The Hunter

[Skybird]

I love open world, or better: open landscape simulations. That's why I love Skyrim and Oblivion, ArmA and ArmA2. The action is not that important to me.

As a child I also loved to play "Kriegen", I think that is "Cowboys&Indians", "Hide&Seek", yes? Hiding from the other while trying to sneak on him at the same time. That's why I love Steel Beasts Pro. Few games allow that so well.

Like you, I also do not care much for highscores in The Hunter. I have simulated a day's roaming by having 3 sessions: From 07 to 11, from 11 to 15, and from 15 to 19. I use to set up a tent now at the end of a session - and starting right there again in the next. That way, I can wander for example from the very North to the very South of - what was the name: Whitesomething Island. Could be done in one session only when running in a straight line. But then you do not see any animals. The forests there are very nice, plenty of underwoods.

But of course I need to adapt to the activity time tables of the species sooner or later. A bear I probably will not get the way I play now, not without setting up a bait some days earlier. those beasts so far have only shown me their backs on two occasions, in another reserve, running, and from great distance. But I got one coyote, from a blind stand, luring.

I think the blind stands, especially the one on the ground and the tripod, are too effective. The callers are too effective, too.

A self-imposed rule I obey is that I do not shoot it if it ain't give me a score, that rules out all female deer already, and female turkeys. But they stay around, and I must avoid making them panicking, else they flee and make the trophy-carrier leaving Dodge, too.

But the best part is to just wander around, looking, staying hidden. It's like a mini-holiday.

Question, by your experience, what do you prefer, the Deer Grunt Caller or the Deer Bleat Caller? I think I so far missed their difference, if there is any. Should attract Blacktail, Whitetail and Mule Deer, but is there a difference between both callers?

Scents I have not used so far.

I hope they are going to implement night time, too.

[Red October1984]

Hunting? I don't need this game. I do this in real life. It's much more fun in real life.

It is also glamorized by games. Have you ever been Elbow-Deep inside a deer taking the guts out? Can't do that in the game. It doesn't teach you how to hunt safely or ethically.


I am slightly against hunting games if you couldnt tell. They aren't ever accurate.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

Hunting? I don't need this game. I do this in real life. It's much more fun in real life.

It is also glamorized by games. Have you ever been Elbow-Deep inside a deer taking the guts out? Can't do that in the game. It doesn't teach you how to hunt safely or ethically.


I am slightly against hunting games if you couldnt tell. They aren't ever accurate.

I've got a hunting game that doesn't even try to be realistic. Probably because you hunt dinosaurs

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Red October1984

Hunting? I don't need this game. I do this in real life. It's much more fun in real life.

It is also glamorized by games. Have you ever been Elbow-Deep inside a deer taking the guts out? Can't do that in the game. It doesn't teach you how to hunt safely or ethically.


I am slightly against hunting games if you couldnt tell. They aren't ever accurate.

Preserve that attitude and recall it next time you embark on one of your flight sims. You then can save time by immediately switching off your computer instead of wasting your time with not smelling the kerosin, not doing the radio comms and not feeling the Gs and not doing accurate paper work before and after the flight. What worth is a flight sim without fresh filled vomit bags? Doesn't deserve to be called a sim then.

It's all about running head movies.

[Spike88]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Preserve that attitude and recall it next time you embark on one of your flight sims. You then can save time by immediately switching off your computer instead of wasting your time with not smelling the kerosin, not doing the radio comms and not feeling the Gs and not doing accurate paper work before and after the flight. What worth is a flight sim without fresh filled vomit bags? Doesn't deserve to be called a sim then.

It's all about running head movies.

I have to disagree with you on that, anyone can hunt, but not everyone can fly a plane, especially larger Commercial airliners.

But yes, he shouldn't be calling you out on your sim.


Edit: Correction, mostly anyone can hunt(the crippled can't), but there are more people who can hunt than who can fly a plane.

[Oberon]

I'm against hunting as a whole, with the exception of the rules that 'if you kill it, you eat it' and 'don't overhunt the area' however I have to disagree a little bit with you there Spike.

You accurately state that not anyone can fly a big commercial airliner, that's true...but in the same way that if you went out on your own with a gun and tried to hunt down a Leopard, I would have you sign your last will and testament before you left.

Sure, there are easy shortcuts in hunting, having the pheasants too fat that the poor sods can barely fly, using a shotgun, having a tracker lead you to the target, but there are also easy aircraft to fly, well easier than a commercial airliner.

Sure, The Hunter can't replicate having your arms up to your elbows in deer guts, or spending two hours plucking and gutting a pheasant, but FSX can't accurately replicate the paperwork, enginework, G forces and other nuances that a real flight can...although to be fair with some of the addons out there it comes damn close.

Now...we just have to work on giving the deer weapons to shoot back with...

[Spike88]

Originally Posted by Oberon

-snip-

Yes, but most people don't hunt Leopard in real life or in hunting simulations.

The Hunter is about hunting deer, not anything that has a chance of fighting back.

My point was more about the fact that it's a whole lot easier to go out and hunt than it is to fly a plane. Even if you're just saying a basic 2 seat-er plane.

First getting a plane is a lot more expensive than getting a gun or a bow. Second the licenses required to hunt is just a small fee(you don't even need one if you're hunting locally, at least in my state), while a pilots licenses is like a drivers license where you need to pass actual tests.

Anyways, the point is that if you wanted to hunt, you could go out and do it easier than you could go out and fly a plane, which is why Plane simulators are kind of a different story compared to Hunting simulators.

Most people who are interested in hunting would be more interested in going out and doing the real thing than playing a simulator. While most people who are interested in flying a plane end up playing simulators because they don't have the means to do it in real life(plus I'm fairly certain more pilots spend time in simulators for leisure than hunters do). This holds true for most other sims too, it's easier to go hunting on your own than it is to work on a farm, drive a semi-truck, drive a bus, drive a train, etc. Most of these have some sort of qualification or limitation that keeps the average Joe from doing so in real life, so simulators let them experience it.

Either way, if someone finds interest in a particular simulator, you shouldn't knock them for it. Even if some of the simulators out there are a bit... niche. We're all on a forum dedicated to submarine simulators for Christ's sake.

Edit:

Originally Posted by RickC Sniper

-snip

Yes, but he can't do so without the help of another person. Although to be fair most quadriplegics can't play computer games either. But where there is a will there is a way.

Technically someone who is missing their legs can sit up in tree platform and wait for a target to come by, but it's rarer for people to have the dedication to do so.

[RickC Sniper]

Originally Posted by Spike88

Edit:

Yes, but he can't do so without the help of another person. Although to be fair most quadriplegics can't play computer games either. But where there is a will there is a way.

Pfffftttt

I'm the quad in the pictures and I sure as hell play computer games. Once loaded and set up, I shoot that rifle on my own.

Most hunters need help hauling the Elk or Moose meat out of the woods so I might argue that they aren't alone either.

[RickC Sniper]

Originally Posted by Spike88

Edit: Correction, mostly anyone can hunt(the crippled can't), but there are more people who can hunt than who can fly a plane.

Hmmmm

Electric trigger operated by a sip on the straw\tube. Quadriplegic shooting prairie dogs.
Crippled?
Yes.
Deadly?
Yes!!!!




Yeah, yeah, not walking around in the woods stalking, but then........they are 400-500 yard shots!!


The sim is for days when you cannot get out there and do it. The most avid flight sim player I know happens to be an A-10 combat pilot.

[Takeda Shingen]

Originally Posted by RickC Sniper

Hmmmm

Electric trigger operated by a sip on the straw\tube. Quadriplegic shooting prairie dogs.
Crippled?
Yes.
Deadly?
Yes!!!!

<photos>

Yeah, yeah, not walking around in the woods stalking, but then........they are 400-500 yard shots!!


The sim is for days when you cannot get out there and do it. The most avid flight sim player I know happens to be an A-10 combat pilot.

Great photos, my friend. Is the young man behind you one of your's?

[RickC Sniper]

Originally Posted by Takeda Shingen

Great photos, my friend. Is the young man behind you one of your's?

Yes, my older son, Eric. Would you believe 40 years old now?

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by RickC Sniper

You are in urgent need to link that setup with a tablet with the Leopard's virtual gunner's seat from SBP!

The sim is for days when you cannot get out there and do it.

That. Or somethign that you will never try in real life at all. Like flying an airliner. Much of the virtual possibilities of modern internet is for that, too. For example Google's museum project (kind of streetview inside some of the world'S most famous galleries).

---

I admit that concerning reality I share Oberon's attitude: hunting only if you eat it yourself and avoid overhunting. I would enjoy the hunt itself - but I would use a camera rifle only. The moment I have ensured that the prey got defeated and the hunting process was successful, the deal is done for me. I do need neither the kill nor the trophy on the wall. And the picture only to silence those who do not believe that I got there. But in principle I do not even need the photo. I have killed just once in my life, a straying dog near our camp in the desert which looked sick, and my concern was that it would bite while we are sleeping, giving us some disease (in that part of the world sick dogs are a concern for sure). Did feel neither triumph nor pity, but did what I think needed to be done. Killing a prey is not what I am about, I'd do it only if needing to eat. For me, it'S the hunt itself - exclusively.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Skybird

I admit that concerning reality I share Oberon's attitude: hunting only if you eat it yourself and avoid overhunting. I would enjoy the hunt itself - but I would use a camera rifle only. The moment I have ensured that the prey got defeated and the hunting process was successful, the deal is done for me. I do need neither the kill nor the trophy on the wall. And the picture only to silence those who do not believe that I got there. But in principle I do not even need the photo. I have killed just once in my life, a straying dog near our camp in the desert which looked sick, and my concern was that it would bite while we are sleeping, giving us some disease (in that part of the world sick dogs are a concern for sure). Did feel neither triumph nor pity, but did what I think needed to be done. Killing a prey is not what I am about, I'd do it only if needing to eat. For me, it'S the hunt itself - exclusively.

I would expect a European to think like that. No offense, but hunting is also an American tradition (it's how we control our animal population) and I think there will always be good hunters here in the MidWest. You guys in Europe have had enough war and plague in Europe. I couldn't expect that all of you are armed and shoot animals in your free time.

[RickC Sniper]

Originally Posted by Skybird

You are in urgent need to link that setup with a tablet with the Leopard's virtual gunner's seat from SBP!

What a GREAT idea! But wait.....maybe not!

I once stumbled on a website designed by a private hunting reserve located somewhere in Texas. They advertised a "real hunt".....right from your desk!

They set up a rifle with motors which allowed you sitting at your computer to elevate and traverse and fire. They then charged many many thousands of dollars which allowed anyone in the world to kill a deer.
They then butchered the animal, froze the meat and sent it to the customer. Their claim was that most of their customers were from countries that outlawed guns or simply lived where hunting was something one could not do.

I am quite certain this required reserve employees "shooing" a passive, probably drugged animal in front of the rifle's field of fire, which was quite narrow.

Thankfully they were in operation only a short time.

[Red October1984]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Preserve that attitude and recall it next time you embark on one of your flight sims. You then can save time by immediately switching off your computer instead of wasting your time with not smelling the kerosin, not doing the radio comms and not feeling the Gs and not doing accurate paper work before and after the flight. What worth is a flight sim without fresh filled vomit bags? Doesn't deserve to be called a sim then.

It's all about running head movies.

I guess whatever floats your boat. I am just vividly saying that hunting "sims" aren't realistic. Flight sims and subsims aren't realistic either. I'm saying that there can't be a sim that is like real life. They try to get close, but this is one of the few "sims" that I get to live out during hunting season. I'm just calling out the things they left out (realistic blood, animal behavior, wind, tracking, field dressing) that make up the hunting experience.

And you can't replicate that feeling you get after the first shot.


I am not meaning to call you out on your sim. I am simply voicing my opinion.