The Evolution Of Hunting

[Swede]

I have been hunting for nearly 60 years now, and my bow hunting goes back over 40 years. My first hunting bow was a 54# Browning Recurve and the arrows were Port Orford cedar shafts fletched with cut turkey feathers. Recently I got to thinking how much has changed over the years. The first things that came to mind were the laser range finder, GPS, light portable two way radios, and compound bows with sights and a release. Then it dawned on me it is a lot bigger than that. Back in the day there were no tree stands used for hunting elk, calling was not common even though some played with it. I knew of no one that had any of the expertise many hunters have today. I do not remember wearing camo either. There were no day packs like we take for granted today. I had a Filson's Cruiser vest. Some people had a coat with a back pouch and large pockets.
Just knowing the things I have learned over the years I believe hunting again in 1960 or 1970 would be interesting. I could do without my GPS, rangefinder, and radios. I do not need my Badlands Superday, day pack. The camo I wear is nice, but totally unnecessary. I could hunt in my work boots. Of coarse knowing what I do today would include information gained from over 50 years of hunting experience, and internet hunting forums like this one to aid my understanding. Wood arrows and recurve bows would be the average man's tools for bow hunting.

Would you enjoy going backwards to hunt simpler times of blue jeans, plaid hunting shirts, and a woods where you rarely saw evidence of another hunter?

If I did, knowing what I do now, I would make a portable tree stand for myself. Since this is all hypothetical it must not be cheating.

[Steve G]

Interesting thread. I think that nearly all that stuff you listed is more effective means for retailers to suck dollars out of our wallets than they are effective in putting elk on the ground with two exceptions, calls and knowledge shared over the internet.

[timberland]

Interesting thread. I think that nearly all that stuff you listed is more effective means for retailers to suck dollars out of our wallets than they are effective in putting elk on the ground with two exceptions, calls and knowledge shared over the internet.

I disagree. Although not vital to kill an elk, the stuff swede mentioned makes me a more effective hunter, thus improving my success in my short time on the mountain. I only have a handful of days to kill an elk, and gear gets me to elk faster, easier, and deadlier. I would love to go back to traditional archery gear, but I live 1000 miles from the elk. If I could hunt 30 days a year I would give up all the gadgets, but not now.

[Screaming_btf]

I love the high performance gear that is out now, it makes the hunt allot more enjoyable for me. I never hunted in the times you mentioned, hunting with less people around would be a huge bonus. Without the sites that are available to read and some of the instruction available I feel like I would be missing out on allot of new ways to do things and skills that make the hunt more fun.

[JPD350]

While I have no problem embracing and using technology I do feel the internet scouting evolution has been the biggest game changer, for better or worse depends on who you ask.

IMO for many young or new hunters technology has made finding a productive hunting area fairly easy, a young or new hunter now starts hunting right off the bat in prime areas without lots of time and boot leather, they can also learn things that use to take many years to learn and do so in a short time, an efficient way without a doubt.

Many old timers also use this technology but the difference is old timers have already hiked hundreds of miles scouting hunting areas and have learned how the animals use the terrain and why the animals are in those productive areas and where the animals go when they are pressured so IMO the technology is actually more efficient to an experienced hunter because they can apply what they have learned through the years.

All Good?? Before the internet productive areas used to be shared on a much smaller scale and IMO it made them much more enjoyable and productive places to hunt.
Places that use to be somewhat off of the grid are now front and center on the internet and are often overcrowded with hunters making us older hunters start scouting for new areas. While I embrace technology and use it often I still miss the way it was 20 years ago (edit - 30-35 years ago, It feels like only 20) when you hardly ever saw someone else in your spot and you could hunt these areas for years.

[Trophyhill]

I've talked to guys who used gas pipes from hot water heaters to bugle with back in the day or turkey diaphragms with a radiator hose. I would have loved to of been hunting elk back in the late 70's, early 80's while in high school instead of partying and chasing girls. Well maybe hunting and chasing girls. Growing up in Ohio though and not having family members who hunted I didn't even know elk were hunted. Sure am glad I moved west and was introduced to my ex wife's dad. He got me started hunting and created an obsession for me. He told me many stories of hunting with stick n string and wooden arrows in the Capitan Mountains of NM. For him and his family it was about family and enjoying the mountains. When they killed it was an added bonus. They didn't care about antler size or any of the hype. Sounds like a great time to have been a hunter. Rules and regs weren't what they are today and you could just buy a license and go hunt. Hunting and life has become a complicated process and very commercialized compared to a simpler time in life. I guess I'll never know what those days were really like but have lived it thru his stories beside the campfire or at the lake next to a lantern.

[Gselkhunter]

Interesting thread. I think that nearly all that stuff you listed is more effective means for retailers to suck dollars out of our wallets than they are effective in putting elk on the ground with two exceptions, calls and knowledge shared over the internet.

I disagree. Although not vital to kill an elk, the stuff swede mentioned makes me a more effective hunter, thus improving my success in my short time on the mountain. I only have a handful of days to kill an elk, and gear gets me to elk faster, easier, and deadlier. I would love to go back to traditional archery gear, but I live 1000 miles from the elk. If I could hunt 30 days a year I would give up all the gadgets, but not now.

Timberland the gadgets are a crutch. It is an easy way to success that keeps you from being a better hunter. In 1987 there was camo and compounds. The speed war had started. I was shooting an 80lb XI Legend overdrawn[26"arrow on 30" draw] to a whopping 250'/sec. So I was sucked in. I am still shooting the same set up except now 70lbs on a single cam. Back to the point, I don't have to fiddle with crap or worry about batteries going down. The days spent in the mountains shooting judo points and walking area to learn has paid huge dividends. Unlike Swede calling was be used in 87 when I started and I learned from one of the best pioneers, John Sarkisian. Gear, I made it all and most of my hunting clothes. If someone walked up to me and said electronics can't be used I would respond. Yeah so!

[WapitiTalk1]

I bought my first rangefinder about 3 years ago; I use it to check the various distances to my target behind my house when confirming my pins are good in the spring (saves me from pacing it out I guess) and maybe once or twice per day when hunting to check the farthest distance for a possible shot prior to starting a cold calling setup; I really don't need it. Got my first GPS, and still have the old Lowrance IFinder HuntC, about 6 or 7 years ago and enjoy playing with it and marking alder choked game trails which may perhaps give me an exit strategy when down in a hole after dark; it's also very useful for marking small points of interest and kill sites; it saves on flagging ribbon I don't remember my father having maps of our hunting areas where I grew up and hunted in NW MT in the early 70s/80s but do remember each of us boys had an old compass. I remember this like it was yesterday, driving after school or on a Friday after the workweek was done, to a high remote area on the MT/ID border and sleeping by the truck just off a beat up gravel road and never having another rig come by us that night or even at daylight the next morning, with bulls doing their best to keep us awake with their annoying singing. I know that plastic bread sacks over my wool socks in my cheap Sorel boots kept my feet dry and that wool pants over my long johns in the snow worked pretty well. I also know that I didn't have to explain to anybody why I hunted in the 70s/80s but have to choose my words a bit more carefully today. I still use the same brand of calling diaphragm I used when I started squawking at elk over 30 years ago through PVC pipe. It was a different then, perhaps a simpler time but I liked it. Yes sir, if all states outlawed any and all electronic devices in the field, I wouldn't bat an eye. I do agree with what some have said about the internet being a great source for hunting information. That's one thing I did not have back in the day and I do enjoy talking about elk hunting with folks as much as I can, not that I know that much. I would venture a guess and say that hunting pressure would be lessened if folks were not allowed to pack a GPS but instead, had to solely rely on navigation skills (map/compass). Interesting thread Swede.

[tdirks]

Screaming, I have a question. Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you did not hunt in the era Swede talks about how can you say the new stuff is more enjoyable? I did hunt in that era and I too started with a recurve. It was a 45lb Bear Grizzly. I loved every minute of it then just as I do now. That was the best we had then. We didn't have anything better to compare it to. I have to admit that I can think back of some great bucks I let go because they were just past my 20 yd. range I set for myself!

[Swede]

I guess I did not say it, but I would give up every new piece of equipment, or gadget if you prefer, to go back to those old days if I could. The only thing I would not be willing to give up is the knowledge I have acquired over the years, including the things I have learned here, and from Elknut's materials.
If Jesus has a elk hunting camp in heaven; I would enjoy an old time hunt, and talking around the campfire with Him, dad and some of the hunters I have had the pleasure of knowing over the years. Now I don't want to promise you there is elk hunting in heaven, but you have to consider the possibility, since it is heaven. Until then we need to enjoy each other's company here at this camp, and thank the Lord for every day He permits us to be out in the great elk woods He created.

[BrentLaBere]

Not having anyone to show me the ways of hunting, I was greatly (and still kind of) influenced by the internet and tv shows. I followed the - "you need x camo patterns to fool the deer" ect...- type and had success doing it. I learned by trial and error just like others did. The internet is the biggest tool of all that has changed my hunting. After joining forums and calling people I have met online, I have learned things that I may never have before. Would I still be hunting? yup. And I may even have a different style, one of my own that took me many years to develop. I have that with bow hunting whitetails. For hunting elk out west? I am not sure I would have been able to do that. Not even sure where to start to be honest. Its one tool that has helped mold me into a better hunter. The problem with it is I may not have my own style, and still yet to hone in on my way of hunting. I think thats ok too. I just hope to have more time doing it.
The camo I started out with was a burlap potato sack my grandpa brought down from his farm...I could give up camo but I would need something quieter than my starter jacket and noisy snow pants.

[Screaming_btf]

Screaming, I have a question. Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you did not hunt in the era Swede talks about how can you say the new stuff is more enjoyable? I did hunt in that era and I too started with a recurve. It was a 45lb Bear Grizzly. I loved every minute of it then just as I do now. That was the best we had then. We didn't have anything better to compare it to. I have to admit that I can think back of some great bucks I let go because they were just past my 20 yd. range I set for myself!

I have hunted long enough to have seen Hunting clothing evolve greatly over the past 10+ years imo.. switched from old cotton and wool to some of the new lite weight moisture wicking clothes. Backpacks are better and weight less, trekking poles weight less and imo the new stuff out performs other old gear hands down. That is what i was talking about, and since the major shift has happened while I was hunting I thought it relevant.

[Lefty]

Would you enjoy going backwards to hunt simpler times of blue jeans, plaid hunting shirts, and a woods where you rarely saw evidence of another hunter? .

If I had the knowledge I have now I would take everything else from years back. I think I could draw the bow I had as a kid, A Herters 43# recurve.
I would have bought a tag at age 13 for white-tail in Minnesota in 71,.. but the deer season was closed because there were not many deer. I used my bow and bought a tag in 75 and 77, I did hunt in 77 a few times.
Since I hunt low ground in September high -tech clothes wouldn'treally be needed. I know my shots would be limited to under 35 yards (I had better technique as a kid
Long before I met my wife the mule hunting was great for her and her dad here in SE Idaho, Two bucks each with a rifle and most year s she didn't shoot a buck under 27" Not that it was a good thing but at that time her dad had a jeep that the would drive " anywhere and everywhere" and when the snow was deep they used a Sno-Cat and hunted where others couldn't get to

[tdirks]

Swede, of course there are going to be elk in Heaven! God made them in the first place and called them 'good', along with everything else. We can hunt them and shoot at them but they won't actually die! More like a game probably. I'll be keeping score though so you better keep practicing.

[elk.addict]

I find that scouting new area is not as exciting now that Google Earth is around. I used to really enjoy the suspense of what's over the next ridge or hill. And I still do, don't get me wrong, it's just not the same when I have a fairly good idea what I'm going to find before I even get there. I guess I could quit looking at Google Earth, but I doubt I will.

[Swede]

Swede, of course there are going to be elk in Heaven!

When the Lord calls me home and we have our talk, maybe I will just ask when the season opens. I sure hope He doesn't have a draw for the good tags. Love and serve the Lord. He will reserve a place for you too in His camp.

[wawhitey]

My only bow is a longbow. My rifle im using this year is an old open sight lever gun. Never used a tree stand tho I may try one this year just for the fact I found one hidden on private land, and when I told the owner he said it's not supposed to be there (trespasser) and that I should take it. So got a freebie. I try to stay away from all the products that magazines and such tell us we can't hunt without, but the one major exception to that is trail cams. Man I love those things. I have 16 up right now and even that feels limited. Oh and since I found out about the land ownership chips for gps that's a no brainer

[Fridaythe13th]

Re: The Evolution Of Hunting

post by Swede » 05 21, 2014 • [Post 10]

I guess I did not say it, but I would give up every new piece of equipment, or gadget if you prefer, to go back to those old days if I could.

I agree with this, I would love to go back and hunt without all the new stuff, The only bad thing I might be still in the mountains without my GPS.
But just think 30 years from now this new equipment will be very out dated. Might be a new trend. What do you think the future brings? GPS's in arrow to find game back, bow that shot 500 fps, clothes that have AC or heater built in them. 40 year ago 20 yds was a long shot now 50 yrd future 120 yrd?

[WapitiTalk1]

Friday, I have serious doubts that anybody will be hunting, at least in North America, in 30 years. I certainly hope so but there are way too many signs pointing towards an end to hunting as we've known it for so many years. "They" are too numerous and "they" are overwhelmingly the majority and it's only getting worse. Brother, I hope I'm wrong. I too like my GPS, not really for navigation but for marking some obscure spots, marking trails through alder jungles for later regress out of nasty bottoms, etc. I play with it way, way too much sometimes .. Hope I don't go blind.

[wawhitey]

I don't know phantom. Even if "they" get their way I'll still be hunting.

[Fridaythe13th]

Phantom
I hope your wrong, I bought my kids (5 year old boy and 2 girl) life time hunting and fishing license. besides I have to believe there going hunting, otherwise I would put my kids in front of the TV instead of enjoying the outdoors

[WapitiTalk1]

Phantom
I hope your wrong, I bought my kids (5 year old boy and 2 girl) life time hunting and fishing license. besides I have to believe there going hunting, otherwise I would put my kids in front of the TV instead of enjoying the outdoors

Me too friend. But, you are certainly raising your children the right way sir. Regardless of how it unfolds, your young ones will be better off because they have a pop like you.