Hunters Are Lazy

[Swede]

We have all noticed it. When you get 1/4 mile from the road, you see few hunters. You Come out after dark and see the nearby camp is full and people that are already standing around talking. You drive out of camp in the morning and there are no lights in the neighboring camp, and their truck is still there.
So, how much does this account for the low success rates we see in State statistics?

[wawhitey]

Just like anything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. Half assed efforts seldom yield great results. And it seems to me that the majority of hunters dont exactly try very hard or take it seriously. Off season scouting / practicing seems to be a foreign concept to most, and elk season or deer season or whatever seems to be more about the campfire and drinkin with your buddies than hunting. Hell, you can drink and heehaw with your buddys any day of the year, that season is open year round.
Hunting seasons are short. Time to screw off later.

[Indian Summer]

Because of that, road hunters, and people who buy tags and don’t hunt at all I think a real hunter can figuon twice the success rate of what’s shown on fish and game websites.

[saddlesore]

I'm a half assed hunter.I am usually back in camp by three. Happy hour at four. In the sack before it's dark. However, I am usually 4 +miles from camp at the trail head when shooting time occurs. I don't like to camp in prime elk habitat. I don't like killing elk in the late after noon, and trying to find a dead animal in the dark.I have no interest in processing one in the dark when I do find it.BTDT.

I do see what Swede is saying.

Anyone want to compare success rates ?

[Swede]

I will share a few thought later, and they may surprise you, but for now I want to ask if it helps to have a lazy bone to be a good tree stand or ground blind hunter?

[7mmfan]

Sure, I'd say you could take that into account when looking at harvest stats.

I also understand and appreciate saddlesores point of view. He hunts hard, and kills animals. Hunting hard doesn't necessarily mean being out until after dark. It means k owing your ground and killing them on your terms.

The question I have, is why do so many people complain about road hunters? Wouldn't having more people on the road and less in the woods be a benefit to you if you like to hunt on foot away from roads?

[wawhitey]

Sure, I'd say you could take that into account when looking at harvest stats.

I also understand and appreciate saddlesores point of view. He hunts hard, and kills animals. Hunting hard doesn't necessarily mean being out until after dark. It means k owing your ground and killing them on your terms.

The question I have, is why do so many people complain about road hunters? Wouldn't having more people on the road and less in the woods be a benefit to you if you like to hunt on foot away from roads?

I complain about road hunters because around here a lot of them get around locked gates and drive on roads closed to motorized vehicles. Nothing will piss you off like hiking several miles in a non motorized area in the dark only to have some jackasses come flying by on atvs or a pickup at 8am. Also, the amount of beer cans znd diritos bags and assorted litter that pops up on the logging roads during rifle season pisses me off to no end. And ive seen around here where these guys will drop bombs right in thr middle of the roads. I guess thryre too afraid of the woods to go 10 yards into the bushes to take s dump. Also, they tend to be the guys taking wild shots at spooked game. But i get your point. As as general rule, i prefer anybody else hunting anywhere near where i hunt to be grossly incompetent. I dont like competition.

[>>>---WW---->]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU1b_D4pLu4

I think this may sum it up for road hunters and those that don't go far from camp.

[wawhitey]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU1b_D4pLu4

I think this may sum it up for road hunters and those that don't go far from camp.

[Swede]

I really don't care about the road hunters. I think they lower the statistics for units with a lot of roads, and they can be a nuisance at times.
I have known some old loggers that were crippled up enough to qualify for a disabled hunters license, but they were too independent and obstinate to apply for one. Besides they were not disabled and could still out work you young bucks any day. They just chose to road hunt because you see more game there.

[saddlesore]

I don't care about road hunters. I hunt wilderness areas or where trucks and ATV's can't go.One thing,they keep the roads open so when I want to go home I don't have 2ft of snow top low thru

[Lefty]

We have all noticed it. When you get 1/4 mile from the road, you see few hunters. You Come out after dark and see the nearby camp is full and people that are already standing around talking. You drive out of camp in the morning and there are no lights in the neighboring camp, and their truck is still there.
So, how much does this account for the low success rates we see in State statistics?

Evidently you don't hunt where we do. Generally a mile 1/2 plus and 750 foot elevation is a breaking point for day hunters

And where I hunt more often than not if hunting from camp, we're staying in camp till light and will be walking out as soon as shooting light is gone. Were not lazy. Im don't have any fear of the dark, black-bears, wolves or lions( respect, yes). Moose and grizzlies,.. I use an abundance of caution.
I kind of go by what another trapper told me 40 years ago about trapping hours. " I run so hard I cant wait for dark"
So Im exhausted at the end of the day, morning comes fast enough too. My idea of camp time is to have enough energy to stay awake to eat. While in my mind Im quite slow in the mountains at age 61. A five year younger than me LEO told me earlier this week Im in way better shape then him. In my mind its "I cant do what I was doing 5-10 -20 years ago,.. and evidently my bar was similar to my working and trapping friends,.. way different than the general population.

And our truck is there because were hunting right out of camp

Now that I think of it in the past 5 years, only one camp, this year, guys in a pickup and tent were the only guys above and beyond us.

I use to be the guy at the trailhead at 2 AM, or in the tree two hours before light, or the goose decoys set hours before shooting time. All too often I was tired at go time, or someone showed up and changed it all
My dad use to say you can work hard or work smart!

[Old school]

The closest I’ve come to killing an elk with my bow was the first year I went. Had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Setup camp and walked about 1/2 on a trail and stumbled into a small herd. Closest I’ve come. Success rates are what they are. And just speaking for myself, the archery hunters I run into are hitting it hard, not lounging around.

-Mitch

[Lefty]

I will share a few thought later, and they may surprise you, but for now I want to ask if it helps to have a lazy bone to be a good tree stand or ground blind hunter?

A neighbor and friend is a great archery stand hunter,.. and believe me he is one of the hardest working guys I know, you caant find a lazy bone in him. He just has enough control and patience. which I dont have.

[wawhitey]

I will share a few thought later, and they may surprise you, but for now I want to ask if it helps to have a lazy bone to be a good tree stand or ground blind hunter?

A neighbor and friend is a great archery stand hunter,.. and believe me he is one of the hardest working guys I know, you caant find a lazy bone in him. He just has enough control and patience. which I dont have.

Im going to be taking down 7 stands this spring, and putting them up in different places. I know roughly where theyll go, but still need to decide on exact locations. Its going to be a lot of work. Not something a lazy person would want to do. I also have 23 cameras that ill be taking down to put other places. I hope we dont have late lingering snow in the mountains, because Id like to get all my treestand stuff done before its time to hunt bears this spring.

[Trophyhill]

Road hunting elk would be very difficult for me as I've never called one to the truck. I'm afraid the learning curve would be very steep for me

[WapitiTalk1]

Road hunting elk would be very difficult for me as I've never called one to the truck. I'm afraid the learning curve would be very steep for me

Every year, in an elk state, some homer stops on the road, honks on his bugle seconds after turning off his diesel truck, and shoots the bull that runs up to him.... has never happened to me though

One year in MT many moons ago, I was on leave from the Army hunting with my pop and older brother. On the way back from a hunt, a handful of cows dove across the road in front of us. Pop slammed the brakes on and I dove over the bank and ran down on an intercept course. I did get in their path and got a shot at a fat cow. Arrow hit a twispy branch, end of what could have been a great “got one off the road story”.

[Lefty]

I also have 23 cameras that ill be taking down to put other places. I ,,,.

I enjoy seeing the results of your trail cams.

Heck we have four trail cam that are generally out in August and September, a great outdoor hobby

[Lefty]

.[/quote] a great outdoor hobby[/quote]
I called trail cams a hobby,,, I realize that is not the right word

[lilshootergirl]

I leave in the dark & return dragging ass!! I try really hard, in my head I think of the wind 1st, then where are all the tracks going. How can I get in there without the wind on my back. So while in camp I plan my next day! Hope it pays off someday, not sure I trust people saying, yea there all up on that mountain!!!
Right!

[Swede]

Here is my take on tree stand hunting as far as it pertains to being a lazy hunter: You need to scout and prepare sites including hanging stands. If you are too lazy about that it won't pay. If being lazy after you get your scouting and prep done includes getting up early and staying long in your stand, you can be effective. There is much time spend just waiting and waiting. It pays to be able to sit it out and wait. Being in a big hurry does not pay often. Even being impatient and calling can be detrimental. Be lazy after your work is done. Get up early and stay. You can snooze a little if you don't go to sleep. You can read but keep an eye out for elk. A pastor friend had a large bull come in a water while he sat there reading his Bible. He never saw it until it was too late and the bull was leaving. The moral of that story is; don't forget why you are in a stand.

[Tigger]

One of the mentalities that I bring in to the woods is that I am not that "lucky guy". Couple that with the fact that I know less about elk than I should and that means I have to make my own success by effort. We are also long gone before light and into the timber or a place to glass at first light. I will say this, we have gotten in the habit of taking one morning a little slow and sleeping in a bit mid hunt. Yeah, mentally I regret it, but physically I love it and it makes our whole hunt more enjoyable. Usually it is a bad weather day cuz we always get storms when I hunt. I am thinking states that are experiencing a drought should give me a hunting license as I am confident I can bring a major precipitation event to wherever I hunt.

Here is an example of me not being lucky. My partner and I sit down to have lunch. We pick our spot carefully overlooking a small meadow in a place that just seems like elk would cross over to the other side of the drainage. Sure enough, a raghorn decides to cross as we are eating lunch....at 60 yards. 10 yards closer and we could have been shooting. The way he came he had to expose himself much longer than necessary in the open. We looked at his route and scratched our head...it made no sense.

[Lefty]

Swede Im going to chastise you on this one.
Why is he sitting and reading! ( A statement not question)

Im going way out on a limb, and may be taking words way out of his contexts, or maybe just inaccurate context.
Ted Nugents words or sorta his words.
But what is the name of his show ? " Spirit of the Wild" that could have dozens of meanings of depth and breadth. Or just a catchy name of the show.

Many of his shows he talks about recharging on the stand, others times he speaks of "celebrating life" or "flight of the arrow" maybe just words; maybe a whole nother meaning to him

Hunting alone Im " Celebrating life" I realize that has always been part of my hunt even as a young kid also.
My father , four of his brothers and two sisters died in their mid 50's. As a younger man physically I could do things most athletes cant. And years back my Docs said I shouldnt be able to walk. Believe Me I celebrate life in the woods and am grateful for every day and every footstep

Saturday a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Bishop hunted out of my goose pit with an 18 year old neighbor boy of his.
They got birds,.. but his statement " I just needed to spend some time with him"
Me: my greatest hunts have always been with my wife , daughters and grandaughter. Not the game in the truck


Maybe others know exactly why they are on the stand; and maybe a big bull is just the bonus

[Swede]

I certainly agree that there is more than one thing that can be accomplished while in a stand. I see your point.
I too read. It is a rare season when I do not read the entire New Testament and often Psalms and Proverbs too. Since I take only a New Testament because of weight, I may read much of it twice. I read a good hunting book last season and will probably do the same in 2020. Reading or knitting or whatever you like is not a problem. When I read, I stop frequently to look around. I have my pack open so I can quickly and quietly put my book away. I do not forget why I am there. I don't think my pastor forgot again why he was in a stand as the next year he killed a nice 6X6 from one.
BTW: I can't knit, but I fix small things or sharpen my knife. I don't want to be completely lazy.

[7mmfan]

Sure, I'd say you could take that into account when looking at harvest stats.

I also understand and appreciate saddlesores point of view. He hunts hard, and kills animals. Hunting hard doesn't necessarily mean being out until after dark. It means k owing your ground and killing them on your terms.

The question I have, is why do so many people complain about road hunters? Wouldn't having more people on the road and less in the woods be a benefit to you if you like to hunt on foot away from roads?

I complain about road hunters because around here a lot of them get around locked gates and drive on roads closed to motorized vehicles. Nothing will piss you off like hiking several miles in a non motorized area in the dark only to have some jackasses come flying by on atvs or a pickup at 8am.

I completely understand this. I've been burned more than a few times after working my tail off to get somewhere, only to have guys on dirt bikes come racing up on me. The worst one was packing in on a closed road system several miles to overnight and hunt the next morning, only to find half a dozen guys there on dirt bikes. That really peeved me. The game warden got a call the next day.

I don't really consider these guys road hunters though, although I suppose that is exactly what they're doing. These guys are cheaters and law breakers.

[Swede]

Some of the laziest hunters I have known are big cheaters too and they are braggers to the max. They also know more than anyone else about hunting.

One fellow I know killed his buck under the overhead lights right in town. Mostly he gets his from an open road if he gets one at all.

This is not illegal, but he gets an elk more often than most because his family has a ranch with a hay field. He goes out after breakfast on opening morning and shoots one from the yard or barn.
If you do not get your elk he will gladly explain what you are doing wrong. He can be very helpful that way.

[7mmfan]

Love those kind, just smile and nod.

[snowbank]

all answers are within your individual reference. After years of getting up early with my father and coming home in time for the football game, I started hunting by my own schedule. In my 20s and 30s we packed in 2-3 miles. It took 2-3 weekends to pack in enough hay, cut wood, set up camp and cut trails. we got up early, cooked breakfast, saddled horses an rode out around 6-7. Two hours later we would get to a starting point, tie up the ponies wherevthey wouldn't get shot and hike 3-5 miles in the northside jungles. We returned around 4-5 and rode into camp around dark. The horses were stripped, curried, fed and then dinner is started. In bed by 8 or 9 and the followed by a repeat every day for the next 30 days.

Now as I approach my 70s. I try to get out by 9:00. That means fed, horse or horses saddled and loaded and the rest of the stock fed. I drive 15 minutes to an hour, ride 2-3 hrs to where I can tie up. Now my jungle hunting is 2-3 miles followed by a trail hunt that doubles for a scouting mission for the next day's hunt. I still hunt 32-35 days , 5-10 miles per day. The evenings start around 4 with feeding stock and then caring for my horses. When they are taken care of I go into the house and start dinner.

Success is a cross between exposure to the elk and decent weather. I have missed killing an elk 4 times since 1964.

It's a little tougher each year. Partners are hard to find. Few like to hunt that much. My goal is to shot them in their bed while they are sleeping but occasionaly I have to kill the curious ones. This year I started the season with a full day of chemo. I still got an elk. I don't see many man tracks or humans in the woods or even near the roads. We are a little long on shooters and very light on hunters.

[Bones72]

See that in Kansas. Of course, we have an extensive road network and way more open sightlines. Also have the legal tradition of hunting coyotes from moving vehicles which leads to guys hunting deer that way. Literally jumping deer as your driving off-road and chasing them down.