What classifies a professional hunter?

[waligators]

Alright we have all seen the hunting shows with the pro's, but what really does classify a professional hunter. Yeah I get the sponsors, going into managed ranches and and all that jazz, but some of these guys that claim to be the best are not at all and are totally obnoxious! A lot of the shows are pretty good actually, but a hand full of them are just down right bad, yet the hunter claims to be the best of the best when it comes to hunting. So who's to say the a certain hunter is a professional?

[reinhard1]

i dont watch that many hunting shows. a lot of them are at these ranches and to me that's not hunting, especialy if you are in good health and truly want the challenge of a hunt. i think if you are successfull, your probably a good guide and hunter. after all that would be your proffession and you income. i think it has to be in your blood and also have dedication to your job.

when i watch Larry Zonka's Alaskan show and he has a hunting episode, i guess that would be my example of a proffesional hunt. he seems to have good guides and they spend days out in the wilderness to fill their tag or tags. those guy's that take Larry out into the mountains and forests of Alaska seem to realy know their stuff. good luck.

[eyeguy 54]

I guess anybody who gets paid to hunt would be a professional hunter so to say. I don't watch any hunting shows anymore.

[BobT]

I figure a professional in anything is one who earns a majority of his/her income by that means. Therefore a professional hunter by my definition is one who generates more than 50% of his/her income by hunting.

[WalleyeChamp]

I agree with bob on this. If they do it for a living then I'd say they are a professional. NOW, professional doesn't mean they know what they're doing,,it just means that they earn their income by doing it. Hunting shows do nothing for me really. They rarely teach us something that we don't already know. Most people watch them just to see the big animals and the kill shots....nothing more.

I'd rather watcha reality show..

[eyeguy 54]

I'd rather watcha reality show..

bwaaaa haaaa haaaaaaaaaaaa good one

[Transporter]

I have only known the label "professional hunter" to be associated with the african safari type hunters that take people after dangerous game. The ones that stand there with a double rifle with recoil enough to separate shoulders. These guys have to stand there and drop the teed off and charging elephant or lion that is going to get even when a client blows the shot. I wasn't aware that north american hunting professional guides have placed themselves in the professional hunter catagory. Most of those TV variety if faced with the dangerous game scenario would be turned and running with a pantsfull alongside their client.

[jnorm1984]

I just look in the mirror...

HAHAHAHA!

But I would have to agree with Bob on this one.

[Scoot]

I wish Bob were right on this one! However, the term "professional" or "pro" is so stinkin' overused that it's basically meaningless. There are a bajillion "pro hunters" who are only "pros" because they call themselves such. We can make up any definition of what we THINK a "pro" should be, but the reality is all it takes to be a "pro hunter" is to call yourself one.

[eyeguy 54]

as I mentioned if you get paid to hunt, as in income, you'd be a proffesional. doesn't mean you are good at it.

[LightningBG]

as I mentioned if you get paid to hunt, as in income, you'd be a professional. doesn't mean you are good at it.

+1

[Bear55]

I wish Bob were right on this one! However, the term "professional" or "pro" is so stinkin' overused that it's basically meaningless. There are a bajillion "pro hunters" who are only "pros" because they call themselves such. We can make up any definition of what we THINK a "pro" should be, but the reality is all it takes to be a "pro hunter" is to call yourself one.

I have to agree with scoot on this one, all you really need is a camera and HSOforum full of logos these days to call yourself a pro. Anyone can do it, no doubt some do it better than others. While a majority of us might agree with BobT the lines are very blured and its hard to tell who from what these days. One thing is for sure, pro doesn't mean what it once did and that is fine by me. I know a few guys that are incredible hunters, shoot some very nice bucks off public land and seem to get it done almost every year and no one has ever heard of them before. Those guys are the pros to me, not some guys behind a camera listing off sponsors.

[BobT]

I wish Bob were right on this one! However, the term "professional" or "pro" is so stinkin' overused that it's basically meaningless. There are a bajillion "pro hunters" who are only "pros" because they call themselves such. We can make up any definition of what we THINK a "pro" should be, but the reality is all it takes to be a "pro hunter" is to call yourself one.

You might be about as right as anyone. Another thought is that calling myself a professional doesn't make it so.

[Scoot]

Bob, just so I'm clear- I wasn't trying to pick on you with that response! It's just that the term "professional" is so dang overused these days... I'm a pro, you're a pro, we're all pros!!! Did you shoot a buck last year? Yep? You're a pro! Did you shoot a buck last year and act like a complete fool because you were trying to perform for a camera? Yep? You're definitely a pro! Finally, did you shoot a buck last year, act like a complete fool in front of the camera to "entertain" people, and use a term like "smack down", "rage in the cage", "smoke him", or some other ridiculous comment? Yep? YOU ARE A PRO!!!

I totally agree with what was said above- some of the best hunters I know, nobody will ever hear about or see on TV. They do their thing because they love to do it and it's not for the purpose of getting another endorsement or getting a spot on a particular television network.

[LightningBG]

I think half of you are missing it. Pro or Professional does have a definition.

pro·fes·sion·al

   [pruh-fesh-uh-nl] Show IPA

adjective

1.

following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.

2-4 omitted because not relevant.

5.

following as a business an occupation ordinarily engaged in as a pastime: a professional golfer.

So, if its a business, and you're doing as a means to livelihood, you're pro.

But I think we all know that professional and "good" do not come hand in hand. Just dont get too wrapped up in the term "pro hunter" and look to follow, for pleasure or education, "good hunters" (who may or may not be pro)

[Scoot]

I think half of you are missing it. Pro or Professional does have a definition.

I'm not sure you're getting the point we're making. The point here is that even though you can get a Webster's-type definition of what a professional is, that's simply not how it's used in the hunting industry today. ...and sadly, it is an industry. Anyone and everyone can call themselves a pro. There's no regulation regarding it (and there shouldn't be), so anyone who gets a free or discounted sight, bow, release, or gun from a company by being on their staff can consider themselves a pro. I'd guess that 90+% of those consider themselves a "pro" get exactly 0% of their salary from their "professional stutus"- they simply get discounts on their purchases.

I'm a pro, you're a pro, we're all pros!!! Your personal definition or a definition you find online or in a dictionary doesn't reflect how it's so terribly overused and meaningless in the hunting world today.

[Musky Buck]

The last time I heard that term a guy was in Texas hunting a baited field road and he had a dozen bucks to pick over and somehow none of them were the right one or the one he paid to shoot. The narrator said lets get back in the stand with professional hunter .... ....

[BobT]

Quote:

Bob, just so I'm clear- I wasn't trying to pick on you with that response!

Never thought you did.

[eyeguy 54]

The best and most ethical hunter on easth is not a pro unless he gets paid to hunt. lol

[Bear55]

Everyone's on a pro staff these days, check out my sponsors.

You absolutely can't hunt without these products!!!!

[Musky Buck]

You dee man Bear, wow I'd crash my vehicle trying to read all your sponsers on the road, but that's a dozen less sponsers than you had a year ago, what happened ?

[Nightcrawler]

Now Bear went semi-pro.

[Bear55]

You dee man Bear, wow I'd crash my vehicle trying to read all your sponsers on the road, but that's a dozen less sponsers than you had a year ago, what happened ?

You'd be surprised how hard it is to drive with those things plastered all over your windshield. Cops pull me over all the time but I just flash em my "Pro Staff" badge, they apologise and off I go 90mph to the next hunt.

[Musky Buck]

Bear simply put your avatar speaks for itself and you are king of the mock scrape used in combination with the mature buck snort/wheeze in a funnel area between food sources and upwind always. 10-4 Bear, I like how the pro's slip in behind some roundbales at mid-morning and there's still a few hundred deer out there. I've felt inferior for years, pro's scope hundreds of animals a year and I hope to scope 10 a year, actually 1 the right one. I think the days of being a pro hunter ended when gun powder was born, I outmuskied Al Lindner one day on a favorite lake, so am I now a pro-fisherman, lol, not.

[LightningBG]

I'm not sure you're getting the point we're making. The point here is that even though you can get a Webster's-type definition of what a professional is, that's simply not how it's used in the hunting industry today. ...and sadly, it is an industry. Anyone and everyone can call themselves a pro. There's no regulation regarding it (and there shouldn't be), so anyone who gets a free or discounted sight, bow, release, or gun from a company by being on their staff can consider themselves a pro. I'd guess that 90+% of those consider themselves a "pro" get exactly 0% of their salary from their "professional stutus"- they simply get discounts on their purchases.

I'm a pro, you're a pro, we're all pros!!! Your personal definition or a definition you find online or in a dictionary doesn't reflect how it's so terribly overused and meaningless in the hunting world today.

I think "you're" missing the point. Just because they say they are a pro, doesn't make it so. Refer back to the definition and decide for yourself who is and isn't a pro. Don't believe it just because they say they are.

And yes. Everyone out there is considering themselves a "pro". Ask to see their pay stub.