And Dan - if you have your own personal area to hunt, leave the public for the people who aren't as fortunate.... Sounds like you are being a little greedy to me!

We need more people hunting for a lot of reasons (gun rights, jobs, technology, etc). I would gander to say that the average hunter does not have the opportunity or time to learn in-depth hunting techniques for a lot of reasons (time ,money, available land, etc). We need to appreciate the one time a year hunter just as much as the old pro as long as they are safe and considerate. We also need to be realistic what "considerate" is. A lesser skilled hunter may lose his or hers way as well as other things that bother an old time skilled hunter. As much as some oppose, hunting needs to keep up with the times and the people to a certain extent if we want to attract more new hunters. Learning just to shoot accurately and successfully take an animal can be overwhelming yet alone to become a skilled hunter which requires time, mentoring, practice and patience. Technology and newer techniques, whether it's a GPS or reflective tape, make it easier for someone to enjoy this great sport. The old ways may not be the way of the future. When you start a post are you helping or harming? Do you want to attract people to the sport or keep them away?

AMEN!!!

I think the horse is DEAD! This guy is set in his ways and your not going to make him understand other wise. In todays world there are much more opportunities for kids than he probably had. I am fortunate in that my boy loves to go hunting, but at the same time he has alot of other productive things going on such as sports. He rarely sits on the couch and watches tv like a couple of these old timers assume that all kids do. As I stated in a earlier thread i would love for him to know every square foot of our land but that does not get to happen right now as he is involved in other PRODUCTIVE things. But then again he will be out hunting with me next weekend and thats all that matters.

Bingo!

The point isn't do things a certain way just because an earlier generation did it that same way. The point is to try not to loose your independance by ignoring those basic mental skills that benefit you most.

For that hunter, woodsmanship is a basic mental skill.

I'm reminded of it every time I go to the store and I hand the clerk a ten dollar bill and an extra 10 cents for that item that costs $5.10 total. Unless I hand them the dime before he/she enters the amount I gave them into the register, they haven't a clue what change I should get back.

Interesting thread.

When I read about the reflective stickers, here's what came to mind: The person that put them in place:

1) Understands the importance of taking the safest and most efficient route to his/her stand...

2) Understands that everything looks different in the dark and is acutely aware of what MAY be a limited ability to navigate that area in the dark...

and 3) cared enough to take the time and effort to act in a highly responsible manner by applying those reflectors in order that they not end up off track/in another person's hunting area.

So this person acted in such a manner that shows they are safe, efficient, self-aware, considerate, proactive in making sure to limit possible mistakes, responsible, and ethical.

In your original post, you stated that you were "twice reminded that "basic" woodsmanship is becoming lost..." Not having met them, this person sounds to me like someone with the qualities of a damned FINE outdoorsman.

I feel sorry for anyone willing to dedicate this much negative thought and this much time supporting condescending assumptions that someone is an uneducated, unworthy outdoorsman based on having seen some stickers and never even having met the person.

I think the skills are important, and good to learn and teach. I don't think they are a pre-requisite to hunting, or that someone is less of a man for using technology in their place.

I still teach Calculus every day. They gripe and moan when they have to learn something by hand first, then with the Ti-84 calculator.... but they need both.

My son had to shoot well with open sights before he could ever use a scope.

My mom, bless her heart, still goes to the church of Christ.... and still no piano....but they have central air and indoor plumbing....

The idiot ban list is getting longer.

Hunting Barbie,
WILL YOU MARRY ME???? LMAO...

See, hear, speak no evil? What evil? Much ado about nothing, imo.

This is a super-productive thread...

Those were my reflectors I put up to get to my stand. Sorry they offended anyone and started such a mess. I will stop using them from now on and will use the stars to navigate by.

I guess I should vent also. I was on my way home this evening, and I had to stop and refuel. While I was pumping gas, a man that was also getting gas, asked me to come and look at his car. The car had overheated, and he didn't know what to do. He was just low on coolant. I should have told him that he didn't need to be driving, because he is not a mechanic, and only mechanics should drive.
Sounds stupid doesn't it?
You're making lots and lots of friends, and you preach Jesus too.
Shame on you.

Maybe I should call the wildlife biologist in Alabama who wrote that article and see how many death threats he received for trying to encourage hunters to spend more time in the woods and get better at practicing the basics.

dan,
do it the old way,, pony express the biologist,,dont forget the return address.. never know.. 70 years wandering around mesquite flats,aspens,firs.an river bottoms,,only place ,ive ever been totally lost was on houston freeway,
jj

Congrats to your mother! Where does she go?

This got me to thinking I need to pick up some of those refective twisty tie things. I'm headed to hunt in Ks. on some land I've never seen nephew has done all the scouting and stand placement. He has to work a couple of days when I'm there so I'll be hunting there on my lonesome some. I guess the plan is that early Monday morning he'll walk me to my stand (yes holding my hand lol) and depending on the difficulty I won't hesitate to put up some markers on the way in ... and/or out.

Oh and I have come across reflective tape on public land I didn't remove it the thought didn't even occur to me. I actually ended up using it to get out of there after dark. I had hiked in about a mile hunted until dark and then stumbled my way out was wishing I hadn't of went in so far. Sure was happy when I saw that reflective tape I knew I was home free then. LOL.

An excellent idea.

My point isn't, and never has been, that such things don't work well for those hunting a new area, or for kids and beginning hunters.

Like the author of the earlier article suggested, there comes a time for every hunter when he/she should ask themselves, have I taken the time and effort to learn and practice the basic skills that every hunter should know. And have I also made it a point to teach them to my kids.

Good luck!

Maybe we should let outdoor activities such as hunting go by the wayside and become extinct. Lots of people don't or didn't have fathers, grandfathers and so forth to teach them the ways of the woodsman/outdoorsman. And if they have to use "modern" tools to learn and gain this knowledge so be it. How many people use a scope on their rifle (modern technology), a prefab hunting blind, a truck or car to get to their hunting area or haul theirgame out. These are all less then 150 years old and at some point in time somebody whined about others using them as not having skills or backbone. And if your that concerned with his lack of skills take him under your wing and be a solution to the problem.

After all I doubt any of use dropped out of the womb able to walk or talk, someone who knew taught us, brought us up. So let it go, lets ALL hunt, fish, hike, and keep the spirit alive. there are vastly more important issues to concern ourselves with.

And if you can't, by all means lead, follow, or be quiet and get out of the way!

I like knowing that when I see someone elses reflectors that I know there is the possibility that someone is there to keep us both safe

you're more full of it than that turkey i'm having next week. i know of several full time guides me included that use reflective buttons to find spots in the dark and i'm pretty sure i've spent more time in the woods than you danny boy so from a real man and hunter - kiss my a$$

Damn 13 pages to tell a know-it-all to mind his own business!

I suppose I was out of the country when they crowned KING DAN, and wasn't aware of his rules.

There are a lot of things that are not the same about hunting that took place long before KING DAN's reign! Many of them he uses and doesn't even realize Davy Crocket would have called him a sissy for the way he hunts today. As old John Wayne was fond of saying "THINGS CHANGE, AND USUALLY FOR THE BEST!"

In regard to a planted food plot, and/or a feeder those things are a lot more modern that the marking of a trail. Old Davy, and Daniel both marked trails all over Kentucky, Tennessee, them selves. Where on Earth does he think the phrase "BLAZE A TRAIL" came from? It was the habit of all frontiersmen to slash a mark on trees to mark a trail, and the Indians long before him marked trails.

I'm 73 years old, and have been hunting since the age of six yrs old. By hunting, what I mean is, (what I call hunting, STALKING, not sitting in a box stand over a feeder, or artificial food plot) But the fact is if one hunts in Texas that is about the only choice he has, because most land owners don't allow stalking through the brush. The little public land in Texas that is available to hunters, is sometimes 100 miles or more from a guy's home and job, and he can't go there everyday to scout it out, and really ge to know the place, so he has to make do with the time he has.

So this is the way The King hunts as well. What he doesn't seem to know is the other guy getting into his stand with as little disturbance as is possible, is to his benefit, and a tiny flash light is all that is needed to reflect those little tags to get him there in the dark without much fuss.
I don't care for the way most people in Texas hunt today, not for them but for me, they may do as it suits them, the king included. It just isn't for me. The only type of feeder, and stand I use is to clean out the over populated wild hog population, but I don't consider it HUNTING, but just shooting.

I tell no-one how to hunt, and I don't care how they choose to do their meat/horn gathering, if they think it is hunting,and it is legal, and they enjoy it, who am I to tell others how to go about their business.

What the people who are suffering from delusions of grandeur don't seem to realize is, "OTHERS SELDOM SEE US AS THE SUPERIOR BEINGS THAT WE SEE OUR SELVES AS BEING!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I've had all this thread I can swallow!

if its such a panty twister why do you keep hunting public land?