A Winter (Bored) Question

[Phil]

This takes a while to get to the actual question but bear with me. Not only that but it isn't very controversial.

Re-reading many Jack O'Conner stories got me thinking again. Especially the story about predators in which he shoots a hawk:eek:. If I understand correctly - now illegal in all 50 states. I too, was raised in the era where the only good predator was a dead predator and I still support predator control in spite of the fact that I haven't shot a hawk or owl in over 50 years. However, Yes, I have shot a few predatory birds back in my early youth (say the late 40s).

So life (and hunting and Alaska) changes. For a while we change with it. Then, at some point (at least for me) we stop changing. It now appears that all the music I really like has the work "classic" in front of it - like Classic Rock or Classic Country & Western.

So here are my questions:

1. How many years have you been hunting?

2. Have you stopped changing and, if so, where did you stop?

For some of my older (now dead) friends - it was between iron sights and fixed power scopes.

And I will answer those questions so others can do the same (if they wish).

1. I have hunted for 60+ years.

2. I have sort of stopped. Rifles, optics, & electronics - I'm still open to new ideas. Same for hunting ethics (well, that is sort of controversial). For clothing? I've stopped somewhere between GoreTex (and I know it has some serious limitations in Alaska) and scentloc. I don't, and don't plan on ever owning any scentloc clothing. IMO, catalogs have become so confusing I can't understand anything about the myriad of options in clothing, boots, etc.

So there you have it - at least for me. How about you??

Phil Stewart

[AKmud]

Well....I'm 38 years old and bagged my first big game (nice double shovel caribou) at 13 so I guess 25 years.

Lately I find myself much more into "meat" hunting since I have 4 little rug rats running around. I am moving back into archery hunting since I took my first moose with a bow this last year and re-kindled my interest. My father in law and I are going to target black bear this spring with the bows since we both have taken a few with a rifle.

The "change" is interesting....I too am enjoying the "classic" music I grew up with as well (mainly '70s country/bluegrass and soft rock).

Good thread!

[BRWNBR]

Shot my first big game at 10 yr old, so 21 years.....

No haven't stopped changing yet....

I'm varible power scope guy, iron back ups. enjoy plinkin' with irons though.

[Brian M]

Shot my first big game at 10 (both a ewe and a bull caribou that fall), so 20 years of hunting for me.

I can't say that I've stopped changing, but I do find myself rolling my eyes at many newer gadgets. I don't see a need for scent lock clothing, either, nor do I need a laser rangefinder for hunting with a rifle. That being said, I do have a new compound bow with the latest technology, an alpacka raft that wasn't around 5 years ago, and I sure do appreciate my feather-light gear that holds up in the stiffest storm. Generally speaking, I buy new gear when it wears out, not when the latest and greatest shows up on the showroom floor.

[muskeg]

changes

I have been at it for over 60 years. Got pics to prove it ..... first one is Aunt Lois giving me my first gun lesson in Oklahoma. Second one is my Brother holding up for a ride on a big Lake Tahoe Blackie.

Seen lots of changes and I'm still picking up on the current action. Just had my 45/70 worked on not long ago ... Kevlar stock and fiber optic front sight ... new technology is great.

[hodgeman]

Maybe I'm regressing?

I've been at it for about 25 years or so with a couple of hiatuses in the middle for whatever reason or another.

I find that I'm still changing but rather I'm going backwards... Going back to wool/ canvas clothes, fixed power scopes, iron sights. I guess that all the technology applied to hunting has sort of triggered a gag reflex of sorts and I'm going the other way... I find I really enjoy more "traditional" hunting although that term is probably pretty meaningless as I'm comfortable stuck somewhere between the advent of variable power scopes and the demise muzzleloaders. I'm making an effort to simplify my outdoors endeavors.

Good post and an intriguing topic by the way...

[Justin]

Been hunting for 19 years, 15 in the AK. First rifle I had was iron sights, w/ a fixed power scope on it. I never had a range finder, nor a GPS, or a digital camera in the early years. For me one of the greatest advancements in technology is the Sat phone! I remember "DAYS" waiting near the drop off point to be picked up. I love the fact that with a quick call I know if I need to break camp down or I have another day to play! I agree that Cabelas has a wide range of clothing & boots! But I like to look & see what they have. Good bathroom reading. The new SITKA stuff is nice, but I feel it is over priced. To be ownest most of my base layers come from REI. My low land big game rifle has iron sights still, but w/ a quick release scope. Have had the same old ATV now for 10 years. It goes forward & back, just doesn't have the 800cc motor w/ power steering or the BLING BLING rims! As for the music I will listen to new stuff, but what I grew up with is all CLASSIC! I think I am still changing, adapting, & willing to try something new if it works better, makes life easier, is lighter, & resonably priced for my wallet. I hope when I hit 60 my grandkids do not look @ me like I walked out of a time warp.

[CGSwimmer25]

I have been hunting for 13 years, mainly on the East Coast. My biggest change was having to put all my old deer hunting gear in a storage tote in the garage and buy "Alaska" gear. It sure is a huge difference going from flat cornfields and hardwoods to these beautiful mountains. While I dont have nearly as much experience as some of you guys, one big change I have seen over the years in the hunting industry is the advertising on different hunting shows on outdoor networks. I used to get really excited waiting for the new seasons of monster bucks or mossy oak hunting etc. Now I almost refuse to watch them because even while they are hunting they are pulling out gear and trying to sell products. Realtree even has their own line of hunting food now! Same beef patties or water bottles that are in stores but sold for more because they have camo packaging! Pretty rediculous if you ask me.

[strangerinastrangeland]

Since I can remember, as a child with my grandpa,who had the time, later with my mom more than my dad,(workaholic) and almost any day possible with my step dad,that hunting fool, then on my own since I moved out at 16.
Been at it stedy as either my fulltime "work" or when I catch a seasonal job(mostly mining, 90 day season) then as a major supplemnet, but its been 9 years since I worked a summer in a mine.
Im 39.

[dandeo2003]

only change when needed

I started hunting in Michigan when I was 11, so that would be 26 yrs. Archery whitetail, rabbits, pheasants, doves, squirrels. I have hunted in Michigan, North Carolina, Washington state, and now Alaska. The only changes have been those needed to hunt in the respective areas and for available game. I have purchased gear for needs not wants.

[smallmonzter]

De-evolution

I've been hunting in one capacity or another since I started shooting chipmunks when they popped their heads out of their holes when I got my first El Gamo pellet rifle for my sixth birthday. So I guess that means (as of tomorrow) I will have been hunting for 22 years. Holy @#$!!! I never quantified that number. It seems like everytime I got out I am starting all over again... Have I stopped changing? Hmm...No. But I think I have changed in the opposite direction for the majority of my endeavours. Instead of following the trends in things like clothing (Prima-loft, Gore Tex etc) I have continued to change but backwards. I bought a complete outer wool set this year and a down jacket. They worked for my dad, his dad and my great grandpa (who I had the priviledge of knowing until I was eight). The best coverup scent is simple: be in the woods long enough and you will smell like the woods. So yeah, I suppose I continue to change, I think we all do, perhaps only subtly be we all do. Just another Michiganders ramblings....

[stid2677]

I was raised by my mother in a single parent home. We lived in southern Florida and most of my family were poor and made their living by commercial fishing. As a young child I found myself mostly unsupervised roaming the cane fields and canals that surrounded my home. I had no father or mentor to get me into hunting, however I always seemed to have had the desire to pursue game. Started by chasing swamp rabbits, cottontails with slingshots. After a summer of mowing yards in the Florida heat, I finally had the money to buy an old Ted Williams sears shotgun. With my new scattergun I added dove, quail and other small game to our table fare.

At 19 I joined the Army and found myself stationed at Fort Polk. While there I met Rich, we became friends. Rich was an accomplished deer hunter and was kind enough to share his craft with me. Rich was a bowhunter, so I learned to hunt whitetails using only my bow. For the next 18 years I chased whitetails all over the southern states. During the early years I struggled with being successful, having many failures that almost made me want to quit. As I matured as both a man and bowhunter, I started to hone my skills and started seeing and taking deer each season. I progressed as most hunters do, started by taking any legal deer to being obsessed by limiting out and then to the trophy hunter phase. I learned that most times you have to let a few pass to have opportunity at a mature animal.

At 45yo now I’ve been hunting for 30+ years now and still at it. I find that these days that I hunt for different reasons. I cherish just being out in the great outdoors, I love to be up at daylight and witness the start of the day, full of anticipation of what the day will bring. As I get more seasons behind me than I have ahead, I find that I’m not as quick to pull the trigger as I once was. I still enjoy both the hunt and the kill, I have just became more selective and no longer define a successful hunt as one in which I harvest game. I have come to find great joy in helping others discover hunting and the outdoors, to me my finest hunting memories are the hunts and first kills that I have shared with my wife. I can remember how proud I was of my first deer, a small doe that maybe weighed 45lbs. That is how I’ve changed, I now hunt harder for others than I do for myself. I’m happy to just be in the field and share a campfire with like minded folks. As long as I bring home most of my gear and make it home safe I had a successful hunt.

Steve

[Wyo2AK]

Good thread, Phil. Interesting to think about.

Let’s see – I’m 26 now, so I started hunting around 20 years ago – chasing ground squirrels and the occasional rabbit with my bow or trusty Red Rider BB gun. Stepped up to a 22 and 20 gauge around 8 or 9 yrs old. Started hunting big game as soon as they’d let me (14 at the time).

As far as change – typically I’m the type of guy who sticks with something if it works when it comes to gear. Been shooting the same rifle (model 700 30/06) and shotguns (model 870s in 12 & 20) that I started with a decade plus ago. Had to upsize my bow a couple of times as I’ve got bigger, but that’s been constant now for about 7 years, although I will probably go to a lighter bow one of these days, especially if I draw a sheep tag. Mostly I just added to gear over the years as necessary (spotting scope, GPS, duck decoys, waders, daypack, new boots, etc), got the best quality I could afford, and just made due from then on out.

What I consider “success” has definitely changed. Growing up I killed anything and everything I could – and although I ate pretty much everything (my poor parents cooked so many pine squirrels) – I’m glad to say that I’ve moved beyond that. I went through the need to fill every tag, and now feel I’m in a good place where I can be happy if I get a trophy animal, happy if I put meat in the freezer, and happy if I come home empty handed. As Steve said above, just getting home in one piece from an outing is a success in my book.

The biggest changes have been “forced” upon me since moving to Alaska. Change in clothes to synthetics from cotton. (The wool and Carhartts got to stay.) Never been impressed with scentlok – just hunt smart and stay down wind. Don’t cook bacon in my hunting duds. Some of the new stuff is nice, and as I have to upgrade/add to my gear, it’s nice to have options. Goretex has had its uses. I finally tossed out the old K-mart pack frame (it hauled a lot of meat in its day) and got something with the capacity for a multiday backpack hunt. That said, I think a lot of it has gotten way out of hand, especially the “new” gear that’s just there to make a buck. I can’t hardly stand hunting shows and magazines anymore – just too commercial.

The logistics of hunting and the access issues have been the biggest changes I’ve had to come to terms with. I came from a situation where I had it better than maybe I ever understood as far as easy opportunity. Every year I’d hunt elk, mule deer, pronghorn, predators, ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, grouse, turkeys, rabbits – and I’d hunt them all within an hour or two driving time from my house. AK has been an eye opener and a bit overwhelming to say the least. But I’m adjusting.

This is the oldest hunting picture of myself I could round up. I’m happy to say that my “gear” has changed a bit since then, although the moonboots were pretty sweet.

[Phil]

End

Well, it looks like we are about to the end of this thread.

The large majority of the respondents are in their 30s. Very few of us "old geezers" (actually 2 of us).

No one has stopped changing and yet I see some regression toward the "old ways" of doing things.

It has been intereting for me to read all of the responses - THANKS.

Phil

ps. To WYO - Is that picture someplace near Centennial??

[TWB]

Ive been stompin around the woods since I was a kid but the first opportunity for big game didn't come til I was 20, took a 58" bull out on the Koyukuk with my dad. More weekend whittier trips than anythin else. I like the new tech these days. Alows me to be somewhat in shape and carry less weight with the same results.

I'm almost 30, and between then and now I became a dad, been away from woods and water but it's pickin up. Got a permit this year and have high hopes.