Woodsmanship is it disappearing?

[G-man]

Found a good article will post below. I think woodsmanship is declining very fast as more become reliant on technology.  Tracking skill and survival skills are watched ton reality shows vs  actually doing then oneself.  

The manhunt continues by me for an escaped killer .the police seem to be at a loss and keep saying  he must be getting help..  gone are the days of law enforcement tracing  or expert trackers brought in. Instead we will pay millions in overtime to less than adequate offical officers  ( perhaps we should be sending them to advaced classed with that money.   Just my opinion.

https://www.sportingjournal.com/decline-in-woodsmanship/

 

[mowin]

Knowing the lay of the land, the knowledge of the game, and how to read sign is getting lost as generations pass.  

As far as the cops, I'm sure it's a lot more complicated than sending them to training.  

[Nomad]

And those lost woods skills are also somewhat transferable to the city .

Last summer on our Alaska tour I was amazed at how the other couples couldn’t find their way back or around some mid sized cities . One stop it was Sunday and the bus let s off to go get some lunch, well most places were closed and we had to venture out a bit .

Now it’s time to return to the bus, we head off in the correct direction but when we come to an intersection the others wanted to turn right , no I said go,left,then I pointed to a painting on a building that the tour guide pointed out to us when we arrived,it was to the left .

A bit farther I say turn here , why they asked ,” see that taller building with the satellite dishes and stuff on top ? Our bus is across from it .”

Take a baring  and look at landmarks , look backwards once in awhile while walking as that will be your view when returning, woods or city .

[Ncountry]

1 hour ago, G-man said:

Found a good article will post below. I think woodsmanship is declining very fast as more become reliant on technology.  Tracking skill and survival skills are watched ton reality shows vs  actually doing then oneself.  

The manhunt continues by me for an escaped killer .the police seem to be at a loss and keep saying  he must be getting help..  gone are the days of law enforcement tracing  or expert trackers brought in. Instead we will pay millions in overtime to less than adequate offical officers  ( perhaps we should be sending them to advaced classed with that money.   Just my opinion.

https://www.sportingjournal.com/decline-in-woodsmanship/

 

I will start by saying this isn't true of all of our officers. I have some close friends who are in law enforcement.

But... I have seen 1st hand some serious incompetence when it comes to basic tracking skills.

Some one close to me was in trouble with the law and stupidly was running away. It was winter time with a good fresh snow cover. I convinced a few of the officers to let me go into the woods and track him down and if I found him he would come out with me. I tracked for a few miles and the tracks came out to the rd .. I checked the roadsides for quite a distance both ways and no tracks went back into the woods. I was convinced he got a ride from somebody. I cut back through the woods to my house, it was the quickest way there.. in the meantime 5 of them followed my tracks to my house and accused me of hiding him, calling  me a liar. This is in nice fresh packy snow mind you, you cannot get an easier tracking situation..

I have to admit, it rubbed me wrong and I may have called 6 perfectly nice officers  quite a few not so nice names while I pointed out their incompetence.  They searched the house, just to satisfy their belief and went on their way. 

[grampy]

A lot of people these days can't even walk quietly in the woods. Much less figure out where they are going. Or where they came from.

Woodsmanship done right is truly an art. From my observations, definitely a lost art now days.

[cj3a]

I blame hunting videos and compound bows 

[Ncountry]

I've never been lost. Maybe I didn't know exactly where I was or when I would find the truck..lol.. knock on wood.. It did take me 3 hrs to walk the rd back to the truck once though..

I find the toughest navigation is in big cedar or spruce swamps. There aren't any landmarks you can see from a distance and you are constantly ducking through and around stuff, not looking ahead.. This is where aerial photography with topo maps have made things alot easier if you studied the area before going. 

[crappyice]

I have a horrible sense of direction!!!! I get turned around in woods I've walked for years so that's not a loss of Woodsmanship. You can't lose what you never had!!!

the worst case scenario for me is starting a track of a hit deer at last light, then finding the deer at dark. Without the help of HuntWise pins or other map APs I would still be walking in circles! 
When I am in NYC (rarely) I let my daughter take control and blindly follow her  since I am paying attention to all the knife wielding fentanyl laced Spider-Man illegal immigrants.

[2BuckBizCT]

I’ve always enjoyed knowing the layout of the land and directions. Before I go on a trip, I look at maps etc. Several times in cabs in Caribbean I’ve told drivers they missed a turn and the rest of my party had no clue. 

[Buckmaster7600]

The sad thing about todays “hunters” is that it takes zero woodmanship to sit in a tree stand playing on your phone and wait for a deer to walk by. 

[Nomad]

1 hour ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

The sad thing about todays “hunters” is that it takes zero woodmanship to sit in a tree stand playing on your phone and wait for a deer to walk by. 

Over a food plot with six cell cams, an ozone machine , and a hit list lol .

I freely admit it’s takes next to no skill to kill a deer on the farm and little more a decent buck .

But back in the day of canoeing and backpacking across North America from the Yukon to the deserts of the South west ,often just sleeping next to a log and building fires in the rain I had some woodman skills .

There was times out Weat we built a fire in ten degree weather as the deer ran across a river and if the guy in waders fell retrieving it we were ready to dry him out .

Now I wear a heated vest to sit in a stand for two hours 1/2 mile from the truck .

[crappyice]

10 hours ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

The sad thing about todays “hunters” is that it takes zero woodmanship to sit in a tree stand playing on your phone and wait for a deer to walk by. 

And yet some are more successful every year than others? Are you saying they are just luckier? Hunt (or as you imply simply harvest from) better land? Or work harder earlier so the hunt is easier?

 

[G-man]

11 hours ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

The sad thing about todays “hunters” is that it takes zero woodmanship to sit in a tree stand playing on your phone and wait for a deer to walk by. 

There must be a difference as  550k license sold and  successful hunters are around 150k.  If that is true number according to some as guys take 2  buck and multiple doe apiece leaving  none for the rest of the unsuccessful hunters.. so successful hunter numbers will be even lower

[Chef]

I don't get lost ever. Never have. You ask me to drive almost anywhere in the country and i will get there. I don't get turned around in the woods never have. Have I killed a good for my area buck every year for a while now... yea I have.

 

am I a good woodman. Eh I make due. 
 

Do I think @crappyice, Myself, @2BuckBizCT,and @ATbuckhunterare any less of a hunter than our resident ADK Paul bunion no I don't (notice I left off the jerk man)

 

there are lots of different hunting styles and each takes its own skill set 

[Buckmaster7600]

2 hours ago, crappyice said:

And yet some are more successful every year than others? Are you saying they are just luckier? Hunt (or as you imply simply harvest from) better land? Or work harder earlier so the hunt is easier?

 

It would really depend on what you consider successful? Everything you mention are factors but most importantly time.