Campfire Discussions

Is Hunting Tech Crippling or Strengthening the Hunter?

by Outdoor Hub on November 15, 2011

Is Hunting Tech Crippling or Strengthening the Hunter?

Join this week’s Campfire Discussion as we ask you: How much gear does a hunter need? How much tech should a hunter use? Are you a old school bare-bones, purist hunter? Are you the hunter who is open to all technology and loves to try out new gadgets?

Let’s strike up a campfire to debate whether advanced technology is working to our advantage or taking away from those skills that outdoorsmen develop. We want to hear you stories and your opinions.

Photo: Emily
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  • Matt K

    I’m of the opinion that the “tech/no tech” debate
    is illustrative of a greater problem in the hunting tradition.

    We sportsmen and women have to be careful not to put up any dividing lines
    between an already divided and threatened tradition. For that reason, I feel
    that hunters need to be careful not to belittle or cheapen the method of one
    hunter in contrast with another’s. To expand on this, calling one form of
    hunting “un-sportsmanlike” while elevating another onto a pedestal as
    the “pure” way to do it is a dangerous game of intellectual gymnastics. The
    compound bow is just as much a technological advantage over prey as is the
    rifle, albeit with different specifics. Things like compasses, GPSs and other
    gadgets are simply facilitators of an already “unfair” (tech-wise) pursuit. A
    hunter can use as many gizmos as he or she wants, but in the end the ultimate
    deciders of whether or not a hunt is successful are luck, skill and
    determination.

    Hunters must be careful not to take a reductionist approach
    to the sport. Look at it this way: Bow hunter B calls rifle hunter R a
    non-purist for his “unsportsmanlike” use of a rifle on a deer hunt. Rifle
    hunter R fires back that bow hunter B is just as guilty, as the use of a tool
    like a bow against a deer who, after all, lacks the mental capacity to
    understand that he should build himself a ghillie suit to better conceal
    himself, is just as much a technological advantage. They keep going and going
    and get to the point where they decide spears are the only pure way to hunt
    -  but that introduces its own problems,
    as after all the spear is a human artifact (and thus a piece of technology, as
    primitive as it may be) as well. They finally arrive at the conclusion that any
    such kind of “assisted” hunting is not pure – the only acceptable practice is
    tooth and nail. But that raises its own problems, as a deer is probably going to
    outrun a human chasing him to get at him with his hands.

    Humans are then relegated to doing what many anthropologists
    and biologists hypothesize our species did before we became more organized –
    scavenge and survive off the leftovers of species more well adapted to pursuing
    and killing their prey with what they’ve got on their body.

    What I am getting at here is that the very practice of
    hunting in and of itself is an artifact of human nature and is likely
    intrinsically “unfair” and “impure” according to the most strict naturalist
    definitions, so any attempt to deem one strain of hunting impure and another
    pure is a waste of thinking power and breath. This raises its own questions of
    what is natural and what is artificial, especially if an artifact of human
    behavior is used to give us a “natural” (biological) advantage, but that is
    beyond the scope of this question.

    Of course we can say that there are certain aspects of the
    hunt that we can collectively agree must be practiced or prohibited – a quick
    and humane kill and not torturing the animal, wildlife conservation and
    protection versus depletion and so on. But the imagined barriers we toss up
    between the different disciplines of the same craft harm us more than help us.
    The tradition and practice of hunting requires solidarity and criticizing each
    other back and forth for “doing it wrong” is a distraction.

  • Milt

    I’m 69, an NRA member and obviously pro-gun. Even though the Supreme Court has recently voted in favor of the 2nd Admendment there are still numerous attacks against gun ownership in this country. It behooves each of us, whether we are target shooters or hunters of various non-game and game animals to join with each other in protecting our rights as gun owners. Anything other than all of us coming together as a group and supporting each other in however we wish to pursue the sport of shooting and hunting is detrimental to ourselves and provides unnecessary fodder to anti-gun and anti-hunting opponents.  

  • Willyp1956

    I think you need to find your joy in hunting. Rather that is as simple as photographing an animal or harvesting it with whatever. I also think a lot of folks like to dial up the difficulty factor as they get more experienced and taking an animal gets easier. The harder I worked for whatever, the more appreciative I am of it and the stronger the memory is for me. I also get a lot of enjoyment out of all the icing on the cake stuff that comes along with chasing a particular animal. Sit in a tree stand and watch a hawk get a squirrel or have a chickadee land on your leg as you sit there quietly. Letting an animal walk by as opposed to harvesting it because it came by. Having a huge buck inside of your shooting range and not feeling good about the shot so you don’t take a marginal shot. There are so many aspects of hunting that make it special no matter how you go about it. I think inside the hunting community we need to accept that basic ethics may be a lot less stringent than our self imposed ethics . As long as things are done in a sportsmanlike manner then it’s all good. 

  • Dave Lockman

    I believe that we need to make sure that new hunters know that you do not need all of the fancy equipment and gadgets (clothing, sophisticated firearms, attractant gadgets, baits, mechanical devices, etc.) to become a hunter and participate in hunting.  Much of the outdoor equipment you need in the field can be purchased at garage sales.  You do not need to be successful every time you go to the field hunting; as an important part of the hunting experience is just being outdoors and enjoying the people you are with and learning more about the great outdoors (the habitat, the wildlife, etc.).  Young people and other new hunters should not be given their first firearms, they should have to earn it like us old timers had to.  We give our kids too much and make them think they have to be gratified instantly in every thing they do.  Because of the gadgetry, the expensive private land hunting, the guides/outfitters, and the game ranch techniques they use on TV we give the aspiring hunters the idea that hunting is too expensive for most to participate; as a result many who would like to learn and go hunting, never begin.  Personally, I have never hunted with a guide or outfitter as a client, hunt on public land, and only hunt on private land on rare occasions.  My sons and grandkids have learned that you do not have to kill a critter every time you go to the field hunting and every time you go you should not expect to kill a monster buck.  We hunt to be together, do not try and compete with each other, see things and learn more about the outdoors each time we go, love the meat, and when you get a nice buck or bull that is just icing on the cake.  Every one of our outdoor trips is an adventure and each remembered in  its own way.  I could go on and on about this subject and the philosophy I have seen work for new hunters, but have first hand experience with training and mentoring youth, adults, and disabled people in hunting and fishing!

    Dave Lockman, retired Wyoming Game and Fish Dept. former field biologist and education section supervisor, current owner of Wildlife Management Services of the Rockies, LLC, and Weatherby Foundation International’s Program Leader for their Outdoor Expo and Hunter Mentoring initiatives

  • Gene Smith

    I have thought about this subject for years…ever since I read Aldo Leopold’s low opinion of “the gadgeteer” in A Sand County Almanac (“Wildlife in American Culture). Had he been able to foresee the high-tech gadgetry we buy, sell, and employ today, he might have had a stroke. Still, his was one man’s opinion, as is mine. I tend to keep it simple, by choice and because I couldn’t afford too many tech toys anyway. I find it amusing that most of the bucks on our club lands have been photographed, head-on and in profile, and given names. My bottom line: tolerance is essential; techo-sportsmen are here to stay. I’m happy as long as no one insists that I put a scope on my muzzleloader. 

  • James Krigor

    Techno-minded or not, it is the mindset of the hunter that matters the most, in my opinion.  Years ago I was given this little prayer/spin off of the famous Psalm passage from scripture.  I love the tone of respect and humility that it brings.  You can change the species and weapon to the one you pursue to fit your passion:

    “Though I walk through the valley of the rattlesnake, I fear no evil.  For I am a bowhunter of the highest ethics; a moral man, proud of his hunting heritage.  A legacy I leave for others.  

    “Lord, give me the strength and knowledge to find and take a buck in his domain.  May the kill come swift and clean.  

    “I will not forget the gift of the hunt, nor the grace and beauty of the animal that provided it.

     - author unknown

  • Tom Claycomb III

    Ha, I’ve thought on this topic off and on myself over the last several years. In fact I think I just published an article on this topic 2 wks ago in a Colorado paper. Here’s a few of my thoughts. I fish from Alaska to La. and yet the best fishing trip I ever had was when we were in college. We borrowed a few cane poles out of the garage below our garage apartment. With literally the change in our pockets we bought some hooks, worms and wts and hit the local lake. We.
    caught a mess of bluegills and whatever else. One of the guys found a blackberry patch. We picked berries and went home and had a feast. It cost us the change in our pockets but we had a blast that day.

    Now when I go outdoors I’ve got a ton of product to test and include in my pictures. For instance last summer my daughter went on a backcountry flyfising trip w/ me for the 1st time.
    I was supposed to test 2 flyrods, backpacking meals, mosquito reppelants, sunscreen, boots and on and on. All I wanted was to be w/ my daughter. I write for a living but sometimes I just want to go out and forget the world.

    Like a couple of weeks ago me and 2 buddies jumped on their horses and rode them up to the top of a mountain. We got up on top and built a fire, cooked a lunch and fired up a pot of coffee. We saw 49 deer but didn’t even get a shot at a wolf which is what we were after and yet we had the best trip I’ve had in weeks.

    It wasn’t much different than what we’d of done when we were 16 yrs. old except this time I’m older and smarter and wore enough clothes so I didn’t freeze. To me this is what getting outdoors is all about. Sometimes we can get caught up in all the new gear and gimmicks. I think they’re all fine. Just don’t forget why you go outdoors. I think we go outdoors to go back in time to a simpler lifestyle, see God’s creation, be w/ your buddies and have a good time. I don’t know, I’m not a clinical physcologist. I just know it makes me feel good when I’m outdoors. I can’t tell you all the reasons why.

    But back to answer the original question. It seems like we always try to make improvements. Look at the long bow you used as a kid compared now to your compound bow. Or my first 4x fixed power Leupold I bought 45 yrs. ago compared to the VX-III Leupold I now use.

    So, do I end up having all the newest toys? Seems like it but I don’t have to have them to have to have fun.