This is a Hunting forum. With advances in rifle and scope tech, at what point does it cease being hunting and become only shooting?

When does a great optic make it not hunting? Auto feed weapons have been around 100 years, the 40yr old scope I just gave away was deadlier in front of the right person in 1975 vs the fanciest Leupold today in the hands of a knothead.

Is this going to be like a HF vs LF discussion?

Charlie

Funny, you could say that about every advance.

Rock to spear to atlatl to bow and arrow to firearm to sighted firearm to rifled firearm, to optics firearm, etc.

I'll be the first to admit that I missed once.... All this technology and I missed...

^^This^^

Traditional bow hunters can frown upon compound bow hunters. All bow hunters can frown upon shotguners. Bow and shotguners can frown upon lever action rifle hunters. All of them can frown upon scoped rifle hunters. All of them can frown upon precision/ long range capable hunters.

Live and let live.

To me it is what you enjoy. When I am hunting I may take a recurve rather than my compound bow during bow season. I may take a pistol or an open site 3030 during rifle season. It is about what suits me for that day. The more I shoot long range the less I hunt that way. Just a personal opinion.

And you could add in the night vision/thermal crowd vs the stalk and light hog hunters or spotlight coyote hunters....the list can keep on going.

Bottom line for me is as long as the law is followed and you are able to have fun with it, then why worry about the method. Hunting is hunting, regardless the method; some people want to recurve bow hunt a Cape buffalo, some people want to precision shoot an antelope from 1500 yards. Don't worry about what someone else is doing and just enjoy it the way you want, legally of course.

It's rarely hunting. If you're in a heated box blind looking at a feeder, it's hard to call it hunting. But, I do like to shoot at trained wildlife.

I could care less about whether it's "hunting" or "shooting".. The critter is going to end up dead either way.

Just to be clear. I kill only certain animals at what would be considered long range. Coyotes, hogs, prairie dogs. Elk was 200, farthest deer has been 300. Javelins at 510 (two of em). With game animals, the closer the better. I hunt from the ground, not in a blind. I walk a great deal, but I'm not going to tell a man that's sitting in a heated blind that he's not a hunter. That's his way, not my way, but he has the choice.

I love to hunt, but do it in comfort these days. I spent decades climbing trees, sitting on buckets, sitting in a blowing sleet, wading icy creeks, etc. and way back then I might shoot 10 rounds a year when hunting. Now I sit in a heated blind, but shoot a couple of thousand rounds a year at targets and maybe 50 or 75 rounds at pigs, coyotes, and deer. I'm soooo much better a shot than I was at 15 years old. So am I a hunter or a shooter? I guess I'm both.

And, since I'm so much better a shot now, I can argue that I'm a much better Hunter, and better at somewhat longer range than I was with my old 35 Remington.

It's hunting if there's an animal of some sort on the other end. Paper/Metal/etc., it's shooting.

I like to spot and stalk hogs. That's about the only animal I have ability to spot and stalk (and I do it at night). I don't have enough land to "hunt" deer as I have to train them from the comfort of my weatherproof box blind....

Does that mean I hunt pigs but only shoot deer? I don't think so. But whatever you want to call it, I am cool with

That's about the only way I hunt (or shoot, or whatever) deer as well.

My point is that firearm technology doesn't really matter.

I watched a guy get slammed on another forum for taking an animal at over 1200 yards. He didn't defend it etc just took it. I already knew why. He just didn't care. But it was funny some of the comments, why don't you get closer, learn to hunt, use a bow etc.

Ironically he had taken over 25 elk with a trad bow many of those trad kills were via a long bow. The long range hunting is just another skill that takes mastering. Different strokes for different folks, that's the beauty of our hunting, being able to use multiple tools to put meat on the table

Maybe it's always shooting, no matter what equipment is used. You have to shoot to take the animal. Unless you go hand to hand with your deer. Then it would be rasslin lol.

Right!

I think of it just like golf, I always take a swing, doesn't mean I always hit the ball....hunting for me is this: I always want to shoot, doesn't mean I am killing an animal

Good replies folks. Sorry if my questionsounded judgmental, wasn't intended that way at all. Was reading an article about a similar topic in an old hunting rag and wanted to see if I'd get similar responses to their survey. Y'all are about dead-on, as am I. As long as there's an animal involved and laws are followed, it's hunting. I guess that's why it's called "hunting" and not "killing." Thanks for the replies folks.

Well then...does it become hunting if you run out of propane?

Ooooo! Out of propane! I've had to suffer through that, and a shortage of coffee and protein bars. It's an ugly situation. :-)

If you were out of all three, simultaneously, you were not only hunting, you were fully engaged in a titanic struggle for mere survival. Glad you got through it. Unscathed, I take it?

Some of the wrappers on the different snack foods almost require a hatchet to safely open them. You can't pull it apart.

How many of you remember the old style cans that had the little breakoff wind key on the bottom of the can and you "wind" the strip of metal off the can to open it? seems they were usually meat or fish type cans.

Doesn't SPAM still use the little winding key thingy?

Good ole Spam..... I think Jay Leno explained where the name came from. They combined the name of the two ingredients...... Spit and ham.