My apologies for using "canned hunt".
 

For years I always thought it simply meant "hunting on private land with a paid guide" or as part of some package deal (the professional guide guts, skins and quarters the deer and throws in a few extra perks as part of the flat fee) and perhaps I was using "canned" out of context here at this site.

Some time ago, I met a wilderness hunter from Idaho who regularly went after elk, but only cows for better meat quality. I told him about the time I went deer hunting on the Hayfork, CA ranch of a man who guided me in Trinity County, California. This ranch was near Weaverville. I got a 95-pound yearling buck on his spread, not even a trophy black-tail. My guide said I would have to pay additional fee of $750 for a "trophy" buck: at least a 3 x 3. Black tail are smaller cousins of mulies. The man from Idaho said I must have been on a "canned" hunt. He thought my rancher guide had that deer hidden and penned up somewhere and the deer was released by one of his hands as my guide was leading me up the hilly trail in his woods. I don't know if my deer was presented to me that way at all. My guide did want me to hurry and take this little buck so I would not supposedly lose any opportunities to go home with two coolers full of venison altogether. He pressured me to take the first buck I saw in his woods in the morning in October of '96. So, I took him in the prone position and there was a blood following ordeal that lasted about 25 minutes after the shot rang out until the dead buck was found in a small depression about a half mile away. The guide did not have his dog and was considering driving back to pick up his hound in his older Dodge 4x4 but we found the buck eventually sans pooch.

This guided ranch hunt of mine was a walking hunt: not a dog drive or stand hunt.


So, after that, I always thought of deer hunting as either "canned" or "wilderness" hunting.

Fair enough.
I was one of the first to holler troll when you started posting.
You did come on pretty strong at first with some pretty strange stuff.
Listen a lot and you will learn a lot.
This is a pretty salty group. Ease in gently.

"Canned hunt" isn't a good term to be throwing around in this saloon.

Much of this "strange stuff" you may have seen me type here may have been planted in my head by people I have known or what I may have read.


Most of my knowledge of hunting is from books and is theoretical. That "packaged" hunt, if you will, was my first and only deer hunt ever.

The meat was tough and horrible tasting. The rancher/guide's two adult sons assisted with the meat processing on the ranch. The buck was gut shot and had ran for about a half a mile after taking a hit behind the shoulder. The deer had been facing me with his body angled back at a 45-degrees and I had learned later that that was the wrong point of aim for that presentation. The bullet went behind his shoulder, breaking one rib in two and back into his guts. His sh_t bag was busted.

There were acorns found in this deer's belly and I was hunting in the B2 zone, not California's finest, I gather. My tag was for buck only.

When I was seven I had some venison at my grandparent's house. Grandpa got the venison from a buddy of his at work who went hunting here in California. That venison, grilled on the BBQ, was as tender and yummy as some of the best beef I have ever had. My grandfather also told me that special doe tags could be bought in California, but this was a long time ago.

This is why I am very apprehensive about going deer hunting ever again. I want to get the best possible MEAT for my hunting dollar. I don't ever want to spend close to $1,000 or more for garbage venison.

Perhaps, black tail does (duzz) not have the better meat quality.

I have heard over and over again that does (doaz) offer better meat than bucks.

Gut shooting probably did not help the flavor of my meat.

Running wounded bucks foul the meat with adrenaline.

Good venison like good beef has to be hung and aged for some time.

What deer eat while they are alive will affect venison eating quality at the dinner table when they are shot dead.

Deer raised and fed in captivity will taste better than pure wild ones shot with a gun, one man told me.

I am NOT one for trophies to mount on the wall but GOOD meat.

Might be a good idea for you to go through cali's hunter education program.Find out what's available,ie,any outdoor programs/(hunting)clinics they have and maximize those.There's also game dept. hunting lands in your area.You might also make connections w/an instructor that could lead to hunting opprotunities.Use the internet and the resources here.Learn to process what you harvest and stay away from the commercializations of hunting.Your money will go farther and your hunting enjoyment will increase.

Exactly, I agree. American hunting traditions have become ever more commercialized over the years. It is seeming more "fake" and "artificial" these days.

Does the modern hunter ever savor the moment by smelling fresh pines or the grass in the field with a friendly pooch and nice checkered gun?
This is even more important to me than filling the game bag. The howling of baying hounds in the woods must be some kind of rush.

I am interested in taking up wing shooting especially because doves, pheasants and ducks are not hard to process: simple breasting for the most part, and there is a lot less physical work involved than deer. I did find a game butcher in Sacramento that will butcher a whole deer, skin and all, for about $100.

:s12:

Does the modern hunter savor the moment? ......you ask.

Yes. I know I do.
Hunting season where I live lasts a few weeks and I savor every minute I can spend hunting. I'm lucky enough to live in God's country so I also spend a huge amount of time in the off season up on the mountain savoring the moment. No gun, just binoculars and a canteen.

But I would have a big dog or two for companionship and security and perhaps a handgun for security too in the boonies. Never know when a nasty Bigfoot might appear. :evil:

Here's something every hunter must consider: One day they'll be too old,tired or,perhaps, in too much pain to hunt.What do you want your memories to be?
You will only get out of hunting what you put into it. Your best memories will not come by taking the easy road.Pre-conceived ideas are obvious to see in your posts.
Get those ideas out of your head or you will always have a distorted view of hunting and little success.This is meant for your benefit,not to be critical.I'm sure most here would tell you the same thing.

Well, I turned age 50 today. I am not as robust and athletic as I USED TO BE. I would probably need an ATV or jeep to scout and hunt in serious deer hunting wilderness. The idea of still hunting deer on dog drives Southern style is somewhat sedentary and fitting for me. The deer woods in the South are flat and the hounds do most of the work. :D Here in the central valley in CA, the pheasant and dove fields are pretty much flat and level so upland birding is rather leisurely, like golf.

But there is more to leisure life than hunting alone. I like camping, hiking on flat, level ground, boating and fishing too as well as just spending time out in Mother Nature with a nice pooch or two. Much time out for door will also be spent training a new puppy for bird seasons to come.

You're way to easy on yourself. I hunt the Colorado Rockies at 11,000ft for elk alone, and i'm 71. Hike in for miles. Hike out with the meat.

You should put your sights higher than a doe. I can get you a doe in the first 1/2 hr of the hunt.