30 yrs, then and now

[welsh]

but how many people spent every day outdoors on the patch they hunt today.

Very few. That's a fair point. We've become much more mobile thanks to more cars, ever-improving roads, and the expectation you'll have to travel to get to your spot. Same holds for fishing, actually. Though if we were to go back and look at outdoor writers like Burton Spiller, from the golden age of outdoor writing, we'd find that pattern already existed: lots of people who don't live on the land they hunt or fish. Lots of people much like me: don't live on the land they hunt but hunt the same areas year after year and know them pretty well.

This kind of thing has come in waves. In the late 19th century there was a wave of urban hunters, and of eastern hunters hitting the west while the hitting was good. That was the Roosevelt era of the well-heeled sportsman and there was plenty of marketing aimed at separating neophytes from their money.

you're certainly right, there were ads. not as many, prices were steep (compared to what the average income was). the articles were long (something most people would not even start to read nowadays).

That's a common trend in magazines in general these days. Blame Maxim for setting the bar low, if you like. Long-form articles have all but disappeared. The contrast between the old ca. 1982 Field & Streams I have kicking around and the new, post-Maxim incarnation is depressing. Everything today is an infogram or a listicle. But that's been underway in outdoor magazines for years, actually ... go back before Maxim and you'll find that outdoor mags had abandoned stories, which used to be their bread and butter, in favour of "news you can use." People claim to miss those stories, but newsstand sales tell another tale.

people focus on the low hanging fruits: back then it were the skills, now gadgets.

Not unique to hunting, again. I've found the same with music, photography, and just about any other gear-intensive activity. People try to buy proficiency: gadgets instead of guitar practice, photo gear instead of shooting photos. Same reason people fall for new hunting gew-gaws. It's a marketing machine that offers success through shopping. If there's a social trend there, it's way bigger than the hunting market.

One thing that's certainly changed is the number of people who want to make money off their hobby of hunting or fishing. Lots of people coming up with and marketing gadgets, or trying to be guides. I used to joke that there was only one dollar in the entire fly-fishing market, and it just kept circling and changing hands. I think to a lesser extent we see that in hunting, too.

[GW11]

This thread makes me happy to report that I'm at least 20 years behind in terms of gear. I admit, I have camo outerwear but it's hard to find rain resistant gear in anything else.

[rf2]

I'm going to ask a potentially controversial question here: How many of the posters on this thread lamenting the substitution of skills with gadgets use game cameras (the pinnacle of "hunting gadgets")?
For the record, I do not use them for various reasons.

[MikePal]

I agree, trails cams are a step forward in technology that aids in Hunting. I use them freely as a tool to do reconnaissance of the bush and to help pattern the deer. However I'm not sure if they could be clarified as a "substitution of skill" though.

I usually place them on a trail that I have found by others skills and the cameras are placed to confirm if they are active. They simple aid in confirming what I already suspected, only it does it at the time of day when I'm not in the stand.

[rf2]

I agree, trails cams are a step forward in technology that aids in Hunting. I use them freely as a tool to do reconnaissance of the bush and to help pattern the deer. However I'm not sure if they could be clarified as a "substitution of skill" though.

I usually place them on a trail that I have found by others skills and the cameras are placed to confirm if they are active. They simple aid in confirming what I already suspected, only it does it at the time of day when I'm not in the stand.

I'm tempted to use them because I can see how they would help me hunt more efficiently, but I've always stopped myself because I personally feel that they give hunters an unfair advantage. That, and I am somewhat old-school despite by age.
Just to clarify, I don't look down on hunters that use them, it's just that game cameras aren't for me.

[Waftrudnir]

I have some, but really use them only occasionally to verify if deer are nocturnal or not.
It frees up time and saves me gas (over 2 hours drive one way). I wouldn't cry if they get banned nor will I advocate they should.
I never felt they are essential and if I had the choice between land to hunt within 15min or a truckload of cellular game cameras, I wouldn't need one second to make choice
hold on: if I find enough suckers to re-sell them to, those things might not be all that bad... LOL

[Nontypical]

To me game cameras can be a useful tool. But in my opinion being in the stand is the best "trail camera" there is. If the deer are there and are moving during daylight, you'll see them/get your opportunity. But if your deer are nocturnal it doesn't matter if you've got pics on your cam or not...your still not going to see them. I think trail came keep guys hitting the bush if they've got pics on their cams regardless if they've got a visual from their stand or not. What I also find amusing is the amount of guys that overhunt or hunt on the wrong wind. I have a couple spots that I share, and some areas I know guys hunt in, and I drive by these areas and see guys parked there...hunting these areas on the totally wrong wind. Yes "newer" hunters have all the answers at the tip of their finger tips. But experience is everything when in the field. I was fortunate enough to have a couple of mentors at a young age to teach me how to successfully kill big game.
To me a lot of people who are getting into the sport see the hype about it on the Internet and buy into it, so they go out and get rigged up for what they think they need. A lot of guys thing you grab your firearm, walk in the bush and kill a deer. Yes they will get lucky but depending on their success rate they will either get hooked or the new sport to them will fade away.
We seem to be at a peak where everyone is wearing a bass pro hat or a camo under armour hoodie. I think it's great to have more hunters getting into the sport to help us keep a strong backround to the sport, but I think a lot of people are getting into the sport to just call themselves "hunters".

[gooseman]

It's funny when I was in school my grandparents who I spent every summer with were from Michigan and wearing the old military camo patterns were the norm. I had an old surplus jacket and I remember walking down the halls and hearing people talk calling me "Rambo" camo was definitely not the in thing. Now take a walk thru any school or shopping centre and see how many people are wearing camo and I would say more than half have never hunted or considered hunting

[old outdoorsman]

Yep and in 30 years from now we'd be lucky to even be able to hunt on our own private land.
30 years ago my brother and I would hunt ducks at a pond in a cornfield at the end of our road. Today I wouldn't dream of it. After the first shot the cops would be all over the place, even though legally you are still allowed to shoot there.
30 years ago you could hunt right from shore on Lake Erie near Fort Erie. today you have to be 300 years off shore with 80 feet of decoy string on each decoy and deal with the swells and big waves. Not to mention boaters and fisherman.
Yep - its a different world today.

[Foxx]

Well you'll have to explain that..'smarter' how? ...they still come to a pile of apples in the middle of the bush..they don't seem to be passing it on that's it a trap



Or all this 'advanced' equipment does little to increase our odds....

In the days of old, a man sitting against the tree in his Sudbury Dinner jacket with the wind in his face was shooting as many deer then as they do now sitting up 20' in expensive trees stands wearing top of the line Mossy Oak clothing.

I grew up in the Loring area and remember many game poles like this. Do you have anymore old pictures like this to post?