V-MAX: In a sense, you're making my point for me. You have developed a particular level of skill that is nowhere near universal. That is something that none of us old-timers and quasi-experts here can ever forget: We can't let newbies believe that there is little effort needed to achieve these skill levels.
I started out in the cedar brakes of the central Texas hills. After the Army, I ratted around in a good bit of Florida swamp. Now, I play on a couple of hundred thousand acres of desert. After 60 years of shooting and 50 years of reloading and deer-hunting, there is a lot of stuff that's easy for me. Heck, it's SUPPOSED to be easy for me, after that many years!
My first deer was a very patient doe who waited for me to blast the white spot with a .222, from maybe 25 yards. Today, I'd call that easy pistol distance.
Nowadays I walk and hunt. These mule deer will commonly dress out 150 and more. I have seen them take a solid hit from an '06, 100 yards, and look rather insulted. And when you jump one from his bedroom, he's in fifth-gear overdrive and full throttle. Pistols? .22s? Even a .243 is marginal, unless you can hit the neck of a running deer at 75 to 150 yards.
Sport hunting: My definition is really simple. If you have enough income to buy food from the store, the fact that you're a natural food freak and prefer deer and quail and such doesn't matter. You're a sport hunter , just by definition. Deer, javelina, quail, dove, mountain lion--best food there is! I love 'em! But I'm still a sport hunter; I don't have any dire physical need for food from the hunt, not when I've got cash and the Safeway is open.
So what makes homo sap superior to animals? The very concept of morals and ethics when dealing with animals. They don't have rights, but I have responsibilities. I owe it to Bambi that it be a clean kill. Just as I owe it to my cows that the pasture isn't over-grazed and any injuries are treated.
So that's sorta where I'm coming from in my comments in this Forum. I'll never let up on morals and ethics--but I never ask others to do more than I do. Seems fair to me.
Some folks have called me a Right-Wing Hippie, which ain't all that far off; others, a grumpy Libertarian. Well, I wouldn't call Jesse Helms a Communist, but he's purty danged liberal...
Enjoy that deer meat. I got a few recipes of my own.
, Art