Originally posted by pav: I don't know about "tradition" as it applies on an individual basis...but I am very confident in saying "woodsmanship" is a dying art across the board. Offering weapons of greater distance is simply another nail in that coffin.
We are slowly but surely removing the "hunt" from "hunting".
I'll tell you what is contributing more to the loss of woodsmanship and removing the "hunt" from hunting (more than anything else) is the game camera. Nothing has changed deer hunting as much in the last 10 years. Not a rifle, not a crossbow, not a high tech bow....Nothing.
The early cameras were a joke. They used film, the batteries didn't last very long, they flashed when a pic was taken and they spooked as many deer as they probably actually helped pattern. Advantage...deer.
Not now. Today's cameras will capture tons of images on a single set of batteries. It's a matter of "set and forget" to pattern that deer 24/7/365, and increase your odds exponentially of killing him. The only "woodsmanship" required is to be able to find the cameras when they need a battery change or you wish to move them.
Want to take it the next level? Then use one of the newer cameras that call your cell phone in "real time" and getting that recent info can really increase your odds of killing that buck.
