I found a very interesting article about us.

[elkstalker300]

I didnt take offense to that article either, it did bring back a memory of this last fall elk hunting, my friends son had a cow tag and we were hunting a canyon that we can drive up. These locals were parked on the road and even tho they knew us when we asked what they were looking at they wouldnt tell us. We pulled up the road alittle and parked and was watching when a bunch of cows and a spike came out. I walked down and asked if they were going to shoot and they said HELL no thats way to far so I asked if they minded if my little buddy could take a shot and they said no they didnt mind. So I got him set up with rest and ranged the cows at 550 yards and with one shot he dropped a cow she was dead before she hit the ground. Now all the good old boys were watching and I guess they thought if that kid could do it so could they and they started blasting away and the rest of the elk just walked away with out a worry. They never even came close. I practice all year and know the guns capability and I knew he could make the shot or I wouldnt let him shoot. The good old boys take there rifles off the shelf the night before season blow the dust off and find bullets that could be 10 years old and say lets go. I see it year after year. But my little buddie sure was holding his head high and a smile from ear to ear when we walked back by those guys to put the rifle up and go retrive his elk. It was a priceless moment. I am sure they were telling all their friends how lucky that kid was but really it just takes practice and the right tools, BTW he now holds the record for the longest kill with my 300 RUM. Who was the hunter and who was the shooters on that day?

 

[diderr]

...........These locals were parked on the road and even tho they knew us when we asked what they were looking at they wouldnt tell us...........

The dreaded road hunters. I have had bad experience with these folk. Were I have hunted for the past 3 years the land is full of them. We talked to one, and he said he wouldn't shoot anything if it was more than 50 yards from the road. When I was walking the draws, I would get followed by road hunters on the road adjacent to the big draw. This p***ed me off, I had to do all the work, and if I jumped something they would often get a shot at it. One year after just shooting a doe, I turned around to see 5 hicks in the back of a truck blaring country music driving down the middle of the draw with a gun in there hand and a cig in there mouth. This is clearly not legal.

 

[longrangefreek]

I am new to the forum but have been shooting longrange for about 3 years. The article being discussed in my opinion was not that negative. At first I was a little upset but the more I thought about it the more I realized, that is what makes this country so great. I know that there are some people out there in our sport that have done it all. It is those shooters that scare me. They do not practice and think that because they have the gun capable of the range that they are longrange hunters. If we as longrange hunters get upset over every negative comment about our sport,what does that say about us as a group. I believe in longrange shooting, I believe in short range shooting. it all takes tons of practice. There is always going to be someone in this world that will make our sport of hunting look bad by his or hers actions. Lets step up and show people that our sport is good by how we act and how we react.
Hats off to the author of the artical in discussion. the issue is being discussed afterall.

 

[crittergitter]

The bottom line is that we do what we do to enjoy ourselves, to eat, or both. This "Techno Weenie" has learned to predict feeding and travel areas (hunt), approach undetected (long way off down wind), choose the appropriate target for the situation, and gun)dispatch it under most circumstances. Who cares if it is hunting or shooting, this is our sport. Everyone here is subjected to different senarios that define his or her critter killing experiences. I'm far too busy to put the time into hunting that I would like. When I get an opportunity to bug out, I go kill a deer and come home.

Life's short so hunt efficiently, shoot accurately, butcher quickly, and tell ego boosting stories at work.

Another thought; anyone who locates and takes game in a legal fashion is a hunter. At some point, every hunter has to be a shooter unless he or she hunts with a knife or other non-projectile oriented weapon. Whether the hunted creature is 10 feet away or 1k yards away the hunter has to become a shooter to deliver a lethal wound to the game.

 

[NYLES]

Hmmmm?? Sounded to me more like a way to fill 3 pages, he also compared avg joe to a tech winnie as he stated that tech winnie's supports our sport more than avg joe...but at the same time avg joe is hunting....sounded more like stompin around in the woods "HOPING" for a shot....tech winnie might as well go sit at the range and have one released at a range findable distance and just shoot him.

Well I ll give you my definition of a HUNTER, "ONE WHO MAKES A SHOT (shot=the delivery of a projectile to a desired point) HAPPEN (happen=know where and how to find his game and executes a clean and humane kill or flipps the safety back on and lets his game go but enjoyed that as much as pullin the trigger)" be it with a bow a M/L a rifle a shotgun or TECHED out long range rifle if need be....be it from a tree, a ground blind, way up on the side of a hill, the edge of a field, big timber, lil timber....Wherever he knows his game will be!

I guess Im a avg joe tech winnie!

Anyone in here hop in the truck to get further away from his game before he shoots? I dont think so! will we turn down our game because "well that big buck just was to close for me, Im a LRH!" Nope!
Do we as LRH pactice, learn more and more and want to learn even more ways to take our game, insure when that 1000 yard shot becomes available we 100% prepared to take our game? Darn right!

Will I go pull out my M/L for the rest of the season? bet ya butt! all thats legal.

All turns back into what we are "HUNTERS"! yea, we all have our favorite ways to hunt but not always available....only one big game in the South whitetails...kinda limiting!

I look at it like this Im a hunter my goal be outside enjoy the outdoors have hunting buddies (someone with my same interests) and GO KILL A DEER!

Interesting thing everyone in these sports ends their title in "HUNTER"....a few examples here.... bow, blackpowder, rifle, shotgun, bird, deer, elk, squirrel, hog, turkey, pistol, long range, tree, dog, stalk, antelope, sheep.....all titles end in HUNTER!

Ok! I got a lil off the subject, far as the article pointless finger pointing among who? HUNTERS!

 

[52449]

Nyles, nicely put.

 

[Rymart]

Amen to what GG said.

I find it mildly offensive to referred to as a 'shooter' verses a hunter based simply on the equipment, preperation, and ranges at which shots are taken. I consider myself to be no less of a hunter, and in some cases to be more of hunter than 'average joe' because of the extra time, effort, and work that I put into ensuring not only that a shot is available to me, but that I can ethically execute the shot when the time comes to do so. The deer at 60 yards away from the tree stand is just as unaware that it is going to be shot as the deer 1000 yards away on the opposite ridge. I think the ultimate goal of a good big game hunter is that the animal is taken legally and ethically and that in either case it didn't see it coming - thats a clean kill, period.

On a side note, you cannot just set up on any given random hillside with your long range equipment and expect a quality animal (or any animal) to show up. Trust me, I've tried that. Obviously there is a lot of scouting, knowledge, patience, and preparation involved, and that IS the essence of hunting, every bit as much as randomly walking through the woods and hoping to jump an animal and knock it down with the trusty 30-30 before it runs away.

 

[Bobcat]

.........now that video is a hoot!

 

[silvertip-co]

Others hate us. Face it. But I really dont care. As far as I am concerned they can go to h.ll along with the Klintons and Brittany. This is a great site with great people posting great fotos and long range hunts and technical 'stuff'. In fact of the 5 sites I vist daily I come here first, always.

As an example I posted a link to goodgroupers 946yrd elk kill on one of my other two favorite hunting site forums. I have actually met many of my efriends from this one particular site and attended elk camp with many of them on more than one occasion. Some of them call me irregularly to talk hunting on the fone.

Nevertheless they were "highly" offended that I would post what I thought was totally amazing hunting effort on goodgroupers part. Given that most of the good guys there are anally retentive bowhunters, bowhunting isnt the only topic of discussion on that particular Christian board. I almost got booted from that site for simply expanding the topic of discussion while staying away from the kids...colds...cookies...praise the lord types of post. In fact when I posted the link to the 946 kill I specifically said that I was only trying to show what I thought was an amazing effort without soliciting comments or fomenting discussion and dissent. These guys went ballistic and the negativity about us LRH guys continued for 5 pages of unChristian posts. They just believe we are NOT hunters.

So, LOL, I wont do THAT again. I keep my LRH interest here and dont invite others who have not first expressed an interest in LRH to me. That should help us out as a group and allow some reasonable expansion of Len's fine site without attracting disinterested pot stirrers, PETA peeple, and lonely women lookin for a man(ie: Huntingnet.com).

Keep up the great interesting stuff guys. I love this place.

 

[diderr]

Others hate us. Face it. But I really dont care. As far as I am concerned they can go to h.ll along with the Klintons and Brittany. This is a great site with great people posting great fotos and long range hunts and technical 'stuff'. In fact of the 5 sites I vist daily I come here first, always.

As an example I posted a link to goodgroupers 946yrd elk kill on one of my other two favorite hunting site forums. I have actually met many of my efriends from this one particular site and attended elk camp with many of them on more than one occasion. Some of them call me irregularly to talk hunting on the fone.

Nevertheless they were "highly" offended that I would post what I thought was totally amazing hunting effort on goodgroupers part. Given that most of the good guys there are anally retentive bowhunters, bowhunting isnt the only topic of discussion on that particular Christian board. I almost got booted from that site for simply expanding the topic of discussion while staying away from the kids...colds...cookies...praise the lord types of post. In fact when I posted the link to the 946 kill I specifically said that I was only trying to show what I thought was an amazing effort without soliciting comments or fomenting discussion and dissent. These guys went ballistic and the negativity about us long range hunting guys continued for 5 pages of unChristian posts. They just believe we are NOT hunters.

So, LOL, I wont do THAT again. I keep my long range hunting interest here and dont invite others who have not first expressed an interest in long range hunting to me. That should help us out as a group and allow some reasonable expansion of Len's fine site without attracting disinterested pot stirrers, PETA peeple, and lonely women lookin for a man(ie: Huntingnet.com).

Keep up the great interesting stuff guys. I love this place.

+1, well put.

 

[Pdvdh]

While reading the article I was initially offended to find the author describe my methods of hunting as 'shooting', and not 'hunting'. I initially disagreed and still disagree with that characterization.

But by the time I finished the article, I concluded that the author is not anti-long rang hunting. I think his definitions of hunting and shooting have simply been refined in his mind to mean something different to him than what they mean to me, or most other long range hunters.

All firearm and archery hunting requires shooting, and I can't bring myself to separate the two with any refinement of definitions of 'hunting' versus 'shooting' while hunting.

When I set up for long range hunting, I still use the author's 'hunting' skills to select locations, times, and methods that increase the opportunities for killing the prey I'm hunting. Wind direction, the habits of the prey, and other 'hunting' skills are actively employed to maximize the opportunity for a shot. Where I differ with the author is that if I hunt effectively and efficiently, I'm then more likely to reach the 'shooting' stage of 'hunting'. Shooting is what successful hunting leads to and is innate to the hunt... In my mind, 'shooting' while hunting is 'hunting'.

This author attempts to separate 'shooting' at prey from 'hunting' and I just disagree with this use and characterization of the two terms.

 

[Jimm]

I thought it was a mild and well written article. I was not insulted by "his" definition of "hunting". He writes about enjoying the same technical aspects of longer-than-average shots on big game.

Sometimes I think our fraternity is a little too sensitive about someone else's definitions.

Yup !