Like Howard & Fred, does anyone do it the "Hard Way" anymore ,, No High Fences, No Ranches, No Bait Piles, No "My only private Land" Spot, ,,, just hunt Hard ,, the way it should be ?? Anyone ??  It's all I know, and Gratifying ...

I didn't know there was another way ?

Sure, I hunt public land and most of the time never get a deer, or see one. But I love being out there to try at least. I makes me feel good inside to hunt with my recurve and try, try, try! I do not have any private land to hunt on or anywhere special to go.

Some don't like him and I have a few reservations of my own about some of his shots and shot placement, but Tred Barta.  I admire him for his unwillingness to hunt over bait piles, feeders, or even a ground blind. Though that has changed due to him being paralyzed now.  His drive and determination was one of the things that drove me to take up traditional bowhunting over the compounds I owned.

Come to the Ohio Traditional Deer Hunt we have annually if you want to hunt the hard way. You need to understand everything about deer hunting/woodsmanship to get a deer out of there.

Don't get me wrong, the deer population in the area is VERY good, but you better know your basics to get at 'em. This is a big swath of public land. Read some maps, look for funnels etc.... or go home empty handed. We usually have a good time! Most of us ground hunt, but I am finally taking a climber this year

I have been thinking about that lately. . . there are other popular sites where "foodplots," "food attractants,"  etc. comprise 30%+ of the posts.

I am not really against plots etc. I really am NOT!!  But- it sure seems that is becoming an entire way of hunting now; get deer to come to you on your private "habitat management."  

I could be wrong and just getting older, but I wonder if there is something being lost in all of this.

... a good bow ...and a few arrow... and a shady spot in the woods is enough for me. If I put blood on the ground then its a great meal or two. "LESS IS MORE" !!! If you know what I mean...If not then I feel sorry for you ... good hunting my friends ...Jeff

QuoteOriginally posted by KSdan:
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I am not really against plots etc. I really am NOT!!  But- it sure seems that is becoming an entire way of hunting now; get deer to come to you on your private "habitat management."  

I could be wrong and just getting older, but I wonder if there is something being lost in all of this.

I hear you... I like food plots as they improve the carrying capacity on out timberland pine forests ... This means healthy does, healthy yearlings and healthier bucks...

But I hardly ever hunt a foodplot... Why? Where I have been the deer may use them, but I have always had better luck hunting the draws, the creek bottoms and the terrain funnels, escape corridors between the bedding areas and the food sources... FYI... The main food sources tend to be the mast crops... Foodplots pay dividends in the spring and late fall early winter it seems to me...

I have my own ground to hunt but I still think I do it the hard way. I hunted at least 50 days last year. Both the deer I shot were in sub zero temps. The day I shot my buck the wind was blowing around 40 miles an hour and it was -2, it was out of a tree stand. Just because you have private ground doesn't mean you don't do it the hard way.

The last 2 years on your antelope hunts we had to shovel a foot of snow so we could set our tents down. You learn real quick to put your next days clothes in the sleeping bag with ya.

All the suffering adds up to great memories.

when you do it the hard way your entire life its not an issue at all.i would never hunt a fenced in animal.i'll quit hunting first so my memories wouldnt be soured from it.tred will always be remembered for doing it the hard way.

Slasher- Do you really think we had a problem with carrying capacity prior to this food plot marketing and new hunting strategy (10-12 years now)?  Is this the "real" reason people put in food plots?  

Will this type of trend be good for the future of hunting? Will it be good for kid down the road?  How about the historic reality that hunting was sustained by a rural/suburban middle to lower class family structure?  Can the average family man really afford land, equipment, and food plots??   Tradition?? Conservation??  Sustainable?   ????????    :confused:      

Not trying to argue- just not convinced.

Dan in KS

I hunt all public land here in Mississippi.

I hunt about 90% of the time from the ground and most of that time is spot and stalk.(without much luck)

It's kinda tough and I get made fun of alot but it's a blast!! The thrill of trying to get close to an animal is as much of my hunt as an actual harvest.  

On the ground still hunting or spot and stalk are the only ways I hunt.  There is no other way for me.

Inside 20 yards, with two sticks and a string is "The Hard Way".

Doesn't matter if you are on the ground, in a stand, around corn or a mineral block, near a food plot, private land, public land, fence or no fence.

I like the "hard way" but I don't consider it the hard way.  I have always hunted public land and find that it is most productive when you learn to hunt it right.  

I hunt hunters.  That may sound funny, but the average gun hunter walks into the woods at daylight or 10 minutes or so earlier.  I have stands on funnels and escape routes leaving popular areas.  I show up early and let hunters push deer over me.  

I like to hunt draws, ridges, and all of the other stuff also, but in gun season my whole stratgey changes.  I usually take 4 or 5 deer a year, it works.

If i wanted to shoot a fenced animal, I would go to my pasture and shoot a cow.  That is not who I am.

Hey, Adam, good question.  Some thoughtful responses.  I am concerned that even in "traditional archery" circles, there is this trend to apply more and more technology to bows that are considered traditional just because they lack wheels, the latest and greatest camo, etc, etc.--anything else pretty much goes.  Other than no wheels, what distinguishes our approach from that of the techno hunters?  If wheels are the chief difference, then we are not really much different at all.

David, I hunt with a guy that hunts with a wheel bow. Can't say he doesn't do it the hard way. It's not easy keeping up with him on a 2 week hunt. I don't think the kind of bow you shoot has anything to do with doing it the hard way. It has to do with pushing yourself as far you can or a little further, I guess you would call it stubbornness. A lot of you might look down on me for saying this but I don't consider myself a Traditional archer I'm a bowhunter. If something would happen that I that I couldn't shoot my trad bows anymore I'd have no problem picking up a compound. I just read a article in Bugle magazine about the same thing.

I didn't know those other ways were called hunting. I thought that was called cheating

I've hunted nothing but public land for the last 30yrs or so. The land I hunt grows all natural deer...no baiting, supplements, food plots, etc.
Until the last few yrs. since I've been hunting Shawnee National Forest...lots of agriculture, but I don't hunt the edges I go real deep in the woods to get away from hunters. I hunt the thick bedding edges most of the time.

If it's brown it's down..so any old deer you kill has been shot at an hunted since it lost it's spots.

I just like to hunt these deer purely for the satisfaction I get on the few times I get lucky.

It'll be all homemade flintlocks and stobought recurve this yr.

Except for the public vs. private land I grew up hunting the way you describe. I grew up where the fences and baiting were illegal. That helped form my ethic, so I don't hunt those ways.  I don't own the place I hunt, I hunt with permission from the farmer. As one who has hunted someone else's private land all my life I can attest it is not easy. I'm not talking about the hunting, I'm talking about gaining and just as importantly keeping the access. The care and feeding of one's landowner is a vital thing to maintain a place to hunt. It would be much easier for me to drive 40 miles down the road and hunt public land. I could go in by boat and avoid most of the public pressure. Most states in the eastern US are public land poor - we have only 5% public land in KY.  If I lived in the west where 50-67% of the land is public I doubt I'd ever step foot on private land -- wouldn't need to.  This year, after hunting the same place for about 9 years I had to lease the place I hunt. Some fellows from a body shop approached the landowner and offered to pay his property taxes. The landowner knew and trusted me but the money was appealing. So, rather than start from scratch (again) I ponied up $1,500 (I couldn't have done just a few years ago") to keep my spot.  Of course someone who works hard, saves a long time, and then makes the sacrifices to buy his or her own hunting spot is also doing something quite difficult -- too hard for me.