I've hunted just about every method imaginable. I've sat on the hard, frozen ground for hours. I've sat exposed to the elements in a tree. I've sat on a rock ledge watching a the wash below and the far hillside. I've sat in tripods, plush box blinds with heat, crappy old box blinds that could have fallen at any moment. I even hunted out of a $30,000 custom box blind that raised and lowered hydraulically. I've rattled. I've built brush blinds. Hunted over food plots, crops and corn feeders. I've hunted safari style. Hunted over no food or attractants. Hunted trails, creek bottoms, senderos and pear flats. Brush country to the piney woods to west Texas. Big property to small property. High fence to low fence.

I've never had trouble connecting with what I considered a trophy. Some took longer than others. But the main thing is that I enjoyed every minute of every hunt regardless of the method or style or location. Quit the senseless bickering about who's is the mightiest whitest hunter and just go hunt.

you said it all brother

The fact that you ridicule the experience of being in a wild animals personal space tells me everything I need to know. By your words, I expect you'll always be a guy that sits in a box and kills deer. If that's all you ever want from hunting, congratulations! You have achieved success.

Whats the difference in getting out, scouting game trails, pinch points, rubs, water sources, etc.....and putting up a blind vs sitting on a stump, besides comfort?

Whats the difference in scouting for the best acorn producing tree(s) and sitting on a stump vs scouting the area and putting up a feeder and sitting in a blind?

Isnt a feeder just a man made acorn tree? After high winds/thunderstorm, we always knew there would be deer under the "ole akern tree".

Don't we ALL share the desire, the challenge, the feeling right when "the shooter" walks within range?.....personally I don't care if you are sitting on a stump, on a scouted area or sitting in box blind watching a feeder.....all I REALLY care about is 1) knowing that feeling and most importantly, 2) hearing about your experience and seeing if something I can take away from it making me a better hunter, in my eyes.

Maybe to one hunter, part of the hunting experience and challenge IS buying all the gear, paying for prime land, packing up, dragging his butt out of bed in a cabin and climbing in a heated blind with a guide quoting him trophy fees as monsters walk out.....maybe that's the rush he gets when he pulls the trigger.

I think most of us fall in between somewhere.....I would even bet that there are just as many guys that REALLY know how to pattern deer, really understand how to scout land, etc wished they could afford the bells and whistles as there are guys that have money to burn that wished they just knew a little more about how to pattern deer and were more "in tune" with the woods.

Point being, things improve over time. New hunting tactics and ideas emerge just like with everything else. No need to hunt like its 1966 if hunting like its 2013 works for the person.

One thing for sure...you and I hunt for different reasons. For the umpteenth time, neither way is wrong. Since it's 2013 and you brought this up, what do you have to say to the guys hunting with black powder or (God forbid!) bows? You already said it; no need to hunt like that.

For anyone that didn't read the OP or didn't understand the point of the OP, here it is. Read slowly and carefully.

It's sad that when deer aren't coming to corn feeders because of the acorn drop, some people think their hunt is ruined.

Do I need to repeat that? Because I don't see where I said anything about one method being better than another. I simply lamented the apparent loss of some hunters ability to adapt and take advantage of a situation. Those that can't read deer sign any better than they can read posts (blogs?) probably are better off strictly hunting a feeder. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

While there has been some movement by the anti's to focus on bow hunting as being less humane than firearms, I feel the majority of the non-hunting majority are less concerned with what we use to make the harvest, so long as it provides a quick kill. Where they would most likely find objections are methods that leaves the animal little or no chance to avoid whatever we choose to throw at them.

Great thread for a guy just getting back in to hunting... I grew up hunting our own land, spending a lot of time out there scouting, picking a few spots that I knew deer fed at, and a few spots that were routes that the deer traveled to get to feed areas. It's awesome to have a deer come up close to you when you're at one of those areas. All that said, advances in technique are something that god gave us as a trait, which makes us different then anything else on the planet. Whether you are going to the deer, or bringing the deer to you is irrelevant to me, but knowing how to do both is the key to success IMO, and is what I plan on teaching my kids.

The OP makes a valid point, and it's a great discussion to have IMO while we're all waiting to get out in the woods.

Is he the one with the vulgar wallet? Dont dig on swine? And quotes bible verses?

At the end of the day, consumption of the resource is our best defense. If someone challenges you for shooting a deer at a feeder, you can ask them about the cow that was the source of their last burger and how well it was fed before slaughter.

After all, you can't eat antlers.

I have been reading on the forum lately that many so called hunters are mad because there is in some areas a good acorn crop. They must be thinking only of themselves and not for the deer. Acorns have been a staple for the deer long before there were people like us hunting. So the deer are not coming to your feeder like they were a couple of weeks ago. If you consider yourself a real hunter you would find the oaks the deer are working on and hunt there. It is not rocket science patterning deer at this time. Find the Oaks they are hitting and hunt them. Winter is coming on and they are trying to get ready for it. If there were no acorns in some areas it would not be good for their survival through the winter.

One thing for sure...you and I hunt for different reasons. For the umpteenth time, neither way is wrong. Since it's 2013 and you brought this up, what do you have to say to the guys hunting with black powder or (God forbid!) bows? You already said it; no need to hunt like that.

For anyone that didn't read the OP or didn't understand the point of the OP, here it is. Read slowly and carefully.

It's sad that when deer aren't coming to corn feeders because of the acorn drop, some people think their hunt is ruined.

Do I need to repeat that? Because I don't see where I said anything about one method being better than another. I simply lamented the apparent loss of some hunters ability to adapt and take advantage of a situation. Those that can't read deer sign any better than they can read posts (blogs?) probably are better off strictly hunting a feeder. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

As an old man who has been deer hunting since 1966, my opinions are usually considered as coming from experience or dementia. Your opinion dictates which it is.

I find it both humorous and sad when I see posts talking about how acorns have ruined a deer hunt. Is this generation of deer hunters so conditioned to sitting in a box watching a feeder that they don't know how to hunt? That's the way it appears.

I had never even seen a deer feeder till 1991. Nor had I ever sat I a box to hunt. I seemed to have killed my fair share of deer somehow. I scouted. I watched deer. I knew where the sweetest acorns were. I knew where the deer bedded down and what routes they travelled. If I sat for a day and didn't see deer, I had a darn good idea where they were. Hunting the Post Oak Savannah, my entire lease was Oak trees.

Instead of whining that you have too many Oaks to hunt them, try Still Hunting them (some of you may have to Google that). You may be surprised at how many deer you see. Or you may be surprised at what a mediocre deer hunter you are when you don't have a box and a feeder.