If we were all to sit down together and create the best composite big game hunter from each of our best attributes, what would be your contribution? Are you a shooter, skinner, tracker, spotter, field-dresser, butcher, range-estimater, stalker, cook, etc.?

Me, I'm tenacious. I'd be the last guy off the mountain. I won't quit. I'm relentless, and I have "feel".

I can't explain what "feel" is except to say that if he's on that mountain, I'll find him. I have a sense for where he'll be.

I could wander off in the flats when my friends were trying to get me over on the rimrock. Next thing you know I've got a big muley down, and I'm walking out to get help. Meanwhile they are still trying to put horns on something.

I used to be a good game spotter, could see game others couldn't. Age took the eyes away for the most part. Younger eyes see them first now.

I've never been that proud of my rifle shooting. I've hunted with some marvelous shot makers. I can handle a shotgun and a pistol better than a rifle, I think.

Tracking is not my strength. I watched a guide track a man's gut-shot whitetail at night with a flashlight. No blood trail, just small drops of bile on hard dry West Texas ground, mesquites, and gulleys. The buck jumped two fences and died almost a quarter mile from where he was hit. That guy was a tracker. I was lost from the get-go. Funny thing was, he couldn't find his way back to the truck. I had to show him. He was concentrating that hard on the buck's trail.

For some reason to estimate range well I've got to put it into golf terms (like it's a 3-wood or a 6-iron). Big game excites me. I tend to under estimate the range. I tend to lock in immediately on a figure in the excitement, and have to back away mentally to get it right. It happens quickly, but I have to use that cross-check to get the right perspective.

You probably wouldn't want me to butcher your game.

I field dress O.K., but I'm not fast. I'm kind of a slow skinner too. Matter of fact I think when it comes to the hard work I tend to go slow hoping someone will put me out of my misery.

Cooking is not my forte either. I can't make wild game taste 5% as good as my wife can. (Game automatically tastes 50% better if I don't have to be the one cooking it.)

What's your strength?

I'm really good in keeping others' spirits up when the hunting is not so good and they feel like quitting. My persistence has gotten many a deer killed by others. I'm a pretty good game shot with a rifle, but not as nearly as good a wingshooter with a shotgun. I've done a lot of squirrel hunting with a scoped Contender, and have made some amazing shots offhand on running squirrels and at some pretty good distances at still ones with a rest. Blood trailing is difficult for me because I don't differenciate well red from all the other colors. When there is lots on the ground I'm fine, but looking for a speck in a big area, forget it. I field dress quickly but I'm not as fast skinning. On flat ground (that's mainly what we have here) I'm a better than average estimator of range.

Being that Im fairly young I guess an attribute I like is my physical abilities. I'm not too good at range estimation however...

Mark me down under the catagory of ENJOYMENT.Altho I've been doing it for over 60 years I seriously doubt anyone enjoys it more than I.

Bravo

Enthusiasm, and simple pure joy at just being there and alive. I guess that I make a great cheer leader, but I can see the whimsy in most everything, don't take myself too seriously, and can generally see the silver lining in everything and the good in most everybody (unless they don't have any ). That love of living has kept me out and going when any "sane" person would have quit. As a result, I've been lucky on all of my hunts and in life in general, whether I killed anything or not.

I don't shine on any of the items you mentioned, alltho i use to be wicked with a shotgun one of the best arround and Iam lucky to hit a snipe while hunting nowadays, going down hill I guess.

Bout the only thing that i have been able to do over the years is when i say i will be there come hell or high water I will.

I assume that you mean besides my astounding good looks. As far as deer hunting goes I guess that it would be my "deer sense" although I'm a pretty good shot as well. I just seem to have a knack for knowing where deer are, where they are going or where they will be. I've come home with my buck in years when there was a 30% statewide success rate and I didn't see another deer hanging in any of the camps. And my 20/10 vision is a big help too.

You beat me to it 257 AI.
I was gonna say "My Good Looks".

I've always said ... I'm an average shot and an average hunter, but I'm damn persistant. Nine times out of ten, it's the guy that puts in the hours and hunts hard that fills his tags year in & year out.

Well it looks as though our "best composite hunter" will be one happy go lucky kind of guy! Me, Im a stalker. I dont like waiting around much. I have places to go and people to see and I cant wait around all day for an animal to come to me, so I go to them. So I guess my greatest attribute is impatience.

I have turned out to be a tracker. My life has allowed me to spend most of my life in the outdoors, observing wildlife, and sign.
I get called in to do tracking jobs for others, usually at night when darkness has closed in. I've done jobs for Search and Rescue units, both winter and summer, lost tourists and skiers, and for the law enforcement agencies on man hunts.
My recovery rate has been pretty good. There's nothing like tracking a wounded bear in the dark to keep the adreneline level high.

My incredible modesty! Plus I do take some pretty good pictures from time to time.

If I pull the trigger, the quarry is going to die - I haven't missed anything with 4 legs since I was 17 years old . My 52 year old eyes are still pretty good too.... and you want ME to cook in camp . You do not want me to butcher your game .

I suppose I get more game than most because I am willing to work harder and longer than most. 3 miles in to get an elk, without trail? Bring it on. I'll cover more country in a day than most guys in a week.

Of course, I'm not smart enough to know if that's a strength or a weakness...... Dutch.

My strongest attribute would be my preparation for the shooting. I shoot all my rifles and any of my buddies that I can get my hands on, just to make that shot instinctive when the time comes. Each year at least 2000 rounds, usually much more. I shoot the big stuff that throws big bullets as fast as possible, to take the guessing out of the shooting, and eliminate tracking. If I do need to track, years of whitetail bow hunting at home taught me with some of the toughest situations. I will be on the mountain 30 minutes before the magic sunup and hunt until pitch black, until I get that Bull, or be able to say why I didn't. Good shooting.

Steiny, you may have good looks but I have "astounding" good looks.

One hunting buddy said I was pretty good at finding deer scat.

That, and I keep at it even though I rarely ever see or shoot anything. Don't know if that's a good thing or sign of insanity.

John

Patience and persistence have gotten me more deer than woodcraft.

Marksmanship is not my gift, but lots of careful practice has made me a fair shot. Accurized rifles help.

Luck should never be ruled out, I've been lucky.

Curiosity and a will to learn! Even a good old rat makes me curious and interested in observing.

If I ever do learn something is another matter...