Jimmy S

With all the new technology out in recent years, and the increase in deer numbers across the states and provinces....it seems more deer are being shot each year.

Today's hunters use cover scents, scent eliminators, scent attractants, fancy camo, high tech bows and M/L and just about everything on the market today. The hunter of a generation or two ago, relied mostly on his/her outdoor skills and knowledge of the animal hunted. A simple red plaid wool jacket and a 30/30 in hand would often do the trick.

Are we the same hunter today as yesteryear? Defining "better" is knowledge of the deer, better scouting techniques, how to hunt almost any type of terraine from swamps to fields and the ability to be successful when odds are against you. Example: it isn't hard to shoot a deer when there are 60 deer per square mile, but take that same hunter today or years past and put them in areas with less than 10, would they each be sucesssful? Are we better today or are we bascially the same hunter as your grandfather with a lot more bells and whistles to hunt with?

skeeter 7MM

Without knowledge all the technology in the world won't make a big difference. Now you stated the populations are higher so therefore if we reverted back to yester day populations, I think the guys that have learned how to hunt by way of knowledge, etc will certainly fair better than the guy who bought all the stuff that supposedly makes you a better hunter!

An expamle when asked what is the biggest tip I can give when hunting game: my first reply is always "Use the wind to your advantage", followed by "scout and learn the area, sign and game movements." Patience, practice, presistence, adaptability and confidence IMO are huge keys to being succesfull. Nowhere do I say you must have Scent blocker, LRF, 1000' bino's, etc. It is knowledge first and then technology. If you can harness technology advancement through your knowledge of hunting game, that is where the pay off comes.

JagMagMan

While there are some truely good hunters today, I think that on average, today's hunter could not hold a candle to the hunters of old!
Many of the old hunters hunted not only for sport, but for their family food supply! A good hunter of the past could do everything today's hunter can do, and without all the high tech stuff to help him out!
I also agree with Skeeter, scouting, tracking, and hunting knowledge are far more important than gadgets!
BTW, the real hunters of today, are not too much different than those of the past! Drop a real hunter off in the woods, in blue jeans, and a gun, and he'll come home with game!
I am all for new technology, but nothing takes the place of solid hunting skills! Technology and books are great tools, but until you learn to use them in the field, they are useless!

cardeer

I dont use all that new tech crap. I dont have a problem getting a deer usually. I just spend hours scouting and 12 hour days sitting in the woods for 3 months. I wear sneakers,in the warmer bow season dont wear socks ,sit on the ground,wear worn out holly clothes. eat in my sports chair during the day,urinate on the ground and last year I got 3 doe and a buck make my total 181 deer. The only helper I use in the rut is used womens sanitary napkins. Hang them on a tree limb.

kevin1

In large part , same here , although I do have a few creature comfort toys like a pop-up blind . Cardeer is Waaaaayyyyy ahead of me on take though ...

CD ,
I gotta know . Where do you get the used napkins ? Please don't say Cardoe ... [&:]

TURKEY FAN

No more Fred Bears of our century. Just my opinion

Bldhound

I dont think todays hunters (in general) would be in Triple A compared to the hunters of my Grandad's generation. Granted my Grandad didnt walk on water but the man was a heck of a hunter, I am told. Dad used to tell me when he would flush a covey of quail he would always get 2 sometimes 3, got his turkey every year & had the best bird dogs around. FIshing same thing, he would sit in the boat smoke a cigarette then say"I'm gonna put it over here & catch me a fish.................booom, fish on."

One reason I think that they had to be better hunter/fisher/outdoorsmen was there was less game. THey couldn't rely on just sitting on their butts waiting for a whitetail to walk by, they had to be able to read sign & all the other skills a outdoorsman has as said before.

Just my .02$ worth.

rocketman250r

My grandpa was born in 1912, lived through the great depression. He put a lot of food on the table hunting, and bought a lot of stuff selling hides from his trap line. Speaking in generilzations I don't think todays hunters have the woods skills of the old timers. If he wasn't successful his family didn't eat. They may not have had much, but grandma did have a very nice mink stoll. We hunt more for recreation, because we want to, not because we have to. And alot of usfocus mainly on deer and turkeys, they hunted everything. I do think the biggest advantage we have today is water proof boots and better clothing.

BTW grandpa is 94 and still goes deer hunting every year. He hasn't killed one for a few years, but it's by choice, not because he hasn't had the opportunity

Tazman

I was introduced to huniting by my uncle and cousin, both of them killed a buck opening day every year and filled all there tags every year, neither of these men ever wore camo, used scentlok suits or lures. They hunted strictly from the ground to boot. They did not have topo maps or sattelite pics, they knew the woods they hunted like the back of thier hand because at one time or another they had walked it. They knew where the deer bedded in the spring, summer, fall and winter, they knew where and what they fed on year round. They hunted anything in season, rabbit, squirrel, duck, geese and deer.

I could not hold a candle to them and from what I have been told my grandfather forgot more about hunting then they knew! There were far fewer deer then, but far more rabbit, squirrel, duck and geese.

I consider myself a good hunter, I think the best way to describe my uncle, cousin, and my grandfather would not be to call them great hunters, but call them predators, they knew thier prey inside and out!

For me the hardest part of hunting is finding property to hunt! It gets harder every year, but in 5-6 years that will never be an issue again for me, when I retire the wife and ! are going to sell it all, move way out into the boonies, buy at least 150-200 acres and have a brand new double wide put on it!