Plant your kids in the dirt.................

[Ghost]

My father is a retired preacher, minister, man of GOD.

I was and am the PK (Preacher's Kid) that everyone talks about being the wild rebelious type.

So I'm not about to "preach to the choir" here on Iowawhitetail.com.

I do, however, have a point to make for the purpose of the future of bowhunting.

A little history to back up my statements about bowhunting....

I started bowhunting in 1978 with a 45 pound Bear Kodiac Magnum Recure bow after saving paper route money.

I bought the bow by myself at Merkel's in Quincy, Illinois after a Summer of running the paper route.

My Father had only shot a gun in the Navy and had no interest in hunting.

A member of the church took me squirrel hunting and I was hooked.

From that time on, I knew I would be forever bonded with the outdoors.

We caught frogs, bluegill, catfish, shot squirrels, etc....all through my youth.

I was taught about deer sign, tracks, rubs, scrapes, trails, bedding areas, licking branches, escape routes, and how the lay of the land will dictate whitetail habitat.

Now, with all the latest and greatest food plots, videos, TV shows, hunting mags, DVD's, gadgets, wizzbangs, etc... I think our passion for the "real thing" is being lost with the future generations of hunters.

Just take a look at the "Mechanical Broadhead" thread.

The focus should not be on which broadhead punches through plywood the best!

It should be on teaching our youth on shot selection, reading the animal movements, and how to get closer to our game.

Please, don't let the "Industry" and all the promotional BS keep you from raising your kids with good ethics, good judgement, and good ground skills.

Keep the future of hunting with your nose on the dirt...not chasing the almighty dollar and fame.

My 5-cents......

Your responce and thoughts would be appreciated....

 

[nannyslayer]

I was a little different. I grew up in a strong hunting family. My dad is the most hardcore deer hunter that I know, and also the best deer hunter I know. He taught me everything about deer habitat, habits, and everything you mentioned above.

I was visiting with a fellow iowawhitetailer this weekend, and I started talking about the difference between "horn" hunters and hunters back home. Seems the almighty horn has taken over for everyone, all they want to do is kill a B&C. Don't get me wrong, I think that would be great, but I think alot of people have lost track of deer hunting in general. I, for one, am guilty of becoming a "horn hunter". I will, however, shoot a great amount of doe's when I get the chance, as I know most of you do. I am also guilty for having alot of the deer hunting and scouting gagets, that I could probably get by without.

When deer season comes around back home, people go "DEER" hunting. Doesn't matter what it is, they go out to get their "deer". Now don't get me wrong, that is not the best management tool for monster whitetails, but it is nice to see people just as excited about a 100 inch buck as they would be if it was a 200 inch buck.

 

[Kansasdeerslayer]

It's easy to get caught up in all the hype that surrounds hunting. I know I'm guilty. But you are correct, the art of being a learned woodsman is being lost. My dad taught me alot as a kid about hunting, not much about ethics

. I had to learn that on my own. Thanks Ghost, I will make sure my boy knows more about what animal left those tracks in the snow than how many FPS his bow is shooting.

 

[HuntNFish]

Great post,
But when it comes to ethics and values we bestow in our children we need not forget that the world and society as a whole is changing. Values taught in the woods need to have real world appeal. No matter the result, if you have a child that is turned off by the hunt we cannot force we need to find other ways to encourage positive family values. We need to embrace change, new technologies are not bad, changes are not bad, but the inability to change is bad. The days of the longbows are past, but will never be gone, values learned then have appeal now only in more rapidly changing society. When it comes to blasting broad heads through plywood or tightening patterns at 70 yards, times are changing and we need to embrace and encourage these changes. When it comes to the passion of the hunt it is not lost, I know in my heart the feeling I get in the field and stand in the presence of a deer (doe, buck, fawn) cannot be less than that of 25 years ago. I think it comes down to tools of the hunt and the ability to tap into. I completely agree with Ghost on the fact that we need to teach shot selection, animal movements, knowledge of the hunt to gain success, but embrace the changes, embrace the tools, much like competitive shooting continues to do a lot for the sport of bow hunting by adding recognition, new products and technologies also bring recognition to the sport. Through recognition and sheer numbers of sportsman government programs and wildlife establishment continues.

 

[Bukslayr]

Great timing on this post Ghost..
I just returned home from the Frontier Friends of the NRA banquet here in Fort Dodge. The purpose of the banquet is to help raise money for shooting sports and helping youth recieve the correct training and ethics on gun safety, shooting safety, and hunter education safety. I for one have placed one of my goals in life to help children, women, and men of all ages learn the proper rules and tactics of safety first in the outdoors and following the laws that are set for us to follow. Secondly we need to help these people learn the art of fair game chase. Whether it be learning how pick correct shot placement or how to help preserve the limited environments that we are provided with in this world. There are a lot of gimmicks anymore and everyone is looking to make a dollar and get paid. We need to instow on our peoples that this land is here and there is a limited amount of it. Take care of it!! Give back when you can and also be a leader and teach them how to pass down these ethics that we bestow upon them to their youth and everyone possible.

 

[Steve-O]

Nannyslayer is correct! It is hard to find groups that are like that. Who just go out to deer hunt. Most "horn hunt" for the first few days and then meat hunt later. Why is that?

Seems like every young kid I have talked to who has taken his first deer in the last couple yrs is disappointed if he didnt shoot something that he could shoulder mounted.
Heck my wifes first time out was last year and I put her in one of my honey holes and she took a very young doe (15 min hunt) was she happy, you bet she was, but was she disappointed that she didnt kill one of the bucks that I had gotten several trail cam pictures of in that spot, you sure in the heck she was.
Maybe it is competitive nature to out do her counter part or the way I have brought her into deer hunting. Could be both.... who knows.

Im not a lucky one who has a kid yet to take hunting but someday I hope to and thanks Ghost for bringing this up to make sure people are getting back to ground Zero.

Great thread!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[River1]

[ QUOTE ]
Now, with all the latest and greatest food plots, videos, TV shows, hunting mags, DVD's, gadgets, wizzbangs, etc... I think our passion for the "real thing" is being lost with the future generations of hunters.

Please, don't let the "Industry" and all the promotional BS keep you from raising your kids with good ethics, good judgement, and good ground skills.


[/ QUOTE ]

What bothers me is some will be lead by this crap and won't know the difference. You know..... if your not sitting on a food plot with a famous Iowa or Illinois outfitter putting it to a P&Y deer, then you just ain't got it going on!

[ QUOTE ]
Keep the future of hunting with your nose on the dirt...not chasing the almighty dollar and fame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agree, keep it simple and fun, a personal thing for family and good friends.


Great post Kent.

 

[Blaster]

Kent, i couldn't agree with you more! My Dad took me Rabbit and Pheasant hunting but he did not deer hunt. When i was 13 i asked him if we could deer hunt. He took me the next year and the rest is history. By 15 i had a bow and i spent the next 10 years learning how to deer hunt. I did not shoot a deer with a bow my first 10 years of bow hunting, but looking back it was the best years of hunting to date! I just pray my kids get the same chance i had!

 

[SaskGuy]

My dad and hid dad did not hunt. Yet growing up I was fascinated by wildlife and animals and they gave me and my brother every opportunity to do so, from buying us 22's to whack gophers all day to "going hunting" with us when we weren't old enough to legally hunt by ourselves. When he got old enough, my brother let me tag along chasing gophers, jackrabbits, pronghorn..whatever, I cherish those days now that we've got families of our own and live 100 miles apart.

Now I've got 2 boys of my own and the the only things the oldest boy wants to do is be a farmer like his grandpa or go hunting like his dad. The youngest one simply wants to be like his big brother.

Some days my wife thinks I've created a little monster but let me tell you, I get great pleasure watching those little buggers outside chasing robins, showing daddy frogs, trying to catch the squirrels or pretending to be the does eating in the garden.

I'll do my best to not ruin them do to my own obsessions but for now I like the way my little "crop" is starting out. Heck my first fish was a dinky little yellow perch, Reid, he's 3 and has pike to his credit, he's way up on the old man already.

I know everyone is different and that will not change but in teaching I deal with all kinds of kids and I'm boldly guessing "gameboy kids" mine will never be. Good Post Kent.

 

[River1]

Of all the hunts I've made, our annual October squirrel hunt to NE Iowa with my dad, brothers and close friends are by far my most favorite. We've been doing that since I was 11 years old. I will give my kids the same opportunity.

 

[Iowa1]

REMARKABLE

My father is a retired preacher, minister, man of GOD.
...My father is a retired Baptist Minister

I was and am the PK (Preacher's Kid) that everyone talks about being the wild rebelious type.
... Nuff said

So I'm not about to "preach to the choir" here on Iowawhitetail.com.

I do, however, have a point to make for the purpose of the future of bowhunting.

A little history to back up my statements about bowhunting....

I started bowhunting in 1978 with a 45 pound Bear Kodiac Magnum Recure bow after saving paper route money.
...I started bowhunting in 1973 using a 45-pound Bear kodiak Magnum that I bought with my paper route money.

I bought the bow by myself at Merkel's in Quincy, Illinois after a Summer of running the paper route.
... Bought my bow from a fellow in our church who was was a Bear dealer encouraging me to get into bowhunting. There were no archery shops at that time, dealers were working out of their garage mostly.

My Father had only shot a gun in the Navy and had no interest in hunting.
... No one in my family had an interest in hunting. Matter of fact, my folks wouldn't even let me own a gun, that's why I started bowhunting.

A member of the church took me squirrel hunting and I was hooked.
....a guy in our church took pity on me and lent me a .22 rifle to use on my trapline.

From that time on, I knew I would be forever bonded with the outdoors.
... totally.

We caught frogs, bluegill, catfish, shot squirrels, etc....all through my youth.

I was taught about deer sign, tracks, rubs, scrapes, trails, bedding areas, licking branches, escape routes, and how the lay of the land will dictate whitetail habitat.

Now, with all the latest and greatest food plots, videos, TV shows, hunting mags, DVD's, gadgets, wizzbangs, etc... I think our passion for the "real thing" is being lost with the future generations of hunters.

Just take a look at the "Mechanical Broadhead" thread.

The focus should not be on which broadhead punches through plywood the best!

It should be on teaching our youth on shot selection, reading the animal movements, and how to get closer to our game.

Please, don't let the "Industry" and all the promotional BS keep you from raising your kids with good ethics, good judgement, and good ground skills.

Keep the future of hunting with your nose on the dirt...not chasing the almighty dollar and fame.

My 5-cents......

Your responce and thoughts would be appreciated....

COULDN'T AGREE MORE.

 

[bowmaker]

Ghost, your post makes my heart sing for joy! For several years now, I have felt most of these same things and have used this form to express those thoughts. It is great to see that others much younger than I have the same feelings and finally feel the urge to express them in hopes of giving to our up coming generations the same kind of hopes, wonder, respect, and love of the outdoors and the animals we hunt. There is nothing wrong with wanting to kill a real trophy, but when everything short of that becomes trash or "JUST A CULL BUCK" we have errored. The recent thread about killing all the 8 point bucks because they would never measure up to the 10's really bothered me a lot. I debated a couple of days and finally decided not to post a "preachey" reply but I feel very sorry for those who demean these deer just because they don't "measure up" in their view or won't put some one's name in a record book some where.

Huntnfish I must respectfully disagree with you about some of your comments. The hunting world has and is changing a lot, but that doesn't necessarly mean that we must embrace those changes if it will destroy our hunting. The day of the longbow is not past and there are more hunters regressing every year by putting more feeling, challenge, and satisfaction back into their bow hunting by putting aside their compound bows. Don't get me wrong I really have nothing against the compounds and they have brought untold numbers of people into bow hunting. How ever, that being said, the compounds and almost every other technical advancement over the last several years have preyed on one thing only. They make it easier to harvest that Booner, or at least according to the "experts" and the ad companies. There have been some gadgets or things that have been deemed illegal, immoral, or just unethical. Things like the drug arrowhead pods of several years ago, or the lockback devices to hold a bow at full draw, or lazer projecting sight systems. I am very glad that we did not just accept these things as part of the changes. I will proably get some black marks for this, but I think that we should legally limit much of the upcoming tech advances and maybe even cut back on some of the existing things. I am not saying that every one should go back to stickbows and stone heads or spears, but I do feel that some restrictions are needed on modern technologies that weren't even dreamed of when the bow season was lobbied for by sportsmen using primative weapons. If we are true to ourselves we must admit that there is archery equipment today that is far more lethal that the shotguns and slugs of the 50's and 60's. As equipment becomes better and easier to use there are more and more bucks killed during and even before the rut period which may limit future generations of trophy deer. If more advances are made and there are more bowhunters taking advantage of the longer hunting season and our horn mainia think what might happen.

I have always said that more hunters would be happier if they were just "deer hunters" instead trophy or horn hunters. I have had the pleasure of being a deer hunter for almost 40 years now and have enjoyed every one of the deer I have killed and was never once disapointed that it was just a doe or a little buck instead of a monster, and I have been grateful to have the opprotunity granted to me. Each was a chance to enjoy the outdoors, the love and compainonship of family and friends, and the bounty that God has given us and I believe we all have an obligation to pass that on to our children and grandchildren or just the kid who lives down the road because that is what was done for all of us and don't they deserve as much as we did?

This is long enough so "Great post Ghost" keep learning, teaching, and grounding your young hunters and you will be rewarded beyond measure.

 

[Hardcorehunter]

Great post.

 

[tlambert]

Horn Hunter....I'll admit that I do this every year. I also take my share of the does though and I'm not embarrassed to admit that I took a forkhorn last year with my bow out in ND on the ground in knee deep snow and below zero temps. That was my first deer ever off the ground with my bow and I'm really proud of it.

 

[THA4]

Ghost, thanks for bring back to light why we do this! Great post!

i will try to not get too long winded on this. even though i tend to do that from time to time....

i am and can be very opinionated, especially about some of the hunting equipment i use. i have years upon years of data that i have documented to support my opinions. however, i have met many great folks, mostly through this website, that have differing opinions but have them because they have years upon years of documented experience.

so i have been humbled by a few posts on this web site, and challenged to say the least.

fact, a well placed broadhead will kill a deer, regardless of the brand. and it doesnt matter what kind of bow is shooting it. today, essentially they are all the same, some just have more bells and whistles, or whatever. we (myself included) shouldnt slam each other for shooting what they choose. we need not forget WHY we do this.

i work in this industry, and i made a pact with myself that if this job took my passion from me, id quit. i will not give up what i love to make money, nor will i sell out to someone who will give product/money simply to pimp their product as the best. a certian amount of that might be inevitable, but not to the point where it challenges my ethics.
the line has been drawn in the sand.

i have killed quite a few deer in my life, and not one has grossed over 130" that is not because im a poor hunter, but becasue i see a trophy a little different. do i want to kill big bucks, yes, and i will. but my personal circumstances have not allowed me to spend that much devoted time to pursuing that. i have not been able to hang on to a piece of land for more than one year....unfortunate curcumstances. im sure i could be given a list of what im doing wrong simply on what i have just said, but it is much deeper than the words listed above. i have photos of every deer i killed and every single deer is a trophy to me. i absolutely dont respect hunters that discount my accomplishments for shooting a "sub-par" animal. i havent lost sight of why, they have.

if i had lots of land, i would implement a QDM program, but you can bet i wouldnt sacrifice the look in a child's eyes if they get a chance to kill their first deer, 50 inches or less.....i dont care.
My wife killer her first deer with a bow a few years ago, it was a button buck....she still talks about that hunt with much fondness. i love that she loves it. the trophy aspect is in the eyes of the hunter. not those around you...

not to hyjack this, Ghost, but

here is why i hunt

I hunt because i love taking advantage of the freedom i have as an American to spend time in Creation with those that mean the most to me. pulling the trigger on a large animal is only a small part of the intentions i carry to the woods with me. Passion, Family, Friends and Memories.
Live it up and dont miss a moment. tomorrow could be gone in the blink of an eye!

Why do you hunt?

 

[doublerack]

Don't know where to start with this one. I'm sure I'll go off on a tangent.
I guess, my Dad has never been and is not a hunter. That doesn't mean he is against hunting, he just never grew an interest for it. What I will credit him for (other than years of raising a great family & hard work) is love for outdoors. That is where I think my interest in hunting started. Growing up, if we weren't at a baseball game, we were fishing or at a park hiking & taking photos of the outdoors. Living in the city I wasn't surrounded by other kids that were into hunting, most were into video games if they weren't playing sports.
Although I have always hiked and camped, it wasn't until after I graduated from college that I started hunting. I took my love for the outdoors expanded it with hunting. Other than an occasional hunting show on t.v., I really knew nothing about hunting. So, I convinced a buddy to take hunters safety with me. What I learned in that class amazed me.
Now, after taking the required course years ago, bow hunters safety, and taking my nephew through hunters safety I have a little more insight and here is where I think a lot of "growing is overlooked" When taking my nephew to hunters safety, I tried to just sit back and observe. Let him actually learn by taking the class. What I observed is that unfortunately many people already developed some of their own ethics prior to taking this course. Most have either heard things from their friends or parents how to hunt and in some cases seen or participated in "not so ethical hunts". Just sitting there observing there were atleast 3 or 4 people who would have to comment on every topic the DNR officer brought up. They would either tell a story about something they heard about, did, or in on the "but you can do this this way, or you can do that that way. can't you?" act. I wish I had a shock collar on those people because most of people interrupting were there only because there kids were and all they end up doing is distracting their kids from learning. Anyways, the point of that story is all experience and knowledge aside, what those courses teach are very quite informative not only as to safety and laws, but also as to ethics and wildlife knowledge.
Continuing..... my first experience hunting was pheasant hunting. Watching the dogs work and trying to shoot birds on the fly was fun. A few months later came deer hunting. It was shot gun season with deer drives. Of course I liked it. I was with friends, outdoors and of course, you get moving and get to see a lot of deer. My athletic nature told me "hey, this is fun" Seeing all the deer and occasional big buck was exciting. There was always the hope of "me" being the one with a shot at the "horns" Of course, being an armature and always a walker, I rarely got a shot. Then one day I bought a bow hunting moving. The size of the deer and how close they got was amazing and I was instantly hooked. At that time, I thought a 120" was big deer. Once I shot one of those I wanted to shoot a bigger one. Then so on and so on. So I admit it. I am a horn hunter. But in my own defense, the things I do in addition make me a DEER hunting. Hours & miles of shed hunting, spring food plots. Trail cams, Fall Food plots. $200 + dollars in antlerless tags and filling them. Letting what I call small bucks go in hopes they grow. We all do it. It's not only what makes us the hunters we are, but the people we are. I have confidence and faith that most every person on this site is not just a good hunter, but also good people with a common sense of ethics.
Great post Ghost!
I am a horn hunter. I am a deer hunter. Like many say "the trophy is in the eye of the beholder" My hope is my trophy is a symbol of my hard work.
............ In a somewhat related post...... Why Do you hunt?

 

[letemgrow]

[ QUOTE ]
Horn Hunter....I'll admit that I do this every year. I also take my share of the does though and I'm not embarrassed to admit that I took a forkhorn last year with my bow out in ND on the ground in knee deep snow and below zero temps. That was my first deer ever off the ground with my bow and I'm really proud of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep as long as it fits your needs sling away. Looks like some pretty tough conditions btw.