Harvesting versus Hunting

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I'm sorry guys,,,
I just can't call that hunting,,,
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You probably "hunt" with a gun of some sort, don't you? And you call yourself a hunter?

Back in the 1960s, Louis Leakey sought to prove that the crude tools of Homo habilis could be used for hunting, contrary to the thinking of many of the paleoanthropologists of the time. So Leakey knapped a couple of replicated tools from H. habilis' time period and ran down a small artiodactyl and killed and butchered it with the tools.

Leakey was a hunter.
 
I bet if we asked hunters from history which they would prefer, I'm thinking they would love the advances in equipment and the warmth of a fully customized deer blind. The same with vehicles, homes etc. I mean who do you know that would really turn down heating and cooling, or a guaranteed hunt, knowing that there would be food to eat. That being said, I do miss the old days and old ways. Course, one of those hunters from 200 years ago would probably not call it real hunting even if they would have seen us 30 years ago.:confused:
 
...and its only real fishing if you use a cane pole and natural bait.

PS: Don't forget your overhauls, straw hat and corn cob pipe.
 
Harking back a few posts, I agree that the bragging about the hunting prowess is what brings on the attitude. I guess I'm lucky: I learned years ago to tune out that sort of mouth music. I just ignore it.

Me, I'd call it harvesting, rather than hunting. I've done it both ways; I just didn't fool myself about what I was doing. No big deal, and, really, I don't guess I've ever bothered to yak about what I did other than as a story from some particular hunt.

Usually, one where I messed up. :D
 
Higher Tech

I suppose some savy person could rig a camera and remotely controlled firearm in the woods. The camera would alert a person to the deer. Then the gun could be aimed and shot from a distant location.

If this was done, would it still be considered hunting? In other words, at which point does the term "hunt" cease to be applicable?
 
Hello Roy Reali,,,

I suppose some savy person could rig a camera and remotely controlled firearm in the woods.
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Actually, this was done for a very short period of time,,,
I believe it was Texas who first made legislation to ban the practice.

Other states followed suit very quickly,,,
It was a commercial outfit who was marketing the service.

.
 
aarondhgraham said:
I'm sorry guys,,,
I just can't call that hunting,,,
But that's just me so your mileage may vary.
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You just answered your own question.
To you it's harvesting. To him it's hunting.

At least he is buying a license and being counted as a hunter, we all need more of that, no matter how you define the sport.
 
I wouldnt consider your nephew a hunter in any sort of way. I have a major thing against hunting from blinds or stands and sitting on your butt WAITING for an animal to walk by.

I think cameras and baiting should be illeagal everywhere in the country.

The definition of hunting is going out and persuing or chasing game. Sitting and waiting takes no skill. It does take patience, and I dont have that.

If you were to take away his toys and make him still hunt thru the woods, it would be a different story.

I DO realize that there are places where the only way to hunt is from a stand. Lucky for me, I dont live in one of those areas, cause I would rather give up hunting than hunt like that.

Its all about opinions. This is only MY opinion, as everyone elses answers are THEIR opinions. Its basically the same debate as the long range shooting. Some are against it and some aint.

Same as people using compound bows and calling themselves purists.

Also the same debate as people shooting small bucks for meat instead of shooting a doe. They say "I dont care about horns, I just want the meat." Thats a lie. They see many does before shooting a forky buck.Let the little buck grow up for crying out loud. In a couple years he'll be bigger.

Sorry. I'm going to quit ranting there. If he thinks he's a hunter, bring him out here to the mountains and we'll see what he's made of.
 
hunting vs harvesting?

let's take a look at the natural kingdom...

are ambush predators any less hunters than stalk predators?

bush vipers and all sorts of other snakes, crocodiles, spiders, are they less hunters than say sharks or road runners, or storks?

The OP's post sounds more like a problem with the relative than does with the hunting. Now I know our other earthly predators don't use high powered rifles nor game cameras, but they do use things we don't have and the method of hunting (ambush) is no less hunting than other forms.

Try hunting deer in flat West Texas via spot and stalk method. Different methods fare better in different areas of the country. Don't knock others methods, we're all brothers here. Be open minded, get real. Do you seriously think ancient man never used the method of ambush to bring food to the table. Do you think he never sat in a tree to get his scent off the ground so that he could put an arrow spear through a piece of food? Seriously, do you think he never baited an area to bag a larger animal? Set traps, used nets, it's all hunting my friends.
 
I can pull the truck on the edge of one of my fields, roll the window down and kill a deer or a stack of them. Every day. I can go set on a stump overlooking the river bottom and kill a deer or a stack of them. Every day. I can go jump them out of the cutovers and shoot them with buckshot like rabbits. The last day I hunted last year I had sixteen deer within 100 yards of me at one point or another still hunting at 3:00 in the afternoon, got bored and went home.

So, I guess I am a great hunter and a guy that goes out sets up a stand, puts out some corn hoping to see maybe one deer is not.
 
Are you being overly harsh? Definitely yes. I would even go farther than that.

First, he is hunting. Pursuing game with the intent of killing it is hunting by definition. Even pouching is hunting. How one chooses to hunt is entirely a choice a hunter makes within himself. Who are you to say that your preferred method is any better than his? At what point do we draw the line? Do compound bows and guns give us an unfair advantage? Some hunters that chose primitive weapons and front stuffers will argue yes. Are they wrong for looking down on gun hunters? Dang right they are. Just as you are wrong for looking down on your nephew. You don't like that method don't hunt that way. Real simple isn't it?

LK
 
There are whole bunch of things, and people's attitudes toward them, getting mixed up in this thread.

Skill... of which it takes more to do something the hard way. It's easy for those with more skill at tracking, marksmanship, and so on to look down on those who are less skilled and who opt to hunt in ways that give them a better chance of success, given their skill level. (I drive a stick shift, but does that mean that those who don't aren't "driving?" I don't think so. Do I feel a bit superior? Of course. :o)

Time... Not everyone has the time to be a purist. So if they use more modern technology, as a way to accomplish the goal faster, does that make them lesser hunters, or not hunters at all?

Sport vs. subsistence... One can make a case, I think, that the whole notion that hunting is a sport was developed by (wealthy) people who didn't have to hunt in order to eat, as a way to avoid the perception that they were just killing for fun. If you're hunting in order to feed your family, it's not a sport: you want to be as efficient as possible, while spending as little money as possible in the process. So on one hand, you won't think twice about things like baiting or hunting stream crossings; on the other, you're not likely to be spending your money on gadgetry.

Making a hunt harder than it needs to be is just as much a luxury as paying a large sum of money to hunt trophy animals on a fenced ranch. So the loincloth-and-stone knife crowd, in this day and age, is being pretty self-indulgent, IMO.

Purpose... if you're a subsistence hunter, then filling your tag is the main goal. For many who hunt for sport, the process is just as important as the result. For some, that means they value the time spent scouting and tracking at least as much as they value the actual kill. For others, the process is more one of, well, consumerism: having the latest and fanciest gear, the "best" rifle, etc. (OK, I admit... I'd rather be out in woods than hanging out in Cabela's, so, yeah, I look down on those folks a bit -- but they're spending money and helping the economy, at least.)

I have no problem calling a given method "hunting" if the animal being hunted has a reasonable chance of getting away; that said, I certainly find some approaches more attractive than others...

But bragging is repulsive no matter who's doing it, and I think most of us are sceptical about the actual skill of a braggart.
 
Safety First

My family and I sit and watch a big pasture on some conservation land in north Missouri, as this is the only place we can hunt.. I'm also an old school squirrel-hunter with a lot of stalk -time in the deer woods, but for now, until my youngest is safely hunting by himself,(he's 11 yrs old and has hunted deer for 3 yrs now), I'm going to opt for the group stand we take on every year. There is five of us. My oldest is 25, my #2 son is 22, my daughter is 17,( she get's soooo excited), and like I said my youngest at 11. My oldest two sons like to do their own thing for the most part, and I just like to see the excitement in their eyes. We kill deer. plain and simple we always have a successful season and we can't wait til next year. That to me is the best....:cool:
 
I haven't stalked game for about 20 years. Given how fat and clumsy I've gotten since then I doubt I'd do a good job of it.

Where I hunt now, in orchards and farms East of the mountains, I could sneak up on the deer. But when the land owner tells me where and at what time to find the deer it doesn't make much sense.

I don't claim to be Natty Bumppo. But I still think I deserve the title of hunter.

There are always going to be people who hunt in a "purer" way than you do and there are always going to be people who hunt in a more comfortable way than you.
As it is any house cat will always be a better hunter than you are. There are also always going to be people who shoot game tied to stakes, at point blank range.
 
Well, by some definitions here, I am not a real hunter, but I am a hog sniper. That just sounds cooler anyway. That makes me a special type of non-hunter where I predict where the hogs will be and then I get all duded up in various forms of camoflage and stalk in quietly to a location where I predict the hogs are likely to venture. I set up in a place that is likely to give me the field of view needed to make my shot and then I remain perfectly still for hours at a time. I am there day or night, rain or shine, cold or hot. Is the mystique overwhelming you yet? :rolleyes:
 
There's deer HUNTING and then there's deer WAITING. If you use cameras, food plots, tree stands and do nothing more than wait for your target to appear, that is not hunting, IMO. I would like to see some of these folks hunt out West where scouting for months ahead of time, stalking your game, hiking up and down mountains and ravines miles from your truck or quad makes you appreciate the time when you do fill your TAG (as in one, not a raffle ticket book full of them)...........
 
Vanya said:
But bragging is repulsive no matter who's doing it, and I think most of us are sceptical about the actual skill of a braggart.
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That was a good post Vanya, I say you hit the nail on the head.

While we haven't heard from the OP's nephew and can't judge for ourselves if his demeanor is braggadocious or not. I can however tell by reading the posts of the purists in this thread; that many of them seem quite smug and condescending about their alleged hunting prowess.
 
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