Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What is a serious hunter?

Definitely not using the phrase to disparage RinB's current post nor anyone else's, but I've seen this phrase pop up often and usually in relation to which firearm or caliber one should use.

I know a bunch of people at work who have been hunting since they were old enough to do so, they look forward to going hunting every year which they do without fail and always get their deer and elk. They know where to find the game, they have excellent woodsmanship and tracking skills, they hike way back into the boonies to get it and carry it out.

But almost to a man they have only enough familiarity with their firearms to shoot straight enough to kill the game. Ballistics is an arcane and unnecesary science to them except to know where to sight in. The .30-06, .270, 7mm RM and .300 WM are the only calibers I've heard mentioned, I don't know any who use something that would be "campfire cool". Rifles are mostly factory stock Brownings, Remingtons, Rugers and Winchesters although one guy likes to use his Grandma's handed down sporterized Springfield. Most only have one or two real hunting rifles and maybe a couple of .22's for whistle pigs. One guy had his rifle "glass beaded" (sic) for accuracy but if they own five centerfire and rimfire rifles total that's a lot. The rifle is just a kill stick, something to dispatch the game once they've hunted it. Almost all of them shoot factory ammo, there are only three of us here at work who handload.

On the other hand many of the guys at the rifle range own some pretty esoteric stuff although I don't know what all they use for hunting. I would call them serious rifle loonies and most all of them hunt.

So what distinguishes a "serious" hunter, and what is the opposite - a frivolous hunter?

A furrowed brow and humorless expression.

There are a lot of serious hunters on this site...

That's definitely a plausible definition.

It sure the phuqq isn't on Instagram

I was going to add, most of them can be found up on the Hunters Campfire

I have a pard in ID that is much like what you describe. Not super savy on gun stuff. He spends his time/effort/money on hunts, both in ID and elsewhere. He probably fits most folks definition of "serious hunter" and a lot here would scoff at the gear he uses and the way he as it setup. Poster's here get the rifle looney description. He's a "hunting looney". And as my free time gets more limited I'm finding that latter looney status is a much more fun pursuit.

Jim your entire description of the guys you work with is what most guys here were before they found the campfire!

Before finding this forum I never even knew what a ballistic coefficient was nor did I care. I never analyzed a scopes ability to return to zero , never looked for the bullet that killed whatever I shot to see how well it held together and I damn sure never turned a turret. This forum in addition to being very expensive can provide a lot of insight and intracies that most hunters don't even think about. I've said it many times on this topic, my father in law is a perfect example of the men you describe. 50 years of killing mule deer, elk,antelope, bear and mt lion from Wyoming to Utah and couldn't even begin to tell you things like the BC of the bullet he was shooting, eye relief on the scope he was using, what bedding a rifle means, etc. Yet he fed his family for several decades on wild game and has killed semi trucks full of elk and deer over those 50 years. I'd don't know that you'd call him a serious hunter, but when feeding the family depended on what he brought home , he was definitely serious about hunting.

Actually............there's a lot of serious shooters on this site, most of the serious hunters are more, well, cheerful like.😆

I think serious shooters outnumber serious hunters on the 'fire.

Casey

I think you're really trying to differentiate between hunters and shooters. There are a lot of folks in my neck of the woods who take their hunting very seriously. However, they are certainly "not" shooters. You don't have to be a good shooter to be a great hunter, if you have the skills to get close enough just about anything will work, and shot placement is much more difficult to screw up. That being said, I've certainly seen plenty of goat ropes due to lack of marksmanship and knowledge regarding their firearm of choice. Many of them think I'm a little touched when they go by on the river and see my steel hanging out to 1k along the river bank.

Question is:

How far are you from being (going) full circle? I think I'm rounding the bend...

Pretty damn close!.....grin

My bucket of give a schit done runneth out......

Astute observation Casey.

Do you ever actually contribute anything constructive or are you here just to be an ass?

You're certainly allowed to be an ass if you want, it's a free country, but there's a definite pattern to your posts and they all point to you being here just to be an ass.

Are you familiar with mohick?

I remember the handle but it's not in my top memory locations - is he reincarnated here?

16bore was an azz to me a short time ago. I asked him to post pic's, rifle spec's etc.... to prove he was more than an internet commando and all I got was crickets?

What is it you want?

I was asked to turn in my looney card. That's OK by me, I just keep killin critters with my boring 30/06 shooting factory ammo from Walmart.

I would classify a serious hunter as someone who goes out in the rain and cold, is always out there well before sunrise, spends lots of time in the off season scouting, never calls a day short, is willing to track game as long as required, etc. Someone who puts in the effort a truly enjoys it. ...not someone who takes an ATV to their box stand, hunts over bait, and pops the first yearling they see.