"Stolen Valor" - in the hunting field/industry

[Sabre]

If I remember correctly, Gary Larson was a trained wildlife biologist. Today that may not mean he was a hunter but back then he probably was. This could be an urban legend I don’t know for sure.

Yeah, I am unsure about his political affiliations or stances on hunting. I did really enjoy his comics as a kid. I was just commenting on what I think the point of that cartoon was, as I didn't think it was about a guide doing all the work and then the hunter claiming the glory.

I have encountered quite a few hunters, and taxidermists (who also hunt) who don't like the aggressive poses commonly found on predator animals because they find it unnatural and somewhat fake. One taxidermist/hunter I know says "it is like if you posed a human sneezing for all eternity, yes, we sneeze, but it is not what we are looking like 99.9% of the time". Just say all that to say, Gary Larson could have been a hunter and still wanted to mock the aggressive taxidermy.

My stance on the aggressive poses is that I like them when a good taxidermist does them well, I also like the tranquil looking mounts. I don't see anything wrong with aggressive poses for animals that sometimes are aggressive.

 

[Hunt anything]

@Sabre , I agree and I’m a stickler for natural poses in my taxidermy. If it’s aggressive that’s great as long as it looks natural.

 

[Tbitty]

I have a friend that loves to embellish his stories. I always tell people the stories are based on actual events, only the facts have changed.

One of my favorite dumb movies, Anchorman, has what I consider to be the greatest opening caption of any film I've seen:

"The following is based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed."

I've been know to use that line when telling or listening to some embellished stories told in good fun.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

@Sabre , I agree and I’m a stickler for natural poses in my taxidermy. If it’s aggressive that’s great as long as it looks natural.

My taxidermy is all natural. No fake aggressive poses or manicured fancy wood plaques.

 

[Tubby’s Canteen]

One of my favorite dumb movies, Anchorman, has what I consider to be the greatest opening caption of any film I've seen:

"The following is based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed."

I've been know to use that line when telling or listening to some embellished stories told in good fun.

60% of the time it works every time

 

[Sideshow]

Yes, that was dumb and I knew it as soon as I pulled the trigger. Mind you, I only shot once. Very lucky I didn't bugger up one of them.

Very luck you didn’t kill some poor bugger taking a crap! Man no wonder so many hunters get taken out with this sort of thing going on

 

[DieJager]

One of my favorite dumb movies, Anchorman, has what I consider to be the greatest opening caption of any film I've seen:

"The following is based on actual events. Only the names, locations and events have been changed."

I've been know to use that line when telling or listening to some embellished stories told in good fun.

Great movie, my favorite probably with Will Ferrel aka Ron Burgundy?

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Very luck you didn’t kill some poor bugger taking a crap! Man no wonder so many hunters get taken out with this sort of thing going on

Well, that wasn't going to happen unless the guy was petting elk while taking a crap. The mountain referenced jumps straight up out of the valley floor. It wasn't a cliff face but close. That part had been logged off probably early sixties and regrowth timber and brush. The elk had stepped to the back of the cat skidder trail. They were behind a small jackpot of brush and no place for them to go without showing themselves. There was nothing but the wall of a mountain and a few elk behind the brush I shot into. Certainly no possibility of anyone taking a crap. Two years ago (age 70) I hiked back up there to take a few photos. This will give you context.

Back in 1980 I shot this big bull elk about 1.25 miles from the logging road at the bottom of the mountain. It was steep enough for me to drag him out whole ... by myself. Steep enough for me to back the stock truck up to the face of the mountain and pull the elk onto the bed.

Nothing in the backstop the day I shot the raghorn but dirt and a couple of small trees and elk.

 

[Sideshow]

Almost as soon as I spotted them they disappeared behind a jackpot. I waited but nothing appeared. Then I decided to take a shot into the spot and push them out.

Listen, young fella. I don't think that's my elk. I couldn't even see them when I fired. Just wanted to move them out of there." He said it had to be my bull because he was only shooting at cows. Makes sense. Once the bull is down cows often can't figure out what to do. I told him to hustle to the top and he might catch the herd crossing through a saddle into the basin beyond. But don't follow them there because no way to get the meat out. As I started to dress the bull a shot rang out from the valley below ... whiz ... a bullet sailed overhead. Then another shot and another with bullets flying past. I dropped down behind the bull for cover. A fourth shot I could hear connect over on the canyon side. No more shooting. After a while the kid comes back down. He watched the herd go over the top. He helped me drag the bull down to the logging road. And here comes his dad and grandad dragging a huge whitetail buck. Apparently, the buck and a doe were just over the ridge. Dad tried three four hundred yard shots before Granddad had enough and dropped it with his 270. They were both mortified to have sent bullets overhead but no way they could know I was there. I was actually safe enough on the other side of the ridge.

Here is your quote mate you admit firing at a target that you cant identify. You then admit it to the young guy.

Yes, that was dumb and I knew it as soon as I pulled the trigger. Mind you, I only shot once. Very lucky I didn't bugger up one of them.

Then here you admit that its dumb

Well, that wasn't going to happen unless the guy was petting elk while taking a crap. The mountain referenced jumps straight up out of the valley floor. It wasn't a cliff face but close. That part had been logged off probably early sixties and regrowth timber and brush. The elk had stepped to the back of the cat skidder trail. They were behind a small jackpot of brush and no place for them to go without showing themselves. There was nothing but the wall of a mountain and a few elk behind the brush I shot into. Certainly no possibility of anyone taking a crap. Two years ago (age 70) I hiked back up there to take a few photos. This will give you context.
View attachment 666833
View attachment 666834
Back in 1980 I shot this big bull elk about 1.25 miles from the logging road at the bottom of the mountain. It was steep enough for me to drag him out whole ... by myself. Steep enough for me to back the stock truck up to the face of the mountain and pull the elk onto the bed.
View attachment 666835
Nothing in the backstop the day I shot the raghorn but dirt and a couple of small trees and elk.

Now here you are trying to justify it. You cant have it both ways.
Not only that but you killed an animal that you did not even know you had shot. You would not even know if it was a pass through and you wounded any?
If you where in NZ they would take your license from you because you broke rule 4 of the firearms code: Always Identify your target beyond all doubt.
I'd not hunt with you your bloody dangerous and don’t even know it!

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Here is your quote mate you admit firing at a target that you cant identify. You then admit it to the young guy.

Then here you admit that its dumb

Now here you are trying to justify it. You cant have it both ways.
Not only that but you killed an animal that you did not even know you had shot. You would not even know if it was a pass through and you wounded any?
If you where in NZ they would take your license from you because you broke rule 4 of the firearms code: Always Identify your target beyond all doubt.
I'd not hunt with you your bloody dangerous and don’t even know it!

Alright, it was dumb because I could have buggered a good animal. It was not unsafe. The backstop prevented the bullet from hitting anyone taking a crap in the woods. So why do you think the lad thought the elk was mine? He heard me shoot once and stop. Then he was able to shoot four times at a bunch of elk milling around (that I couldn't see). Of course he assumed I stopped shooting because I'm only allowed to tag one animal. So he credited me with killing the bull. I simply didn't want to take credit for killing an animal that I felt he must have shot. So I explained why. We were both being honest. He never saw horns and the cows milling around for four more shots pretty much confirmed I must have killed the bull.

It was not dumb to have taken the shot. That was actially smart. It alerted the kid and the elk had no way to escape without being seen. It worked out for him. The dumb thing was shooting into the jackpot. I should have simply aimed at a tree or the side of the hill to avoid possibly maiming one of the elk. Opening weekend and no snow for tracking could very easily resulted in a wounded animal lost. When the kid returned I discussed the stupidity of it all. "Don't ever do that." I think most guys would have just said, "Oh yeah sure. That's my elk." And left it at that. But I really doubt the kid had shot an elk before. Could I justify stealing it from him? I had no qualms about explaining why his first elk should not be mine, even if the explanation painted me in poor light, which I'm sure it did. Sure, he could probably go rat me out to the authorities and try (and fail) to get my license revoked. But clearly this young man was a class act. And after meeting his dad and granddad, I could tell the apple didn't fall far from the tree. Again, it was not an unsafe thing to do. Just impulsive and poorly thought out. Targets had been identified. Both sexes were legal to shoot. The elk were there where I shot, I just couldn't see them when I shot. Take the shot ... just not at the elk. Keep the events in context.

 

[Sideshow]

Still trying to justify it

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Still trying to justify it

Still taking stuff out of context. Not very classy. I checked. The topic is laying claim to game that someone else shot. I haven't strayed.

 

[Rafiki]

This brings to mind another gold medalist kid hunter story. Opening day 1984 I got up at 4:30 for the long drive to my elk hunting mountain only to find Dad sitting on the stairs in his underwear (just after my divorce and I was temporarily living at home again). He just got the call from his sister that my uncle had finally succumbed to cancer. I said I should stay home but Dad said no, go on. I arrived at just the right time before daybreak. As I was walking down the logging road to the base of the mountain a boy appeared ahead of me. I kept my distance and then he headed up the mountain at the ridge I planned to follow. Oh well. I kept going for a couple hundred yards and then started up. My plan was to work up the canyon side and see if we could push something to each other. When I reached the bottom of the mountain it was just light enough to see a deer moving on the face about 150 yards. I scoped it and was surprised to see it was a muley doe. What's she doing down this low so early in the season? As I was watching her a bunch of big light colored critters moved just above her. A small herd of elk! Almost as soon as I spotted them they disappeared behind a jackpot. I waited but nothing appeared. Then I decided to take a shot into the spot and push them out. That would at least alert the kid that game was afoot. And it worked. I never saw the elk again but the kid fired off four shots. He was a little further up the mountain and reached the spot before me. "Here's your bull." What? He pulled me up onto an old logging skid trail and there was a fine raghorn bull stone dead, shot through the neck. "Listen, young fella. I don't think that's my elk. I couldn't even see them when I fired. Just wanted to move them out of there." He said it had to be my bull because he was only shooting at cows. Makes sense. Once the bull is down cows often can't figure out what to do. I told him to hustle to the top and he might catch the herd crossing through a saddle into the basin beyond. But don't follow them there because no way to get the meat out. As I started to dress the bull a shot rang out from the valley below ... whiz ... a bullet sailed overhead. Then another shot and another with bullets flying past. I dropped down behind the bull for cover. A fourth shot I could hear connect over on the canyon side. No more shooting. After a while the kid comes back down. He watched the herd go over the top. He helped me drag the bull down to the logging road. And here comes his dad and grandad dragging a huge whitetail buck. Apparently, the buck and a doe were just over the ridge. Dad tried three four hundred yard shots before Granddad had enough and dropped it with his 270. They were both mortified to have sent bullets overhead but no way they could know I was there. I was actually safe enough on the other side of the ridge. I had a meat saw in the truck and said they should get half. They refused. "Season is young. We will shoot our own elk." This kind of behavior was not unusual when I was growing up but it is a different world today.

I hope you've grown out of shooting into bushes, people get killed that way.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

I hope you've grown out of shooting into bushes, people get killed that way.

It was a unique situation that I would have chosen to do slightly differently. No one was endangered. See above photos. And no, I never did that again.

 

[Sideshow]

Still taking stuff out of context. Not very classy. I checked. The topic is laying claim to game that someone else shot. I haven't strayed.

Classy lol I’m not the one chucking lead around the hillside “trying to flush game” not only highly dangerous but how sportsman like is that?

 

[Pilgrim]

Classy lol I’m not the one chucking lead around the hillside “trying to flush game” not only highly dangerous but how sportsman like is that?

What's classy here? We've got a guy who has the balls to talk about something he did that he's not proud of and openly admits so and then we have a bunch of keyboard warriors who want to tear him down. If you read all of his posts he is obviously very big on ethics and not the villain you make him out to be. "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." I bet there is not a single one of us here who hasn't done stupid things hunting.

 

[IvW]

Well, that wasn't going to happen unless the guy was petting elk while taking a crap. The mountain referenced jumps straight up out of the valley floor. It wasn't a cliff face but close. That part had been logged off probably early sixties and regrowth timber and brush. The elk had stepped to the back of the cat skidder trail. They were behind a small jackpot of brush and no place for them to go without showing themselves. There was nothing but the wall of a mountain and a few elk behind the brush I shot into. Certainly no possibility of anyone taking a crap. Two years ago (age 70) I hiked back up there to take a few photos. This will give you context.
View attachment 666833
View attachment 666834
Back in 1980 I shot this big bull elk about 1.25 miles from the logging road at the bottom of the mountain. It was steep enough for me to drag him out whole ... by myself. Steep enough for me to back the stock truck up to the face of the mountain and pull the elk onto the bed.
View attachment 666835
Nothing in the backstop the day I shot the raghorn but dirt and a couple of small trees and elk.

Except an elk that you wounded.......

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Except an elk that you wounded.......

No. The elk dropped dead with a broken neck. Nothing was wounded, fortunately. But yeah, go ahead and read what wasn't written. You're always good for that.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

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[Nyati]

Years ago, a friend of mine shot a fantastic Sable in Mozambique, while it was still in the taxidermy in SA, another "hunter"saw it and made an offer for 10.000 USD, my friend replied jokinly, let´s make it 20.000 USD, and a deal was made.

It´s one of the highest ranked Sable on Roland Ward.