Riding an ATV to your stand

There is no one "right" way to hunt, and attempting to belittle others doesn't pump you up or elevate you in anyway, except maybe in your own eyes
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My, my - getting defensive.......or sanctimonious?

Some folks consider hunting to be "fair chase"

What I said about baiting out West is true, as is setting up at a waterhole, something here in the East is considered acceptable
There is no belittling, except in your own mind. When you sit in a tree over a food plot you planted and tended all year, that is not fair chase or hunting - you are waiting for the deer to come to you.
Just as shooting driven birds is not called hunting, it is called shooting - there being no element of fair chase
Sorry if that upsets your idea of hunting........:rolleyes:
 
For all of the folks out west that ridicule "deer waiting"...bring your arse to the densely vegetated east where many hunting clubs land will only offer a few long shots of 75 yds, with the rest being inside 40yds and "fair chase" or stalk yourself a bag limit of whitetails. You will quit hunting before filling your tags. This ain't "glass a thousand acres to find animals and then walk up to them for a shot" type hunting land.
 
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Sad...

...Seems as though every year about this time, there's at least one thread that deteriorates (and is eventually ruined) into a ' I don't agree with your style of hunting' thread .

Having had the pleasure of hunting in different parts of the country, helps to let me understand the different forms of hunting in the sparse 'flatlands' versus the thick hilly woodlands versus the croplands.

Ohio, being a 'no rifle' state for deer hunting, I hear people here bashing most hunters in other states for being able to use a rifle for deer hunting. Especially in the flatlands where average shots average 300-700 yds with some up to 1000. These same people don't feel this type of hunting is very sporting but rather just target practice since you don't have to get remotely close to the animal you're pursuing.

I usually just listen to their 'gossip of ignorance' and before long, it's clear they've not hunted to far from their own backyard and have no idea why there's a need to use a rifle out west or down south.

The 'rifle' thing is just one example. I've got in conversation with people condemning hunting over planted hunting plots only to find out they have no problem hunting over a soybean,corn or alfalfa fields...or a stand of oaks,beechs or hickory trees.:rolleyes:

Guess my whole point is that we shouldn't knock anothers style of hunting unless we've hunted in his/her part of the country. Of course as long as the style of hunting is legal. Some of the tactics I use in my neck of the woods, don't work out west or down south and some of the tactics used there, won't work here.
 
Does anyone here really think that the settlers of this nation worried with "huntin' ethics"? Did they hike a certain distance from the homestead before lookin' for deer?

I am guessing they did NOT! I am guessing they conserved their energy! Walked only as far as needed to put a fresh pile of protein source on the ground...

Brent
 
Deer react less to a 4wheeler than they would from a person walking thru the woods. Why is it you can sit on stand or sneak hunt all day and never see a deer, but go back to the truck to eat a sandwich and they walk right up to it? It's because deer generally don't associate vehicles with danger.

I know of a guy that feeds deer at the end of his property every evening using his 4wheeler. The sound of his 4wheeler is like a dinner bell to all the deer in the area. I generally always try to get on stand in the evening before the neighbor goes out to feed the deer. ;)
 
What have you done that requires any hunting skill or is sporting?
If you think that riding an ATV to the stand and then hiding in the stand and shooting deer is either hunting or requires any skill you do not know what hunting is about. I guess one might feel as if he did something like shooting a cow in a field.
Of course the meat tastes the same either way.

Jerry
 
I agree Jerry. To really be hunting all parts of the weapon used need to be made by the hunter as well as the clothes that he is wearing. Assistance from any outside influence definitely disqualifies it as hunting.
 
Yea, unless you're walking or riding a horse bareback to your hunting area wearing hunting clothes you made from the hides of previous successful hunts , stalking with a weapon you made by hand or climbing a tree and waiting in ambush(the Indians and cavemen did that too you know), you're really not hunting. Also if you field dress/process your deer with a knife you didn't hand-make, you're really not butchering the game either. Then you gotta cook it outside on the open fire you started by rubbing those danged sticks together... I just hate that part of the hunt. I always set my moccasins on fire.:o
 
It's a little comical that you would call somebody else sanctimonious.
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I think the irony of that is lost on our two hunting experts. Since we have the 2 foremost experts on correct hunting gracing our presence here on TFL, perhaps they would enlighten the rest of us as to what exactly constitutes "sporting" and "real hunting". For Example:

Is it acceptable to drive your vehicle to land where you are going to be hunting, or do you need to hike there from your house?

How far is the minimum distance you must "stalk" before it counts as real hunting. A mile, 2 miles?

How far away do you have to be for the shot to be sporting? What if you stalk real close, say within 20 or 30 yards. That is clearly too easy of a shot, must you let the animal walk farther away before shooting? What about taking a 300-400 yard shot? Clearly you are so far away that the animal has no opportunity to smell or see you, that can't be fair. Sure, it is a feat of marksmanship, but so is target shooting. Is that a sporting shot?

Is it acceptable to shoot an animal drinking from a pond or foraging, or is that not sporting because the animal was "baited" by the food source?

If you determine that game animals are passing through a specific area, is it acceptable to lay in wait in that area, or must you confront the animals in open country so they have every opportunity to run away?

So, JerryM and oneounceload, please share with the class your answers, and be sure to show your work.
 
Nonsensical arguments do not change the facts that driving an ATV to a stand and then hunting from that stand is neither hunting nor sporting. It is just shooting something.
But I have been convinced for years that few today know anything about hunting. Notice I said few not none.

Do you not desire to find where the game is using and what their patterns are, and stalk the game in its territory and terrain? I guess not. Accordingly, one who does not do that will never know the pleasure of hunting.
Have at it and make sure you brag about your skill and success.

Jerry
 
Shockingly, JerryM failed to answer the questions. Hmmm, it must be easier to criticize others methods than actually put your answers to the simple questions out there for others to judge. Yes, some of the questions were tongue in cheek, but the others were intended to determine where you, the self-professed arbiter of what is proper hunting, draw the line at what is sporting and what is not. I guess you decided not to enlighten us, or maybe you were too busy yelling at those kids to stay off your lawn.
 
Simply put, get off your 'high-horse' JerryM.

You've got no right casting judgement on anyone here for their hunting tactics.

KC Rob,

If you wanna fly a Huey to your tree-stand, as long as its legal, have at it.
 
Nonsensical arguments do not change the facts that driving an ATV to a stand and then hunting from that stand is neither hunting nor sporting. It is just shooting something.
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Basically all forms of hunting is just shooting something. Whether you still hunt, spot and stalk or take a stand. I hunt in many varied terrains from big woods public land to small parcels of private land. Each takes a different form of hunting. Altho I prefer to still hunt or spot and stalk with a gun, on some of the small parcels(40 acres and less) I hunt it's impossible, so taking a stand and waiting is the only sensible method. On big parcels of public land with thousands of acres available to me, I love to sneak hunt and catch bucks in their beds. Over the last decade it has been with handguns....success rate is low, but satisfaction is high. Do the days I spend in a stand make me a lesser hunter? Bow hunting is all about sitting....and sitting for hours. Many don't have the patience it takes to do that....that's why they don't bow hunt. Are bow hunters lesser hunters than those wandering around aimlessly, accidentally spot their quarry at 700 yards and then shoot it with a high powered center-fire rifle? What is different about duck hunting over water with decoys as opposed to hunting deer over a food plot? Whats different about calling in a bull elk with a cow call as opposed to luring him in with artificial scents? It all comes down to getting something in your sights and shooting it........legally. Hunters are a minority in America and have plenty of opposition. For hunters to trash other hunters over ethics issues that are perfectly legal, humane and safe is stupid and immature. If you don't like a method, don't use it, but don't give ammo to the antis by openly trashin' a fellow hunter that uses legal tactics. Unsafe, inhumane and illegal practices are a different story. I don't use a 4wheeler and I don't hunt high fence ranches, but I don't feel a need to trash those that do. Seems there is always at least one of these self proclaimed "one shot Bwanas" that have never missed and/or never lost an animal and have only shot them after stalking them thru snake infested swamps for seven miles. That's the magic of the internet......;)
 
KC Rob,

If you wanna fly a Huey to your tree-stand, as long as its legal, have at it.
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I don't, but thanks. I also don't really want to ride my ATV to my stand either, which is why I asked the question in the first place.
 
SHNOMIDO said:
back in my day we STRANGLED DEER and we put them on our backs and ARMY CRAWLED all the way home and we took THE LONG WAY.

i find most people start with the easiest way they can bag a deer, and eventually get bored and end up bow hunting or using black powder for the challenge.

Im not saying this from an elitest point of view, quite the opposite. Ive havent yet had the opportunity hunt, and im quite ignorant about it. But dont think you should judge people because they use ATVs and stands.
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I think Jerry made a good point. I don't believe it making it so easy that it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Baiting, stands, ultra overkill rifles, "guide" hunts that guarantee a kill, etc. It's distasteful. When people abuse that and kill far more than their limit, it's more than distasteful, it's stomach turning.

I haven't hunted in years, but I feel the need coming back. Next time I do, I wouldn't use an ATV unless it is truly a long hike. When I was a teenager, I used an ATV and if the morning hunt was unsuccessful, the rest of the day often devolved more into an ATV riding session---too much of a distraction, LOL. I like a more traditional approach----one hunter, one traditional rifle or shotgun (no ninja crap), watchful eyes and attentive ears and instincts, no gadgets. But that's just me...
 
Truck exhaust?

I went on a hunt on a 5,000 acre ranch, and the stands (with corn-filled feeders) were a LONG way apart. Needless to say, we went to our stands in vehicles (mostly king cab pick-it-up trucks).

When the driver pulled off the "road" that passed within 20 yards of the back of my elevated box blind, I tried to get him to stop, but he ignored me. He then drove about half the distance from the blind to the feeder (only 60 yards from the blind), then executed a wide, sweeping U turn, and then pulled to within 10 feet of the blind and stopped.

I was unhappy that, as I saw it, the entire setup was contaminated with exhaust fume "stink", and I let the driver know it.:mad:

The driver told me I could hitch a ride with someone else if I didn't appreciate how he did things.

I did.

Was I right or wrong? Your input would be appreciated.
 
I don't think you can stalk the deer here where I hunt. I have tried it and all i see is white tails. The woods around here are impossible to walk quietly in. Practically every step you take makes tons of noise with all the leaves and twigs laying around. I don't know maybe I am just doing it wrong.

It kind of irritates me that because I have to sit in a stand or ground blind some people think it isn't hunting. I hunt my on my grandpas 300 acre property and I put in more time in the woods than anyone I know. I haven't got a deer for the past 3 years after spending hundreds of hours in the woods. But it makes it that much more special when I do get one.
If I bagged the limit every year it would take some of the fun out of hunting.

Most of us hunt because it offers us a chance to get away from our busy lives, or hang out with hunting buddies, and maybe if we are lucky to get that big buck that has evaded you for the past few years. Why do we have to argue who's way of hunting is right or wrong? We are all hunting because its what we love and look forward to every year. Not to get the approval of people on an internet forum who may or may not approve of each others methods.

I have never hunted out west but remember what works for hunters out there simply is not possible in every part of this country. You have to do what works for you, but don't say that my way of hunting is not hunting.
 
I'm 72 years old and have no trouble walking to stands that are a couple miles away. Just never did like four wheelers. For a few years i was one of three guys on a 1500 acre lease who walked to their stands. Guys would come whizzing by; scaring the deer and hogs and disturbing us in our stands. All three of us quit that lease.

i own two four wheelers. The Yamaha sits in the far end of a 40 foot container behind two tractors and a couple disks. The other was found this year when i sold the hay from a barn on a place we bought: The son of the deceased owner said there was a four wheeler in that barn. It's some kind of Polaris diesel. A friend got it running; he will use it in CO elk season.
 
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