"What's happened to Fair Chase Hunting"

[dustinf]

Everyone has the right to hunt their own hunt.

As long as it's legal, there is no right or wrong. No hunter has the right judge another hunter for how they enjoy hunting.

The common goal is protecting our right to hunt, not measuring wieners, or testing IQ's.

 

[sneakem]

Funny thing is the anti's are very organized and have a common goal... hunters are too busy calling one another douche bags every 5 minutes to focus on the greater goal....

 

[The Hedgehog]

Put on your loin cloth and moccasins, grab a self bow and be sure to "act" just like Mr. St. Charles perceives will make hunting more palatable to the non-hunters.

I quit the P&Y club years ago.

 

[bcolglazier03]

These are the kind of thoughts and positive understanding that will help reshape our beloved lifestyle, activity, sport, or whatever else fits you to label hunting as, even if its just simply "hunting."

Wow. While I like the spirit of Glenn St. Charles note, I think it contributes to the very problem we have today as hunters (and some of his points are just way off base). We spend as much, if not mroe, time bickering amongst ourselves around what makes a true hunter or true hunting experience as we do advancing our platform as the sporting public. I think everyone hunts for a different reason, and while they are usually not that dissimilar, they aren't all the same.

First off, while yes equipment has improved, to insinuate that advances in bow technology are so great that they have now put the bowhunter on par with the average rifle hunter is just absurd. It makes it sound like it's not true bowhunting if you aren't sneaking up and killing your animal within 10 yards. I think it's presumptuous to say that the equipment one uses or the distance that one shoots game at is what makes a true hunting experience.

I also don't understand the comment around treestand hunting or hunting over bait. I hunt in some thick, nasty, steep country for bears in Idaho. It would be near impossible to quietly sneak up on a bear in that country and get a shot off, especially with a bow. Having just shot a bear over bait out of a treestand I can tell you it was one of the most exciting hunting experiences I've ever had. I don't like treestands. It's my least favorite way to hunt. But that hunt satisfied me in ways I want every hunt to.

I don't hunt primarily for meat or to kill an animal (if I did, I would have quit long ago because I'd be terrible if that was the yardstick I measured my hunting experience by). I hunt for the camp experience, the nostalgia, the feeling that I'm continuing on a tradition that began thousands and thousands of years ago, that incredible feeling of finding yourself in a wild place and thinking that someone else did this well before me and found the same fulfillment in sitting around a campfire with good company and thoughts of encounters with wild animals in wild places. I hunt for that hope that I'll get a chance to take part in this ancient ritual of man killing beast -- but there's so much more to that ritual than just the killing. It's about outsmarting an animals who's senses are far superior than anything you have. It's about that heartbeat that comes when animal is in range and you are ready to pull the trigger.

That happens whether you are hunting with a rifle or a bow, whether it's at 10 yards or 1000. Sure, some of the elements are different from hunt to hunt or hunting style to hunting style, but most of them are there and are so similar under any condition. Stop bickering and saying my hunting experience is truer than yours or you aren't a true hunter. Instead, join organizations like RMEF, Ducks Unlimited, P&Y, B&C and contribute more towards the American Conservation Model with your time and money. Let people know that hunters contribute more to wildlife habitat and conservation than any of these anti-hunters do. Let them know you're proud to be a hunter and all that you DO for wild animals and wild places.

 

[bcolglazier03]

What the hell does the location and the style of a person's house have to do with them being a fair chase hunter, or, even understanding being a "TRUE HUNTER"?

I live in a Trailer Park, and I am more of a "true hunter" than some guy who goes around randomly killing sharks just to satisfy some sort of bloodlust.

Maybe you just started out on a wrong foot, but you seem kinda preachy....

I'm not sure, but i think i've misworded my terminoligy- What i meant by "...people that live in box style neighborhoods who never experience the outdoors" was the non-hunters who in Mr. Charles writing were portrayed as only knowing of hunting through TV shows. ( even though their neighbor may be a lifetime outstanding member of multiple conservation groups!) I'm not trying to create controversy, but instead push for comparing of ideas on change, so we ALL can enjoy our hunting rights in the future.

 

[Crosschecker]

The point that animal rights people and hunters compete for the non hunter vote is a good one.

For me the key concept the population seems to accept is that hunting is for food, it was that in the old days, its still that today. Giving up modern methods or saying we don't need this or that misses that point.

Hunting is to meat food as gardening is to vegetable food, a way to do it on your own and appreciate the satisfaction of that.

Lots of the public objects to taking pleasure in the sport of killing animals. We shouldn't emphasize the sport of it, we should emphasize the food we get from hunting and the personal satisfaction of getting that food through a lot of our own efforts. Much like gardening, but not vegetables, hunting is for meat.

That's the offense that I like.

I agree Tom. It's about food. It's about filling the freezer. Non-hunters need more exposure to people like this: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/07/02...wn-dinner-is-an-ethical-way-to-eat/?hpt=ea_r5

 

[bigeasygator]

I agree Tom. It's about food. It's about filling the freezer. Non-hunters need more exposure to people like this: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/07/02...wn-dinner-is-an-ethical-way-to-eat/?hpt=ea_r5

I don't disagree with the article or the benefits of filling your freezer with game that you've taken. But it is NOT why I hunt. There are likely much cheaper and easier ways to fill your freezer than hunting. Plus there are many animals that are hunted that aren't always eaten. I think we as a hunting community need a more well rounded response than it being about food for the table. There are tremendous personal benefits to hunting. And there even more benefits to wildlife and the habitat they call home. I've never measured the success I have hunting by how full my freezer gets and I'm not thinking about grilled blackstrap when I pack my bow and rifle. That's a side benefit in my opinion. I understand that many people rely much more on the meat they kill to sustain them. I'd also venture to say that that group makes up a small percentage of the hunting population.