Jeff sparks
Verified Member
A while back I liked to still hunt for the whitetail buck, it was exciting and I was young and healthy... Still hunting is akin to what I imagine the American Indian had to do to put deer meat on his table...
It requires several hunting skills not usually associated with hunting the whitetail deer in modern times... Still hunting demands the hunter to be afoot in the woods with his quarry, walking, moving, being vigilant at all times... He must be able to outwit, out maneuver and out flank the animal... He must be quiet, extremely quiet and he must be conscience of the wind as it carries his scent afield to the sensitive noses of the whitetail deer...Killing an animal in this fashion is difficult because it pits all the hunters skills against that of the survival instincts of the deer, and the deer has very strong survival instincts...
Today, there are people who build heated blinds that are elevated high above the brush and offer panoramic views of the surrounding terrain... These blinds are almost always accompanied by an automatic corn dispensing feeder that draws the deer within easy range...
In my opinion, this isn't hunting at all, and gives the animal little chance, if any for survival... These people use high powered rifles with scopes to kill these defenseless animals... I know it's a legal method, and highly used throughout the United States, but it just doesn't sit right with me...
If a person had to bag their deer at close range while afoot in the woods, using a 30/30 with iron sights, then it would be a trophy worth talking about, they would have earned the right of the kill IMO and then they could brag about it in camp...
Sitting a heated blind and shooting a deer under a feeder at 50 yards is hardly an accomplishment worth talking about... It's a meat run...and not worthy of mention, even if the buck has trophy horns, it's not hunting, it's harvesting...
I made this a journal entry because I was recently asked what I thought about hunting for a Boone & Crockett caliber whitetail out of a blind... I heartily disagreed with the notion, as you might gather from what I wrote...
Earn the right to kill this magnificent animal... Still hunt for him, give him a chance for survival... JMHO
It requires several hunting skills not usually associated with hunting the whitetail deer in modern times... Still hunting demands the hunter to be afoot in the woods with his quarry, walking, moving, being vigilant at all times... He must be able to outwit, out maneuver and out flank the animal... He must be quiet, extremely quiet and he must be conscience of the wind as it carries his scent afield to the sensitive noses of the whitetail deer...Killing an animal in this fashion is difficult because it pits all the hunters skills against that of the survival instincts of the deer, and the deer has very strong survival instincts...
Today, there are people who build heated blinds that are elevated high above the brush and offer panoramic views of the surrounding terrain... These blinds are almost always accompanied by an automatic corn dispensing feeder that draws the deer within easy range...
In my opinion, this isn't hunting at all, and gives the animal little chance, if any for survival... These people use high powered rifles with scopes to kill these defenseless animals... I know it's a legal method, and highly used throughout the United States, but it just doesn't sit right with me...
If a person had to bag their deer at close range while afoot in the woods, using a 30/30 with iron sights, then it would be a trophy worth talking about, they would have earned the right of the kill IMO and then they could brag about it in camp...
Sitting a heated blind and shooting a deer under a feeder at 50 yards is hardly an accomplishment worth talking about... It's a meat run...and not worthy of mention, even if the buck has trophy horns, it's not hunting, it's harvesting...
I made this a journal entry because I was recently asked what I thought about hunting for a Boone & Crockett caliber whitetail out of a blind... I heartily disagreed with the notion, as you might gather from what I wrote...
Earn the right to kill this magnificent animal... Still hunt for him, give him a chance for survival... JMHO