View Full Version : bowhunter softies
seen a couple of interesting threads on people NOT shooting at game and wonder where people draw the line. I will preface this with saying I am new to archery but have hunted with a gun before.
Personally I would shoot rabbits, and anything feral. Not interested in shooting roos - they are just too damn stupid. Happy to shoot goats, but find the idea of shooting dear not pleasant. Minimal damage compared to goats and both nice to look at running wild and bordering on too stupid to bother with.
Recently in the US I was driving to the Grand Canyon on the quieter side from tourists. There were white tailed deer everywhere and even some elk. On the way in I spotted 30 whitetail just eating along the verge - and it is not like the rest of the park there isn't lush even in summer. I couldn't believe how unconcerned they were. A friend in the car with me related a story from when he taught martial arts in a park. Two teenagers in full camo came to see what he was doing and related they were off into the forested area. It was early evening and so my friend asked me what they were doing in camo. The answer was "deer slapping"!! Sure enough nearly two hours later they came back out of the forest with one holding his ribs - apparently they managed to slap a few (as they USUALLY did!) but one buck kicked back! It was then that I started to think that whitetail deer are too stupid to bother with hunting them.
Interested to hear where other people drawing the line in the sand.....
frogman
27-03-05, 12:35 AM
I would like to see some one slap a red deer on the arse.Ed i think you need to go on a deer hunt and see how stupid they really areand bordering on too stupid to bother :roll: :roll: :roll:
outback preditor
27-03-05, 12:46 AM
i second that frog, also i was under the impression that the white tail wass among the hardest deer spec to hunt. :roll:
pedro
I.ve spent a bit of time in the States and I have seen deer every where, even in peoples backyards in town and the whitetails are very quiet but I was told come hunting season and their whole outlook towards humans compelety changes, I suppose that is what happens after generations of hunting and closed seasons...Glenn...
jindydiver
27-03-05, 09:22 AM
In the US there are lots of parks where the deer are protected and are very tame, they get that way from all the handouts the campers and picnickers give them. They should not be confused with wild deer. If you went to a forest where deer are hunted you wouldn«ÉŸt see them.
If you really do hold the contempt for deer that your post suggests then I doubt you will ever be able to learn enough to bowhunt deer in Australia.
Bowhunting is about fair chase, and not about the deer you see in a park or someone«ÉŸs backyard.
How about you go off and have a go and then when you have learned a bit you can come back and give us your opinions.
This post really sounds like a wind up I think.
Try and touch a farmed red stag on the arse, he'll mow u down faster than a brahman bull!
outback preditor
27-03-05, 09:52 PM
and thats fast, beleive me! :roll:
WHY CAN'T I SEE ANY POSTS IN HERE PAST JINDY?????
ricochet
27-03-05, 11:45 PM
This post really sounds like a wind up I think.
Me thinks the same here,
Rick
Dont think anyone really took this post seriously..... come on how could you???? Deer, stupid.......... :shock: :shock:
Not winding people up at all, and I hold no contempt for deer - they are cute in their own way. The intelligence of the animal just changes the challenge as far as I am concerned. Pigs and goats are pretty smart and are a total nuisance in Australia.
I might try hunting some deer at some stage but think my priorities will be on the more destructive ferals - I could be wrong on that too but pigs look better dead and deer look better alive to me. It is just that, some people don't like to shoot dogs/dingos or brumbies.
LOL Pedro, Brahmans rn't real friendly at times r they.
Ed if u r serious, no disrespect intended but u obviously havn't hunted any deer. Have a crack at it and then see what u think. I can understand if u would prefer not to shoot 1, pretty they r, stupid they R not!
jindydiver
28-03-05, 02:29 PM
I have no idea what the relative intelligences of the different species are, or how in fact you could measure it, but one thing I know for sure is that deer are many times more aware of what is going on in their patch and that alone makes them a very worthwhile challenge for a hunter with a bow.
You can make any excuse you want for not hunting them, but to say it is because they aren«ÉŸt a great enough challenge for you is a bit rich.
Sorry Ed no disrespect intended.
Deer are just about the most difficult species to hunt with a bow. Thier hearing, sense of smell and general alertness is far superior to that of the goat or pig.
I agree that they are a much more asthetic animal and perhaps have less impact on the enviroment, but for most bowhunters they are regarded as one of the ultimate bowhunting prizes because they are such a test of the hunters skill.
My advice mate...go hunt one...or at least TRY...THEN come back and post what you think...before doing that I think posting on uneducated and what seem to be uninformed experiences will be a waste of time...
Mate just get out and do it, it's the best answer you'll ever get to your question! :D and you'll have fun doing it! :P
Luke ;)
I think that any game animal can look dumb when they are killed from outside of their danger zone. All animals seem have a danger zone around them as when the hunter stalks up inside this zone the game seem to be more aware of their surroundings. Deer it could be 40 meters and pigs it could be 15 meters. Only generalizing here and I am only talking about Aussie game now as I don't think we can compare our game with game in the USA but it doesen't take much skill to stalk into 30 meters and shoot a pig but it would take a lot more skill by the hunter to get into 30 meters to shoot a deer.
I remember reading once about a rifle hunter and his hard stalk on a chital deer and how every thing had to be in his favour to allow him to get into 100 meters to make a shot on his stag. Any ****** can get to within 100 meters of a stag on most stalks but try and close that gap to 50 meters and then 25 meters and closer and see how huch harder the game gets and how much more alert the animal becomes. When you start taking game at long range they are all pretty dumb and only become target pratice for the main...Glenn...
i used to be a rifle shooter and came to the relization that anything that comes within 250m of me was gone. Not very sporting, on my recent chital hunt i saw at least 100 deer all of which i could have easily been taken with the rifle
I have seen so many good red deer and chital stags I could have shot over the years with a rifle no worries at all, but I wonder how many of those stags I would have shot if I had decided I would not shoot until I was under 25 meters, not many I would imagine...Glenn...
I might very well have a go at hunting some down. I respect the idea of greater skill needed to get them due to better sense of smell and hearing than goats or pigs, so maybe they will be more of a challenge than I thought. That doesn't mean that I may also kill them too though.
The subject of deer was just an example from me personally, of what I am not sure I would like to kill as a bowhunter. The question I put up was where do people draw the line for themselves, is it a dingo pup? a spirited brumby? or a suckling pig? Most of us have a line somewhere of some kind of animal we don't like to hunt or some age etc. I know an ex SAS guy who won't kill yabbies if he has more than one sausage left in the fridge (nor anything else really). I wanted examples of where other people have decided not to take the shot, and why.
Not getting all soft either (despite the thread title) as I am currently planning a pig hunt for later in the year.
Back in the early eighties I was shown over a paddock at Nanango where I could hunt red deer, we came across a group of hinds on the way out. I became well aquainted with this group of hinds and yearlings and over the next four years I saw them a lot, especially after the roar and fawning time. Plenty of times I could have shot one of these deer with my longbow but I could never do it, I would have had no problems shooting a hind somewhere else but I couldn't do it in that area. I have walked away from pigs and goats as well....Glenn...
Great post at top of page Glenn.
Thanks Pitty. No Coach, once I was up on a mob of pigs for so long, well over an hour as the conditions stayed in my favour, they hardly moved at all in that time and it was really intresting to see the different personalities that ech pig seemed to have, some were very agressive towards the other pigs and some were tolerant and others were very submissive almost whipy, and one of the sows came over towards me and layed down less than 10 meters and gave her piglets a feed. When a shot on the pig I wanted did present itself it just felt at that time to kill one would have taken away from That particular stalk. Mind you though I wasn't going all fuzzy as I left those pigs feeding and shot another pig with my selfbow from a different mob only a couple of hundred meters away...Glenn...
i had a group of 5 chital hinds under me in a tree stand for approx 4 min before they moved on i chose not to take one as i tend not to shoot hinds as they are our breeders
Glenn,
Some very good posts. I once had a great stalk on a hare, took me 45 mins stalking it in an open paddock. Every time it would look down I would take half a step then freeze.
I managed to get to within 10 metres, but instead of taking the shot I stood there right next too it emjoying being able to observe the creature. Just didnt need to shoot it to feel that was a successful hunt.
outback preditor
31-03-05, 10:34 PM
you fellas are soft!
if it bleeds kill it
if it moves kill it
if it doesn't move, kick it till it does. :wink:
just jokin.
Bowmancam
01-04-05, 04:10 PM
A couple of years ago i stalked a mob of goats and got in a great position behind a rock and waited as they fed towards me. I was amazed when they fed right to me and 2 kids even jumped on the rock i was hiding behind. They walk up the 2 metre rock , right up to my face and were no further than 30cm from my face. While they were trying to figure me out they were tilting their heads side to side and were just too funny, i couldnt help it and just burst out laughing :lol: , well mummy goat heard me and came to investigate and also got within 1 metre. She sat there for about a minute but then seemed to realise i was no threat and hadn't harmed her kids and carried on feeding.Even when i stood up they failed to think i was a threat so i pulled out my camera and got some cool close up shots. 1 young billy in the mob had realy long black hair that was actualy a deep red when the sun hit. I was looking forward to the upcoming years as he grew but he wasn't going to make it..... when i left them i did my best to scare them as i didnt want them to get complacent around humans.
The next day 2 of my hunting group ( rifle shooters) came back to camp saying they 'cleaned up ' on the goats. I was hoping my goats would still be ok but i unfortunately found the whole mob,kids included, dead. I was heart broken. These 2 kids that cracked me up he day before were now dead, so was mum and so was 'blackey long hair' .... When i expressed how upset i was i copped it. "They're all feral mate and they weren't your goats" .. they were right but why did it feel so wrong.
I guess i am a softy, and i wouldnt change that for anything!
Cheers , Cam
Its good to hear, almost as good as the post we had on rituals after taking an animal. Maybee we should revive that thread... I think Warlocke started it?
outback preditor
01-04-05, 11:50 PM
yeh i got one too. it usally consists of a "yehah" the i run across and hop around it going "woo woo woo woo" like and an indian doing a rain dance. :lol:
Warlocke
02-04-05, 11:50 AM
Preditor,
Would love to catch that one on video.
Probably see it on channel Nine at 6.30 . :lol:
and bordering on too stupid to bother with. :D :D
had that said about me, once or twice, :D first time I've seen it applied to wild deer in Australia :D
Bet you $50 bucks you change your mind after hunting some bucks :D
outback preditor
02-04-05, 02:54 PM
yeh woody i reckon i would risk a 1000 on that one.
warlok, what a bloke will dfo for a bit of fame.
ricochet
02-04-05, 07:20 PM
yeh i got one too. it usally consists of a "yehah" the i run across and hop around it going "woo woo woo woo" like and an indian doing a rain dance.
**So pedro you are to blame for the drought in Western NSW over the past few years,did not get any game to do your Indian rain dance, :lol: :lol: or did you just forget to "woo woo woo woo" when you got your game :lol: :lol:
Rick
outback preditor
02-04-05, 09:27 PM
:lol: good one.
Some really top posts fellas, the hare one was tops, it just doesn't feel right sometimes and the post regarding the kid goats, well there is no shame in being upset over what happened with your companions. I really didn't think any one had respect for their game these days until I visited this site. Really good stuff. Something to be proud off.
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