The Hunting & Fishing Thread

[wab]

You're too late for the troll job bud. I'll just stand by what I meant, which is that if you take enjoyment out of killing another living thing then you're broken as a human. You're other "points" I've already agreed with.

I have one question, do you eat meat?

And I will not make another comment further regardless the answer.

He addressed it in his response to me a few posts up. Primarily chicken and fish.

[LacertineForest]

I stopped buying meat last year for a number of reasons (one of them being that I just don't want to eat animals anymore but another is absolutely about giant factory farms), but I will eat meat if I go to someone's house and they've made a meal for me or if my wife orders something at a restaurant and doesn't eat the leftovers (she almost never does). If an animal is going to die to be eaten, I would much rather it actually be eaten than go to waste. My wife always says that I'm vegetarian with a "raccoon clause." If others eat meat, that is not my business, and I'm certainly not going to chastise anyone for doing what humans are biologically developed to do.

Anyway, to get back on the subject in the thread title, my dad was an avid fisherman, and a damn good one from what I have heard. There are a lot of pictures of me as a little kid sitting in a bathtub with fish he caught, swimming around. I was told he used to take the fish out of the livewell from his boat and into the bath, then repeat the process of draining and re-filling the water a couple of times until the water was clear as a way to try and "clean" the lake water or fish (not really sure) before he would filet them. He was severely injured when I was 4, so I never really got to see much of that in action, but he did take me out fishing a fair amount until I was about 10 and he couldn't do it anymore. He was a conservationist, and had a ton of respect for nature and the environment. He was never a hunter, so I didn't become one either (I also didn't carry on his love for fishing), but I grew up with a lot of people who were hunters. I completely understand the argument of hunting for food, and I have nothing against those who do it (in fact, I admire people who have the skills to live off the land / survive without modern society). I do also see where @dplank is coming from - I largely agree with what he was saying, at least from a personal perspective.

[southdakbearfan]

I have one question, do you eat meat?

And I will not make another comment further regardless the answer.

He addressed it in his response to me a few posts up. Primarily chicken and fish.

Thx didn’t see it.

Time to move on the conversation.

[Otis Day]

This may have been posted earlier in this thread but I was too lazy to look thru it all. I was not a hunter until I had boys (oldest and youngest). My oldest got the urge to hunt by listening to his paternal grandpa and uncles on both sides. He started deer hunting with his grandpa at about the age of 12, give or take a year or two. He got his first deer with his grandpa. it was a proud moment for both. His grandpa and paternal uncles were into hunting and loved venison and turkey. I went out with my oldest on his (our)first turkey hunt. I can be a cheap bastard , so, not know how long this "hobby" would last, I bought some cheap inflatable decoys. Once blown up, from a distance, they looked pretty damn good. First time out, first time for me calling, we bagged one. Neither of us knew what the hell we were doing, but it worked out. My calling must have been good enough to draw the tom in. Interesting and funny to say, my oldest has not gotten a turkey since.

My youngest saw his brother, cousins and uncles hunting. He got the itch as well. He would go out with his bro, his cousins and uncles. Gramps just got too old. The kid is a natural turkey hunter. His calling is fantastic. He learned and honed the craft by trial and error. He gets a turkey or two every time he goes out. Where we hunt, the turkey are not prominent, at least not during the season. I started going out with him to take pics and video. Every time went with, not turkey. He would go out the next day, BAM, turkey.

2 yrs ago we went out and he finally got one with me along. I thought it was pretty awesome when he mounted the fan for me for a Father's Day present. The next week we went out again and I told him it is the old man's turn do shoot. Lets just say it didn't go as well as I wanted, I missed. Still can't believe it. My shot/miss didn't even scare the dumb bird and I sat there and cussed myself out in silence. My son kept telling me, "Shoot, shoot!" As I sat there in disbelief, he shot the damn thing.

It has been great bonding with my kids through hunting. My oldest has taken his daughter out and it is really cool to see that happening. He will take his son out when he is a little older.

I don't eat much deer, my boys do and they prefer it to beef. I eat wild turkey breasts and it is much better than domesticated turkey.

I get the differing points of view. I will continue to hunt with my boys and maybe one day I will get myself a turkey. I missed this fall season, but I hope to one day bag one for Thanksgiving.

[wab]

This may have been posted earlier in this thread but I was too lazy to look thru it all. I was not a hunter until I had boys (oldest and youngest). My oldest got the urge to hunt by listening to his paternal grandpa and uncles on both sides. He started deer hunting with his grandpa at about the age of 12, give or take a year or two. He got his first deer with his grandpa. it was a proud moment for both. His grandpa and paternal uncles were into hunting and loved venison and turkey. I went out with my oldest on his (our)first turkey hunt. I can be a cheap bastard , so, not know how long this "hobby" would last, I bought some cheap inflatable decoys. Once blown up, from a distance, they looked pretty damn good. First time out, first time for me calling, we bagged one. Neither of us knew what the hell we were doing, but it worked out. My calling must have been good enough to draw the tom in. Interesting and funny to say, my oldest has not gotten a turkey since.

My youngest saw his brother, cousins and uncles hunting. He got the itch as well. He would go out with his bro, his cousins and uncles. Gramps just got too old. The kid is a natural turkey hunter. His calling is fantastic. He learned and honed the craft by trial and error. He gets a turkey or two every time he goes out. Where we hunt, the turkey are not prominent, at least not during the season. I started going out with him to take pics and video. Every time went with, not turkey. He would go out the next day, BAM, turkey.

2 yrs ago we went out and he finally got one with me along. I thought it was pretty awesome when he mounted the fan for me for a Father's Day present. The next week we went out again and I told him it is the old man's turn do shoot. Lets just say it didn't go as well as I wanted, I missed. Still can't believe it. My shot/miss didn't even scare the dumb bird and I sat there and cussed myself out in silence. My son kept telling me, "Shoot, shoot!" As I sat there in disbelief, he shot the damn thing.

It has been great bonding with my kids through hunting. My oldest has taken his daughter out and it is really cool to see that happening. He will take his son out when he is a little older.

I don't eat much deer, my boys do and they prefer it to beef. I eat wild turkey breasts and it is much better than domesticated turkey.

I get the differing points of view. I will continue to hunt with my boys and maybe one day I will get myself a turkey. I missed this fall season, but I hope to one day bag one for Thanksgiving.

You are right in that wild turkeys are so much better than domesticated.

[LacertineForest]

I see a ton of wild turkeys when riding on the bike trail to work every day (especially this time of year), and I love to do my best turkey impression at them as I pass by. It usually just scares the shit out of them, but I always get a kick out of it. It's great when you can get them to do it back to you. This video always cracks me up:

[Otis Day]

[Arkansasbear]

You're too late for the troll job bud. I'll just stand by what I meant, which is that if you take enjoyment out of killing another living thing then you're broken as a human. You're other "points" I've already agreed with.

DON’T CALL ME BUD!!!! I’m a grown ass man. Dude is perfectly acceptable however.

It wasn’t a troll job was just talking about hunts I like and how I’d don’t know anyone that does hunts “just to kill.” Just giving you shit with the chicken and cow part hence the use of the

I don’t disagree about killing just to kill that would be odd and don’t know if anyone like that. Most hunter care about protecting the species (or I the case of hogs protecting the environment- they are destructive as hell).

To be clear my point about there be a level of enjoyment was related to the hunt/being outside/ being with friends and family. I don’t take any pleasure in the kill it’s just a step in the process.

[Arkansasbear]

This may have been posted earlier in this thread but I was too lazy to look thru it all. I was not a hunter until I had boys (oldest and youngest). My oldest got the urge to hunt by listening to his paternal grandpa and uncles on both sides. He started deer hunting with his grandpa at about the age of 12, give or take a year or two. He got his first deer with his grandpa. it was a proud moment for both. His grandpa and paternal uncles were into hunting and loved venison and turkey. I went out with my oldest on his (our)first turkey hunt. I can be a cheap bastard , so, not know how long this "hobby" would last, I bought some cheap inflatable decoys. Once blown up, from a distance, they looked pretty damn good. First time out, first time for me calling, we bagged one. Neither of us knew what the hell we were doing, but it worked out. My calling must have been good enough to draw the tom in. Interesting and funny to say, my oldest has not gotten a turkey since.

My youngest saw his brother, cousins and uncles hunting. He got the itch as well. He would go out with his bro, his cousins and uncles. Gramps just got too old. The kid is a natural turkey hunter. His calling is fantastic. He learned and honed the craft by trial and error. He gets a turkey or two every time he goes out. Where we hunt, the turkey are not prominent, at least not during the season. I started going out with him to take pics and video. Every time went with, not turkey. He would go out the next day, BAM, turkey.

2 yrs ago we went out and he finally got one with me along. I thought it was pretty awesome when he mounted the fan for me for a Father's Day present. The next week we went out again and I told him it is the old man's turn do shoot. Lets just say it didn't go as well as I wanted, I missed. Still can't believe it. My shot/miss didn't even scare the dumb bird and I sat there and cussed myself out in silence. My son kept telling me, "Shoot, shoot!" As I sat there in disbelief, he shot the damn thing.

It has been great bonding with my kids through hunting. My oldest has taken his daughter out and it is really cool to see that happening. He will take his son out when he is a little older.

I don't eat much deer, my boys do and they prefer it to beef. I eat wild turkey breasts and it is much better than domesticated turkey.

I get the differing points of view. I will continue to hunt with my boys and maybe one day I will get myself a turkey. I missed this fall season, but I hope to one day bag one for Thanksgiving.

You are right in that wild turkeys are so much better than domesticated.

It is way better I simply can’t stand turkey hunting. It’s like fly fishing way too much work. I have friend that that’s all he likes to do so I trade deer/duck for turkey every so often.

[Arkansasbear]

Fair enough, I get what you're saying here and I think we agree for the most part. 99% of my issues are with trophy hunting types, who should just be shot on sight IMO as they are just broken soulless fucks. The lesser side, call it more annoyance or whatever, is when hunters post their grinning mugs while standing next to a dead deer. I do get it's mostly pride and I understand that, but what I see when I see those pictures is a precious creature that just got shot for someone else's satisfaction.

Appreciate the frank and fair conversation - kudos!!

I’ll 100% with you on the trophy aspect (again not I shoot a big deer that I ate and mounted the head - I don’t do that but if someone kills the deer for legitimate reasons and mounts the head it’s not my cup of tea but whatever). They people that go on safari to kill “exotic” animals disturbs me. That hot hunting that’s killing.

[Arkansasbear]

Honest question, do you feel the same way about fishermen?

Yes? But I'm guessing you still aren't grasping my point. It's nuanced. I understand why a hunter, or fisherman, might enjoy being outdoors fishing and tracking and all that stuff. Not my bag but no harm in it if you like it. Catch and release is a good thing for example. But there's a very specific part of it, the killing part, that while I understand from a "necessity" stand point I'll never understand from an "enjoyment" stand point. So yes, even fish, if you actually enjoy killing it - literally the killing part - I think you've got some Dahmer issues going on. The hunters I know are good at disassociation, they lump in the all the parts they like with the part that no one should like all in one neat pile so they don't really have to think about what they're doing. The hardest ass, most redneckiest guy I've ever known, finally after weeks of talking about this (he was doing a summer long reno on my house) FINALLY admitted that he does have a some regret right before killing a deer every time he does it and then sorta just blocks his mind out and "does his work" while he processes it. Same guy raised a baby raccoon and loved it dearly. But it took forever to pull it out of him, people are just very defensive about it for some reason and don't take directly to the point that's being made here (see Arks post above, that just gleefully ignored what I was getting at in favor of a scolding of sorts and I happen to know he's smart enough to know what he was doing - and no Ark I'm not upset lol it's all good).

There's tons of layers to this for me - down to the specific animal. Killing a rockfish is not the same as killing a whale or Orca or Octupus - the level of intelligence factors for me. Does the animal maintain a family? Do they mourn their losses? If yes, I have a big ol problem there. SeaWorld should not exist. I do not eat pork for this reason (as well as the indescribable conditions most pig farmers employ). If you eat pork you should be comfortable eating a dog, they are the nearly the same. I limit my meat intake significantly and find chicken and fish are the ones that I feel best about consuming, and even still I carry some guilt when I do it. I'm very much in favor of lab grown meat and hope it takes off. It's literally banned here in Florida, because freedom I guess? I could go on and on but have probably already said more than you wanted lol...

Sorry @dplank I’m not trying to pile on (I think we actually agreee close to 100% and again sorry you thought I was gleefully ignoring your points). But man if your are going to talk about eat pigs means you should consider eating dogs you know I have to drop this one.

[LacertineForest]

Excellent. Thanks for posting that.

[o-pus #40 in B major]

My son and our hunting buddies just finished our elk hunt and we will get together to butcher the harvest this weekend.

I'm the second oldest at 73. My buddy who is 75 got a bull and my son got one and another friend got one.

I am very pleased with our group of eleven hunters this year. The successful ones killed 3 animals with one shot apiece. Nobody else had a decent shot - therefore nobody else took a shot - although everybody saw elk and most of us saw bulls during our 5 day season.

The three elk that my party took all fell dead within a few feet of where they were shot.

We've got a partnership on a reefer truck that we take into the woods with us and the critters get gutted, quartered, packed out, skinned, cleaned up and hung up so the meat is very much well cared for and aged for a few days before butchering.

These maniacs have been doing this for four generations - 50 years now for me. The average hunter success rate is about 7% in our neck of the woods and I'm running a little behind that. Most of the animals are 2 year olds. Nobody turns down a decent shot at a legal bull elk - doesn't matter the size of the critter.

This very much a team endeavor. I can't pack meat anymore but I can still hunt and the group trusts my shooting so I guess it's not time to quit quite yet.

I'll try to post some photos when I find my phone.

[southdakbearfan]

My son and our hunting buddies just finished our elk hunt and we will get together to butcher the harvest this weekend.

I'm the second oldest at 73. My buddy who is 75 got a bull and my son got one and another friend got one.

I am very pleased with our group of eleven hunters this year. The successful ones killed 3 animals with one shot apiece. Nobody else had a decent shot - therefore nobody else took a shot - although everybody saw elk and most of us saw bulls during our 5 day season.

The three elk that my party took all fell dead within a few feet of where they were shot.

We've got a partnership on a reefer truck that we take into the woods with us and the critters get gutted, quartered, packed out, skinned, cleaned up and hung up so the meat is very much well cared for and aged for a few days before butchering.

These maniacs have been doing this for four generations - 50 years now for me. The average hunter success rate is about 7% in our neck of the woods and I'm running a little behind that. Most of the animals are 2 year olds. Nobody turns down a decent shot at a legal bull elk - doesn't matter the size of the critter.

This very much a team endeavor. I can't pack meat anymore but I can still hunt and the group trusts my shooting so I guess it's not time to quit quite yet.

I'll try to post some photos when I find my phone.

That’s awesome, elk is definitely some of the finest wild game meat there is, and a difficult hunt at times.

Sounds like a great tradition where you are passing the torch while holding on o it as well.

[southdakbearfan]

Got a couple mallards and a couple specklebelly geese with the boy this afternoon. Just finished plucking and cleaning the birds up.

Hoping to brine all 4 and smoke them for thanksgiving.

It was a rainy slow day but the boy and the pup had a lot of fun, I mainly watched and coached a little. Watching your 15 year old with his 1 year old lab is a lot of fun. I recently lost my father this summer and it brought back memories of when I was young and hunting with him.

[mmmc_35]

So i got a doe this year. I am extremely blessed it was the the last day I could hunt and at the last hour I got to be in the woods.

This is the first deer I am going to process myself. Tomorrow for Thanksgiving I'll have the tenderloins cooked.

[southdakbearfan]

Son got his second deer ever yesterday. One shot at 320 yards. This afternoon we will process it and get it ready to freeze.

Now it’s dad’s turn.

[wab]

I didn’t get Jack shit this season.

[dplank]

Sweet, rooting for the deer this time of year. Same odds as rooting for the Bears

[southdakbearfan]

Well, I watched the bears dumpster fire, then me and my son headed out to the deer blind. Shot the largest 5*5 whitetail of my life. Back to the shed, skinned and cooling, will be cut up and packaged tomorrow and in the freezer.

Probably skin the skull and euro it for the office.

[dplank]

Eating it I understand, displaying it as a trophy is Dahmer level psychopath behavior IMO. May his surviving family members chomp off a finger and display it for their grandchildren. Might I suggest targeting the trigger finger?... j/k of course

[mmmc_35]

Eating it I understand, displaying it as a trophy is Dahmer level psychopath behavior IMO. May his surviving family members chomp off a finger and display it for their grandchildren. Might I suggest targeting the trigger finger?... j/k of course

Yes being proud of providing... terrible. I personally don't post photos. However you literally wouldn't understand the pride. I'm super excited to bring my venison summer sausage to Christmas. I hope you are as proud of buying it at the Kroger.

[mmmc_35]

Son got his second deer ever yesterday. One shot at 320 yards. This afternoon we will process it and get it ready to freeze.

Now it’s dad’s turn.

320 good fucking shot. What's he using, and what's his zero? I personally zero at 50 with a 30-06. My longest straight line shot in the woods is probably 125ish. Where i grew up on my farm we used a 100 yard zero and had sight lines out to 500 yards. 320 is a good distance. Good job.

[southdakbearfan]

Son got his second deer ever yesterday. One shot at 320 yards. This afternoon we will process it and get it ready to freeze.

Now it’s dad’s turn.

320 good fucking shot. What's he using, and what's his zero? I personally zero at 50 with a 30-06. My longest straight line shot in the woods is probably 125ish. Where i grew up on my farm we used a 100 yard zero and had sight lines out to 500 yards. 320 is a good distance. Good job.

257 Ackley Improved. My father had it barreled and chambered for that when I was in high school. It’s on a Ruger M77 action and the entire thing is glass beaded. It’s been a great deer and antelope rifle over the years. I have a Burris 6-16x scope on top of it. 100 grain Nosler Ballistic tips have always proven to be good deer bullets as well.

We practice out to 400, but usually keep it to 300 or less, unless we have rock solid rests and little wind, which we had both the other day. Sight in to be high at 100, just enough to put us about 3” low at 300, right around 2” in that gun/bullet/velocity combo.

This is flat land farm ground, with some shelterbelts and a few hills sprinkled in. In multiple directions I can see miles where we hunt.

[southdakbearfan]

Eating it I understand, displaying it as a trophy is Dahmer level psychopath behavior IMO. May his surviving family members chomp off a finger and display it for their grandchildren. Might I suggest targeting the trigger finger?... j/k of course

Well you wouldn’t like my office then, nor most of the offices in the area.

I don’t specifically trophy hunt, but when I get one good enough I skull mount it. I can remember every hunt vividly, and every family member whom was with me for each one.

It use to be my father with me when I was young, which has changed to me with my children over time, and then me taking my father as well as he aged. This was my first deer hunt after my father’s passing this September. I used his rifle and we sat in his favorite deer hunting spot, the same place I sat with him last season and watched him deer hunt for the last time not knowing it would be.

If you’ve read this far, you probably know exactly what I am thinking about your comment, and I will leave it at that.

[wab]

Hunting specifically for trophies isn’t something I’m interested in. Keeping a rack or having a beautiful bird mounted because you happened to harvest a great animal is different IMO.

[mmmc_35]

320 good fucking shot. What's he using, and what's his zero? I personally zero at 50 with a 30-06. My longest straight line shot in the woods is probably 125ish. Where i grew up on my farm we used a 100 yard zero and had sight lines out to 500 yards. 320 is a good distance. Good job.

257 Ackley Improved. My father had it barreled and chambered for that when I was in high school. It’s on a Ruger M77 action and the entire thing is glass beaded. It’s been a great deer and antelope rifle over the years. I have a Burris 6-16x scope on top of it. 100 grain Nosler Ballistic tips have always proven to be good deer bullets as well.

We practice out to 400, but usually keep it to 300 or less, unless we have rock solid rests and little wind, which we had both the other day. Sight in to be high at 100, just enough to put us about 3” low at 300, right around 2” in that gun/bullet/velocity combo.

This is flat land farm ground, with some shelterbelts and a few hills sprinkled in. In multiple directions I can see miles where we hunt.

I think you mentioned the 257 Ackley improved before. Those 25 calibers are cool rounds, with an interesting history. He seems to have a good set up. I have a winchester model 70 built in 1949 with a 7 power scope. It was my grandfather's. It's a tack driver. I want to take it out to distance but where I hunt a 50 yard zero works perfectly.

Where i grew up hunting on my farm we had distances like that but it was shotgun only for hunting. I have shot out to 500 yards target shooting, and in the Military. A 300 yard shot at a 8 inch window is a good shooting. Congrats.

[wab]

I’ve taken a buddy’s 6.5 creed out to a mile. But that thing probably costs more than my truck.

[mmmc_35]

I’ve taken a buddy’s 6.5 creed out to a mile. But that thing probably costs more than my truck.

I at a private range? That's pretty cool. I get to shoot a lot, but never anything like that.

We have a private range out to a 1000 meters but it's expensive to belong to. Maybe they have day passes. I haven't looked into it. i find it hard because growing up on a farm, i never had to think about that type of stuff. We just had space as kids.

Like south mentioned 320 meters... isn't actually very long. I personally wouldn't take the shot because I don't know the hold on my current rifle. It's awesome those that can and do.

[wab]

I’ve taken a buddy’s 6.5 creed out to a mile. But that thing probably costs more than my truck.

I at a private range? That's pretty cool. I get to shoot a lot, but never anything like that.

We have a private range out to a 1000 meters but it's expensive to belong to. Maybe they have day passes. I haven't looked into it. i find it hard because growing up on a farm, i never had to think about that type of stuff. We just had space as kids.

Like south mentioned 320 meters... isn't actually very long. I personally wouldn't take the shot because I don't know the hold on my current rifle. It's awesome those that can and do.

It’s at a membership only range. Lots of space here in TX to take them out far.