Anyone out there?????

[BOHNTR]

WYMULEYMAN:

Looks like you'll have some fun this year. I hope you get a big one.

Met a nice bowhunter from Rawlins a few weeks ago. He was in the Pope & Young Measurers clinic with me in Flagstaff, AZ. Just so happened he knew some of my family (Huletts) members up in those parts. Some of the photos he had of monster muleys made me envious. Can't wait until I'm able to get back up in that part of the country and chase some of them with my bow. You ARE a lucky man to live in Gods country. Post up some pics when you get a good one this year.

BOHNTR )))---------------->

[WYMULEYMAN]

BOHNTR:

it is a small world out there, rawlins is a pretty small town so i am pretty sure that i know who he is, espically since he was at a pope and young measuring clininc, he is probably one of the more serious hunters from home. was his name bob b., for the sake of his privacy i don't want to say much more than that. his name is just the first one that comes to mind when i think of someone that would be at a gathering such as that. not to mention some of the deer bob has taken would make even the most seasoned hunter envious. the deer he killed in 2003 was over the 200" mark. it is going to be a great hunting season for me as well as my dad, he was super lucky this year and drew a deer tag with me, a antelope tag for around rawlins, and also a super super bull tag in the shirley mountains in south central wyoming. it is about half way between rawlins and casper. right on the famed miracle mile fishing hole. and along the ferris, seminoe, and shirley mountain band of hills. i use to work up there alot with the blm when i stilled lived in rawlins and i have seen some fantastic bulls up there, so i am really excited for him. plus, i have found the bear that i want to take this spring season, he is a 6'-6" cinnamon blacky. not the biggest but one of the more pretty bears i have seen. i just hope he makes it until the spring.

[LIVE2HUNT]

WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO? AFTER READING ALL YOUR POST FROM ABOVE I'VE REALIZED THAT I'M IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY OF WISHING AND WAITING MY LIFE AWAY. EVEN THOUGH WE ARE A WEEK OUT FROM OUR ARCHERY OPENER HERE IN OREGON, I HAVE ALREADY STARTED TO DISCUSS PLANS FOR NEXT YEAR. IT WAS WITH THAT REALIZATION THAT I FIGURED OUT THAT HUNTING IS SOO MUCH MORE THAN THE KILL. THE PRESEASON WORK AND THE PLANNING WITH HUNTING PARTNERS, THE MIDNIGHT DRIVES FOR 10 HOURS JUST TO GET AN 8 HOUR LOOK AT SOME NEW COUNTRY THAT MIGHT HOLD SOME POSSIBILITIES, BUYING NEW GEAR, SEARCHING HIGH AND LOW TO SEE WHO KILLED WHAT, AND WHERE! MAN, HUNTING TAKES UP SO MUCH MORE OF OUR LIVES THAN THE DATES SET FORTH BY EACH STATE TO SAY WHEN WE CAN, AND CAN NOT LEAGALLY PURSUE GAME. IT SEEMS THAT WITHIN THE SAME BREATH I AWAIT THE OPENING MORNING WITH SO MUCH EXCITEMENT, THAT IT IS ALMOST EQUALED WITH THE DISPERE THAT THE SEASON WILL END WITHIN THE SEEABLE FUTURE. THE CLOCK JUST KEEPS ON TICKING! OH WELL. THAT IS WHAT MAKES ME TICK! EVERY NOW AND THEN I THINK OF COUNTRYS THAT DO NOT ALLOW HUNTING, AND I HAVE TO WONDER WHAT THAT COULD BE LIKE. I GUESS WE HAVE THOSE HERE, THEY CALL THEM PRISONS. WHICH BRINGS TO MIND A CONFRINTATION I WAS IN A SHORT TIME AGO. I MET UP WITH A VERY ADDIMENT ANTI HUNTER. I SAT AND LISTENED TO WELL THOUGHT OUT, VERY ARTICULATE, INTELLIGENT BABLE IN REGARDS TO THE OUTRIGHT MURDERING OF DEFENSLESS CREATURES. THEY USED ALL THE COMMON LINES: 'LET'S SEE YOU RUN AROUND THE FOREST, AND GIVE THANIMALS GUNS", "YOUR A MURDERER", "YOU ONLY KILL TO FEEL POWERFUL".......AND SO ON, AND SO ON. AND EVEN THOUGH I CONSIDER MYSELF SOME WHAT INTELLIGENT, HIGHLY EDGUCATED, AND VERY KNOWLEDGABLE IN REGARDS TO THE HUNTING SPORTS, I COULD ONLY COME UP WITH ONE THING........NOTHING! I HAD TO RESPOND THAT I HAVE NO DEFENSE OF WHAT I DO. I CAN NOT SIT AND GO ON AND ON AS TO WHY HUNTING IS RIGHT, NOR DO I HAVE ANY DEFENSE OF THE WELL THOUGHT OUT, LONG WINDED REASONS AS TO WHY HUNTING IS WRONG. I GUESS I HAVE NEVER PUT MUCH THOUGHT INTO CREATING A DEFENSE OF WHY I DO WHAT I DO. ALL I COULD TELL THIS PERSON THAT HUNTING HAS BECOME A LARGE PART OF WHO I AM. AND THAT MOST OF MY FREE TIME IS EITHER CONSUMED BY THOUGHTS OF HUNTING, OR ACTUALLY SPENDING TIME DOING ACTIVITIES THAT REVOLVE AROUND HUNTING. I DO IT BECAUSE I ENJOY IT AND IT MAKES ME HAPPY. IF MY BELEIVES ARE SO DIFFERENT FROM YOURS, DON'T HUNT! BUT I STILL HAVE TO WONDER WHY I HAD TO HAVE HIS THOUGHTS SHOVED DOWN MY THROAT, AND WHY HIS THOUGHTS HAD TO BE SO ADIENTLY PRESENTED, AND WHY I FELT LIKE HE WAS TRTYING TO SEEL MY HIS BELEFS? WOULDN'T THAT BE LIKE ME KIDNAPPING HIM AND FORCING HIM TO GO HUNTING? I DON'T KNOW. ANY INPUT FROM ANYONE? LIKE I SAID. I HAVE NO DEFENSE OF WHY I HUNT, OTHER THAN I DO BECAUSE I LOVE IT!

[WYMULEYMAN]

I have never really been confronted on why i hunt, and do i or do i not think hunting is murder. I guess i have been fortunate in my trails in life. as everyone i know or associate myself with also love the sport. i too must admit, hunting is not a sport to me, it is a way of life. i could seriously care less whether or not i kill anything, it is the anticipation, the being in the country, the spending time with family and good friends that i love the most. i remember the first year i was old enough to hunt, the first hunt i ever followed my dad around, and the first year my little sisters killed their first animals. and of all those times it was when my sisters were successful in their quest for a trophy animal that i remember the most. because i was there to share in the experience! I also remember when my dads hunting buddy killed his bull four or five years ago that scored over 380 b&c points. when we walked up to the bull he literally passed out with excitement upon seeing this amazing animal. not that he killed it but just the shear sight of such an animal.

so i say to those that chose not to hunt, good for you, i respect your opinions and beliefs, but do not for a second try to judge me for the choices that i make. and if they do they are going to have a big boy down right not happy with them. IS HUNTING MURDER? I do not believe so, it is no different than natural selection, animal control must be taken on by a higher power and i feel that that is where we as sportsmen come into play. if we are murderers when we hunt, then they are also murderers and canibals, because most these people eat just as much meat or more than me. i know that is a crazy arguement, but that is how i look at it.

[wyomingtrophyhunter]

It is a clever combination of many things: Socialization, heritage, recreation, but most importantly, latent primal traits.

Yes, we humans have instincts in spite of the best efforts of sociologists and psychologists to elevate our urges beyond "animal" levels. We are at the top of the food chain, not by our physical strengths, but by our highly developed mental cunning. We are absolutely the most intelligent predators, and as such, we ALL have various levels of predation traits, regardless of how suppressed the PETA folks' traits may seem. Heck, they like to prey on US, don't they ?

All that being said, civilization supposedly has bred much of this urge out of our systems. Those of us who have retained (and cultivated) this subliminal desire to hunt know exactly what I am talking about. Those who don't understand just haven't gotten in touch with their omnivorous genes.

And, no, Oprah, I am not insecure about my sexuality either.