How would you rank yourself as an outdoorsman?

[GeauxLSU]

I have always considered myself a rank novice when it comes to my outdoorsmanship. I guess the reality is though we just all know different things. For example, there was a guy I was hunting with once, who appeared to be a pretty good hunter, pretty knowledgeable about firearms, fairly adept in the woods and then one day he said, 'You hear that owl'? I listened and said 'No, what owl?'. "Right there, you don't hear it?" Anyway, long story short, he was listening to a dove. It was sort of embarassing actually.
Anyhow, I'd have to say my short fall is plant identification (including the myriad of trees Georgia has) and orientation (turn me around and I'm lost.)
So I still contend I'm a novice by most accounts but I do feel I have a decent understanding of the animals I hunt, and their signs. Their habits, still leave me guessing. Also, wouldn't want to test how long I could survive on my own in the woods. :o

So.... what's your strongest outdoors skill and what's your weakest?

[Arrow Flinger]

I really couldn't vote. I think I am somewhere in between weekend ecowarrior and grizzly adams. My strongest skills is a good instincts. Most of the time, a gut feeling is my deciding factor on stand placement and hunting location. My weakest is not enough patience while hunting and getting lazy with my scouting as the season progresses.

[Randy]

I voted Grizzly Adams only because I have not hunted other than Georgia. Meaning I have not learned to hunt other animlas outside of this state that are not avaiable here. But I am Daniel Boone in this state!

[Havana Dude]

Grizzly Adams too , but feel I'm a notch below that towards weekender. I seem to be average in about everything I do :bounce: I would love to have my outdoor skills tested. Not saying I would pass with flying colors, but it would give me the opportunity to learn. I would say my weak point here would be patience and my strong point would be the fact that I love being outdoors and would welcome an adventure.

[Nicodemus]

I didn`t vote either. I been practicin` primitive skills for over twenty years and still learn something new everytime I`m in the woods. Ask me this same question in thirty more years and I`ll give you an honest answer. I do put these skills to the test sometimes though.

[willhunt]

I grew up toting a .22, and learned to hunt on squirrels. Slipping quietly through the woods soon became second nature. I've always been interested in identifying the various trees, birds, etc. I came across as a kid. As I got older, I found that, like Arrow Flinger, I had good instincts about stand placement, reading deer trails, etc. I guess my strong point is that I've learned from the things I saw when I was young and have used them to my advantage. My weakness is that I'm getting old...I can't see like I used to (these dang bifocal contacts are about 80% for everything) and I can't run the ridges like I used to. I'm huntin closer to the truck every year...

wh

[Jeff Phillips]

I would have to say somewhere between Grizzly and Boone. I grew up in the woods. Hunted everything you could kill with a .22, then moved up to a 20 gauge. When we moved to Georgia I was just 10, but I was a pretty serious hunter and outdoorsman. When my brother turned 16 (I was 15) we became deer hunters and taught ourselves how to do it. I can identify most trees and plants, all tracks, figure out travel patterns of the animals, etc. During my years as a Boy Scout I learned a lot of survival skills. Give me a knife, a lighter, and a tarp, I'll survive just fine for a few months.

I still learn something most times I go out.

My strongest skill is the ability to get on mature deer. I am not real sure how I do it, gut or instinct would be good choices of words to discribe it. I can usually find the biggest deer sign on a piece of land very quickly. Some of the guys I hunt with in Ala. send me areial photos of their property and I mark likely spots, most of the time I hit pretty close.

Man I LOVE playing outside!!!

[Nicodemus]

I would have really liked to been able to tag along with Simon Kenton in the East in the 1770s and John Coulter in the Western plains and mountains in the early 1800s. A person coulda learned a lot from them. Coulter was probably the first of what we now call the Western Mountain Men.

[Jim Thompson]

call me grizzley adams. as long as I dont have to "fix" anything around the house I will be ok

[Bowbender]

Phil,
tree and plant identification would be my biggest downfall.. My sense of direction would be my best asset.. I know that through out life, I will always have something to learn about the woods and it's ways.. On the flip side, if I had my hunting gear and my health, I could survive in the wilderness.. It would be a challenge, but I am confident that I could do it..... Good post old wise one... :cheers:

[marknga]

I voted weekend eccowarrior........
When I was much younger I think that I was on my way to being a very good outdoorsman. But work and life's ups and downs keep me out of the woods way more than I would like.

Mark

[slimbo]

I voted boone, but I may not quite be there. Never really tried it all the way. I may not know all the little specifics that the books say about survival, but I can survive. I know enough to do what I need to do. I think the biggest things are common sense, watching other animals, and being able to adapt to your surroundings.

[Al33]

Not real sure where I would place in the choices. Certainly not a caveman type, but I think I would fare well for awhile. Like you Phil, plant ID is not one of my assets.

Ever thought of how you would fare in one of the Survival adventures we see on TV? I prolly wouldn't win one but I feel confident I would be good contributor for the group to provide food and basic survival needs. Then again, I may just be fooling myself. :huh:

[Branchminnow]

Ivoted Grizzly Adams because I was not real sure about how to measure my ability I think that all of us will have different ways and opinions as to how to rate ourselves in the woods.

[dutchman]

To me, a good outdoorsman is someone who is skilled at land navigation (map and compass, not just GPS), plant ID and use, edible plant ID and use, cooking, shelter prep, fire building skills (without matches, lighters, and accelerants), and hunting, fishing, and trapping skills. In short, survival skills in the outdoors.

I believe that I could survive for an indefinite period in the woods, but much would depend on the equipment that I happened to possess when "dropped." If I had nothing but a knife, it would be tough. Give me some other stuff, and it gets a bit less stressful.

Long answer, I know, but given the tools, I'm at least Grizzly Adams. Otherwise, I fall woefully short and might land into the greenhorn category. Therefore, I did not vote.

[RJY66]

I voted tenderfoot, but maybe should have voted total greenhorn. I know how to load my rifle and which end the bullet comes out of. I can work my climbing tree stand pretty well. I can find rubs, scrapes, and deer trails. I know the difference between a wild turkey and a buzzard, and the difference between the sounds of a deer and a man walking in the woods.

I can use a gps. A compass I can use to walk in a straight line, but have never had the need or opportunity to use one with a map for "real" navigation purposes, and would need some practice before heading out to the wilderness. Without one of these, I would get lost pretty fast in unfamiliar territory.

Plant identification.....fergetaboutit!

Survival skills? I get upset when the power goes out :rofl:

[GeauxLSU]

I voted tenderfoot, but maybe should have voted total greenhorn. I know how to load my rifle and which end the bullet comes out of. I can work my climbing tree stand pretty well. I can find rubs, scrapes, and deer trails. I know the difference between a wild turkey and a buzzard, and the difference between the sounds of a deer and a man walking in the woods.

I can use a gps. A compass I can use to walk in a straight line, but have never had the need or opportunity to use one with a map for "real" navigation purposes, and would need some practice before heading out to the wilderness. Without one of these, I would get lost pretty fast in unfamiliar territory.

Plant identification.....fergetaboutit!

Survival skills? I get upset when the power goes out :rofl:RJY,
That pretty much describes me and I voted Tenderfoot too. :o I figure a greenhorn can't tell the difference between the sounds of an owl and a dove. ;)

[Browningbowhunter]

I dont know how to rate myself, I just know Id be on the greenhorn end. A buddy and myself are gonna take a couple of jonboats and float down the flint from the powerdam in Warwick to the bridge on 32. Reckon Ill see just how good I am then. As far as in the woods, Im pretty good at identifying animals, their tracks and sign but with plants Im hopeless. Id end up eating poison ivy or something.

[Lead Poison]

The poll definitely needs another choice!!!!!!!

I'd say I'm definitely more than a just weekend warrior, but far from a Grizzley Adams!

Give us another choice I say. :huh:

[Oak Ridge]

I don't have much confidence in my survival skills. I might could get us some meat to eat, but that's all I've been trying to do all these years anyway! I can use a compass, as long as there is a long straight road behind me. Never been able to look at a topo map and tell where I was. I know deer sign and can get on deer, but I have never been able to get on the Big Boys. Guess I'm still pretty green to have all these years hunting under my belt! I really like dutchmans description of an outdoorsman, but I don't think I know anyone who really fits it! If I ever run across anybody around here that does, he's gonna be my new best friend!

[7Mag Hunter]

I did not vote..But I am very comfortable in the woods...
Especially woods I dont know...I love to explore, and have
been known to scout all day when turkey hunting, to look
for deer hunting areas for the following fall.....
Learned basic woodsmanship in cub/boy scouts....Learned
additional map reading/compass methods during a stint
with Uncle Sam, and practice both every chance I get...
I can skin a buck...Run a trap line, and a country boy can
survive (courtesy Hank Williams Jr..)... :cheers: :cheers:

7mag hunter

[ufg8r93]

:o That's what I voted myself. I can tell the difference between a dove and an owl, but in a weak moment could easily have a brain Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ----Edited to Remove Profanity ---- and say something stupid (it wasn't me, was it Phil? :o ). I can id quite a few animals/birds. Know very basic plant ids, but can't tell the difference in a water oak and a white oak if you set the leaves down in front of me. Survival skills? How about burning the 35 years' worth of stored fat around my midsection...

This is what happens to perfectly well-adjusted rural folks who join the Army, pay their way thru college, marry a girl from western MA, and spend 13 years working like a dog in a white collar job. You completely lose whatever outdoor skills you once had. My grandpas would be terribly disappointed....