Snobery in hunting

[bstan86]

I have noticed over the years as I've met lots of different people involved in various formats of hunting that occasionally I come across characters who seem to hold themselves on some kind of pedestal in regards to their experience or amount of game taken - those kinds of things.

It could come down to general cockiness and an egotistical character - who knows.
Not wanting to be controversial here but often I've found this kind of attitude amoung bowhunters as much as any other group.
now I'm not trying to stir up an argument here but has anyone else here noticed this kind of thing?

some people who may've only shot a couple of goats or pigs might spruke on as if they wrote the book on it all.


as an example - a few months ago I was hunting on a favourite property and at the time there was a fellow (using a wheely device) who acted like he was the final authority on all things hunting.
I'd shot a few goats already and he had a go at me because none of them were over 40 inches.
He was so special that he only shot pigs over 30 points and that sort of thing.....bit of a w@&#ker.
Funnilly enough I know for a fact that he will not be getting an invite back to that property because of his cocky attitude and annoying character. The owners have specifically stated that any ferals are to be shot regardless of size because of the damage they do. I am more than happy with this.

From my time out west I know that if I went hunting on a big station and told the Cocky I'd seen heaps of pigs but didn't shoot any because they were too small - I'd likely not be welcome back on the place.

[Stickbow Hunter]

You get'em in all walks of life mate. It's a good thing we can choose our mates and especially our hunting mates.

Jeff

[bstan86]

very true Jeff - pity we can't choose our relatives as well......

[Stickbow Hunter]

Jeff

[Gringa Bows]

Uhhhhhh huh

[ron300wm]

Any game taken with a stick is a prize. Will to me any way

[bstan86]

Any game taken with a stick is a prize. Will to me any way

Absolutely!!!

[perry]

Any game taken with a stick is a prize. Will to me any way

Some could interpret this innocent statement as Snobbery also - note : I dont - It could be interpretted to mean that those that shoot Trad Bows are above Compound Archers. I know of Slob and Snob Bowhunters in both Camps. I have been at the sharp end of Elitest Compound Archers Tongues on the Field Coarse and I have also defended Compound Archers from the sharp Tongues of Elitest Trad Shooters. I can't stand this rivalry / snobbery thing in Archery. I get the different equipment choices we make, I don't get why it's anyones business to take the higher ground over other peoples choices. To belittle a Meat Hunter because he leaves the Breeding Stock alone, to elevate oneself because you have taken more or bigger game or whatever says more about flaws in your character than the perceived weakness you are implying in others

Compound and Trad Archers share some skills but also need to master different skills than the other. Whats that old saying, something about walking a Mile in anothers Shoes !

regards Jacko

[swami]

Here here Perry, well said. Hunting/archery is an individual sport largely and each to there own.
I think ethics are big on genuine hunters table.

[Curvemeister]

Exactly as Jeff said , chest thumpers and glory hounds are in all walks of life , go to a motorcross track on a weekend for example and you will see exactly the same type of thing .

[Nephew]

Yeah, insecure wankers that have a perpetual need to prove themselves (to whom?) can be found in any group. I've met blokes who think hunting is an S.A.S mission and get very serious and elitist about it. Me? I go primarily for a few days in the bush, and during those few days I hunt when I feel like it.
I'm stoked if I, or my mates, get any ferals at all!

[rmcpb]

I'm stoked if I, or my mates, get any ferals at all!

To true!!

[Axefanatic]

Whats that old saying, something about walking a Mile in anothers Shoes !

regards Jacko

I believe the full quote reads:

" Before you judge another, walk a mile in their shoes................. Then you are a mile away.... And you have their shoes!! "






Edit to add that I attempt to distance myself from the sort of person mentioned in the OP.

Plus I would be happy just to be confident in my abilities to make a clean kill, and have a property to hunt on.

Browny.

[huddo0312]

Funny you should bring this up bstan86 and then describe the bloke hunting with you as "using a wheely device". Mmm.

Dave

[slinkymalinky]

Spot on, Perry.

[GrahameA]

Morning.

Funny you should bring this up bstan86 and then describe the bloke hunting with you as "using a wheely device". Mmm.

Yes!!!

[Stickbow Hunter]

Perry, swami, huddo0312, slinkymalinky, GrahameA why not read the first post again to see what this thread was really about rather than trying to turn it into a Trad versus Compound thing.

Jeff

[longbowinfected]

Because we are trad archers up here in the Blue Mountains we use wooden pedestals. It is so cold up here most of the pedestals get thrown on the fire.
Not much point to bragging when you have blokes like Steve and Jethro running around.....
Cannot brag about any beasts I have taken. Do not carry a camera or a tape measure. What I take gets processed and eaten or someone wears part of it....or it is a contribution to vermin control. Too hard for a big bloke like me to get really close enough to shoot let alone click away with a camera. I am too old and feeble to carry one thing extra to my clothes, some water, a nibble, a compass/map, my bow and a few arrows plus a knife or two and a stone plus day pack along with a rudimentary first aid kit.
I would give up if I calculated the number of kilometres travelled against kilos harvested. For me hunting with a bow is really going for a nice long walk/look see using a modified walking stick.

I could use fire arms but normally choose not to. I only go for a walk like this three or four times a year as against shooting at and practising for competitive target, clout and field three or four times a week. My wife will eat game meat but my daughters are fitness freak vegetarians, so there is not much point filling up the freezer. I just need to go for a walk away from a household of females to get some headspace cleared.

Kevin

[GrahameA]

Hi Jeff.

Perry, swami, huddo0312, slinkymalinky, GrahameA why not read the first post again to see what this thread was really about rather than trying to turn it into a Trad versus Compound thing.

I did.

It is not a Trad vs. Compound thing. It is about not respecting other people who choose to do things differently. Referring to a persons choice as ..."using a wheely device"... to me is not good. If people want to refer to Compound Bows then call them Compound Bows not something else particularly when there may be tones of bias. It is hard to observe the non-verbals or the intonations on a post and thus what people are trying to communicate does not always get get taken in the way it is meant.

Thus to clarify my comment I am not commenting on Trad vs. Compound choices.

[Stickbow Hunter]

Thanks for clarifying Grahame.

The reference to "using a wheely device"; I just took it in the context of what was being said by bstan86 and just thought it as slang. I myself very rarely call a compound bow a compound bow but rather a number of other names. I hardly see that as lack of respect for someone but something to think about perhaps.

Jeff

[huddo0312]

Perry, swami, huddo0312, slinkymalinky, GrahameA why not read the first post again to see what this thread was really about rather than trying to turn it into a Trad versus Compound thing.

Jeff

I too read the whole of the first post. We've all come across dickheads like this in all walks of life. Those that choose to put others down to elevate their opinion of themselves. Usually they are blokes with small minds. We deal with them and move on. I was simply pointing out the use of a phrase that in itself came across as exactly what the author was denouncing another for. It sounded elitist. I fail to see how it could be interpreted any other way. The man's choice of weapon didn't need to be mentioned at all. I float in and out of this forum very infrequently because I often come across these types of derogatory(my opinion) references to the use of compound bows. Yes, I do own two compound bows and I love to shoot them. But I cut my teeth on so-called "trad bows". My first bow was a Ben Pearson recurve 35#, when I was sixteen, in 1983. Yes, I'm now forty seven and still love the crappy longbow I currently shoot. Certainly wasn't trying to turn this thread into a trad versus compound thing. That's an argument I can't win against myself. My apologies to anyone that took it that way.

Dave

[ron300wm]

Thank you huddo312 . Sum people like to make mountains out of moll hills

[Stickbow Hunter]

Thanks for the extra input Dave.

We've all come across dickheads like this in all walks of life. Those that choose to put others down to elevate their opinion of themselves.

That's what the thread was about but the point I was trying to make was that the emphasis seemed to shift onto the Trad verses Compound thing which, you seem to agree, is not needed.

Jeff

[bstan86]

you can interpret what you read as you see fit - we all do it.

i hunt with stick devices and gunpowder-using metal devices and have even used hand-held stick/blade devices - and certainly appreciate the techological marvels that compounds are - just don't use them myself.

i certainly was not getting at a compound vs. trad thing - each to his own i say.

like jeff - i call them by a few names and the one used about will sit as it was laid.

as others have stated - the origional post was about people looking down their nose at someone - classing them as "sub-hunters" because they don't shoot the biggest rack/hooks/horns etc.
often i have shot does/young nannies etc. for eating - or simply because the property owner may want something controlled/eradicated on their land. to many of these people a pig is a pig - it's not wanted on the land and that's it.

to go on a property and let ferals walk away unmolested because "it's not over 30 points/40 inches" etc. is a bit insulting to property owners with feral animal problems i reckon.
they often let you on in the hope that you may help them with somehwat of a problem IMO.
the low impact and safety of bowhunting also probably apeals to many cockies i bet.

when you are doornocking - how many of you are telling the property owner that you are looking for big pigs or huge heads, and that you'll let the rest walk free?
good luck with that....

how many of these property owners would say "just take the big ones - leave the little ones to grow up". (and keep eating my lucerne/sorgum)

i bet most of us would promote ourselves as helping with vermin control amoung other things.

anyway - these are my opinions......

[bstan86]

The reference to "using a wheely device"; I just took it in the context of what was being said by bstan86 and just thought it as slang. I myself very rarely call a compound bow a compound bow but rather a number of other names. I hardly see that as lack of respect for someone but something to think about perhaps.

Jeff

yep!

[perry]

Perry, swami, huddo0312, slinkymalinky, GrahameA why not read the first post again to see what this thread was really about rather than trying to turn it into a Trad versus Compound thing.

Jeff

I read the post again as you requested Jeff and it's quite a broad question and call for a discussion, refering to Various Hunters and Bowhunters in general. I answered it how I interpretted it, we don't all have the same thought process I was not trying to stir up the Compound Vs Trad debate, I thought I was saying both Camps are in it together and I had observed Snob and Slob Hunters in all Camps

regards Jacko

[looseplucker]

Trad, compound. Whatever. I own and shoot bows made from all sorts. Next trip I am likely to use a wheelie one day and a sinew backed osage the next. As Billb once said - "it's all archery".

However, never let equipment choice spoil a decent sledge......