What's Hardcore?

I think a hunter is hardcore if he just hunts harder when the hunting is hard.

I felt like I was a hardcore hunter two years ago when I drove INTO a whiteout blizzard and hunted two days in the most miserable, beautiful conditions you can imagine.:D It was nuts by anybody's standards, but I would never trade a day at the beach for a day hunting in the snow.

VJohn, I'm with you on the brush pants. I have tried hunting in jeans, but they just don't hold up at all. I'm always watching the dog instead of looking at what thorns I'm about to encounter. Denim just doesn't offer much resistance to mother nature... I need boots and brush pants.:D

I don't necessarily think hunting in bluejeans with a beat up old pump shotgun and a rusted-out pickup truck is hardcore. But it definitely isn't pretentious either. When I saw the pics, I thought, "that guy is genuine."

Nothing negative towards guys who like nice stuff. I like nice stuff too. Most of my stuff was pretty nice when it was new, although most of it is in varying stages of worn out. Just can't seem to throw away a pair of comfortable boots...:eek:
 
PBuster said:
On a thread somewhere on the site a guy just had heart surgery and was still going upland hunting. Cabelas hat or not, thats hard core. When your willing to die trying that is HARDCORE. :10sign:
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I have a buddy who had knee surgery back in 2003. One week later I took him to SD chasing pheasants. Besides the surgery, our timing was perfect. We hit a nice snow storm. The birds were bunched up and sitting nicely.

While chasing some roosters, my buddy's freshly operated on leg went straight down into a fox/coyote hole. He flexed his leg in a way a human's leg should flex!:eek:

After about an 1/2 hour of trying to hold back his cries of pain he got right back up and kept hunting.:confused: To this day I still can't believe he went out there. That's one tough guy in my book. lol
 
jmac said:
Yea when the dogs D!cK freezes to the tree he is peeing on, and you bust it off, and hunt anyway you know your Hard Core. Of course I've hunted waterfowl when I had to dang near bust mine off the tree to keep hunting.:D
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i know the feeling mac waters deep too lol
 
Hardcore - tough to measure but everybody has their own ideas what it may be. When my buddy and I (against his mothers wishes) are the only ones out hunting in negative 50 windchill and you can only stay out of the car for 5minutes at a time, especially when you have to hunt down a cripple thru 2 or 3 fields for over an hour (while your buddy drives the section in his truck) and end up not feeling any of your extremities - I would consider that hardcore. Grew up in Iowa and hunted just about every weekend since I was 12 and 4-5 times a week during college and never have hunted with gloves on - hardcore. I'm sure most people (including my hunting partners/friends) would consider these things moronic but it is what it is. I would say I definitely mellowed with age and tend to get much more enjoyment out of it now and it is no longer just about the "limit". I would say the same thing about my waterfowl hunting as I won't tromp thru the mud like I used to. Now it is about friendships, easy hunting, and hopefully killing a few birds for the dog to retrieve. My how time changes everything.
 
This is a great topic. I know I've done some ridiculously stupid things in the past pursing pheasants and ducks. I don't know how "hard core" these things were, so much as just not using common sense. It's a miracle I'm still alive today.

Now that I'm a little older my definition of hard core is quite different than it was 20 years ago. I try to maximize my hunting opportunities, and for me this year it was getting up at 2 am, driving 11 hours by myself to SD to squeeze in a late afteroon hunt in on my arrival day. Hunting 5 full days, then driving 11 hours home after hunting the last day.

I don't get to hunt 45-50 days per year like I used to, given family and career priorities, I do get after hard when I can.
 
Roosterslayer said:
Hardcore - Grew up in Iowa and hunted just about every weekend since I was 12 and 4-5 times a week during college and never have hunted with gloves on - hardcore.
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lol......Brings back memories of wearing very cheap boots (only because that's all a kid could afford) and like you've said, "no gloves".

I remember wearing plastic bags over my socks to make my boots "water proof".

Frozen toes! The burning feeling once the blood starts to flow again. Fingers so numb you can't even unlock the car door. I've turned into a bit of a wimp since then with my beat up filson chaps, insulated boot, and a warm winter jacket.:D
 
Your right most Grouse hunters give Pheasant hunters no love, and think it a joke. I think some guys are trying awful hard to look hardcore or non-cabela's, that seems more pathetic then the guys all gussied up. I have a Cabela's hat I like it. Only ten bucks hope i'm not to geared up for the locals.


http://tinyurl.com/7k8kb9l


HuntersDad said:
What about Grouse hunters? Have you seen the cover they hunt in? Is that "Hard Core"?
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I enjoy wearing my cabelas gear. I'm originally from SD, grew up there for 25 years. When I come back to SD hunting now days, I'm sure my cousin who's land we hunt on, thinks my buddies and myself look like a bunch of rich out of staters that can't shoot to save their lives.... All the while, he's wearing cowboy boots, plaid long sleeve shirt, and no orange. Can you say Redneck!
While he drives us around in his Dodge Turbo Diesel Mega Cab truck!!!!!! Cowboy boots? Pheasant Hunting? Heck No!!!!!




Fenway said:
Your right most Grouse hunters give Pheasant hunters no love, and think it a joke. I think some guys are trying awful hard to look hardcore or non-cabela's, that seems more pathetic then the guys all gussied up. I have a Cabela's hat I like it. Only ten bucks hope i'm not to geared up for the locals.


http://tinyurl.com/7k8kb9l
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Labman said:
I enjoy wearing my cabelas gear. I'm originally from SD, grew up there for 25 years. When I come back to SD hunting now days, I'm sure my cousin who's land we hunt on, thinks my buddies and myself look like a bunch of rich out of staters that can't shoot to save their lives.... All the while, he's wearing cowboy boots, plaid long sleeve shirt, and no orange. Can you say Redneck!
While he drives us around in his Dodge Turbo Diesel Mega Cab truck!!!!!! Cowboy boots? Pheasant Hunting? Heck No!!!!!
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You said it! Sounds just like hunting out west w/ my dad. "All them fancy clothes and you.......:rolleyes:" Truth is, they don't "need" brush pants when they walk one field twice/yr. I've seen 'em hunt in cowboy boots, but they don't put in 8hrs of troddin' around w/ me either.
 
One time KB mentioned deer hunting with a knife. He said he wanted to jump out of a tree onto a deer's back and slit its throat... That's pretty hardcore...:thumbsup: Makes a bow and arrow sound too easy.:laugh:
 
Kind of a tough one to answer. You could have many types of hardcore hunters. What about people who go into the middle of nowhere where the terrain is up and down angles where the slightest little move could mean a disaster.
 
jsdriggs said:
Is "hard core" the right way to name it? I'm thinking determined is a better word. Hardcore makes me think of being macho (or stupid:D), and the absolute neccesity to succeed. Kind of a phase one thing.

Now determined is another thing entirely. It brings to mind putting in all you and your dog(s) got, because you just love what you are doing and can't get enough. Success is just being out there to begin with.
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Stupid yes, LOL thats what I thought. How about EXTREME HUNTING!:D
We at times will do stupid things to go hunting.:nutz:
 
Actually I do have some other upland hunting clothes and gear.:eek:
I had a really nice Cabelas upland outfit about 20 something years ago. Gift from my bride for birthday present. Out hunting pheasants in wet snow conditions Southern MN. Laid the outfit out on the hood taking advantage of the afternoon sunshine. Yup! put on the work clothes and continued hunting, got back to the truck a few hour later, gone!
Worn just a few hours somebody got a nice new expensive Cabelas outfit.

Maybe now that I'm retiring I'll get another stylish Cabelas outfit.:eek: Probably stick with the old pump though.:cheers:

Hardcore hunter? Not me, I get to spend a lot of time outdoors each Fall toting a rifle or shotgun. I'm after a pleasant experience. Good weather means more to me anyday then a limit of birds a bull or a buck.

I had easy shots at a 280 class bull and a 150 class Muley on a recent trip. Chose not to shoot. Packing the meat out that type country would not be pleasant, I passed on the shots. I think a hardcore hunter would have taken the shots and packed. A little stupid maybe, but hardcore.:confused:
 
Toad said:
One time KB mentioned deer hunting with a knife. He said he wanted to jump out of a tree onto a deer's back and slit its throat... That's pretty hardcore...:thumbsup: Makes a bow and arrow sound too easy.:laugh:
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I have a relative that did that very thing (after legal shooting hours, in the dark). He landed on the creature and broke its back. He turned on his flashlight and saw that he had landed on a badger. He has it mounted now. Damn lucky he killed it.
 
If you've been chukar hunting more than once you are hard core, and maybe a little stupid.:D
 
mnmthunting said:
Actually I do have some other upland hunting clothes and gear.:eek:
I had a really nice Cabelas upland outfit about 20 something years ago. Gift from my bride for birthday present. Out hunting pheasants in wet snow conditions Southern MN. Laid the outfit out on the hood taking advantage of the afternoon sunshine. Yup! put on the work clothes and continued hunting, got back to the truck a few hour later, gone!
Worn just a few hours somebody got a nice new expensive Cabelas outfit.

Maybe now that I'm retiring I'll get another stylish Cabelas outfit.:eek: Probably stick with the old pump though.:cheers:

Hardcore hunter? Not me, I get to spend a lot of time outdoors each Fall toting a rifle or shotgun. I'm after a pleasant experience. Good weather means more to me anyday then a limit of birds a bull or a buck.

I had easy shots at a 280 class bull and a 150 class Muley on a recent trip. Chose not to shoot. Packing the meat out that type country would not be pleasant, I passed on the shots. I think a hardcore hunter would have taken the shots and packed. A little stupid maybe, but hardcore.:confused:
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Sounds like a hard core hunter to me. There is more to be said with peace with ones self out there once we get buy all those gung ho years we all went through.:thumbsup: Shooting nothing sometimes are the best hunts ever.
 
I guess I missed the Cabelas post.

But I don't think anyone that is hardcore about bird hunting cares what label is in their cloths, they just have to do the job.
 
jsdriggs said:
Is "hard core" the right way to name it? I'm thinking determined is a better word. Hardcore makes me think of being macho (or stupid:D), and the absolute neccesity to succeed. Kind of a phase one thing.
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Too much HARDCORE kinda turns hunting into porn - an itch that can't be scratched, an appetite that is never satiated no matter what...
 
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