Nmtaxi ? He?s not hunting
? Looks like a long-winded hypocrite to me ?
You could say that I suppose. I mentioned it up front to make a point and that is, there ARE many different ways to hunt. I saved 8 years of PP?s, paid to be pointed to a unit, to an area ? everything else is up to me. The scenario given ? He bought his way around the draw system, hired a bunch of guys to do his scouting and find the deer, using planes, having people sit on deer until he can come in and pull the trigger, etc etc.
You think that is the same thing ? That's fine, everyone has their own opinion which is what I'm giving ? mine. I know that after spending months to get in hiking shape, 8 years of saving PP?s, 2 weeks of vacation, backpacking in on my back and busting my tail trying to find a good deer to shoot, doing all that work myself and carrying all the meat, cape and horns out myself etc etc ???.. I think I earned my deer. If the guy in the scenario thinks he earned his ? Yeah ??? okay, I guess whatever floats his boat. Its not the same kind of Hunting to me though.
BCBOY ? blind dumb luck happens, take it when it does ! Yes, lucking into a B&C the first minutes of the first day of the hunt isn't nearly the satisfaction as hunting it hard for 10 days and shooting it last light ??? but ideally wouldn't all our hunts go like that ? Trip of a lifetime, everything goes perfect and the big one gets taken on the last evening ?
I think there's a difference is all. There is a difference in earning your buck, and buying one. If you don't think there is, fine, it's a personal belief of mine that I'll teach my kids that taking the easy road is missing out on much of what Life is. Buying a big bull off EBAY for $5,000, driving up to Kansas City and shooting it in a 5 acre pen isn't Hunting. Its taking the easy road to having a big mount on the wall. Paying huge amounts for a tag, hiring everyone to do the work for you, and just showing up to pull the trigger ? That aint a whole lot different in my book, it really isn't.
And I'm not bitching, I'm discussing an issue I find VERY important to the future of Hunting. I personally believe that Canned Hunting is going to kill our sport. Outfits like USO are doing us no favors either. Shooting and killing and doing it all just to have a big set of horns on your wall is missing the whole POINT of Hunting. I hope I bust my ass for 7 hard days in brutal country, take hundreds of pictures, I hope my hunting buddy kills his first bull elk, I'll say a few prayers along the way while enjoying God's country, and if I happen to shoot a big buck ? Icing on the cake guys, icing on the cake. Its the GOAL ........ but its the JOURNEY thats fulfilling and meaningful.