This is what's wrong with hunting.

ida homer

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Boise, Idaho

"Hit a couple bulls in South Central Idaho over the weekend, please shoot me a PM if you find em."

Sincerely, SageBrushTimberBuckDeadDownNapWindDirtProductions..... LLC
 
So, what would you other HT'ers have done differently?

For me:
10:26 would not have felt comfortable arrowing an animal so close to the boundary of private I did not have permission to enter it to recover the animal
10:49 no matter how good a first shot I had made, would have inched in and put a second arrow in the bull rather than wait to the next day
 
I probably wouldn't shoot that close to private I was unsure if I could access. I dont know if I would of tried to inch in. Most times they will stiffen up and not get back up, but tough to say not being there.
Another question for landowners out there what would you do when they asked permission. I think it's pretty crappy they said no. I would of said yes and helped them find it. What a waste of meat!! The animal deserves better.
 
Lots of bad decisions in that video. NOTHING to be proud of. Idaho should have nailed them for Wanton Waste. As a landowner that borders a state hunting area I’m torn. I don’t want to see an animal go to waste, but I also don’t want to reward some jackass for hunting a well marked property line where they should know there is a chance of not recovering an animal they shoot.
 
He did not "recover" the bull of his lifetime ... he merely took home some antlers and foolishly wasted hundreds of pounds of a great natural resource in Idaho.
To proudly display such poor hunter judgement in a video with bad sound, bad behavior, and bad ending is not a highlight of hunting pride.
This does depict an example of what's wrong with the widespread hunting culture.
 
So, what would you other HT'ers have done differently?

  • For starter's, the video cover is cringeworthy
  • At the end he thanks IDFG for helping him claim his largest bull yet :sick:
  • Wouldn't hunt borders with a bow.
  • How much of a fraud would you feel like looking at the mount? Because you know he bought a cape and had it shoulder mounted, I'd bet my retirement.
 
“A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact.”

When Leopold penned this, he had (I don't think) no idea there would come the mass of television hunting shows, then the even greater-accessible-to-the-masses internet forms of easily available images of hunters hunting, as well as doing all kinds of things many of us would not call "hunting".
The vast majority of us on this site have posted pics of our trophies (another interesting topic covered by Leopold for those interested in checking out, In "A Sand County Almanac", The Conservation Ethic portion).
We all have the capability to show a gallery our conduct, the whole world - hunters and non - can applaud or disapprove of our conduct. Critters that were living, breathing, and running around making a living just before we killed 'em are reduced to trophies. Whether we see it that way or not - the viewing masses see it the way they choose see it......
And video, whether it portrays ethical sportsman (very subjective) or "slob" (also subjective) takes it to the next level - it shows the world the actual behavior while reducing the critter to possession - or trophy.
Interesting stuff.
Especially us critiquing us, and the behavior that our own self appraisal brings out in us.............................
 
Watching other hunting videos makes me appreciate Newberg & crew all the more.

On season 6 of Fresh Tracks, Randy is hunting Nevada muleys with a bow right on a fence line separating private land from BLM. I think he ends up wounding a deer in that episode as well. The point I'm making is hunting sometimes (often) doesn't go as planned. It's easy to sit back and critique this video having not been there in that situation. I do feel like the guy tried his best to recover the animal after the whole thing went south, but I don't know all the details from this 15-minute video.
 
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Thanks for posting, TW. Pretty ridiculous hunting. Hitting a border with a bow is asking for trouble unless you are real careful, which these guys weren’t. I also hate how many YouTube punks just automatically decide to leave bulls overnight because they’re way more worried about the antlers than the meat. There are times when it’s necessary of course.
 
On season 6 of Fresh Tracks, Randy is hunting Nevada muleys with a bow right on a fence line separating private land from BLM. I think he ends up wounding a deer in that episode as well. The point I'm making is hunting sometimes (often) doesn't go as planned. It's easy to sit back and critique this video having not been there in that situation. I do feel like the guy tried his best to recover the animal after the whole thing went south, but I don't know all the details from this 15-minute video.

I'm not sure that fence on FT was on the private boundary. I'd have to go back and watch but I thought they were hunting that fence as a natural edge, not a private/public edge (I could be wrong).

Lots of people hunt private boundaries and risk not being able to recover animals. I try not to (at least not literally right on it) but it is part of hunting. However, if I was only able to recover antlers for any reason, I don't think I could display them.
 
On season 6 of Fresh Tracks, Randy is hunting Nevada muleys with a bow right on a fence line separating private land from BLM. I think he ends up wounding a deer in that episode as well.

I was more talking overall quality of the video. Shit happens when hunting, but I think they handled wounding an animal quite differently.
 
They guy talked about "just surviving the wilderness." Apparently his idea of wilderness and mine are much different.

At least he was able to collect his largest NR bow kill. IMO, getting antlers off a wasted animal should either be sawed into multiple pieces, or not given back at all. Why reward shitty shooting?
 
Especially us critiquing us, and the behavior that our own self appraisal brings out in us.............................

What's your opinion on criticism? Do you think it's best done in private or do you think public criticism is better for the image of hunting?

I feel like I can see both sides, curious what others think on what is best for public perception.
 
I was more talking overall quality of the video. Shit happens when hunting, but I think they handled wounding an animal quite differently.

A group of guys approached my FIL last year about hunting the boundary of his property. Essentially before the season they asked if he would allow them to recover a wounded animal if it jump the fence. He said if they would refrain from hunting during a specific weekend, when he wanted to hunt, that he would be totally fine with it. My FIL didn't want them jumping the fence and scaring the deer he was hunting off his property as they were dragging/looking for an animal.

They ended up shooting an animal right on the fence and it jumped over, my FIL gave them access and brought out his tractor and load the animal into their truck whole... which they were pretty excited about.

Obviously, this isn't always the case with these things but I think will a little thoughtful communication before the season you can resolve a lot of issues. I think "ask for forgiveness not permission" is total BS with regards to hunting and landowner relations.

To your point Randy and others I have seen have done a much better job in these situations.
 
Well that was special. This guy's either really dumb or courageous for posting his video of wounding one elk and wasting another for the world to see.
 
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