Where is this ship headed?

[LaLongbeard]

...Now, what was the original post about again?....   

If there was a ship load of deer, and EHD broke out, what was the cause and affect?  And what role did the Drury's play?

I still don't see how Fred Bear was envolved in the cover up? I think it's fake news

[tha bugman]

Page 108 in The Old Pro Turkey Hunter needs to be read by every hunter....

[idratherb]

 

[LaLongbeard]

 

I think your  eating popcorn emoji is stuck lol or maybe it's your go-to response for every post

[guesswho]

...Now, what was the original post about again?....   

If there was a ship load of deer, and EHD broke out, what was the cause and affect?  And what role did the Drury's play?

I still don't see how Fred Bear was envolved in the cover up? I think it's fake news

Wouldn't surprise me if the gubment was involved in his death for his part in all of this.

[SteelerFan]

Whew... 7 pages and now I'm tired. Lol

Fun topic of discussion. I think it's hard to pump the brakes on modern technology the way we all would like to, or agree to.

Are we losing "skills and effort required to become good hunters by substituting technology"... maybe, maybe not. When I'm hunting with my 25 year old son, I would often "reminisce" about the good old days, before Gore-tex, merino wool underwear, weather apps on smartphones with real-time radar, thermocell, etc. etc. He's not all that impressed...ha.

My son is an accomplished hunter, that understands ethics and effort. He can sit dark to dark on a deer hunt, walk miles or sit hours on a turkey hunt. When he first started hunting, I didn't make him wear brown cotton duck pants with Kmart cotton "thermal" longjohns in a 35 degree rain just because I did.

I think the answer to the question is found inside the hunter, and not the technology. But as so many have previously stated, we need to foster that ideology as much as possible. And while we're at it... can we all agree to start smacking phones out of the hands of people that walk, talk, or otherwise should be engaged with living people in public places?

[RutnNStrutn]

4.) Access to land is a bigger problem
5.) Leasing of hunting rights is pushing more people out of the sport than how they do it

My take on food plots: They are not necessary and mostly just concentrate game. They do provide some benefit, but they are mostly an elaborate form of baiting. Yeah I know I'm in trouble! Nature usually provides plenty of food, if you want to enhance that then use habitat mngt.  I have a friend who spent a fortune on food plots. Then I got him to start managing the habitat with select cutting travel lanes and more....he just told me a while back in the 40 years he's owned his land he's never seen so much game. He hasn't put a food plot out in years.

#4 & #5, spot on accurate!! As a guy who grew up hunting in Florida, I know that for a fact!!
- Between the overdevelopment by contractors, coupled with so many people moving here, there is less and less land to lease every year. I can take you to places I hunted as a young man that are now sprawling developments without a tree in sight.
- Then the state adds to the problem by buying up hundreds of thousands of acres of land, and declaring it closed to hunting while opening it up for bikers, hikers and equestrians to recreate on for free.
- The final straw that breaks the camel's back is the owners of what little land is left to be leased are bombarded by outfitters, as well as doctors, lawyers and other types of wealthy businessmen. They are quickly educated on the value of their land, and they have no problem getting it!! I know of many leases that cost the members $5,000, $10,000 or even more per year. Then the outfitters offer the landowners their fair share of the $1,500 to $2,500 per bird that I've seen many outfitters charge for Osceolas. An average Joe, like me, just can't afford those prices to hunt.

I understand your take on food plots Eggshell. We use them for deer, but not turkeys on our lease in SC. As leaseholders, we don't have the freedom like your friend did. The owner manages for tree production, and will not allow controlled burns or cutting of his trees. So we plant food plots instead.  Our deer routinely come to them, but mostly at night. Mature bucks only come to them at night, except for the occasional daytime slip up during the rut. Only about 1/4 of our stands overlook food plots, and we don't hunt them often. Most of our stands are in the woods or overlooking clearcuts, and the vast majority of our deer are not taken on food plots. The main reason we do food plots, and mineral licks, is to give the deer the extra nutrition they need during the summer to grow bigger antlers, and grow larger deer, bucks and does. The second reason is to help the deer make it through the winter by planting winter food plots to give them quality food and good nutrition year round, even when we are not hunting them. If that's bad and we're cheating, then, well, I guess we are guilty. Guilty of caring about our herd, and wanting to do all we can to improve our hunting opportunities.

[RutnNStrutn]

We've got way too many problems in this world to be worried about how another person turkey hunts. If it's against the law then that's of course different. Hunt how you want to hunt and enjoy yourself. I've taken a lot of my friends on turkey hunts and they thought it was going to be a cake walk. Most of them don't come anymore. Some of them that do would rather kill one with a rifle than go home empty handed. I'm not like that anymore, but that's great!

That is a GREAT attitude!! I love it!!

[RutnNStrutn]

I think people are kind of loosing the premise of the conversation. This isn't about right or wrong or judgement. It is simply this. Are we replacing skill and hunting ability with technology and is modern hunting a good thing moving forward?

To answer your first question, NO!! We are not!!
You can drive a big, beautiful 4 wheel drive truck, towing a camo Bad Boy Buggy, headed for your high dollar lease with chufa plots, and go into the woods wearing hundreds of dollars of camos, carrying Cally Morris decoys to put outside of your Double Bull blind, and the most expensive calls to go along with your $1,500 shotgun that shoots $10 a round loads.
You're still not going to kill a bunch of turkeys with that money and technology. You'd better have some patience, some good woodsmanship, and have a good knowledge of turkey behavior, especially the ones where you hunt due to many hours of you scouting your land. Most of that comes from growing up being mentored by somebody that did have patience, woodsmanship and knowledge, and cared enough to teach it to you.
Your second question is beyond our ability to control. Hunting, unfortunately has become about the almighty dollar. Therefore hunting technology is going to grow in leaps and bounds. Some of it good, some not so much. But it's going to happen, regardless of what any of us thinks. Ain't nothing we can do about that. As long as someone can make a buck selling the latest and greatest gadget of the moment, it will always be with us and impact hunting.

[RutnNStrutn]

Good OL Fred

You must have gotten a chuckle making that meme!!
I don't agree, nor would Fred, but that was funny. Thanks for the laugh!!

[RutnNStrutn]

...Now, what was the original post about again?....   

If there was a ship load of deer, and EHD broke out, what was the cause and affect?  And what role did the Drury's play?

Leave it to Ronnie to break the tension with a good ole belly laugh!!!

[RutnNStrutn]

If Fred Bear were alive today. . .

. . . he'd still be really mad at the guys who tried shove him that crematory oven.

I'm just saying.

You guys are killing me!!!

[LaLongbeard]

Good OL Fred

You must have gotten a chuckle making that meme!!
I don't agree, nor would Fred, but that was funny. Thanks for the laugh!!

How do you make a meme?? Fred Bear said it ...it's right there on the picture
It's real simple ....if hunting over food plots, decoys, pop up blinds etc. don't make it easier to kill a Turkey then why are people doing it? You'd have to be a complete idiot to pay the prices some pay for the realistic decoys and high dollar pop up blinds if it didn't increase your chances.

[FL-Boss]

Bingo! someone finally mentions what I have been thinking. We rarely here about population growth and the lack of land to hunt being a huge issue in the decades to come. It hasn't hit a lot of you guys out west and the upper north.. but it will. All of us in Florida already know.  325 million in the U.S. now, how is that going to look in 50 years?

We already read post on here everyday talking about public land in all the southern states -  you can bet half the comments will mention the number of other hunters, too much pressure, etc.

I can't imagine how opening day on Florida public land will look in 30 years. 

May not be an issue in the end because as mentioned, this ever leaning left society we live in will just get continue to grow. Florida and Texas are just barley still RED states.. once we lose those two.. say good night!




#4 & #5, spot on accurate!! As a guy who grew up hunting in Florida, I know that for a fact!!
- Between the overdevelopment by contractors, coupled with so many people moving here, there is less and less land to lease every year. I can take you to places I hunted as a young man that are now sprawling developments without a tree in sight.
- Then the state adds to the problem by buying up hundreds of thousands of acres of land, and declaring it closed to hunting while opening it up for bikers, hikers and equestrians to recreate on for free.
- The final straw that breaks the camel's back is the owners of what little land is left to be leased are bombarded by outfitters, as well as doctors, lawyers and other types of wealthy businessmen. They are quickly educated on the value of their land, and they have no problem getting it!! I know of many leases that cost the members $5,000, $10,000 or even more per year. Then the outfitters offer the landowners their fair share of the $1,500 to $2,500 per bird that I've seen many outfitters charge for Osceolas. An average Joe, like me, just can't afford those prices to hunt.

[eggshell]

Thanks for the thoughts RutNstrutt, there are cases where food plots are a game changer, but in most areas not so much.

To return to the original topic, is technology replacing skill levels....I'm really not sure. I think for some it makes a big difference and for others not so much. Heck I remember when I saw my first diaphragm mouth call ( that would be about 1974 ) and I couldn't buy one fast enough. A guy named Lew McClure made and sold them. I actually got to know him and sold his calls for years. I was the first in my area to use them....well there was all of three people who turkey hunted. So I can't say I'm against it and it does enhance our chances. We all integrate things into our hunting that we view as tools that will make us more successful or comfortable. Ultimately skill in using those tools equal success. Unless we're out there in buckskins, calling with our voice and using pioneer weapons we're using modern tech. I'd be willing to bet native and early Americans killed turkeys any way you can imagine, it's different when your really killing to stay alive. Hey, if I could get one of those Star Trek transporters I'd use the heck out of it. Beam to that gobbler Scotty! surprise