The Glade 4.0

Anyone here do it? I was checking facebook and my cousins son shot his first deer. I am wondering if it's a skill I will teach my son when he's old enough. Uh, not that I know wtf I'm doing really either... but I think it would be a good skill to learn.

Funny comments from his post (Patty is his wife, not sure how she feels about it):

Wendy: poor bambi...how did patty take it?
Don: Patty took it medium rare.

I lol'd

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Honestly, I'm kinda hoping one of these days a buddy of mine will take pity on me and finally take me out and teach me to hunt.

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The Dude abides.

I've always lived in the suburbs or city so it's not really a part of that culture. But, I have friends and relatives who live in more rural areas where it's extremely common. I've had venison but never shot anything for food personally.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Don't flame me, I've never been hunting. With that said pardon my ignorance, but is this a skill that needs to be "taught"? Don't you basically sit in a tree all day hoping a deer wanders by and if it does you shoot it?

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All my friends that go hunting always go out scouting for deer/elk and sometimes come back with nothing. I kinda figured if they sometimes come back with nothing then there's gotta be a skill to it. And I would imagine a deer is still going to catch your scent even if you're in a tree.

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The Dude abides.

I hunt, and yes, there is far more than just sitting in a tree hoping for a deer to pass.

I can answer most questions about white tail hunting in the SE, unless its about dog driving, which I have never done, and disapprove of in general (though I know the basics, and some of the topics cross, such as area selection).

But a few things that need to be "taught"..

How to recognize cover, flight paths, travel paths, and how weather conditions and moon phases will affect activity.
How to recognize different food types and understand the selection of such by season.
How males and females interact at different times of the year (such as rut) and how to use that to your advantage.
Different ways of combating give aways, such as scent, and how a deers natural skills work and how to minimize the impact.
The of course there is actually handling the gun... where to shoot, where to aim, what kind of gun to use, etc.
Experience... buck fever is a very real physical response for people that are new to hunting, and even experienced hunters.
Probably most important, patience.

One of the dude's here at work uses a bow for deer hunting which would be very cool I think. There's a fair bit of paperwork and procedure involved too apparently. Licensing, what exactly you can shoot and where, number you can shoot.

I know he mentioned taking it to the butcher once it's killed, but do you field dress them or how does that work?

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

It really depends on the circumstances Dash.

Field dressing is gutting the animal only, and done, as the name suggests, out in the field where you killed it. I have only done this a few times, because frankly, its a pain in the ***. However, if its a really large animal you can't move quickly, its not a clean kill (gut shot), or if it is going take you more than a hour or so to get out of the field, you need to do it. The most important thing is to start getting the meat cooled to prevent spoiling, and remove the guts does that, as well as make the animal about 30-40% lighter.

Normally, we dress the animals back at the meeting area where we have a rack, bonesaws, etc, where we can clean the animal, skin it, and rinse it down with water to cool it more. We also tend to remove half the lower jaw for DNR.

Some butchers though will do everything, for a nominal fee, but again, the most important thing is to get the meat cooled quickly, so unless you are pretty close to the butcher, you will probably need to clean it yourself.

What Ladas said. He's doing a much better job of explaining than I would.

It's been a few years since the last time I went hunting. Deer hunting was always my favorite (bagging three deer in one afternoon from a single stand is my highlight), but I've hunted for quail fairly frequently, shot some squirrels, and even dabbled in duck. I'm not much for deer hunting in the morning. Sunrises depress me; they mean I've either stayed awake way too long or that I've gotten up way too early.

Dad bowhunts as well, but that's not something to which I've ever really taken. Crossbow's awesome, though.

And yeah, you eat what you kill. Waste of good meat not to do so. Get yourself a couple of good-size doe and an upright freezer and you're set for meat for a year. Also healthier than beef.

I also want to get into hunting but feel like I should go with a seasoned hunter (mainly for knowledge of rules and regulations than anything). If I didn't hate my old bosses I'd call them up, they're all big huntsmen.

As it stands I don't really know anybody else who hunts.

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“The duty of a patriot is to protect his country from its government.” - Thomas Paine

One set of cousins all hunted when I was a kid, but they were much older than I, and the best they did was taught me to fish. That's kind of like hunting for your food, since I at least know how to clean and filet fish (a skill which amazed on old roommate. I was astounded he had no clue what to do).

I wouldn't mind learning to hunt, but just don't have that opportunity or time. I at least have a passing familiarity with firearms, and have some inclination to pass this on to my kids.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

This reminds me a story about one of my childhood friends, "Julie". When Julie was about 5 or 6, her mother took her to see Bambi, having never seen it herself. So she was a little surprised when Bambi's mother was killed by the hunters. After the movie, she decided to have a little talk with Julie to make sure she wasn't traumatized by it. She gingerly asks Julie what she thought about the scene where Bambi's mother was shot....

Julie: Well...I guess someone could eat her!



So much for being traumatized! This story pretty much defines her personality.

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

I used to hunt quite often. No so much anymore. Almost exclusively duck. Idaho has good hunting, though...which is one of the reasons we are planning on moving there.

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Los Angeles Kings 2014 Stanley Cup Champions

"I love this **** team right here."
-Jonathan Quick

I have never been duck hunting... not that I don't like duck, but the prospect of sitting on water during cold mornings, out in the open of the wind trying to hit birds that fly in the jet stream doesn't appeal to me.

I mostly deer, dove and boar hunt, though sometimes will go squirrel "hunting" to relax in the woods, or occasionally rabbit/quail hunting (since you can use the same shot and they live in the same cover areas).

My dad turkey hunts quite a bit now, but i haven't gone yet.

Kangaroo hunting is slightly different and mostly done at night when they are all asleep. We have these tours you can go on.

I don't believe I could shoot anything unless my life depended on it. The only hunting I'd actually want to do is spear fishing!

Huh, makes me think of something, Ladas. Is "buck fever" - the yips you get when you have a deer in your sights, etc. - is that mainly a function of how large a deer is? Or is it because some guys go years without shooting at a deer, much less getting one, and they get nervous, etc.? I just wonder if it would hit me, so I'm thinking of the few things (squirrels, mainly) that I have shot. No "fever" at all for me, maybe a little remorse when I put down a chipmunk by mistake. But, faced with a deer, those big brown eyes, the anticipated adulation of my peers ... I dunno, interesting question.

Oh, and, the other reason I ask is because I was watching a deer-hunting show on Versus a while back, and the guy had a serious case of the shakes while shooting a deer. He kind of sat there and decompressed for five minutes, literally. I'm thinking, man, he has to be an experienced hunter to have his own show, and he still gets like this?

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

Never hunted. I'm an animal lover (the type that doesn't like to see them hurt, but am definitely NOT a vegetarian). I'm the type of guy that wouldn't kill an animal unless it was out of necessity. ......But.... if it was a choice of survival between me and my family, *any* animal is going to get massacred, with my bare hands if need be. Since it hasn't been a choice of survival yet, I prefer my animals pre-killed.

I have had to help clean and gut a deer when I was a lad. It is on my "Top Three Worst Stenches I Have Experienced" list.

A coworker brought in his homemade deer jerky last week. Yum yum.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

If I was a hunter, I would slowly starve to death. I'd need some guidance. But the idea is somewhat appealing. I just have too many other things going on.

And game meat is really good for you, very lean.

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"It's real, grew up in trife life, the times of white lines
The hype vice, murderous nighttimes and knife fights invite crimes" - Nasir Jones

I could not eat anything once I've stared at it in the face. We had these egg laying lady chickens for a while in our old house, and when we had to move mum took them to the local butcher. They came back as normal packaged store bought chicken thingys. I could not eat it or even sit on the same table with it. I'm totally a forager type imo, I'll stick to being a druid.

Look, man. I only need to know one thing: where they are.

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Hokanu
Duty is a magnificent blessing because it is the sign of trust from the universe.
END OF LINE.

For starters take a hunters saftey class.

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Raell Kromwell

I have eaten plenty of rabbit, squirrel, pheasant, and quail that I shot and cooked over the years.

Been there, done that!

Just haven't gone out hunting yet.

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"Said I never had much use for one, never said I didn't know how to use one!"~ Matthew Quigley

"nothing like a little meow in bed at night" ~ Bruskey

"I gotta float my stick same as you" Hondo Lane

"Fill your hand you son of a *****!"

I'll take you out Jasmy.

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Raell Kromwell

Hunting isn't really my thing, but I've been a few times.

I do have a couple people I know that are really good at it though. Grandpa has bagged 40+ deer with his bow over the years, and a next door neighbor is a hunting fiend. Donated his collection to the local state university because it'd gotten far to large to keep in his house (and the storage unit he had set aside for it). He's gone on african hunting safari's, all sorts of stuff. Probably shot hundreds of different animals.

My dad goes hunting now and again, but he's not really that big on it. My brothers and I all know our way around a gun though, so if necessary I think I could handle it.