Thread: Taking the Hunt out of Hunting.

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

people are relatively cash rich and definitely time poor nowadays. why would you bush stalk when longer shots are more likely to get you some meat? My dad remembers in the 70's just quitting his job. backpacking around and then just walking into a new job easy as. Universities have minimum attendance percentages otherwise you get kicked out etc etc.

Good luck doing that these days!

Yeah I agree it certainly seems to be that way for alot of hunters and maybe that's why the trend is heading in that direction.
I could shoot any number of deer on a private station i have access to for the last 5 years but I have resisted so far as I don't want to or need to shoot deer that way.
I'm lucky in that I have the time and ability to keep myself and others in meat without having to go the easier option.
I appreciate that many others don't so whatever gets them venison on the table the quickest and possibly cheapest then I could see why that would be their preferred options.

I just about wet my pants the other day, a good mate has a youtube channel and I generally like what he does. But in his latest he was shooting deer at enormous distances, all a long way uphill. It was superb marksmanship, but poor "huntsmanship" as there were certainly heaps of animals a lot closer and easier to retrieve! They just had to be spotted. Talk about doing things the hard way.

Guess Id better have my say on this …

First, I dont like reading stories ( nor videos) about other people hunting - just makes me jealous I’m not out there doing it every day myself.

Second, the great thing about hunting is the wide variety of styles available: farmland, night shooting, roadend w day hunts, fly in, walk in, expedition, open country, bush, dogs. Theres a lot more available for the very old, the young, the Y chromosome challenged, the rich and the poor. The only ones truly disadvantaged now are beneficiaries due to having so little money, those lacking in common sense and those unable to negotiate form filling hurdles to a firearms licence.

Third “harvest” is definitely a euphemism. Its what you do to collect vegeatables that are just pleading with you to come and harvest them before they go to seed. “Hunting” is an instinctive behaviour of predator species comprising patrolling, searching, prey detection , , often stalking, permanent fatal killing of an uncooperative animal, then retrieval of food to one’s home and whanau. We can see this close at hand with pet cats. “Harvest” could apply to popping out to the back paddock and shooting a fallow when the freezer is getting low, which has limited appeal in NZ but we all wish we had the opportunity.

We are blessed with an abundance of animals, or so I keep reading, so hunting ethics can be personal as long as there is a clean kill. To my mind, that matters. As for what you call what we do, I couldn't care less. I say "I've shot....". There is no great thought or meaning behind it, just the words that tend to come out my mouth.

Interestingly very few other than hard core dedicated jump shooters say they "hunt" ducks...you go duck shooting. On farmland particularly if shot from wagon is harvesting for me.you go knowing high percentage chance you will succeed. The above veges from garden isn't bad eggzample at all. And some farmland hunting/ harvesting is pretty much like that. Public land block I hunt,the locals plant crop next to it and wander out with spotlight,then go einy,meany,mint,mo..... Don't get that option over the boundary lol

Earlier I used to watch a lot of hunting videos and subscribed to many YouTube hunting channels as well, but I find myself watching them less and less.
Specially American ones where they often have names on all their bucks and way to often shoot crap shots, no matter if it is with bows or guns.
Calling it a great shot when they liver and/or gut shoot the animal and wait for many hours before they try to find their deer...
In my opinion has the American hunting industry ruined a lot when it comes to hunting.

When I hunt and kill an animal I either say that I shot it or I killed it.
To me using the word "harvest" feels extremely unnatural.

I am a single father of two teenagers and I clearly experience how hard it is to make them much interested in hunting.
It becomes to slow and boring to them.
They are used to instant results and non stop action from games and all sorts of other online activities.
My son that is very soon 19 has taken the mandatory hunting course and exam to be allowed to hunt here, but he is not very eager.
My daughter that is very soon 16 does want to take the course and exam as well and even if she is more eager than her brother, am I rather doubtful that she will be very passionate about hunting.
There is way to much that competes with it these days.
Specially because it has become hard and expensive to get access to good hunting these days.
It is extremely different from when I started to hunt many years ago.
Then I easily got access to good to great hunting for little to no money, but now it has become fashionable among city people with much money to go hunting and then brag about it in office meetings and while having a coffee break.
Driving up the prices and reducing the access a LOT.

I have never heard anyone in New Zealand use the word "harvest" for hunting.

Some like to hunt, some like to shoot, some like to kill. There's even a Youtube channel called The Harvesters.
Maybe the hunger to hunt, shoot or kill is rooted deep in our DNA and depending on your variant depends which way you sway..
For myself the hunt is what spins my wheels, not the shot or the kill. I acknowledge its different for everyone.

Ive shot deer on farmland/paddocks/spotlighting/thermal etc and for the first few times it was ok, but after that I felt well nothing really. All a bit ho hum and felt more like work or a chore rather than any great accomplishment or satisfaction.
Hard to explain really. Still shooting and killing deer, yet oddly when I'm offered the chance to hunt this way, I almost always inevitably say no.
Yet Ive spoken to plenty who hate the bush stalking. For them it was hard work and a chore and would relish the chance to shoot farm/paddock or thermal deer. To me this seems to becoming the more popular option given the choice.

Maybe the DNA gene that makes us hunter/gathers is stronger/weaker maybe different strains who knows.
Maybe those that take the hunt out of hunting are simply trying to achieve the goal of venison on the table the most efficient way currently possible and that is how they get their satisfaction.
Its not wrong, just different.
The sense of satisfaction and accomplishment for how they choose to do it could well be exactly the same as for how I choose to do it. Same end result, different paths chosen. Choice is great.
Still not resubscribing though lol
I agree about the comment above, no reading of a book or magazine or watching a Youtube video can replicate being outdoors and doing it ourselves, however its not a bad way to pass some time while having breakfast and a morning coffee or half hour reading in bed before lights out.

I enjoy most forms of hunting.

I love the adventure of remote places and being alone.

I love the skill of getting close to an animal in the bush or similar environment and knowing you have achieved the upper hand.

I love a well placed shot at a reasonable distance.

I love the patience of sitting on a hill up a back paddock somewhere.

I appreciate the hard fought for animals and generally the hard work.

And they in turn make me appreciate the odd easy one too.

The strength of that hunting instinct seems to vary a lot between individuals. As does an instinct for gardening but gardening is more common. Perhaps genes for instinctive hunting have been negatively selected in some regions like England where it was the preserve of a ruling class and common folk who hunted the King’s deer were hung drawn and quarterd over many generations. The more individualistic and the determined poachers left their descendents in the colonies.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

The strength of that hunting instinct seems to vary a lot between individuals. As does an instinct for gardening but gardening is more common. Perhaps genes for instinctive hunting have been negatively selected in some regions like England where it was the preserve of a ruling class and common folk who hunted the King’s deer were hung drawn and quarterd over many generations. The more individualistic and the determined poachers left their descendents in the colonies.

I think you've been reading too many Robin Hood books, British people have hunted both at home and on every continent for hundreds of years - how do you think they got to have the world's best gunmakers in the late 19th century?

Originally Posted by Tentman

I think you've been reading too many Robin Hood books, British people have hunted both at home and on every continent for hundreds of years - how do you think they got to have the world's best gunmakers in the late 19th century?

yes agree tentman if I had been poor in England years ago I likely would have been a very skilled poacher

For my part a rifle in hand tells me to turn off the beaten track and explore. Shooting an animal is secondary but meat in the freezer is great.

Originally Posted by Tentman

For my part a rifle in hand tells me to turn off the beaten track and explore. Shooting an animal is secondary but meat in the freezer is great.

Hunting is for me a bit different.
I love being out in the nature and the wilderness and be away from cities, towns and a lot of people.
It is in the nature I belong.
But I hunt to kill.
Shooting an animal when I hunt is my primary goal.
Being in the nature is secondary.
Then the meat I get from the kill to eat comes after that and some nice antlers or horns are only a nice bonus.

I would love to live a life where I could be out in nature all the time and live of what I shoot and fish, with a fine woman enjoying the same by my side.
Sadly that life is extremely hard to find/get these days and finding a woman that wants to share it with you is even harder.
She is a unicorn in an ocean of horses.
Specially because I have a hard time thinking women around my own age(57) or a bit younger are attractive

Originally Posted by Bagheera

The strength of that hunting instinct seems to vary a lot between individuals. As does an instinct for gardening but gardening is more common. Perhaps genes for instinctive hunting have been negatively selected in some regions like England where it was the preserve of a ruling class and common folk who hunted the King’s deer were hung drawn and quarterd over many generations. The more individualistic and the determined poachers left their descendents in the colonies.

Well the all beasts of the local Forests and Chase are now taken by my hand alone, guess that makes me the noble of the land