Road Hunter’s

brutus54

brutus54

Active Member
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Back when I was a young fella and first started Hunting. I despised road hunters. I used to get up and start Hiking at one or two in the morning to be at the top of a mountain before anybody else. Took me all day to drag a deer back down. It was well tenderized and there wasn’t any hair left on the hide when I got back down. But that’s what Hunting was all about to me back then. I used to think people that road hunted were just out of shape and lazy. Well now that I’m older I understand why some people have to do it. Due too age and health issues and limited mobility. If you want to go hunting sitting in a pick up truck or a side-by-side or four wheelers is your only option. And that’s where I’m at in my life I’m 64 years old. Bad knees, Bad back my hip is starting to bother me. So I have turned into one of those road hunters I used to despise Lol. I can still get around pretty good on flat ground and rolling Hills. And I do enjoy a nice hike in the brisk morning air. But I also enjoy a nice warm pick up too with everything I need beside me. Let’s face it the older we get if you wanna continue hunting. We all are going to turn into road hunters at some point in our life’s. Whether we like it or not. ??
 
I can feel your pain, and agree that sometimes it's not all bad. I can sit in my pickup and glass more country than I can walk most of the time. When looking for moose especially, time behind glass is more important than hiking!! Doing it in comfort has benefits!!
 
Welcome to the ol' timers' club. It's a b!tch to get old. Now you know how weird it is to be the same age as old people. Soon, you'll feel like sitting on the edge of the bed each morning to kinda warm up a bit like an old Buick.

And later on you'll be more like me when you reach the 'wonder years'...


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Isn't that what kids/ grandkids are for, they can make good pack animals? Trouble for me is, I'm in better shape than they are, or just too stubborn. But yeah, we drive to an area,hike a hill and glass, repeat as necessary.
 
Yes, hunting tactics certainly change as you get older. I was one of those hunters who loved to cover ground, hiking all day long. But now that I am 65, with knees that are causing me problems, weakness in my legs due to 2 back surgeries, with a 3rd coming up early next year, I had to change my tactics. I can no longer hike the steep mountains, and go all day long. Now, I stick to areas where the terrain is more forgiving. I still have a hard time sitting for a few hours, glassing away, it's to damn boring! I always like to force the action, by covering a lot of ground. But now, those days have gone by. Getting old sucks.
 
Back in the 80's I hunted a ranch for blacktails that had a few old guys who hunted it too. It was about 5,000 acres. I'd take off hiking right from the cabin and be gone all day. The old guys all road hunted. I'd come dragging back in after dark and they'd all be there skinning out bucks that they killed from the road, all relaxed and fresh. Big bucks too. That happened year after year and I never did learn.
 
eelgrass said:
Back in the 80's I hunted a ranch for blacktails that had a few old guys who hunted it too. It was about 5,000 acres. I'd take off hiking right from the cabin and be gone all day. The old guys all road hunted. I'd come dragging back in after dark and they'd all be there skinning out bucks that they killed from the road, all relaxed and fresh. Big bucks too. That happened year after year and I never did learn.
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Yeah, sort of a doofus. ;)

But...but... look at all the satisfaction you get today when you can sing along with Paul Anka's, "I did it my way."

If it makes you feel better, which I doubt, I hunted just as you did. When my grandad was still coming along with me, I'd sit him some place with a decent view, & then I would take off cross-country and still-hunt & glass all morning. Then I would try to make my way back to him so that I might push a critter or two within his range. It often worked.

He was already in his 60s when he killed this N. Kaibab buck that way. The other carcass is from one of my 4x4s from there.

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OutdoorWriter said:
Yeah, sort of a doofus. ;)

But...but... look at all the satisfaction you get today when you can sing along with Paul Anka's, "I did it my way."

If it makes you feel better, which I doubt, I hunted just as you did. When my grandad was still coming along with me, I'd sit him some place with a decent view, & then I would take off cross-country and still-hunt & glass all morning. Then I would try to make my way back to him so that I might push a critter or two within his range. It often worked.

He was already in his 60s when he killed this N. Kaibab buck that way. The other carcass is from one of my 4x4s from there.

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That reminds me. I was hunting SE Idaho one year with a friend and his Dad. We told his Dad to park on the ridge near a saddle and Bob and I would work the bottom and try to push a big buck his way. It worked perfect. It was snowing when we jumped a big brute. He headed for the saddle and we stood there and watched just knowing it was a dead deer. The buck crossed the saddle right in front of the truck and walked over the other side. No shot fired....wth?

His Dad was in the cab with the engine running to keep warm and he was fast asleep. We showed him the tracks. Hahaha!
 
Now days with go further, go harder stay longer mentality that earned us better than average bucks 10-15 years ago. I would say you chose a fantastic time to be a road hunter as I have seen at least as many big ones from the road and lots more people in the backcountry.
 
I hike as much as anyone and most of my hunts are extended back packing trips either into wilderness or roadless areas. Because that’s what I enjoy. That being said there are times road hunting is actually the best tactic. For example when I was young I hunted coastal logging country and huge tree farms. Every inch of which you could access by road. The most successful way to hunt black tails in that county was cover as much area as possible on the road and try and cruse as many clear cuts as you could. I killed some big black tail bucks like that and most if not all were with in site of the road I drove in on. In fact the best tactic was if you saw one driving don’t shut off the diesel. These bucks were born with logging truck rumbling by and only spooked if the engine shut off. It was just the best way to kill bucks in that country. Not my cup of tea anymore, like I said I was young and hunting was only successful if a tag was filled. Now I look for more then that but I certainly don’t look down on how others choose to enjoy there hunt
 
I like getting up high in a saddle and let those hunters at the bottom of the mountain push deer, elk, bear up pass me.
I do know that will come to a end in the near future.
So you older guys save me a space in the UTV or pickup. LOL
 
I dont mind road hunters. One less person to deal with in the backcountry. I respect someone who is 80 and road hunting cause at least they are getting out.

My issue with road hunters is the guys that roll into work and brag how hard their hunt was, how they saw nothing, walked a billion miles but yet they never left the truck. Those are the guys i dont care to listen to
 
Yeah, I hear ya. I'm still packing miles over hard terrain, chasing critters. With that said I know my years are numbered, it happens. The quality of a hunt is in the eyes of the hunter, period. This is one thing I've learned over the years. In the end I may end up cooking meals for others so I can hear their stories. The tradeoff is fair. I say this as a 43 year old with a few more years to eagerly await and dream for. For me it's a chase for self defined trophies and breaks from every day.

One of my first posts, thanks for everyone's posts that I read daily.

Dan
 
Cjase4545 said:
Yeah, I hear ya. I'm still packing miles over hard terrain, chasing critters. With that said I know my years are numbered, it happens. The quality of a hunt is in the eyes of the hunter, period. This is one thing I've learned over the years. In the end I may end up cooking meals for others so I can hear their stories. The tradeoff is fair. I say this as a 43 year old with a few more years to eagerly await and dream for. For me it's a chase for self defined trophies and breaks from every day.

One of my first posts, thanks for everyone's posts that I read daily.

Dan
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Hey, you're still young! So quit being cynical until you have to be. ;)

And welcome to the board...
 
When I hunted on a private ranch for blacktails back in the 80's it was written in the by laws that if you killed a buck in Baker Canyon you were on your own. If you were dumb enough to venture in there you better be tough enough to get one out by yourself. There's plenty of deer to shoot every where else on the ranch.

When the landowner mentioned there was a big old buck that lives in the canyon but only shows himself after the season, the temptation was too much. I told everyone I was hunting the canyon that day.

Old man Bill Dusick quizzed me about my plan and the route I was going to take. I thought he was concerned about my safety.

I stuck to my plan and saw a few deer and a couple small bucks but not the big boy. When I got back to the cabin that night there was a monster buck hanging in the meat shed. A big 4X4 that dressed out at 145 pounds. Bill Dusick shot it about 100 yards from my truck after I went down in the canyon and flushed it out. I'm sure that buck would make Boone and Crocket but never got measured. I never trusted the old road hunter guys again.
 
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It must be harder to kill a big buck from a vehicle. Nobody ever comes on here and says, "Well, we were driving around on the Henry's when we saw a big buck up on the hillside. I got out, leaned across the hood of the truck and dropped him at 250 yards. Measured him up and sure enough, he was 201 inches."

I'd love to hear a story of a giant being killed from the road... :)
 
This tale has never been in print & I don't tell it often... :rolleyes:

Late '60s hunting for deer in hilly, big pine country of Unit 1 in AZ's White Mts.

I had parked my jeep where my grandad could stay near it yet have a good chance for a shot. I then took off on my usual jaunt through the woods.

After about an hour, my stomach signaled nature calling. I found a downed tree to rest my butt on & set my rifle against the trunk, just to my right. Two minutes later, I hear a shot up the hill in front of me & then a 3x3 buck comes into view, heading right toward me. With my pants still around my ankles, I grabbed my rifle, killed the deer and finished what I had been doing.

I was quit aways from the jeep & couldn't see a decent way to drive near the deer. My topo map showed a primitive road on the other side of the hill about 4 miles away. It looked like it went up where the deer had come from. So I decided to go around to take a look-see & found it.

It was a steep climb. Nearing the top, we came upon an older PU truck with two guys standing near it. They had sorta high-centered on a log that was sticking out into a gully. The way they explained it, they were traversing the deep gully when the truck rolled backwards as the driver shifted. The back bumper was just high enough to slide onto the log. That lifted both rear wheels several inches off the ground.

They never mentioned shooting at a deer until I asked them if they had done so. At that point I told them I had tagged the deer & was heading to pick it up. I also told them it had no other wounds.

Nice guy that I am :cool:, I decided to repay them by hooking my tow chain to their truck & getting them past the gully. I was then able to get us about a 1/4 mile from the deer. When we headed back after loading the deer, the truck was nowhere to be seen. I guessed they merely turned around since the area had been pretty disturbed by now.
 
DeerHunter53 said:
It's that damn donging that scares them if we could turn that off we would be fine....LOL
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I have a seat belt clip that I just clip into the seat belt. No belt attached! Great for fishing, scouting, road hunting, photo safaris...anything you're going to be in and out of the truck a lot on two-tracks, etc.
 
BrowningRage said:
It must be harder to kill a big buck from a vehicle. Nobody ever comes on here and says, "Well, we were driving around on the Henry's when we saw a big buck up on the hillside. I got out, leaned across the hood of the truck and dropped him at 250 yards. Measured him up and sure enough, he was 201 inches."

I'd love to hear a story of a giant being killed from the road... :)
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I’ve never kill a giant mule deer.......... however, I’ve missed several. Does that qualify? Do I still need a picture or it didn’t happen?

Oh, and I’ve missed several a few miles from the road as well.

I have found that I can see as far from the road, as I can see from a lookout, far from a road.

I have also found I can see a lot more territory when I’m on the road, than I can from a back country lookout. Miles per hour has a little to do with that I suspect.. Also lookout points are faster to move between, on a road..

But....... if you’re a misser it’s a darn sight easer on the body to miss from the road than to miss in the back country.

I have to say, I’ve seen as many and missed as many giants from the road as I have far from a road.

I think maybe it has a lot more to do with which road and which back country your hunting. Maybe?
 
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compoundbownut said:
hey anyone got pics of a buck killed off a truck or jeep ?
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When I hunted in South Africa, I killed a springbok which I wanted to get mounted by actually hunting in the bush for it. But..I also wanted one just for the unique full hide. So after I had spent $10K on critters, the outfitter let me kill one of his personal herd in a pasture near the lodge on the last day I was there. We drove out until we found a shooter, and my guide stops about 100 yds. from it & says, "Just shoot it out of the window." So I did. Wew drove over, threw it in the back & carted it to the skinning shed.

The only other one I can recall was a javelina I shot with a .22 mag 50+ yrs. ago while resting my elbows on the hood of my jeep. That was in back-country sandy wash, tho, and not actually on a road.

I don't have a photo of that springbok, but this is the javelina on the right:

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compoundbownut said:
hey anyone got pics of a buck killed off a truck or jeep ?
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I didn't kill this one from the truck. I spotted him looking for love on a hay field He found a hot doe and chased her across road in front of the truck and up onto some BLM. I caught up with him in less than a half mile.
I am not much of a roadhunter, but roadhunting can be real effective in Montana during the rut. Even bucks that live far from the roads most of the year will be crossing a road when they are cursing for does. Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
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Road hunting doesn't necessarily mean shooting from the truck. I glass, glass, and glass from the truck! Then make the stalk if I like the critter. Here's a few from the last 5 years either spotted from the road and stalked or taken near the road by myself or buddies. As I get older, making sure my quarry is in a place I can get it out becomes number 1 priority!! Drove the truck to within close distance of most of these( except the ram and buck antelope). These are all from 3 different states in case you're counting.

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nontypical said:
Road hunting doesn't necessarily mean shooting from the truck. I glass, glass, and glass from the truck! Then make the stalk if I like the critter. Here's a few from the last 5 years either spotted from the road and stalked or taken near the road by myself or buddies. As I get older, making sure my quarry is in a place I can get it out becomes number 1 priority!! Drove the truck to within close distance of most of these( except the ram and buck antelope). These are all from 3 different states in case you're counting.

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You're a slaying machine. Great animals
 

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