Who is the best?

[Just Lucky]

 The subject of crossbow hunting got me to thinking who is the best hunter I know and why. I have known guys, and gals who hunt big game, and small game, who where family and friends.

  My father, who taught me almost everything from coon hunting, turkey, grouse, squirrel, rabbit, bow, and deer hunting who I appreciate the most, finished 2nd. 

The best hunter I know gun hunts deer only. He will go out any given time he chooses and kills a deer like he had it penned up. I have never seen him kill something I wouldn't be proud to put on my wall. It's  pretty impressive. 

  Who else knows someone like that.

[G-Man]

The man that taught me to Turkey hunt could and did kill a bird on his own no matter where he went( has several grand slams) was not much of a deer hunter but learning/knowing how to read the lay of the land helped me master deer as well. One man I truly miss...rip

[wolc123]

You are.

[Robhuntandfish]

JMP209 on this forum.  The man killed a bear and then a beauty of a buck with a traditional bow last year.......and wait for it......he used the same arrow!!!  He da man!

but the best hunter I know is a Dad of a buddy I went to college with.  I since now hang out with his dad more than him since he moved to VA.  But he is a relentless turkey hunter, bags a nice buck and usually a smaller buck as well (one with gun, one with bow) and he is 70. And he is a good fisherman as well. 

[Doc]

Before you can declare a "Best Hunter", you have to establish the criteria. What makes a superior hunter? Is it quantity, quality, a certain species, the largest collection of species, ability to attract species through farming techniques, Ability to find game where little exists, Hunting style, range and effectiveness of the weapon used, technology used, amount of time used, knowledge of woods lore and animal habits and patterns? It goes on and on and I'll bet I haven't even scratched the surface of all the criteria. And then how do you rank all these different aspects of hunting? Which ones are more important than others? This is what you have to contend with when you turn hunting into a competition.

[Just Lucky]

33 minutes ago, Doc said:

Before you can declare a "Best Hunter", you have to establish the criteria. What makes a superior hunter? Is it quantity, quality, a certain species, the largest collection of species, ability to attract species through farming techniques, Ability to find game where little exists, Hunting style, range and effectiveness of the weapon used, technology used, amount of time used, knowledge of woods lore and animal habits and patterns? It goes on and on and I'll bet I haven't even scratched the surface of all the criteria. And then how do you rank all these different aspects of hunting? Which ones are more important than others? This is what you have to contend with when you turn hunting into a competition.

So who would you say that you personally know or have known. I agree with what you stated. We all use different scales to judge by.

[Pygmy]

For me it would have to be more specific...

One close friend of mine is the best turkey hunting tactician and woods caller I have ever known...If I wanted a specific gobbler knocked off, he is the person I would send to do it..

Another friend is the best offhand rifle shot I have ever seen..At 100 yards he can stand flat footed and blow a hole in a hummingbird as big as your fist..

I probably hold the title for being the most successful one-horn spike buck shooter in the state..

It goes on and on...

[grampy]

We all know this person better than anyone.

It's the one who pulls us out of a warm bed, to go sit in any weather. It's the one who strives to be the best with any hunting implement they use to hunt with. It's the one who respects the game we hunt. It's the one who will help a new hunter, or an experienced one, when called upon. It's the one who will openly and honestly share what knowledge they have with others. It's the one who never stops learning, and trying to be a better hunter, and outdoorsman. It's the one who shoots what makes them happy, and is happy with what they shoot. It's the one who is not boastful. It's the one who is happy to see others succeed, even if their goals and standards are different. It's the one who always tries to give back more, than they take, from hunting. It's the one who is at peace, while afield.

We all 'should' know this person better than anyone.

It's Ourselves.

Edited April 10, 2018 by grampy

[moog5050]

6 hours ago, Robhuntandfish said:

JMP209 on this forum.  The man killed a bear and then a beauty of a buck with a traditional bow last year.......and wait for it......he used the same arrow!!!  He da man!

 

He did have an awesome year last year.  I think it was his first hunting with a trad bow!

[Robhuntandfish]

1 hour ago, moog5050 said:

He did have an awesome year last year.  I think it was his first hunting with a trad bow!

then he should just drop the bow (mic) - wow.  He might be Davey Crockett reincarnated!  

[Robhuntandfish]

1 hour ago, grampy said:

We all know this person better than anyone.

It's the one who pulls us out of a warm bed, to go sit in any weather. It's the one who strives to be the best with any hunting implement they use to hunt with. It's the one who respects the game we hunt. It's the one who will help a new hunter, or an experienced one, when called upon. It's the one who will openly and honestly share what knowledge they have with others. It's the one who never stops learning, and trying to be a better hunter, and outdoorsman. It's the one who shoots what makes them happy, and is happy with what they shoot. It's the one who is not boastful. It's the one who is happy to see others succeed, even if their goals and standards are different. It's the one who always tries to give back more, than they take, from hunting. It's the one who is at peace, while afield.

We all 'should' know this person better than anyone.

It's Ourselves.

I think I may want this on my tombstone!  Or at least strive to be all of those.  You have a way of expression my friend. 

[Buckmaster7600]

My old man was the best I ever met/saw in action. Didn’t matter where we were if there was a buck he wanted to kill that buck should be getting his arrangements in order because his time was short. He hunted with a tenacity that was hard to explain, the hours he put in the woods were unbelievable. He had a knack for putting himself in the right place at the right time. Most of all he was a finisher! I only know of him missing 1 deer of the 100+ I was around for. He could shoot like you wouldn’t believe, he always said “if I can see him I can hit him.”

Turkeys were the same way the sucker could call like no one else I know and he could move through the woods as good as anyone. If there was a gobbler around and the Old man knew it he was in big trouble. Often we would have breakfast before heading out and we’d talk about our days plans “we rarely hunted together always did out own thing” and he would say “well I guess I better kill one today since it don’t seem like you’re gonna” or something similar. When a comment like that was made I wouldn’t even jump when I heard the shot because I already knew it was coming.


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[dbHunterNY]

that's actually a really hard question. i'm not sure. i know of guys that kill ridiculously big deer every year. they're good but i think it has more to do with how they've set themselves up. others that don't really have a spot but manage to find one and fill tags with something decent.

[Nomad]

Carlos Hancock .

 

[BigVal]

The obvious answer, big Val Sr. 

[airedale]

On 4/9/2018 at 9:09 PM, Just Lucky said:

WHO IS THE BEST?

My father, who taught me almost everything from coon hunting, turkey, grouse, squirrel, rabbit, bow, and deer hunting

I guess it comes down to what one's definition of hunting is.

To be among the "BEST" at any of the types of hunting you mention and those you did not mention I believe all take a lot of drive, skill and knowledge. Have seen a big change in the way folks hunt today from the way hunting was done when I was starting out as a kid. So criteria for being the best hunter today for many is probably different in many minds from what it was when I first hit the timber.

Some time back I watched one of so called TV hunting shows.  The setup had pretty young woman sitting in a deluxe heated treehouse with makeup and fingernail polish on along with her pink trim camo outfit. She was sure nice to look at and that in itself made the show watchable. The treehouse overlooked a big planted field with a large a herd of Deer enjoying a smorgasborg  of deer attracting tasty delights in broad daylight. The woman drew down on a nice trophy Buck with her modern bolt action muzzleloader firing spitzer bullets held in a sabot, also had a scope mounted on it for sighting. The gun was rested solidly in one of those commercial gun rests mounted on a window sill of the tree house. At the shot the Buck drops like he was poll axed and the smiles, cheering, the back slapping and high fives were dealt out for all involved with the hunt. In today's world I am sure to some of the TV audience watching that show would say that pretty young gal is a good hunter.

For me I really can not single out just one because there were quite a few. The best hunters I have the most respect for and had the pleasure of knowing were the hardcore oldtimers I crossed paths with over time, all dead and gone now for the most part. The picture that comes to my mind when I think of those guys and the way they went about hunting is the way I think of native American Indians hunting, out in game country moving, searching with stealth, a vast knowledge of the game they pursued, knowing how to read sign-track and how to use the wind and trickery. And they would not let weather stop them from hitting the timber. Another common denominator I noticed was many of these hunters were real good trappers, as one old geezer said to me, "the thing about trapping  "there is nothing that teaches animal habits and travels to an alert observer better." 

By law in the southern zone they hunted shotguns firing foster slugs that were lucky to be able to hit a pie plate at 60 yards. In the Northern zone most used a lever action rifle with open sights, many hunters back then considered scopes to be not very reliable. As for those participating in the so called primitive seasons by law they had to hunt with actual primitive weapons but they were still very successful doing so. Back then muzzleloaders had to use patched round balls with black powder, archery guys used recurve and long bows with cedar arrows. Hunting out of tree stands was almost unheard of. 

Having to use the tactics mentioned above and with what many today consider to be obsolete archaic equipment along with having shorter seasons there were and are still are today hunters that year in and year out consistently take game using them and those folks are the ones that get my vote as to being the best "hunters" because they did and do it the hard way and were successful doing so.

As for the pretty young TV hunter I ain't got anything against her for the way she took her Buck which was far better than any I have ever taken, it was perfectly legal and seems a commonplace way to hunt in today's world. But I would like to see her make a show where she heads into big woods deer hunting by herself with an open sighted sidelock muzzle loading rifle firing patched round ball. Still hunt to find and take a buck that duplicates the one she shot out of the tree house. Most of all I would have loved to see the reaction of some of those old guys from years ago if they had the chance to watch the TV show mentioned above.

Al

 

 

[Hunter007]

Who  knows 

 

chuck adams 

Maybe?

 

 

 

Edited April 16, 2018 by Storm914