Is it hunting?

[G-Man]

I have had this discussion with a few of my friends. Is it really hunting taking long shots? Or is it target shooting? 

Perhaps is the bowhunter in me but anything over 100 yards for deer or big game is target shooting to me. The game doesn't know your there and you really dont need to be concealed that well . Under 30 yards is hunting to me ..it takes some skill ability and patients to let game get that close or closer..

shooting off a rest at an animal feeding 200 yards isn't to me. Though shooting skill may take precedence on long shots 300 yards plus to me I might as well be shooting a clanger  on the range off the bench. 

Same with turkey it takes some skill to get a bird 10 yards or so but the push is for tighter patterns and longer shots... 

Are we teaching .hunting skills or shooting skills or just using technology.  ?

[Pygmy]

One man's meat is another man's poison....

Do it however you want to do it as long as it is legal and ethical...Just don't be judgemental of the other guy because he does not do it the same way that you prefer to do it..

Edited April 21, 2018 by Pygmy

[nyslowhand]

Ditto, G-Man. Longest shots I have where I hunt are ~120yrds, max! May have a different attitude if I had access to large crop fields & longer shots...!?! It irks me when I watch the TV shows depicting hunting sheep, etc in the mountains and hunters taking 600yrd shots. Can appreciate the skill required, just not for me.

I'm more of an up close & personal type of hunter, but if being a sniper is your passion - go for it!

Edited April 21, 2018 by nyslowhand

[mowin]

When I rife hunt, I'm pretty much meat hunting. Usually if my cross hairs are on the deer, it's coming home with me.  It's still hunting in my eyes. I've got to be good or lucky enough to get into my spot without busting the area out, and play the wind weather my shot is 30 yrds or 200.  Bow hunting has made me a much better rifle hunter, but it sure isn't target practice. 

[DirtTime]

57 minutes ago, G-Man said:

I have had this discussion with a few of my friends. Is it really hunting taking long shots? Or is it target shooting? 

Perhaps is the bowhunter in me but anything over 100 yards for deer or big game is target shooting to me. The game doesn't know your there and you really dont need to be concealed that well . Under 30 yards is hunting to me ..it takes some skill ability and patients to let game get that close or closer..

shooting off a rest at an animal feeding 200 yards isn't to me. Though shooting skill may take precedence on long shots 300 yards plus to me I might as well be shooting a clanger  on the range off the bench. 

Same with turkey it takes some skill to get a bird 10 yards or so but the push is for tighter patterns and longer shots... 

Are we teaching .hunting skills or shooting skills or just using technology.  ?

This is a loaded question.

Is it hunting if you are using 50 trail cams and food plots? IMO, no, it's not, but that's just my opinion.

 

Let me return your question with another question.

All the hunters who head out west to hunk Elk, Muleys, Sheep and take them at 200+ ( especially the DIY hunters ) yards aren't hunters?

[Dinsdale]

34 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

One man's meat is another man's poison....

Do it however you want to do it as long as it is legal and ethical...Just don't be judgemental of the other guy because he does not do it the same way that you prefer to do it..

+1

This is why I'm a glass is almost empty guy and hunting will eventually be doomed; hunters can't support each other and want all to fit what they consider to be their ethics.

Shame really.

[Nomad]

Every deer I shot in bow at under 20yards didn’t know I was there either , and I’m no great hunter. Don’t scout, don’t do much to work the land ,   don’t brush in stands just sit in them .

The farm I hunt is more and more huts with heaters covering large fields we kinda like it . I’d be ok with it not being hunting , wouldn’t need a tag that way .

[wolc123]

Range is just one of many variables.  Lots of folks overemphasize it, as if it is the only thing that matters    For me, it all comes down to if I think I can make the shot, with the weapon I have, based on all of the variables.  That includes range, speed of "target", lighting, obstructions, etc..  For deer, if it all adds up to a 90 % or better chance of success, the shot is safe, and the deer meets my harvest criteria (changes depending on the date, current meat supply, and tags remaining) then I am pulling the trigger.  The good Lord has been very good to me over the last 14 seasons, allowing me to take that extra 10 % that I should have lost.   Only one of my shots was perfect over that stretch (and it had a multiple page thread of its own on here).   All of the others missed my point of aim by some amount, and two never even made contact. 

I am certain that those two misses did not make contact with the deer, because my third shot put him down in his tracks.   The most important lesson that I have ever learned the hard way was 15 years ago, when I assumed that I missed a deer.  The coyotes ended up with that one.  Now I assume that every shot is a hit until PROVEN otherwise.  That is why I continued to fire at that deer, as long as he remained on his feet and gave me clear, safe shots.  Had it not been for that "hard lesson" about 10 years prior, he would have escaped cleanly.    There was only one hole and one bullet in him.  Those misses are applicable to this thread, because they were the farthest shots that I have ever taken at a deer. The range was about 300 yards (for all three of the shots).   I had a very good rest for my first and last shot, but the second one was rushed and taken offhand.  That first miss has caused me to change tactics a bit.  After returning to the scene several times, I am almost certain that it was caused by a branch strike.  That rifle has always held under a 4" group on the range at that distance.   Now I am more inclined to agree with G-man a bit, and keep my hunts to areas where shots less than 100 yards are the norm.   I might consider a 300 yard shot again some day, but only if it was across an open field, or somewhere else where there was no chance of a branch deflection.         

Edited April 21, 2018 by wolc123

[goosifer]

Hunting is a lot like lovemaking. Some are better at it than others, different people use different techniques and implements, but in the end, we are all aiming for the same thing.

[Doewhacker]

What about putting sponges in sausage casings with bacon grease rubbed on it to kill coyotes what is that teaching the next generation of hunters? 

 

I dont give a rats patio how far away someone kills something or any of the other scenarios you put up. Who the heck are you to pass judgement? 

Go kick rocks. 

[Lawdwaz]

12 minutes ago, goosifer said:

Hunting is a lot like lovemaking. Some are better at it than others, different people use different techniques and implements, but in the end, we are all aiming for the same thing.

And how does eating venison relate to......oh, wait.  Never mind I see what you're saying.

You are one smart cookie goose!

[Steve D]

2 hours ago, G-Man said:

Is it really hunting taking long shots? Or is it target shooting? 

As a rule I am not a long range shooter but have made two long shots on deer in all of my years of hunting. One was 150 yds. with a shotgun and the other over 200 with a rifle. I personally shoot with the intention of making a harvest and if I don't think the shot is possible I do not make the shot whether it is 200 yds. or 50. That being said I also practice at those ranges to see if I can do it if the time comes. I have let a lot pass at close yardages because the confidence was just not there.

I will not shoot beyond my range especially with a bow and seldom shoot beyond  75-100 yds. with a gun. So for me it is hunting and not target shooting. My target shooting is done at a target and would never consider shooting at game that I didn't think I had a chance to get.

For me the closer the better.

[DirtTime]

26 minutes ago, goosifer said:

Hunting is a lot like lovemaking. Some are better at it than others, different people use different techniques and implements, but in the end, we are all aiming for the same thing.

This is a good analogy. But......WTF! For long range shots are you jumping off the dresser?

[rob-c]

58 minutes ago, goosifer said:

Hunting is a lot like lovemaking. Some are better at it than others, different people use different techniques and implements, but in the end, we are all aiming for the same thing.

When your packing s snubnose revolver, a double tap is always a good thing 

Edited April 22, 2018 by rob-c

[mowin]

1 hour ago, Doewhacker said:

What about putting sponges in sausage casings with bacon grease rubbed on it to kill coyotes what is that teaching the next generation of hunters? 

 

I dont give a rats patio how far away someone kills something or any of the other scenarios you put up. Who the heck are you to pass judgement? 

Go kick rocks. 

Why would you interject that thread into this one?  Let it go.  Move on. 

[philoshop]

I've killed woodchucks at 10 feet with a bow, 287 yards with a pistol, and well over 400 yards with a rifle. Different skill-sets to be sure, but it was all hunting.

[BizCT]

I have had this discussion with a few of my friends. Is it really hunting taking long shots? Or is it target shooting? 

Perhaps is the bowhunter in me but anything over 100 yards for deer or big game is target shooting to me. The game doesn't know your there and you really dont need to be concealed that well . Under 30 yards is hunting to me ..it takes some skill ability and patients to let game get that close or closer..

shooting off a rest at an animal feeding 200 yards isn't to me. Though shooting skill may take precedence on long shots 300 yards plus to me I might as well be shooting a clanger  on the range off the bench. 

Same with turkey it takes some skill to get a bird 10 yards or so but the push is for tighter patterns and longer shots... 

Are we teaching .hunting skills or shooting skills or just using technology.  ?

 

Does game know you are in a tree?

 

Under 30yds from the ground or tree?

 

I’d say a 72yd spot & stalk bow kill takes way more huntings skills than a 12yd bow kill from a tree stand where the the animal has no clue you are there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[G-Man]

4 hours ago, Rob... said:

This is a loaded question.

Is it hunting if you are using 50 trail cams and food plots? IMO, no, it's not, but that's just my opinion.

 

Let me return your question with another question.

All the hunters who head out west to hunk Elk, Muleys, Sheep and take them at 200+ ( especially the DIY hunters ) yards aren't hunters?

You can take elk muledeer and pronghorn and sheep under 50 yards . Personally shooting g something so far away to me is target practice the skill is shooting imo. Not hunting.

[G-Man]

4 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

 

Does game know you are in a tree?

 

Under 30yds from the ground or tree?

 

I’d say a 72yd spot & stalk bow kill takes way more huntings skills than a 12yd bow kill from a tree stand where the the animal has no clue you are there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree. I have killed all my biggest game from the ground. 

[G-Man]

3 hours ago, Doewhacker said:

What about putting sponges in sausage casings with bacon grease rubbed on it to kill coyotes what is that teaching the next generation of hunters? 

 

I dont give a rats patio how far away someone kills something or any of the other scenarios you put up. Who the heck are you to pass judgement? 

Go kick rocks. 

It teaches other ways to kill. I dont pass judgement obviously you do.. ever use a gorget?

[Jeremy K]

16 minutes ago, G-Man said:

You can take elk muledeer and pronghorn and sheep under 50 yards . Personally shooting g something so far away to me is target practice the skill is shooting imo. Not hunting.

I don't consider gun season as hunting season and more killing season.

[grampy]

Using a different analogy, if someone catches a fish by trolling a lure 100 feet behind a boat. And someone else catches a fish by dropping a lure down a hole drilled in the ice. Are not both considered fishing? Both anglers were successful. Both were enjoying fishing in their own way. Legally. 

Applying this fishing analogy to hunting, is very easy. 

Do it anyway that makes you happy. If it's legal.

Things sure would be boring if we all did everything the same way. Embrace what makes you different in hunting. Respect the different ways, another goes about doing "The Same Thing".

 

[jjb4900]

I would think if you told someone who spent 10 days on a grueling Mountain Goat or Bighorn Sheep hunt and kills one on the last day at 300 yards that they weren’t really hunting, they might disagree.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Anyone can kill a deer with a high powered rifle and most any distance. Does not take much" Hunting" to do that.  If the masses had to hunt with short range weapons they would quit.

[Doewhacker]

6 hours ago, mowin said:

Why would you interject that thread into this one?  Let it go.  Move on. 

Why? Because it’s relevant and so ironic that a guy that has no problem using such a lowly careless method feels he has a right to judge anything hunting related. 

Weren’t you the guy who posted about that thread in other threads?