On Nov 28, 5:04 pm, "Swingman" wrote:


Sorry, dude ... "woodland skills" are something only practiced around the
water cooler on the Monday following opening day.

By Gawd, isn't that the truth. I grew up in the hunting culture, and
we wore comfy clothes, had "experienced" firearms, and enjoyed getting
out and away from thing as much as we did hunting. It is now
considered a style show by many, and like some with tools, it is more
important to have the most up to date and coolest gear over knowing
how to use the stuff.

I no longer deer hunt (but I will take all the venison anyone has
to offer),
Besides ... stalking deer, with woodland skills, and during hunting season,
and since about 1900, is probably as good a way to commit suicide as any.

True, true. I got a good laugh out of that one.

As as hunting from a blind, obviously some here have not hunted from
one, and don't understand why they came about.

In West Texas, you can get to areas where you can see a quarter of a
mile, unimpeded. Since the deer can see better, hear better, and
smell better, this can be a great habitat for them. If you aren't
patient and plan well, you will never even see them. A blind is a
must as you will NEVER stalk a deer under those circumstances.
Crawling on your belly give a suspicious enough profile to scare a
trophy buck.

And in dense woodlands, you won't sneak up on much these days. They
will hear and see you well before you discover them.

But all that being said, I lost interest in deer hunting, and I am not
sure why. The hunting culture changed, it is EXPENSIVE, and it takes
a lot of time away from other things. I love to jump in the truck and
shoot dove and quail when I can, but it isn't often.

I knew it was time for me to hang up my rifle when I started taking a
pint up into those cold blinds with me. 20 feet off the ground, and
with the wind blowing up my butt, if I didn't see anything moving an
hour after first light I would unload my gun and sip some whiskey.
This made me go to sleep in the blind, which had nothing to do with
hunting. I noticed this became a pattern, so that was that.

Like you, I will take all the venison I can get. I don't even mind
the processing part of the hunt, nor making the sausage or the other
things that go with it. But there seems to be less and less hunters
around, and even less affordable places to hunt.

Odd too, that we have two different subdivisions that have so many
deer in them that they are paying to have them trapped and hauled
off. In those bergs, it is illegal to kill them, illegal to trap
them, and illegal to feed them. The feeding isn't necessary though,
as they live fine in the green belts, and on the manicured lawns of
St. Augustine, drinking out of bird baths and dog bowls when thirsty.
It isn't unusual to drive through those subdivisions and see 8 - 10 pt
bucks in front yards. In the last three years, one of those
subdivisions paid to have almost 600 animals hauled away. What a
strange place to live.

Robert