Is your advantage over other hunters skill or luck?

[Stanley]

If you traded places with hunters that can't put a P&Y on the wall. Could you get it done on their ground? In other words a great place to hunt makes an average hunter look like a good hunter and a good hunter look like a great hunter. The P&Y thread got me to thinking about this. Because some hunt in the best geographical areas for P&Y bucks should those that don't be penalized by increasing the P&Y minimum? Skill or Luck, you make the call?

[tim]

well stanley what i say to that is , half the game is finding those great spots. for example when i purchased land almost ten years ago now, i first gave up a lot to save for the land (even purchased it before a home) then i didnt go and buy the first proprty i came across for sale, i looked for a great spot and did my homework, same thing i do before i go knocking on doors. im not looking to just hunt, im looking to hunt in prime locations and keep looking till i find em and get granted permission. a propert i currently hunt took me ten years to be granted permission but was WELL worth the wait/effort. if i didnt have a great spot to hunt (which i havent in the past) i would find one and wouldnt stop till i did by either purchasing(which i have done) or knock on doors till i find one(which i have also done). i would not settle and continue to look .

[Stump]

There are still too many variables unknown. The answer could be yes and it also could be no. Just because one is in what would be considered a "good geographical" location, doesn't necessarily mean that the specific land they hunt is good. Qualifying the old saying....."You can't hold out for something that's not there". There is no doubt that good ground make average hunters look really good.

60% luck, 40% skill?

[magicman54494]

I guess that after 36 years of studying and hunting deer I'm lucky to have aquired some skill.

[Dor]

When it comes to dead spots the most important thing a hunter can learn (some never do) is to cut your losses when the spot has proven itself to not be a go to area. Hunting dead ground is the biggest sin!

[Dor]

Your "luck" will improve right away when you figure this out.

[snoman4]

I am not blessed to live in an area where a P@Y deer every year is a possiblity. Where I live and hunt a P@Y is a once in a lifetime deer. A 100" deer in my state makes the book. That being said I take a 100" buck pretty much every year except this year. I sent my wife, son, and a couple of buddies into my best spot this year a few times each since I took a nice buck last year. Well my buddy Greg killed a 109" 8 point with a drop tine that was still in velvet out of my spot. I think consistently killing the largest examples of deer in your hunting areas makes you a great hunter. Luck does play a part in it probably 30 percent but I would think no higher than that. If I had the ground some of you guys do I think I could have an opportunity at 125" or better deer almost every year. I live in Florida where a 125" is very rare. There are maybe 20-30 killed a year in the whole state.

I think if I traded places with someone that had ground similar to mine here in Florida that I could still consistently kill a 100" buck.

Now if I were to trade places with one of you guys I think I could consistently kill a P@Y deer because you all have them. It might take me 2 years to really figure out the hunting style because it is much different from mine but I think I could consistently kill one. I think most of you could consitently kill a 100" deer on my ground if you hunted it for a couple of years too. What you guys call thick woods up north is what we call open terrain down here....lol.

[Bucky]

I think it is 75% local, 25% skill....

That is why I say spend more time searching for quality ground then scouting what doesn't produce if you can.... if your goal is to shoot a large racked buck.

I hunted in a heavily hunted WI county from 1992-1998 and never saw a buck over 130". The 1st year I hunted in and around Madison, WI I saw multiple 140"+ whitetails (prior to CWD slaughter)....

[Hunter74]

I think it is 75% local, 25% skill....

That is why I say spend more time searching for ground then scouting what doesn't produce

I don't really agree with this... It is a big help to be in a target rich environment especially one with a decent number of big bucks running around... It makes it easy... However there are a lot of nice bucks out there even in the areas a person doesn't think there are...
This is something I have learned over the years now I just need to learn how to kill them

[ Post made via Android ]

[jlh42581]

I think it is 75% local, 25% skill....

That is why I say spend more time searching for ground then scouting what doesn't produce

I don't really agree with this... It is a big help to be in a target rich environment especially one with a decent number of big bucks running around... It makes it easy... However there are a lot of nice bucks out there even in the areas a person doesn't think there are...
This is something I have learned over the years now I just need to learn how to kill them

[ Post made via Android ]

The key difference is though in your scenario is that while their may be some big bucks usually the ones that are there have been hunted so hard, by so many guys doing stupid things they simply dont make mistakes. They might not even bed on a property you have access too. All you need to do is look at the other forums in the fall of guys posting "Check out this buck", "Whats his score" and 99.9% of the time that person has a picture of that buck at 3am. They then think that buck is killable by them when most times that buck could be killed yes, but on a different property. Seeing a buck on a trail cam picture at night tells you virtually nothing without an established pattern other than one lives in this area, somewhere.

[Spysar]

Since I have gone to several states and been successful, I'd like to think I could go somewhere different and do it again. But I wouldn't be stupid enough to bet on it.

Even well planned statagies require some luck.

And like Dor says, you need to skip the bad land, and find the good land. That's a skill too.

[Buckfever]

I think that's the one advantage of hunting highly pressured public land. Luck has little to do with it.

[keb]

My adavantge is pure desrire and being in top physical shape, I hunt public lands and I no longer make excuses, I find the best spots and hunt all day for weeks during the rut. This works for me. I travel to places where there are big deer and give it my best.

[JV NC]

Here's the recipe, boys (IMO).....

The hunting game can be won if you have even one of the following ingredients:

1. LOCATION
2. Lots of time on stand.

You can get away with one and not have the other. But, if you have both - it's a no-brainer.

I see so many people trying to make deer hunting harder than it is. I'll put my money on the "Gomer" with a lot of time to spend on stand....over the seasoned hunter with little time afield.

I'll put my money on the same Gomer hunting great grounds.....over the seasoned hunter with terrible spots to hunt.

Jay Gregory said......"You're only as good as the grounds you hunt". Hear. Hear.

[Edcyclopedia]

Since I have gone to several states and been successful, I'd like to think I could go somewhere different and do it again. But I wouldn't be stupid enough to bet on it.

Even well planned statagies require some luck.

And like Dor says, you need to skip the bad land, and find the good land. That's a skill too.

A quick trip to a 4-10 area might be in order.
Can squeeze in a bear too (or was that a beer too)