Pretty broad statement!!
nyflyer, why do you think I prefer to hunt on the ground vs a treestand regardless of the equipment I am using (bow, ml or rifle)

Well, then why don't we just compare the same animals then.......let's stick to deer because they all have the same sets of eyeballs.

I never made a comparison of stand hunting vs stalking.........really has nothing to do with what I am saying.


No that is just silly.........can we discuss this like adults??

Yea.....all those hours of scouting and patterning the deer and finding the perfect spot for your stand depending on the wind must not count.


EAAAAAASY there big fella......let's get one thing very clear right now. I NEVER said that long distance kills were not hunting. Don't put words in my mouth. I said that long distance whacks are more dependent on shooting skill then hunting skill. As long as an animal is taken legally it is hunting to me and that person is a fellow hunter.

Now...........First of all your assumptions that I stand hunt all the time are wrong. I do plenty of stalking in not easy terrain. I am plenty physical and have logged my share of miles in the woods. I walk all over the woods locating the game I hunt from my stands in the off season and I have to get much nearer to the game I kill..........you have to get in good shot position with a deer 300 yards away and I have to get my gun up and shouldered with a deer right in front of me...........or draw my bow.........Once again I really don't care to debate the merits of West vs East hunting styles because we both do what we have to do in the land we find ourselves.


I just don't believe that..............if you can fart loud or bad enough to spook an animal a mile away you have bigger problems to solve.


Now your farts are covering a 3 mile circle??

You were right.......they couldn't.

I do know what I am talking about...........evidently you don't. I never even mentioned the West or stalking yet you go off on these tangents like I singled you out or something.

That helps explain your hostility I don't know where IO is but I have hunted IA, PA, and NY..........what does that matter??? It doesn't matter where you are......

I am saying that sitting on a hillside watching a fire lane or open field with kill chances out to 300 yards is more a challenge to your shooting ability rather then your hunting skills.

Put a great marksman that knows Jack Squat about hunting within 250 yards of a food source and he will have a pile of deer in the truck. Put the same guy in a stand or on the ground where he has to now be very still, very quiet, scent aware, and be able to get the draw on a deer inside 50 yards without getting busted and he most likely wouldn't even get off a shot.

I am not trying to say one way is better then the other. I hunt all ways. Bow, shotgun, muzzleloader and getting a rifle this winter to go on some trips to New Mexico to hunt with my brother-in-law.

I am just using common sense and logic when I compare all methods. Archery is hardest, muzzleloader........shotgun........then rifle. All the weapons have limitations and that is what makes you rely more on your personal skill and less on the weapon as you move down the chart.

I don't pretend that taking a deer with my shotgun requires as much hunting skill as when I get one with my bow.........because it doesn't. I have to get much closer with my bow and be much more aware of movements, noise, scent etc.

Glad someone knows what I am talking about

Well as we both now understand each other fully let us just drop this quite silly argument. We are both hunters plain and simple, we both enjoy the outdoors and please heaven let it stay that way!
truce?

I don't take a bow shot over 20 personally but that is just me.........and I don't think many people would argue that a deer 60 feet away is more likely to bust you then one 350 yards away...........At 60 feet you have to worry about blinking or you might get busted.


What does that mean?? I am confused............are you saying that being 300 yards away from a deer is the same thing as being 30 yards away just because of the weapon in your hand??

It's all cool man............I wasn't trying to start any arguments.

You do agree that watching an open area and picking off a deer at 300+ yards is a more impressive marksman display then hunting???...........or no??

I live in the suburbs outside Buffalo.................Not sure where Fairport is.

In certain conditions, yes. In others it is very even such as little cover, high wind, you know the pits. Just so you know my furthest shot on a deer is a 210 yd, my furthest ever was a 350 on a doe antelope.

So you would say that sitting on a hillside and blasting a deer at 300+ yards requires a large amount of hunting skill?? Or was it a good display of shooting skill??

Because the way I see it.........if you put a great shooting clueless hunter in that position he kills the deer, but if you put a great woodsman/hunter who is not a crack shot in that same position........he misses. Did the clueless hunter make a great hunt.........or a great shot??

If you would like an explanation on the fart thing here it is:

I was hunting with my dad and a friend of his for elk. We finally found a herd at about 3:00. As we are getting within 1-2 miles the wind changed at the same time this guy let off the greasiest thing I have ever smelt/herd. The elk in about 3 minutes high-tailed it right out of there. we were the only hunters as far as we could see so what would you blame it on?