Great discussion.

Rick Richard said:
Age has nothing to do with it, but experience does. AND with that kill count I believe you have a few gray or grey hairs…hence experience.
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My dad has big game hunted most of his life. Kind of got out of it when me and my brother were teenagers and we started travelling around chasing waterfowl together. I hunted more in 1 year than he did in 15 years. My first year big game hunting, between scouting and hunting, I was in the mountains over 140 days. Almost lost my job 🤣🤣. I am very compulsive, clearly. I still try to maintain over 100 days annually.

One of my favorite pictures. We killed these buck on CA public land, 30 years apart almost to the day. Pretty cool!
IMG_9628.jpeg


And once I started big game hunting, he got the drive to do it again also and we've since done several hunts together and they are my most cherished!!
IMG_0122.jpeg
 
If I have a bad experience in the field, it won't be because of the cartridge or bullet I don't think.
Maybe because i didn't make the shot, but not because i put myself on a tightrope with poor choices ahead of time. To each their own…. I grew up up with a 25/06 in my hands and it did the work of 22/250 through 270win.
Life was simpler with one gun!
 
I don't hunt western animals so I guess I'm out but I killed my first whitetail 49 years ago and have been hunting them ever since. Hunted hogs a long time also with recurves and longbows. I guess my biggest game and by far the toughest is alligator.
I've been a certified shotgun/sporting clays instructor for 15 years and do a few rifle and pistol intro courses as well. Suffice it to say a lot of folks just plain don't shoot well and don't have a clue how to shoot well.
I've never listened to a podcast in my life but I know a few guys that do them. That's probably why I don't listen to them.
 
Huntnful said:
Fair enough.

I shared my personal experience. 40 animals in the mountains of the west in 6 years. I don't feel like it's a lot, but it isn't a little either. How about you? How many western big game animals have you killed?
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I am 50+
I have never hunted west of Nebraska.
I have shot 0 animals in the mountains
I have shot a "few" more big game animals in my life than you… :)

But that's the biggest difference between your Generation and mine…
everything is a stat to your Generation, and that pathway of clicks, likes and Followers leads you away from the true joy of hunting…being in the outdoors, NOT Social Media Followers turned into monetization

IN MY OPINION, your Generation is basing "street cred"/"hunting cred" on stats, likes, and Followers on Social media.

And no, I would never used a 6.5 on an Elk…that animal deserves better than that!
The smallest/lowest power cartridge I have ever shot a deer with is a .358 Win, and then a 12 gauge slug.
The 300 Win mag, and RUM flatten deer…an elk deserves the same quick death.

When MN had a Moose season, you would have been laughed at, and/or yelled at for using a 6.5 on something that big.
I have several family members who have hunted elk probably longer than you have been alive…and for them it was always a 300 Win Mag…until the 300 RUM came out in '99.

IN MY OPINION, online "hunters" are using small caliber weapons to harvest larger animals to try to prove they are a better hunter than the next guy using a larger caliber weapon….

Clicks are Followers…and Followers is money…
 
^^^^^ To each their own . I have not shot a lot of big game myself . Every buck I've shot whether with bow or rifle is hanging on my living room walls . The elk and muley were the only gun kills . The other 3 from bow . Hunted for a long time . Hunting is not killing and killing isn't always hunting . Didn't shoot first deer (muley ) 34 years old in 2004 . You can do the math if you want . Every hunt is a cherished memory as are the kills . This is my only social media . I watch old music on u tube . Never had an animal harvest posted on that Fakebook thingy . Sometimes putting a kid through college and 32 years of marriage get in the way . That all being said I love to shoot and terminal performance aside I have holed up some serious paper . Lots of it with my 5 different 22 cal BB guns as we like to call them ! Shoot straight but by god definitely shoot ! As much as you can , and take some one with ya .
 
Turpentine21 said:
I don't hunt western animals so I guess I'm out but I killed my first whitetail 49 years ago and have been hunting them ever since. Hunted hogs a long time also with recurves and longbows. I guess my biggest game and by far the toughest is alligator.
I've been a certified shotgun/sporting clays instructor for 15 years and do a few rifle and pistol intro courses as well. Suffice it to say a lot of folks just plain don't shoot well and don't have a clue how to shoot well.
I've never listened to a podcast in my life but I know a few guys that do them. That's probably why I don't listen to them.
Click to expand...
You're definitely not out! I enjoy all perspectives! But a lot of the discussion was based around elk when things got a little squirly on here.

Appreciate your perspective! And I was a competition shotgun shooter as well. Won state trap with 200/200 when I was 16 years old and won several sporting clay tournaments and skeet shoots when I got bored with trap. That shotgun world is something special in its own. They make the most expensive custom rifles seem like child's play haha. I enjoyed it a lot.

Earnhardt said:
I am 50+
I have never hunted west of Nebraska.
I have shot 0 animals in the mountains
I have shot a "few" more big game animals in my life than you… :)

But that's the biggest difference between your Generation and mine…
everything is a stat to your Generation, and that pathway of clicks, likes and Followers leads you away from the true joy of hunting…being in the outdoors, NOT Social Media Followers turned into monetization

IN MY OPINION, your Generation is basing "street cred"/"hunting cred" on stats, likes, and Followers on Social media.

And no, I would never used a 6.5 on an Elk…that animal deserves better than that!
The smallest/lowest power cartridge I have ever shot a deer with is a .358 Win, and then a 12 gauge slug.
The 300 Win mag, and RUM flatten deer…an elk deserves the same quick death.

When MN had a Moose season, you would have been laughed at, and/or yelled at for using a 6.5 on something that big.
I have several family members who have hunted elk probably longer than you have been alive…and for them it was always a 300 Win Mag…until the 300 RUM came out in '99.

IN MY OPINION, online "hunters" are using small caliber weapons to harvest larger animals to try to prove they are a better hunter than the next guy using a larger caliber weapon….

Clicks are Followers…and Followers is money…
Click to expand...
Thank you for your input and view points
 
Huntnful said:
You're definitely not out! I enjoy all perspectives! But a lot of the discussion was based around elk when things got a little squirly on here.

Appreciate your perspective! And I was a competition shotgun shooter as well. Won state trap with 200/200 when I was 16 years old and won several sporting clay tournaments and skeet shoots when I got bored with trap. That shotgun world is something special in its own. They make the most expensive custom rifles seem like child's play haha. I enjoyed it a lot.


Thank you for your input and view points
Click to expand...
Thank you. My number on white tails is 800+ and around 200 hogs. Most of the hogs were recurve and longbow kills and shot with 600+ grain arrows and 4 blade Zwickey Eskimos. They penetrate well, make a nice hole, and leave good blood trails most of the time.
I've always thought if I hunted out west I would really like the 300 win mag. I don't do brakes because the muzzle blast gives me concussion symptoms. Even with muffs over plugs. Too many concussions in my football days. However I did zero a 300 mag the other day for a customer that had a Gentry brake. It was actually very pleasant to shoot. A suppressor would likely suit my needs better but I hate the extra length they add.
The competitive shotgun world is certainly a different animal. I do fitting and some gunsmith work also but I really enjoy teaching. You certainly can run into some challenges there but you get to meet a lot of good folks.
 
Korhil78 said:
This whole thread has made me sad. It made me realize that I've killed more elk with a bow than a rifle. I miss rifle hunts. It's just so much easier to draw the archery tag. I'm 6 out of 8 for archery and 2 for 2 with rifle. I need some more rifle hunts!
Click to expand...
I have only killed 2 genuinely big bulls. Both lab aged at 9 years old. And they were both with a bow hahaha. All my rifle bulls are rag horns, 5x5's and one 266" 6 point.
 
Huntnful said:
I have only killed 2 genuinely big bulls. Both lab aged at 9 years old. And they were both with a bow hahaha. All my rifle bulls are rag horns, 5x5's and one 266" 6 point.
Click to expand...
I love to shoot long. But bow hunting up close gets my heart revved up more than a rifle ever could. Unless we consider dangerous game charging.
 

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