Who uses radio's?

[DirtyTough]

So I read a story in a magazine the other day. The writer wrote" we made it to the ridge where we split up. Shayne went to a glassing point, and I hiked into position just below the ridgeline. As I hiked up I noticed my heart pounding faster then normal. Then came Shayne's voice declaring three words that seemed to have been hanging in the air all morning. "I found him!"

It go's on like that a little more. This hunt was in Utah. If you read the whole article you realize there is a spotter and a shooter in different positions with the spotter either using a radio or cell phone to spot the shooter in to kill the buck. Why wouldn't they just come out and say he radio'd to the shooter the bucks position since its legal?

I believe radio's are legal in Utah but I know the buck isn't eligible for pope an young now.

Whats your guys' thoughts on this? Better to skirt it and type up the story like it was or just say he radio'd me into position?

 

[Elkduds]

Learn and use a few basic hand signals. I agree w P&Y, radios are not fair chase.

 

[sageadvice]

If i were to post a list of the things that were the most detrimental to the way i've been hunting and wish to continue to do, i'd have to say that hunting with others while in radio contact, is way down the list.

There is also the element of safety when one can contact others around him.

Joey

"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[BIGJOHNT]

If you have a animal close by and your trying to talk on a radio. Your busted ! They a so loud even with a ear piece I have seen a elk hear it and bust. It's best to use hand signals and turn that radio off when moving in on game. I am not saying I dont use one. They can be a lifesaver. Especially our Rino's. If I cant find my dad I can just key up his location and find the old timer. I know a guy that got last in a rain storm. The next morning his buddies got up high and got a signal and his location on the GPS radio. When they told him which way to come out they could see he was moving the wrong way. They stopped him and went to get him. So they have a place.

 

[Stonefly]

We use Radio's while Archery Hunting Elk. Couldnt use them the way they were used in your story, where we hunt you cant see farther than 50-70 yards in most places, But when one of us gets an Elk down, You call EVERYONE to come help pack it out. Mid day temps have hit 80's and you need to get them asap. We are normally 1-2 miles from a road, so everyone has a radio and good backpack.

 

[Ruby1]

This is one I have struggled with for some time. Yes, radios are great for safety and to meet up with hunting partners, but what about using them on stalks where it is legal? Let's face it, lots of critters get killed this way. Even lots of the ones we see on magazine covers. Is there anything wrong with it ethically? I think not, but I don't think it is the same as stalking a buck without the help of a spotter on the radio. I know that for me I get a whole lot more satisfaction from stalking a buck on my own. Could I someday end using the radios to kill something? maybe. It definitely is effective and that has been proven to me many times.

 

[DirtyTough]

Agreed they are great for certain safety uses. But if using radios was ok then why don't more people actually say how the hunt went down in articles? If it's legal I'm not going to say it's bad to use them. But why hide it? That's all I'm wondering.

 

[utarchery]

>If you have a animal close
>by and your trying to
>talk on a radio. Your
>busted ! They a so
>loud even with a
>ear piece I have seen
>a elk hear it and
>bust. It's best to use
>hand signals and turn that
>radio off when moving in
>on game. I am not
>saying I dont use one.
>They can be a lifesaver.
>Especially our Rino's. If I
>cant find my dad I
>can just key up his
>location and find the old
>timer. I know a guy
>that got last in a
>rain storm. The next morning
>his buddies got up high
>and got a signal and
>his location on the GPS
>radio. When they told him
>which way to come out
>they could see he was
>moving the wrong way. They
>stopped him and went to
>get him. So they have
>a place.

I shot a deer at 15 yards using a rhino and an ear piece.... it can be done

 

[Largebull]

I use radios when possible. At 59 I will allways carry one. If it helps on a kill great. I don't feel bad at all, cause I never baited or used a trail cam. Most the time I dont need em for a kill ,but nice to have if needed......BULL!.

 

[Vanilla]

I use radios while hunting. This last year I finally broke down and bought a rhino, so radio and GPS in one. I won't go in the field without it.

That gadget is so helpful in a bunch of different ways.

 

[ForkWest]

Whether they'd admit it or not, I would wager that 95% of western hunters use radios in ANY way that best benefits them.

I'd suppose the P&Y and B&C stipulations are what drives the perception and openness into the shadows, even though its entirely legal.

No one wants to be seen picking their nose while driving either, but everyone does it.

 

[elks96]

There is a distinction that has to be made. Using a radio to check in, using a radio to call for help after a kill. Using a radio to call your driver and let them know you have reached a point etc. Is all one level of radio use. But, as mentioned using a radio to call someone and direct them to a kill is different.

Hence different expectations. Do people do it? Yes they do. Is it wrong, who am I to decide for certain, but I am certainly proud that all my animals have came without the use of such devices for the kill.

I do know this, radios like all the other gadgets, and technologies make us more successful as hunters, which means higher kill rates and in someways a decrease in opportunity.

 

[BOHNTR]

I think you'd lose some money if you truly believe 95% of hunters use radios. Without credible source(s) information, how do you verify? I know MANY hunters who do not use radios on hunts......but I have seen quite a few Utahans use them while hunting there.

BOHNTR )))---------->

 

[mntman]

we carry/use radios for safety or when we get an animal down. When we hear a shot fired, we turn them on to hear if the other person shot, only the shooter talks first.
Sometimes depending on situation, we turn them on at a specific time to make sure the other is alright. Primarily my dad, he is getting up in the years so its nice to have updated info on where he is at/headed.

Mntman

"Hunting is where you prove yourself"

 

[sageadvice]

BOHNTR +1, i'd take some of that action.

There's still LOTS of old school and not just old school guys not using them. Just saying but i don't even use a gps, haven't really had a need for one.

Joey



"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[Founder]

As far as "the story", people quite often leave those details out. Just as they would leave out the fact that they used an airplane to locate an animal if that was the case. I would guess leaving certain details out of a story is often because they're not real proud of what they did.

As for radio's, I don't use them often. During the few hunts in-which I hunt with other people, I'm often told to bring my radio. But even then, I rarely turn it on and my batteries seem to always be dead when I do.

I can see a place for them, and I understand hunters using them. I know for a fact that a hunter can be FAR MORE SUCCESSFUL when they have another telling them where the animal is, reassuring them that the game is still there and letting them know when the game might move. I did kill a buck 12-13 years ago because my step-brother told me where it was over the radio. I wouldn't have gotten that buck if he hadn't said anything.

Using a radio or phone to direct someone to game is extremely effective. Many of the best bucks are taken using that tactic. I've found bucks in years past, made stalks, buggered them, then thought maybe I needed to begin hunting with others and use radio's, phones, or even hand signals. Maybe I'd have more success.

The more technology that increases hunter success, in-turn decreases tag numbers. Decreased tag numbers leads to people wanting better technology to increase their odds when they finally do get a tag. And it continues to snowball.
All the technology that gives us more advantage comes at a cost, that's for sure.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
LIKE MonsterMuleys.com on Facebook!

 

[Guns_Buns_N_Beers]

I've use them on a few hunts here in AZ and they worked out great. Never really used them to radio a hunter in on an animal though. We just used them to let the hunter know if the buck was still there while they were getting closer to him.

 

[bugleb]

You are right when you say people don't give all the details about questionable practices. I read an article once about a bowhunter making a great stalk on a buck he had spotted and nailing it. A friend of mine was there. He said the guy really shot it from inside the bed of his pickup truck.

I use radios a lot, but they are not foolproof. My hunting buddy always has either dead batteries or is on the wrong channel when I try to call him. They are great to scan and listen to other hunters when things are slow. One time in the Grays River country we listened to a couple of guys that had been looking for a couple of horses for a few days. One of them tipped his horse over backwards and fell off. His horse and the pack horse took off on a dead run. He followed the tracks and had located a few pieces of saddles and bridles, but no horses. It made our day just listening to it.

Last year, my son went up a canyon after a bull elk that we spotted from the road. I didn't have a tag, so I just followed behind. When he got to where the bull had been, it was gone. He radioed to say he was going to follow the tracks over the ridge to the east. I went back down to the road and told him I would go up the next canyon to the east and work my way up it in case he needed any help. After a while, he called and said he had spotted another bull bedded across the canyon, but couldn't shoot because there was a cow bedded behind it. He told me not to come any closer since I didn't have a gun and he didn't want me to spook them. He said that he was at long range, so I told him to see if he could work his way any closer while he waited and to find a good rest.

About two hours later, he called and said the cow had moved and he was going to shoot. After about four or five shots he called and said the bull was down, so I should get my butt up there and help him, which I did. I don't see anything unethical about all this.

 

[sageadvice]

" He told me not to come any closer since I didn't have a gun and he didn't want me to spook them... I don't see anything unethical about all this."

Good example. Without the radio, you would have continued on and maybe spooked the bull out. With the radio, you held back as told and the bull was killed. There is a advantage against the animal there, most of what's being said here.

Again, i do think radios have their place but they do come with a cost, fewer live animals afield for more successful hunters.

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"

 

[Elkduds]

LAST EDITED ON Feb-12-16 AT 10:16AM (MST)[p]Sage, good point. How would you know when you cross the fair-chase line of electronically assisting in guiding a hunter to game, if you were just having a radio conversation? How much difference is there between "A bull just busted out in front of me," and "a bull I busted is crossing the slide above you?"

All ethics are personal. So if you take a shot because your pals w radios can find your animal, that you wouldn't have taken without radio contact, is that getting an unsporting advantage from radios? To me it is.

I was on an RFW hunt where the guides were in constant communication via radio, sending vehicles and hunters toward spotted game. It was like a military operation, and I found it unsporting, disgusting.


Here is the CO rule:

21. For two or more people on the ground, in a
vehicle or vessel to use electronic devices to
communicate information that violates any
wildlife law or regulation.

Which is open to wide interpretation by CPW enforcement officers.

Radios/phones/text for lost hunters, broken vehicles, meeting for lunch, football scores? Those have no impact on pursuing game, and more power to them. But it gets really easy to cross the line and violate fair chase ethics.

 

[BOHNTR]

Honestly, I believe most people know when they're using a radio to aid in taking an animal. If you gained information about a critter that you otherwise wouldn't have acquired without the use of a radio, then it's most likely a violation of the rules of fair chase......and illegal in SOME states.

I can see where they are useful in checking in with a partner to make sure you don't have anything down or you're okay......other than that, I'm too busy hunting or glassing to be yapping on a radio.

BOHNTR )))---------->

 

[Largebull]

With all the technology products now days everything is cheating compared to 30 years ago. Rangefinders, long range scopes,trailcams ,even quads weren't used 30 years ago. Everybody hiked or the road hunter has been around for ever. Everybody uses one or the other to help them out. I'm not an Archer any more cause shoulder surgery but look at how advanced bows are from 30 years ago .We can all ##### about something ,but we are all using something to help us out and make things easier.As We get older I will use what ever helps me. Personally I use 15's to glass, radios and quads to a extent. Hike as much as I can at 59. Never used bait or cameras ,so I'm only half cheating...........BULL!