Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

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jonsimoneau
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Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby jonsimoneau » Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:48 am

Over the past five years my hunting strategies have evolved and my encounters with good bucks have improved. But old habits are sure hard to break! For most of my hunting years my strategy revolved mostly around hunting funnels. It was not until I killed the buck in my avatar by knowing where he often bedded that I realized my strategies are flawed. Sure funnels can be good during the rut but sitting in a funnel outside of the rut can lead to serious frustration. But agin it is tough to break old habits. Today I was out scouting and I kept finding some of those classic funnels and was picking out trees in them. Then I snapped back to the reality of the fact that I did not know where the closest bedding areas were (this is new ground) and that sitting in funnels that are nowhere near bedding areas is almost sure to lead to disappointment. Any of you have any bad habits you are trying to unlearn?

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Swampthing
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby Swampthing » Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:54 am

One tough one for me comes from gun hunting 30 some years. I just started bowhunting like 5 years ago. But i am always drawn to large openings. Places that I could cover with a rifle.

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Singing Bridge
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:57 am

good topic- there are a lot of bad habits I needed to break when I became interested in hunting good bucks for my areas...

time on stand was a big issue for me, all the scouting and prep in the world does little good if you are spend little time on stand during season.
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby Autumn Ninja » Thu Aug 02, 2012 9:10 am

I have a scent control regiment that I always follow. Even though I enter my stand right and hunt with the wind 100% in my favore....I cant quit doing it.. :shifty:

It gives me peace of mind for some reason....LOL....maybe I will overcome this some day, I hope.
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Dewey
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Aug 02, 2012 9:25 am

I always feel I have to go really remote to find good bucks but have been learning the last few years that there are some huge bucks bedding in very obvious overlooked spots within close walking distance that everyone else completely overlooks.

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headgear
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby headgear » Thu Aug 02, 2012 9:58 am

I've spent the last 3 years unlearning everyting I knew from the previous 20. No doubt I still catch myself doing dumb things all the time but it has become less frequent and I have kind of learned to question and look into everything. I do now just to make sure I to put a solid plan together and cross reference my scouting and tactics, things are starting to come together a little faster and less of those old habits are showing up.
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby Zap » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:04 pm

Folks that have used the standard deer hunting methods may find it hard to get into Beast mode.

But if you do not have alot of bedding located, just starting to hunt different spots....scouting ready to hunt while carrying your stand in/out can provide good results.

I hope everyone has a productive season.
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gjs4
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby gjs4 » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:25 pm

tons of em

as tony lapratt says- when you start as a trapper you have to get a paw on a half dollar..when you start as a gun hunter you give yourself 150 yards to make it happen..... I could use tighetr tolerance.

I need to stick to what the deer are showing me (I know it sounds dumb and simple but i overthink and worry ......I am way too conservative)

Another of mine, and would guess one that is common here, is to scout more than i hunt....and i scout a ton but still not the 10:1 or even 4:1 i would like....
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backstraps
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby backstraps » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:16 pm

I have several bad habits over the pass few years I have had to break.

After scouting and finding an area I wanted to hunt, I didnt spend enough time planning a good entry exit route.
Probably my biggest bad habit.

2nd would most likely be over hunting a stand site. There are times I have sit the same stand in the evening for five straight days.

Trying to disregard the wind and hunt areas the wind wasnt right for.

Not really a hunting tactic bad habit, but one I HAD TO WORK ON TO IMPROVE:
Not rushing my shot. I used to get him in range and think, I have to shoot him now, every move he made I was racing my mind thinking "he is getting ready to leave" etc etc. Once I slowed down and calmed my mind for the best shot opportunity, they started falling. :)
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magicman54494
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby magicman54494 » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:23 pm

My biggest obsticle was unlearning what the hunting mags have taught me for 30 years and trust what I learned from my own observations.
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby SouthernHunter » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:30 pm

To start thinking like an old buck and not a dumb hunter.
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jonsimoneau
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby jonsimoneau » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:31 pm

Magicman. Your post really hits home. Think about it. Many of us became consumed with hunting at a young age. We wanted to learn as much as we could so we looked to magazine articles written by experts. But much of the information obtained came from a period when there were far fewer hunters and land access was easier. Basically back then even though deer numbers were lower, the ability to hunt undisturbed deer was easier. So after years of trying tactics that will only work where the "celebrities" hunt we come to realize they simply are not hunting the same deer we are. Sometimes I am angered by how long it takes me to learn certain things!

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Brad
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby Brad » Thu Aug 02, 2012 3:40 pm

I still have a few bad habits pop up, one of which is a lack of confidence in some of my spots and I still overlook a lot of obvious things. Sometimes I do not think I am capable of hunting at a higher level and let doubts creep in. I need to just go put what I have learned to use and go from there and learn from my mistakes. I also need to stop thinking in terms of deer and start thinking in more terms of mature bucks, I keep letting my knowledge of what general deer do interfere with my goals.
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jonsimoneau
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby jonsimoneau » Thu Aug 02, 2012 3:45 pm

Brad I do the same thing. This year I will take the first doe I can for meat and to break the ice. Then I can work on the bucks.

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kenn1320
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Re: Unlearning your bad hunting habits.

Unread postby kenn1320 » Thu Aug 02, 2012 3:55 pm

jonsimoneau wrote:Over the past five years my hunting strategies have evolved and my encounters with good bucks have improved. But old habits are sure hard to break! For most of my hunting years my strategy revolved mostly around hunting funnels. It was not until I killed the buck in my avatar by knowing where he often bedded that I realized my strategies are flawed. Sure funnels can be good during the rut but sitting in a funnel outside of the rut can lead to serious frustration. But agin it is tough to break old habits. [glow=red]Today I was out scouting and I kept finding some of those classic funnels and was picking out trees in them[/glow]. Then I snapped back to the reality of the fact that I did not know where the closest bedding areas were (this is new ground) and that sitting in funnels that are nowhere near bedding areas is almost sure to lead to disappointment. Any of you have any bad habits you are trying to unlearn?

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I wasnt having any luck finding buck sign on my last trip, but found a sweet ridge and started looking for decent tree's for an early season ambush. :D Actually I havent found anything that "works", so until I start seeing mature bucks, tough to be able to point out what Im doing wrong. :?
"Its about taking the right shot at the right time with good equipment." Dan Infalt


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