Hunting Technology. How much is enough?

[scoutm]

My brother has two big game animals under his belt. His hunts have been as follows:

 

walk.

watch big brother find the animals.

shoot big animals.

take pictures

watch/help big brother gut animals.

watch big brother (and dad at times) pack/load animals.

watch big brother skin animals.

 

 

I dont really see that ruined by gizmo's.

 

truthfully, I think your taking this waaayyyyy too personal and are assuming it will have a much larger impact than it really will.

 

Looks to me that your brother found quite a hunting Gizmo - a game finding, game cleaning and game hauling gizmo...I need to find out where I can get one of those cheap.

[firstcoueswas80]

I once had this gizmo that offered to take my pack or the deer... Sucker! He took the pack and I took the deer, even on a jacked up ankle I got the better end of the deal!

[JLW]

I think with reliance on technology the ability to hunt is slowly being lost. I use whatever is out there but i feel without my rangefinder i am lost. I am thinking about ditching it for archery hunting all together. I would rather just "know" how far the animal is and be able to shoot rather than fumble around with my rangefinder, range it, get my bow ready, etc, all the whIle losing precious moments icould have already shot out of confidence. You see what i am saying?

 

With rifle hunting, i like the handiness of a rangefinder also, but dont need it. It helps on those long shots but truth be told one can learn to judge distances without it and most hunters can get within 300 yds of a deer pretty easily if needs be.

 

Point is technology is actually a handicap and takes away from the basics of hunting. If your rangefinder breaks on a hunt can you still hunt out of experience or would you cancel your hunt and go buy a new one? Can you use iron sights out to 500 yds with confidence? Find deer without thermal imaging?

 

I am going back to the older style of hunting just so i do not forget how. I will still keep my cool gadgets for certain occasions but think it is important to remember how to actually hunt. And no i am not going back to just stick and string but to the days of youth when i learned to hunt without all these gadgets. I realized the importance of this after the last week of archery hunting.

I'm with you on the fumbling rangefinder while trying to get a shot on a buck when precious seconds count.

I do like knowing the yardage as it makes my confidence soar. I think back to when I hunted with my Dad and we were in unit 27 and we walked up on a blue grouse and my Dad pulled back his compound bow he had forever and with no sights no range finder, he straight smoked that bird at 42 paces!

I always asked him how he could judge the distance so precise and he simply said "practice". He said when he was a kid the neighbors would pay him to kill the gophers around their farms and he used a stick and string and only had a couple arrows that he couldn't afford to lose.

I think I will try to be less reliant on the range finder for archery spot and stalk as it has messed me up more than a few times.

While my blunder this weekend was more from my own stupidity and a sort of greed than the range finder fumble . I think there is too much going on for me when you are so close to a nice buck 1 less thing I have to worry about.

As far as technology.... to each his own. Technology will never stop advancing. Heck our great grand kids may come up with a smart arrow that will lock onto the target and double lung em' every time... Hahaha!

It's up to each of us to instill your own traditions and ethics in our kids and grand kids and hope they will pass it on.

I think Casey said it best "if you don't like it don't use it"

 

James

[POB]

I have and use a laser rangefinder for two very good (to me) reasons. 1. To tell me if the game is beyond my self imposed range limit. 2. to allow me to make the most accurate shot on the game possible. I don't own and have no desire to own any night vision gear. I don't poach so I have no need for poachers gear. Thermal imaging would be nice for recovering game after dark though. I bought a GPS after missing my truck in the dark by 50 yards and wandering around for 4 hours. Never again. That said, everyone needs to decide for themselves. I have a friend who refuses to shoot anything with a scope, and another who will only use a bow. To each his (or her) own.

[Snapshot]

I once had this gizmo that offered to take my pack or the deer... Sucker! He took the pack and I took the deer, even on a jacked up ankle I got the better end of the deal!

 

 

"Sucker"....Is that what they call them here? In Africa they call them "Porters". Just a polite word for "Carry all my stuff" I will take one of those Gizmos

[firstcoueswas80]

Damnnn Larry, he just called you a porter!

[DesertBull]

I like good optics, good boots, and any ol gun.

The rest is just extra weight...

 

Agreed, but there is a lot of high tech in the best optics. The finished product might not be high tech, per se but the manufacturing processes and computer modeling and design of those Leica's and Swarovski's is truly space age stuff.

[BASS]

I just want them to make cheap launchable GPS dongles so I can tag an animal while scouting, and track it later during the hunt!

[Snapshot]

I just want them to make cheap launchable GPS dongles so I can tag an animal while scouting, and track it later during the hunt!

 

I won't be surprised if hunters start doing that..

[WISH I was on the MOUNTAIN]

I like good optics, good boots, and any ol gun.

The rest is just extra weight...

 

Agreed, but there is a lot of high tech in the best optics. The finished product might not be high tech, per se but the manufacturing processes and computer modeling and design of those Leica's and Swarovski's is truly space age stuff.

 

Very true. This has been a very interesting topic. I agree with the overall tone that it is easy to get carried away with technology. We currently don't have a range finder but last year I sure could have used one.