“He has draped the American Outdoorsman with an infinity of contraptions, all offered as aids to self-reliance, hardihood, woodcraft or marksmanship, but too often functioning as substitutes for them. Gadgets fill the pockets, they dangle from the neck and belt. The outdoor equipment grows lighter and often better, but the aggregate poundage becomes tonnage…. The American Sportsman becomes puzzled; he doesn’t understand what is happening to him…. It has not dawned on him that outdoor recreations are essentially primitive, atavistic; that their value is a contrast value; that excessive mechanization destroys contrast by moving the factory to the woods or marsh.”
Aldo Leopold – 1948
I wonder what the illustrious Mr. Leopold would think of today’s technological onslaught on the field sports? Indeed, modern hunting in the 21st century has seemingly become as much or more about the gear and gadgets than the actual activity, greatly assisting, or even completely replacing, traditional outdoor skills and making a mockery of the notion of equitable pursuit.
Are GPS trackers, trail cameras and range finders minor aids to killing an animal or have they now become indispensable tools of the trade? Do we really need dozens upon dozens of camouflage patterns and configurations pitting the ‘Mossytree” zealots against the “Realoak” fiends? Are all-terrain buggies and quadrunners legitimate means of traversing wild country tantamount to a muddy pair of boots? Are food plots and antler growth supplements valid alterations of game behavior benignly improving trophy quality, or merely the latest forms of rationalized game baiting masquerading as “management”? Are current compound bow contraptions that launch broadhead tipped projectiles, tagged the “Bloodcurdler” or “Gutripper”, which are lethal out to 100 yards the primitive equivalent of Fred Bear and his hickory longbow? Are thousand yard rifles and the promotion of such “sniping” true hunting or simply exercises in long range shooting trajectory? All utilized and hyped on interminably nauseating outdoor programs hosted by insufferable self-promoters with ridiculous titles invoking the “extreme” nature of the hunting “fanatics”.
Every hunter must ultimately answer these questions for himself, but make no mistake they are choices that are being imposed upon us by an increasingly mechanized, tech-crazed outdoor industry ever obsessed with innovation and improvements to products that unquestionably detract from the essential ingredients of fair chase.
Could these same inquiries regarding the dilution of stalking and marksmanship skills be made against the advent of modern, scoped, center fire rifles as contrasted with our muzzle loading or longbow armed predecessors of centuries past? Absolutely they can, although I will venture that Leopold’s “contrast” dynamic has been more significantly altered in the last twenty years than in the previous hundred.
Yet another fundamental consideration, besides our own definitions of what constitutes appropriate sporting “opportunity”, should acknowledge that the animals themselves deserve a respectful and honest approach to the quest. The current state of whitetail deer hunting stands out. Trail cameras that constantly monitor deer movement, often to and from food plots and feeders that are unequivocally intended to alter and monopolize their presence in a beneficial shooting scenario, are the most egregious example of recent technological advantage. With the use of these devices and tactics the whole notion of honorable and fair pursuit of a truly wild creature in an intractable environment becomes rather compromised.
I started mule deer hunting as a teenager with the most rudimentary tools needed for the pursuit of these animals in their native western habitat; a scoped rifle of medium caliber, binoculars, a knife, and a handful of cartridges. The only additional and essential items were an almost empty backpack (a couple of Snickers bars, water bottle and matches residing somewhere therein) for packing out meat, and the most indispensable ingredient of all—a sturdy, worn in pair of hiking boots (indeed, I always believed my choice of foot gear to be an infinitely more important consideration than my firearm selection). I wore jeans or work pants and a heavy wool shirt over thermal long johns, a ball or scotch cap and a pair of cowhide gloves. I have not made any significant changes to this most basic outfit in 40 years. Oh yes, some of the latest versions of this getup certainly involve more modern materials and fabrics, but the point is that I have chosen to keep it pretty simple and not let gear and garb become an obsessive focal point. I then go hunting.
“Good for you Carroll”, some might respond, “but that high horse of regressive superiority you are riding isn’t of universal importance to the modern outdoorsman, and who are you to pass judgment anyway?”
As previously mentioned, these questions must be answered individually, but make no mistake, they represent very intrinsic and essential dichotomies when it comes to what a meaningful and genuine hunting experience entails for each of us.
Perhaps a bit trite and somewhat gratuitous, it is nonetheless essential to constantly remind ourselves that killing an animal should not, and, indeed, cannot, be the primary measure of satisfaction. Yes, the intent must be there and encountering game, or at least the sign of game, is integral, but plainly, killing is not imperative in order to have hunted.
Modern equipment and methods are only going to become more conspicuous and I am not naive enough to think that we will ever “get the toothpaste back in the tube”. Today’s hunter is confronted with a mind-numbing array of decisions as to how far he or she wants to diminish, or even eliminate, the components of skill and chance from their hunt. For the fact remains that no generation has had the ability to so drastically tilt the odds of what is intended to be a challenging endeavor of uncertain outcome in their favor.
Implicating or impugning the motives and methods of every sportsman who utilizes innovative outdoor equipment is not my intention, but a growing number of our ranks abhor what modern hunting and hunters have become and the term “fair chase” lies at the heart of it. It is a conversation not only worth having, but has, unfortunately, become increasingly necessary.
You are correct sir! Just watch any of the so called hunting (?) shows. The activity is not what I call hunting or subscribe to.
Bravo for confronting an issue that is tarnishing the indever mitoday along with the Theme Park hunting that is sold to us as Public hunting areas disappears . Many good character things are falling by the wayside in these last days and I suspect hunting as well as we become more like a futuristic science fiction nightmare.
I AGREE 100 0/0. THE PROBLEM IS WE ARE PREACHING TO THE CHOIR . THESE RIDICULOUS TV SHOWS DON’T WANT TO HERE IT. AS LONG AS THEY CAN KILL THE BIGGEST THING ALIVE AND PROMOTE SPONSORS THEY ARE HAPPY.
Yep, has all become one big “industry” now. I walked into B&C headquarters in Missoula, MT to discuss it – “Hunt Fair Chase” is emblazoned over the entry way after all – and was essentially told to forget it and shown the door. My point here was to start the conversation and maybe it will grow from a whisper to a clamor!
– Tom
Slim, unfortunately you are dead on (no pun intended). Techno creep has transformed into tech on steroids with the problems getting worse with the release of each new slick hunting catalog. This is a conversation critical to the future of hunting which makes it especially sad that so called fair chase hunting outfits won’t even publish your well written article.
Yes, traditional bowhunting no longer means what it is implied to mean. It’s now basically a fake ideology driven by money and media. But isn’t that because we ‘traditional archers’ choose to make it that way? After all, what exactly is simple or traditional about adjustable metal bows outfitted with foam limbs, plastic arrows and a pervasive pretense that aiming down the arrow shaft as like shooting a sighted rifle is somehow the right/best way to show or develop natural simple shooting skill? Does hitting bullseyes with gadgets shaped like bows and arrows qualify as simple or challenging archery when all that is needed to kill is attention to mechanical detail and a little gap theory committed to memory?
Sadly, the mantle of what traditional archery is has been forever changed. It now favors whatever makes it easiest to achieve one’s own self-serving archery preferences and cravings…adulation, success, self-gain…one unadorned by any need for discipline or investment of effort beyond what money and technology can provide. We are largely what we chose to become…a hunting club unfettered by the ‘shortcomings’ that honor, discipline, challenge, ethics, or other such limitations might place upon us. As hunters we are by all counts and as Leopold feared, an archery version of progress without limits or identity. We no longer promote the hunting tradition. We have become a hunting contraption.
I have shot nothing but trad bow for 15 years now. 6 of those years I didn’t get to hunt because of raising my daughter. Now after hunting again only had 1year of not getting a deer with my revcuve. But the joy and heart ache was still there.
I personally do not know anyone who hunts with a trad bow. I hear people talk about thier super fast pully bow or even worse their crossbow over baits and food plots, after setting up cameras, tree stands and esturus rubs and gloat about the experience.
I listen to them and ask what was the point? Then ask if they have ever shoot a deer at eye level with 1000 year old technology. They look at me as the wind from their sails has been taken away . I don’t do it to imply I am better than them, but then let them know there is no better feeling than the purity of a true hunt on the ground, stalk, prayer, and shot placement.
Only a true hunter who takes on an animal that
has superior sense than us can understand the meaning of this article. The rest will rear shrug it off and plod on to the next sure kill in his tree stand.
Fantastic article, like all of the ones in this magazine. This one really describes how I feel as well about modern hunters. Good lord I won’t even get in to the pack hunters here in north west Ohio, during gun season. They make me want to vomit.
I’d like to respond to “a concerned traditional archer” as well as the rest of this piece. I agree with the larger picture of this piece and the author’s sentiment. I believe there is something much more human about reading deer tracks in the sand vs. using a trail camera to select a place to build a ground blind. I also believe that mechanization of hunting, originally an essential activity totally reliant on natural materials, undermines what we hope to get from the experience as hunters.
That being said, I take exception to “concerned traditional archers” comments about modern traditional equipment, but more so aiming style. This is the ugly head of elitism that I believe threatens traditional bow hunting community. I am one of those people who have shot wood bows instinctively since I was a kid and I found that I was never able to gain adequate proficiency to hunt adequately with that shooting style. After 20 years using those techniques and developing crippling target panic I about gave up. I’m guessing I am not unique in this experience. I have switched to shooting three under with a true back tension release with more modern equipment and now I feel more confident and like I can ethically take to the field with a “traditional bow”.
There are many new traditional bow hunters and some old that are using this newer more efficient equipment to improve their accuracy out of principle and obligation to the animals they pursue. There are also plenty of aging archers turning to this equipment and this shooting style to combat shoulder problems and stay out in the field instead of hanging it up.
I would also argue that some of the people such as clay Hayes and the push are making traditional bow hunting and archery more accessible to the masses then they have ever been. A person who otherwise would never have been exposed to our sport can educate themselves on equipment, setup, tuning, form, broadhead sharpening and hunting without a mentor or access to a club.
The intro most of us had of being given a hand me down recurve or longbow and a handful of fiberglass or wooden arrows and a field or vacant lot to rove and learn in simply isn’t accessible to many today. I think it’s time to embrace the new and reactivated bow hunters who are using these techniques and equipment. While there is something special about a wooden arrow and a one piece longbow or self-bow, one can have a similar experience with a metal riser and foam limbs looking down their arrow. And who knows that archer might one day “graduate” to a wooden bow and arrows.
Without trying to disparage bowhunters from Arkansas (or anywhere else), there is a world of difference between accepting the constraints that come with traditional archery vs. accusing/resorting to referring to those that DO accept such constraints as elitists that threaten traditional bowhunting. To do so simply reflects poorly on the accuser and underlines the truth behind Leopold’s words, that as a collective group we have become not only blind to the destructive nature of ‘mechanized traditional’ but also oblivious to the mental erosion of simplicity and challenge that traditional was once lauded for.
That a hunter is unable to learn traditional tools and methods…how to shoot instinctively, take animals reliably at close range, commit to the disciplinary requirements of getting close and practicing without gadgets or crutches, does them no disservice . As they say, it is what it is. But let’s be clear. Traditional is not just a bow, or arrow, or aiming style, or license to do whatever you want just because it makes things easier for you or makes for good media fodder in general. When it comes to bowhunting, traditional is a cultural mindset, borne from what can best be summarized (as the old saying puts it)…the use and application of a simple stick and string. It is inclusive of all the choices we make along the way, and although we are free to make those choices we are NOT free to redefine the meaning of the mindset itself. That is essentially what the distinguished fellow from Arkansas has tried to achieve, and indeed it is the weapon of choice for today’s traditional archery machine. And based on media chat they are achieving their goal with great success. But no matter how much brainwashing or redistribution of reality occurs in that regard, the true meaning and intent behind a traditional approach to archery won’t change. Only the players do, along with the rhetoric. To those who know the differences and choose a traditional path NOT disguised by modern conveniences or reallocation of basic priorities, hats off to you.
I read through the comments, and as someone who has hunted for many years I can see the so called technology creep. Sadly I think that it has become way to easy in the grand scheme of things. We are no longer hunting-we are killing. In any sport, or pass time activity–is not supposed to challenge us/? If, and when we remove a very large portion, or percentage of the challenge from it–it no longer is hunting–it’s simply killing. I am absolutely disgusted with what hunting has become. It’s about money, and marketing for many. I always say–hunt your hunt-however when those all around you are doing things that drastically create issues effecting your outcome it’s no longer fun–food plot wars, and any means required to attract, and hold game on surrounding properties is my biggest issue, and then those who have no real moral compass doing what ever it takes to kill game, and post it on social media to fill there sorry little egos. I can honestly say I am about done with hunting because the face of hunt doesn’t resemble anything I was taught–skill, wordsmanship, understanding of nature, and resources–tree, and wildlife identification other than that of my quarry–it’s nothing more than a whored out hollow entity of what it once was. Sorry for the rant, but I see it as it is on my end.