter, and then Europe does most of its lab work. This sucks for hunting.

Most of the people I see on those 10,000 hunts are self employed business owners and for some odd reason most these days I meet are home contractors. Kinda middle of the road blue/white collar since the housing boom.

Now, lawyers on the other hand are well lawyers, and don't deserve much. [:'(]

I feel kinda lucky as I understand both sides. I was the first from my family to ever graduate college. Almost all my family are coal miners, and so was I going thru college. Only reason I went to college was scholarship aid, and a hefty 20%unemployment in Eastern Ky in the late 80%. I came from both sides of the tracks, and neither side totally understands the other unless they have done it.

I don't know stealth, It sounds like a big hefty dose of jealousy on your part.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Bigcountry, please don't think my post was in any way critical of the white collar types. Work is work. and I agree about the time off. I have tried on several occasions to get my boss out hunting with me. He can't find the time. He, (on salary), usually works 10 -20 hours a week more than I do. In the end I don't think that $ for $ and hour for hour he makes any more than I do when you add my OT that he doesn't get. And you are right to about cutting class. I'd be white collar if I'd kept my butt in a school chair!

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

MEN,
Just askin ? Iam a Correctrions officer for the state of PA, I know scum,evil,slime and the worst that humanity has to offer andI do it for pennys on the dollar and probably will never know a trophey hunt like dock joe, the wensels,The biggie hoffmans,Doctor thomas, ect, Does it make me a less of a hunter ? HELL NO ! Just a lack of opputunity notlike those with a clean hand and a non-broken middle class back.
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

No problem. I had this grandfather, who insisted that college is the place I want to be. He never graduated grade school, but taught himself how to read. Now, every since a small lad, I wanted to be a marine, and after that a power man or something simular. He insistedcollege iswhat I want. But what I found, was every dog has its flea. I sit in an labortory or travel all the time, and don't do any physical work. I have to compensate by going to a gym. I have diabetes pretty bad, and if I don't work out, I start feelin bad and it keeps it under control. I feel if I had a very physical job like when I worked around the mines, my diabetes would be taken care of. If my Grandfather was alive today, I would tell him, an whitecollar job is not all its cracked up to be either. I get so mad every year when I try to hunt. I have 6 weeks of vacation, I cannot even use.

I have been on a few moose hunts, and hog hunts. I have to save up for them. And most of the time when out there, I do see people that go on these things every year. I am amazed.

TJCraig, I feel for ya man. I got a electrical engineer friend who keeps wanting me to do work with him for motorola doing prison surveleance engineering. He has to go out to the various prison all the time to inspect and survey the job. I just can't imagine how I would feel if I worked in a prison every day. I would have a foul outlook on life. Much respect to ya.

TJ, we all make choices in our life. And I know friends that are electricians and plumbers that hunt and hunt every freakin season up the pike. I am jealous. But I made my choice to work crazy hours, and make money I can't use(wife does). Its like a double edge sword.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Adding an "LOL" to a post just not justify an insult.

Steve

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Whitecollar trad guy here also. :D

This is a weird topic. [8D]

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Bob,
I was only making a point that you never or rarely here about the expoilts of a poor working stiff, america is full of money and if ya just happen to be middle class NO ONE CARES ! When was the last time ya read a story of a bowhunter that is a garbage man from BERGOO west verginny ? LOL
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Most of my stories I read about are good ole boys. I dont' think we read the same mags. I read primative archery, and traditional achery mag. Almost all those stories are from regular old joes.

Just read a story in Bowhunting World about self bowyer, who lived in Michigan making hickory self bows, and showing his hunts.

Actually come to think of it, I rarely read stories about doctors and lawyers killing anything. Maybe give us some more examples. I don't have TV so no outdoor channel, and never met or read about the wensels. But realize who they are.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Why do you want toread abouta garbage man so badly?

I know you have them, but do you actually read TBM or Primitive Archery?

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Bob, yea, I read primitive archer. Whats wrong with that mag?

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

I grew up poor. I went to college on ACT scores, then quit college and contracted. When I was travleing the country contracting, I didn't do bars or gamble .... I had a compound and went to local ranges in every town I went to. I met a lot of folks along the way. I worked my through jobs, stepping stones, and now hold a pretty nice job thats semi-secure. I have a wife, 2 kids and a mortgage. I realize, that you better hunt while you can. I've always known that too, and when I was singel I did as much hunting as I could, and my wife knows I'm going to hunt as much as I can while I can.

In 2007 I'll likely elk hunt, KS whitetail and maybe another hunt. I don't have a lot of money to spend, so in a seperate bank account I buy/sell stuff on EBAY etc and the extra money I put in there to pay for my hunting. I sold some wood I cut this year, it went in there.I'm selling amodel 411 hangun I bought years ago - that $325 will go in that account.

I do this every year, and it seems I have just enough to OTC elk tags and whitetail in KS. And its still not cheap, but I do it.

The places I hunt, some Bill Jerden would give his left nutty to hunt. I'm privy to hunt there, because I've made some good friends along the way that allow me to come hunt with them. Those hunts are extra special because of the comraderie. The OTC elk hunts are special, because of how tough they are.


My point is ......... you rarely stumble into good hunting. You have to earn it and make it work. Blue collar hunting is the way hunting should be IMO.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Sorry bigcountry, I wasn't responding to your post. And I believe you took it the wrong way. I was responding to this:

And this:

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Bob,
I read TBM all the time ! 15 years to be exact, Why do I wanna read about the garbage man ? cause he's the opposite side of the coin ya never get to read about 'RARELY'! I get tired of reading about guys that have the money to roam the world in adventerous hunting expiditions, some earned it and some had it all given to them, I wanna read about that regualar Joe, the welder,the factory worker,steel mill worker, the minimum wage guy, easier for me to feel happy and glad for thier accomplishments
JMHO
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

I know a fellow that is a Union Laborer/Taxidermist that often writes for TBM, if you'd like, PM me and I'll supply his e-mail.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

There's a fellow on this board that's a regular contributor to TBM-Jason Westbrock.I think he's an accountant.Whether he's bowfishing,or squirrel hunting or whatever-he writes about it,submits his story and we all read about it.If you have a good story,write it down and submit it.Who knows,you might get published

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

I think your complaint only really applies to a few of the new names in the video industry. When people like Wensels, and yes even Jordan, came along there WASN'T a video market. They risked their own money to get something on film in order to try and get some sponsors. Most of these guys loved to hunt and just tried to film what they did to share their love of hunting with others. I talked to Chuck Adams and he was telling me that he pays for his own trips, he works his butt off for 9 months so that he can hunt his butt off for 3 months in prime areas. He says it's all about priorities. He had a friend complain to him about not having the money to go on hunt trips like Chuck and Chuck told him to look out in his driveway. "That winnebago you have parked out there could pay for a couple of years of hunting." Chuck made sacrifices to save the money to hunt like he enjoys, including his marriage (IMO). I don't envy a lot of the guys who are held up as having it made. Most of them don't have the family time that I would want, or maybe even have the ability to just relax and enjoy a hunt. I do admire a lot of guys, like on here, who save and go on DIY hunts across the globe. Grousing about what others have doesn't accomplish much. Make changes in your life to be able to do what it is you want to do, even if it's just finding different magazines to read and stop watching shows that make you mad.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

There are still people doing that exact same thing. A few years back there were a couple of guys that I met on an Elk hunt in Colorado. They did not have a sponsored show. They put up a bunch of money to go on a few trips that fall with the hopes of picking up sponsors. If they didn't get the sponsors, they were planning on paying other shows (like $2,500 or so) to air their hunts. They then planned on using these aired shows to built up a good portfolio. These people were by no means rich and were self-funded. Never did see them on TV.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

MEN,
Don,t misunderstand my point ! I love the Wensels ! I just would like to hear more from guys that gotta scrape, andscrounge, just to get a weekend off to go on that $500.00 trip in the next state, The Africa hunts,the Canada moose hunts,kodiak island hunts,aregetting old! Now My favorite bowhunter of all time PAUL SCHAFER was Blue collar ! hard core ! and its a shame he died so young cause that guy had a lot to offer the world when it came to bowhunting !
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Can'tcha just feeeeeeeeelllll the love???:D



Now was that Charlie, or was that Hank (someone will get that).;)

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Tj Craig I think too, that with high profile hunters, when they kill big animals they make sure its very well known.

Do you know who Roger Rothaar is ? Did you know he's killed more big bucks with a recurve than most compound shooters ever will, and I don't think any of the land he hunted was ever leased, and much of it was public grounds ? I'm talking 180"-220" bucks and bigger.

I don't think he wanted to do a whitetail tour, or make alot of videos, or use his name to start big hunting outfitting places etc.

My point is ...... he's a blue collar type hunter in the way he did his hunting.

So are many other guys - but you won't hear about them because they aren't high profile.

That Wensel buck, Woody ...... a dandy, but I bet there were 100 bucks bigger than him (score wise) killed the same year and you didn't hear about them.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Buster,
Yep Roger r. Is deffinately a great if not the greatest bowhunter of all time, Read all his books. Great Blue Collar type of guy, I don,t think his son is following in Dads foot steps though.
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Tj - I just read his book recently ........ you said in another thread I should go to a rifle, what did you think of all the running shot Roger took ? What about the frontal shots he took? He missed often too, and wounded/lost deer. Even that biggest buck of his was a mis-hit, very luck to track it and finish it off like he did. Shoudl he be labeled unethical and banned from bowhunting to a rifle too ?

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

BUSTER,
NAH ! I was to quick on that one my friend ,Sorry, Seriously I just wanna talk equipment,! Because ability and equipment are universes apart JMHO
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

do you know who Connie Renfro is ?

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Buster,
yep !
Tj

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

shorter draw than me, lighter poundage bows for the most part, not as much KE I imagine ....... and she's a bowhunting machine

equipment does not a hunter make, though it can can certainly help

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Very Well Said. Most pro hunters had to work for what they have now. Most just happened to be pretty good at hunting and got lucky while guiding or at a show or something. All it takes is meeting that right person with the right connections.

Was it RealTree Outdoors that did the ProHunter Search? I cant remember, but the winners of it were regular guys. One was a retired US Airforce Fighter Pilot who was working as an Engineer of some kind, and his the other guy was his Dad.

Besides who do you know of that has a silver spoon up their butt that says I want to sit in a tree stand and freeze my a$$ off for hours at a time and when I'm not doing that I want to be walking around the woods freezing my a$$ of instead.

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Who cares where we work or who makes more money. We all have one thing incommon we love to hunt & have fellowship with other hunters. We are all blood brothers who find a kind of peace when we are in the woods, or sitting in the stand, that a non-hunter does not understand. We have felt the rush/body shaking feeling we get when we let that arrow fly and it makes contact with critter of our choice, there is no other feeling like it. I am one with my maker when I am hunting. Bigdaddy

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

bigdaddy7474 When I see Bill Jerden paying $10,000 for a piece of Milk River property, growing alfalfa and winter wheat for the deer, supplemental feeding, culling, "management" etc etc, and then seeing him shooting one with a compound at 35 yards ......... compare that to a guy who spends the time to craft a self bow, cane shafts, knaps his own arrows and kills a doe on public land

Which is the blue collar bowhunter ? Which uses money and technology to make sure he gets those antlers ? Which focuses on the hunt, not the kill ?

The "easier" you make the hunting, be it equipment, guides, leases, etc etc etc, the less reward and sense of accomplisment.

The more you work to earn something, the greater the satisfaction.

I personally am going to hunt with a compoud this fall. My choice, for a variety of reasons. When I kill a buck with it, I will have a sense that I accomplished less because I used a compound. Still an accomplishment, I'll be proud of it for certain - just not AS proud, because of the circumstance.

Maybe thats the the jest of this thread .......

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

Speak for yourself. ;)

RE: The Blue Collar Bowhunter !
 

BobCo19-65 I think its true, whether a person wants to acknowledge it or not.

There is a correlation between ammount of effort put into something and the ammount of satisfaction gained.

Surely you taught your kids this ? Its the #1 reason rich spoiled kids dont appreciate anything - they didn't earn it. There was no effort put into gaining what they had, it was all given.

A monster buck taken with a rifle on a high fenced pen is something to smile about I guess.

The very same monster buck taken after 4 years of hunting him with a stick bow on heavily hunted public ground ? A whole 'nuther sense of accomplishment, the two can't even be compared though the antlers didn't change.

See what I'm saying ?