Have we lost the art of hunting?

[Jayardia]

I like the general consensus here.

(i.e. - Within the law, basic courtesy & reason, *do your own thing; allow for others to do theirs.*)

Sounds great to me.
Golden rule stuff.

...As far as "hunting as art" goes, –I'm of the solid opinion that *all* things we do may involve a greater (or lesser) degree of artfulness. I grant that the meaning of many such words can be nebulous and subjective, though- (I imagine) -most of us would nod and relate if someone referred to their hunting as "sacred". For many of us, "ritual" holds a place in our hunting, be it subtle or overtly weighty.
The sense of "connectedness" in regard to hunting is referred to –with common frequency.

Superficially speaking, it can all sound a little ..."flaky". But clearly, it isn't flaky at all- it is the repeated exercise of an ever-evolving set of life-hinging skills that we have been rehearsing *before humans were humans*. ...It doesn't get much more "un-flaky" than that!
Therefore it should be no great wonder that we have such strong, personal feelings associated with how we perform such an act.

It's a pretty damn big deal.

[fishermccann]

Sorry Jeff , I could of used my words better , I realize it is an accepted way of hunting grouse ( especially in the north) no offence intended and I am sure you have fond memories of hunting with your family cause thats what its all about. Was just saying its not for me, me and some buddies head up to chapleau every fall for grouse and we split up in pairs to walk the vast expanse of bush roads looking for grouse and I can tell you there is no bigger piss off than having a truck or quad pass u ( going same direction) with a couple of dudes looking for the same grouse. They should be courteous and turn around .
Yes I have kids and they enjoy the walks with dad and as they are getting older ( 11 and 14) we can walk farther they are also good for about 4 hours in the ground blind while deer hunting.

Why should they turn around, they may have come many, many ,miles to drive that road , and get those grouse.

[Gunner 38]

As long as the game is harvested in a fair , ethical and lawful manner I don't concern myself with other people's method . That does NOT mean that I necessarily would follow in their tracks . --- There was a time when I put more emphasis on scoring than actually HUNTING . --- I was shooting game ; the hunt itself didn't seem as important to me . E.g.: SHOOTING groundhogs at 400 ++yards seemed to be more satisfying to me than actually HUNTING them at relatively short range . After following this routine for a number of years I tired of it (besides , --- I had almost exterminated the small game in my "stomping-grounds") . I sold my 6mm Rem. Varmint-rifle and started hunting them with lesser calibers . Taking less is not the same as enjoying it less . --- I don't hunt because I "need" to ; I hunt because I enjoy using my skills and probably fulfill some "lower" ancient instincts . Now-a-days I don't care whether I'll ever take any big-game again . --- Let the youngsters experience it . --- Squirrels and assorted small-game are still on the agenda . Hunting these "lesser" species is just as thrilling as going after the big stuff and most of them are just as palatable as the more "glorious" specimen . --- Passing (instead of killing) on some game-animals can be just as "rewarding" and leave "one" feeling as good as being a game-hog . --- When I was a few decades younger I never quite felt that way . --- I frown on unfair practices like molesting swimming game (that even includes waterfowl) or jack-lighting . I preferred to nail waterfowl while they were air-borne , NOT sitting on the water . --- Well , that's me . --- I guess we're all different .

[JoePa]

I think the more effort you put into a hunt the more you will appreciate the animal when you are successful - over my life time I have killed upward to 100 deer - many were nice big bucks some of which I had mounted - but the one hunt that I still remember as one that was special was the year I shot a doe - I walked miles from my house up to the top of a mountain - on the southern side of the mountain I kicked out a doe that was laying in some brush - at the time there was a little snow on the ground but there were also some bare spots - the deer ran down the mountain out of sight - I started trailing it very slowly - occasionally I would see it ahead of me but each time it saw me and ran away - I trailed that deer all afternoon - finally I came up to a pine tree late in the afternoon and there standing looking at me was the doe - a neck shot put it instantly down - it dropped like a rock -

After I gutted it I realized I didn't have a rope - so I ended up using a grape vine to pull it back home - it took me hours to drag this thing home - way after dark when I got home - its funny in a way but of all the deer I shot this one is still in my memory bank - a lot of the other deer I got I really don't remember much about them - if anything - but this one I'll never forget because of the effort in tracking it, shooting it and getting it home -

You may have a problem believing this but there was a stretch of time when I got deer so easy that it was starting to get boring - I had a tree stand build up the mountain behind my house - the first day of buck season I would get in the tree just as it was getting light - the tree stand was located next to a gully - the deer would come up this gully in the morning after feeding in the surrounding fields - I'd have my pick of a buck as they came up the gully - usually after an hour or so I had my deer and that was it - this was happening year after year -it was so easy - something was missing - I don't use the tree stand anymore because it is too far to walk for me - now I hunt just 300 yards from the back of my house - in a platform I built on the side of a bank -

I got a walleye that I caught years ago in the BOQ late one November mounted on the wall of my den - the same thing with this fish - we were fishing in the snow - cold as hell - will never forget that trip because how tough it was - but that's another story -

[Subarctichunter]

Mr. Boiler, thank you for a good post.

Let me give give you a different answer. First, I live way up in the most upper parts of northern Ontario. Our big game are only moose and caribou. For me Whitetail deer is just a dream, and it will always be.

I spent the good part of my morning looking into "Have we lost the art of hunting?". To the point, it was almost like you got me soul searching. And it is more than just shooting a firearm at our game come open season. We hunt strictly for survival up here. The harvest is for food on the table, and using the animals caught for tools and clothing. Both the wife and I hunt. My wife is an amazing hunter.

Each year we hunt for moose and caribou. It is a must for our family duty. We go great distances to pursue our harvest. Our means of access is to use only snow machines and boats to reach the hunting destinations of where we might find game. There are odd times a moose or caribou will avail itself to our camp. Then it is easy to harvest on the spot. Now we are pretty efficient hunters. We use every part and everything that the moose and caribou has to offer. The wife is a man of her own. To prove her point she goes on solo hunting excursions without me. And she's gone for days. She jumps on the boat or snow machine by her lonesome and goes hunting. And then when she harvests she prepares the meat for the winter and takes the hides or skins and turns into beautiful moccasins and mitts. She does the whole nine yards! She cuts off the fur and scrapes off all of the tissue from the both sides of the skin and soaks them in water. Over time she stretches the hides by hand and dries them out. Then she gets dry wood which she turns into chips and mixes them with other certain degree of decaying wood. And then she tans the hides. Following that, she sits during the winter months to turn those hides into clothing like mitts and mukluks, all the while enjoying the meat for the rest of the family.

I believe those are the duties that go hand and hand with the art of hunting. I am blessed to having an all encompassing hunting partner.

[JBen]

I think much of the art of old-school hunting is no longer prevalent. Times have changed. Some of it's for the better, some not.
My Dad or grandfather would hunt a good moose or deer area, and knew much better than I do where to post someone, where to push and at what time. In my opinion, they were better hunters than I. Lots of us now depend on our gear; how many moose hunters now set up to watch 600-yard clearings with a .300 or .338 Magnum that they may....or may not....shoot well enough to hit the boiler room at 600 yards.
There is a middle ground too. My Dad used to sit on a log and wait by trails for deer, then shoot them at 25 yards with his .351 Winchester. There is not a lot of difference between doing that, and sitting 15 feet above the same log, really.

Beat me to it.
I've done both, in fact when I chase them with my camera, all I do is still hunt. I spend a lot of time on the ground finding trails, patterning them. Come Sept I'd check scrape lines and rubs. Id head out before sunrise, find a log or natural concealment spot and sit. After awhile if I wasn't seeing any movement or hearing any, I'd inch my way along trails to my next location...sit/wait. Sometimes I'd spot one before I was spotted or winded, and then work my into position for a good shot.

Sounds an awful lot like figuring out where to place a tree stand.

[Hunter John]

Why should they turn around, they may have come many, many ,miles to drive that road , and get those grouse.

When they have hundreds of roads/ trails to choose from they should back out and find another one. You ever been up Chapleau way.???

[JoePa]

Subartichunter - you sound like those people I watch on those Alaska TV shows - sounds like you have to know what you doing since you depend on the animals so much - also sounds like a lot of work - very interesting - me I walk about 300 yards behind my house and sit until a deer comes by and bang - I got my deer

[Subarctichunter]

Good evening to you JoePa, it is nice to get a comment from you. Thanks for your compliment about my knowing how I depend on the animals I harvest. I appreciate that. I get a good chuckle on those people on those Alaska TV shows as well. But I am far from that. I don't have a romance with nature and the wilderness - I live it! You will never find my hunting escapades on TV shows. I am showing some proof of what I was talking about.014.jpg015.jpg017.jpg

The tools of the trade for preparing moose and caribou hides come from the shin bones. We have 21 hides on the clothes line curing from the extreme frigid temperatures and the last half of 4 moose hides on the scraping board. Moose hides are so uneven the skin is shaved to achieve evenness throughout.

In another post, I can show you the finished products of the tanned hides. This work is not hard - it is a piece of cake when it is a part of your expertise and knowledge. Incidentally what did you do with your deer hide that you banged 300 feet from your house? I say this because the fur is really good for making fish flies! It is a fly fisherman's dream.

Stay in touch. Kindest regards to you for posting and joining "Have we lost the art of hunting". I don't think so. Some of us just use our resource (our kill) in a very limited way, while others use the resource to its fullest benefit and limit.

[Waftrudnir]

Good evening to you JoePa, it is nice to get a comment from you. Thanks for your compliment about my knowing how I depend on the animals I harvest. I appreciate that. I get a good chuckle on those people on those Alaska TV shows as well. But I am far from that. I don't have a romance with nature and the wilderness - I live it! You will never find my hunting escapades on TV shows. I am showing some proof of what I was talking about.014.jpg015.jpg017.jpg

The tools of the trade for preparing moose and caribou hides come from the shin bones. We have 21 hides on the clothes line curing from the extreme frigid temperatures and the last half of 4 moose hides on the scraping board. Moose hides are so uneven the skin is shaved to achieve evenness throughout.

In another post, I can show you the finished products of the tanned hides. This work is not hard - it is a piece of cake when it is a part of your expertise and knowledge. Incidentally what did you do with your deer hide that you banged 300 feet from your house? I say this because the fur is really good for making fish flies! It is a fly fisherman's dream.

Stay in touch. Kindest regards to you for posting and joining "Have we lost the art of hunting". I don't think so. Some of us just use our resource (our kill) in a very limited way, while others use the resource to its fullest benefit and limit.

Thanks for sharing those pictures!
It's hard to tell on a forum like this if someone makes up a story or not, especially if they haven't posted a lot. Hope to hear and see more from you in the future!
Oh, have you tried a power sander on the hides?