Ruining Hunting

David Morse is no relation to me. Same last name but don't know him. I do have great times/memories from hunting/fishing trips to PA and Canada with close friends and family over the years. These were low budget trips but I can say they were worth millions in enjoyment and memories. I enjoy the prep work, the mind game, Chess Game as I have termed it, for rutting bucks. If I allowed someone else to do it for me then it isn't hunting anymore it's only shooting and I can do that at the range. There have been years that I had no shots in PA for 9 days of hunting then there are years when there are 5-6 shot oppertunities. There are no 180 class bucks in PA where I hunt, there might be in S. Ohio where I've started hunting with my son. We still do it ourselves and that's what matters most. Hunting guides work their butts off for their clients in open range hunting. Hunting farms are raising cattle deer and whomever wants to pay for that can, not me. There's a giant difference between hunting and farm getting, I'll settle for the hunting part. I don't want someone sitting in my stand telling me that's the buck we've been seeing all summer, he's a nice 8 pt we call him lucky because no one has taken him yet. He comes into the field right at 5:00pm every night like clock work. Don't shoot till I give you the signal. He's a 150 class and there is a premium cost if you take him. Not for me guys!

This thread seems to have three main points: the first, being about ridiculous equipment, the second about hunting "expert/professionals," and the third about hunting "farms". I think you guys hit the nail on the head with your responses to all three. My take: although there is lots of gimmicky junk out there whose main purpose is to seperate a hunter from his hard-earned cash, there are lots of gadgets that do have a place in hunting. For example, GPSs are great for safety and can help in quickly returning to that downed animal, etc. Personal locators and hand-held radios, again, are good safety tools in emergencies. Of course, each of us has to decide what we really need, can afford, and how to use this stuff in ethical ways.
As for the guys who make videos, I put them into three categories: the first is the guys who pioneered the idea. People like Gordon Eastman who just wanted to share their experiences during a day when the average hunter couldn't get to the places where hunting adventures took on a whole new level and meaning. The second group are the guys who want to sell something and who promote their products with vidoes that try to convince the rest of us that we really need to buy that product. The third group is made up of guys with big egos who want to prove that they are better hunters than the rest of us. Often these are the hunters (along with the second group) who hunt in game farms or lease large areas that are more-or-less groomed to produce big quality animals.
As for the big game "hunting" farms, I am totally against them. In Montana, several years ago, a strange coalition of hunters, non-hunters and anti-hunters got together (can you believe that?) to support, and pass a law making them illegal in this state.