January 15, 2001, 05:59 PM | #1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 11, 2001
Location: Northern Indiana
Posts: 293
|
What animal is the most challenging to hunt and why?
My choice is deer!!!!! |
January 15, 2001, 09:24 PM | #2 |
Senior Member
Join Date: August 21, 2000
Posts: 320
|
Im an avid deer hunter so Id have to say that the whitetail is the toughest, but I only hunt deer, geese, ducks, dove, squirrel, & hogs. Im sure a lot of other animals are tough too, just that I havent had a chance to go after them...yet. I look forward to turkey hunting this year, and I hear they are pretty tough to trick.
|
January 16, 2001, 11:23 AM | #3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 10, 1999
Location: Houston, Texas USA
Posts: 259
|
Spring Turkey
I've taken lot's of whitetail, and they are of course very challenging, however, I've hunted spring turkey the last 2 years without success. They are fairly easy pickings during deer season, but in the spring, calling them, they always seem to hang up just on the other side of whatever cover is around. Arrghh!
But, I'll try again |
January 16, 2001, 12:19 PM | #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: July 27, 2000
Location: Secret volcano lair
Posts: 489
|
It often depends upon the terrian and the tactics. Hunting in some of the state parks in Indiana is easy. Take Brown County State Park. The deer are so small and docile because hunting is hardly ever allowed. The deer could actually be hunted with a handful of grain and a baseball bat.
The most difficult critter I've ever hunted were crows in my younger days. I'd have to hide for a long time in different places every week to get a decent shot from my single shot .22. Regards, MP |
January 16, 2001, 03:29 PM | #5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 5, 2000
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 177
|
From my personal. limited experience, I'd say turkey, at least here in WI.
They have excellant vision and are very paranoid. As someone once said, it's a good thing they can't smell, cause then we'd have no hope. I've heard fall is harder than spring, but I dunno, sicne i haven't tried spring yet.
__________________
Abe Smith, President of UW-Madison's Student Alliance for Firearm Education and Responsibility |
January 16, 2001, 10:33 PM | #6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 4, 1999
Location: E. PA.
Posts: 179
|
In my opinion, a really good whitetail buck is the most difficult to take. By good, I mean Pope and Young or Boone and Crockett level. Next would be a good bull elk. Taking either of these is something to be proud of.
|
January 16, 2001, 10:44 PM | #7 |
Staff in Memoriam
Join Date: November 13, 1998
Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA
Posts: 24,798
|
The Hardest To FIND
The hardest thing to kill is the biggest buck in the pasture. My dear ol' daddy 'splained it to me this way:
First, you gotta check out all the good bucks to find the biggest. Now, you won't know which is the biggest until you've seen 'em all, which means you gotta find Ol' Biggie a second time so you can shoot him. Second, a really good buck normally only makes maybe one mistake a year. If your first sighting was his once-a-year mistake, you, dear heart, have a serious problem. Add number one to number two, and you have enough work cut out to stay busy for the whole season! You'll sure find out just how good a hunter you are--and you probably won't do it while sitting in a stand, either. , Art |
January 17, 2001, 02:30 AM | #8 |
Junior member
Join Date: July 7, 2000
Location: Anchorage
Posts: 863
|
In my experiance the Black-footed Ferret, and the Spotted owl are exeptional difficult to bag. It's not that they're overly bright. Or that they're wiley, or hard to kill. It's just that there's so darn few of them, and well, they're sooo darn protected
|
January 17, 2001, 12:00 PM | #9 |
Staff in Memoriam
Join Date: November 13, 1998
Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA
Posts: 24,798
|
Aw, c'mon, BadMedicine, I got a whole cage full of those owls! They taste a lot like Whooping Crane.
Got any good recipes? , Art |
January 17, 2001, 01:19 PM | #10 |
Senior Member
Join Date: May 19, 1999
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 4,334
|
Sure, first...
catch a Spotted Owl; defeather and gut, reserving giblets for gravy. Stuff with snail darter souffle mixed with bread cubes; bake in a 350 F oven for 3 hours or until done, basting occasionally. Make gravy from drippings and giblets, mmm - good! Serve with a good German Reisling for gemuetlichkeit. Or an American premium beer - Carling's or Ballantine's preferred.
__________________
o "The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident that the end of the world is fast approaching." Assyrian tablet, c. 2800 BC o "In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." Mark Twain o "They have gun control in Cuba. They have universal health care in Cuba. So why do they want to come here?" Paul Harvey o TODAY WE CARVE OUT OUR OWN OMENS! Leonidas, Thermopylae, 480 BC |
January 17, 2001, 10:51 PM | #11 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 28, 2000
Posts: 1,072
|
Cross Reference:
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/...threadid=53613 Leave the Black-footed Ferrets alone they are excellent Ground Squirrel eaters! I prefer the taste of Snowy Plovers and Tiger Salamanders! Viva Santa Barbara County - NOT!!! |
January 18, 2001, 02:24 AM | #12 |
Junior member
Join Date: July 7, 2000
Location: Anchorage
Posts: 863
|
The more ground squirrels they eat, the less we can shoot. or are we enviromentalists now??
|
January 18, 2001, 02:26 PM | #13 |
Senior Member
Join Date: December 24, 1999
Location: College Station, Texas
Posts: 1,871
|
...have any of you tried Kemps Ridley sea turtle eggs? I find them irresistable when scrambled with the brains of white rhino, or siberian tigers.
On a serious note, where I hunt, the whitetailed deer is a joke. Not only is he relatively small, but he is easy. Last season '99, I blasted my limit within the first 2 minutes of daylight on opening day. This year, I got my limit on the last 10 minutes of daylight on closing day. A lot of folks here in Texas consider them a nuissance so I guess the game depends on where you live. While the WT Deer is easy here, I hear that they are more scarce but much bigger up North. My personal challenge is the ferral hog that I've detailed in other posts. My favorite game to hunt is still the squirell. He's easy to hunt, quick to clean, tasty to eat, and I can just about eat him every day I go out hunting. They reproduce rapidly (heck- they're rodents after all), and the more you kill this year it seems, the more pop up next. The equipment for hunting him is inexpensive (a .22 and a knife, maybe a thermos full of your favorite beverage), and the time spent out in the pecan bottoms is better for my soul than most Eastern religions! |
January 20, 2001, 04:51 PM | #14 |
Member
Join Date: July 21, 1999
Posts: 76
|
I have to vote for Spring Turkey. Although it is quite a toss up here in Upstate SC between them and the very few coyotes we've spotted around. Actually, it's gotta be the Turkey. I've got a couple of coyotes in my bag, no turkey's yet.
The deer around here are just too stupid. I'm not a trophy hunter, I just want meat for the freezer. This year I made enough noise to scare off any other critter in the woods (including squirrels) and still got a nice 6-point buck with no effort. Crows around here aren't that hard, you just gotta get an owl or raptor decoy, sit it on a fence post and leave the dead ones where they land. Their siblings and cousins think it's a "kill the raptor" party and come from all over to get in on the action. What a hoot! ERRainman |
January 20, 2001, 07:31 PM | #15 |
Staff in Memoriam
Join Date: November 13, 1998
Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA
Posts: 24,798
|
Wild Turkeys
Dunno how the wildlife biologist boffins figure these things out, but: A wild turkey is one of the world's best at what is called "pattern recognition". That is, if anything makes a different pattern than the last time the turkey saw some area, he thinks it's by definition "BAD!" and it's time to leave RIGHT NOW! I guess 98% of that tiny brain works at 100% efficiency at identifying Bad Things.
Hunting for turkeys is about the only time that real, sure nuff Camo is anywhere near necessary. After you find a good sitting spot, imitating an old log that's been there for a long time is a major part of the deal. Ya gotta think like a log, and move about as much. Fun, though. Art |
|
|