An interesting coversation

[hunter10]

This evening I received a phone call from a fellow white tail hunter and good friend. As usual, the conversation turned to hunting sooner than later but this time we talked of something I have never really thought of. Maybe you fellow hunters have some insight or can relate.

I told him I will be moving some stands soon, making a list of bed spots i can hunt this fall and explained how this year I want to use observation stands leading up to the season as I shied away from this from previous minimal results. He was quiet.. too quiet?

I asked what was on his mind and he mentioned he was frustrated not knowing whether to give up the land he was hunting and search for new ground. It surprised me, I have told him before I wish i had the land he did so why would he not be satisfied. I recall reading something on here about some hunters will just never quite be masters of the whitetail and thats fine but hes not a new hunter, acually quite accomplished at that.

The mounts are on the wall and he has good land BUT, not the land he once did (where the mounted deer came from). He explained his frustration from comparing what he had and what he has now and the lesser of results in the last couple years. I again tried telling him id love to hunt his land over mine any day as its just better land with better potential.

He made a comment that made me do some thinking. "you only have so may years to hunt and Im wondering if im wasting time where I am"

Ive hunted with him at a couple of his spots and the sign is there and I usually saw a few deer so it actually frustrated me a bit to hear him "complain" about land that is better than mine anyway.

After the call it made me think. He is an accomplished hunter, one who actually helped introduce me to hunting and like i said, has the pictures and mounts to show he has an idea what hes doing. How do you know when to give up on land for something new? for sake of argument lets say permission is easy to get. Is it # of average years, kills, buck sightings etc? Or is he caught up in comparing to what he had to what he has??

Unfortunately easy access is not easy any more in my area so its a risky game obviously to say goodbye to land but can ya really blame him? He knows what good land is or once was. Something is telling him its time to move.... How do you know when its time?

Reason I brought this up here is he started hunting only 18 years ago and kind of fell into a happy go lucky setting with the land he aquired... But some of you guys have been chasing white tails for years and likely have been on your fair share of land

[Crazinamatese]

Maybe he has unrealistic expectations??? Maybe he is taking everything for granted? I was raised most of my life on a couple hundred acres of prime farm land. Plenty of woods, plenty of deer, plenty of everything an outdoorsman could ever want. We hunted it during gun season only as I wasn't into bowhunting at the time. Never once did I think back then that property ever was going to be put on the market for sale someday. When the landlord died, so did the privilege to hunt it. I look back and the one regret I have is never taking full advantage of what that land had to offer. Now I hunt pressured public land like most guys here and sometimes that sucks. Finding permission these days is nearly nil unless you are close family to someone who owns land. Just like that 1980's rock ballad by the band Cinderella,"Don't know what you got, til its gone".

[Bucky]

You cannot shoot what is not there... I say it all the time... first find a spot that has big bucks, THEN figure out how to kill em.

It makes ALL the difference in the world hunting locals where mature bucks exist. If you're in Florida, NH,East coast,MI... I feel for ya.. it sounds tough.

[ Post made via Android ]

[mheichelbech]

My brother has been on the same lease for 35 years and is asking himself the same question. Changes on the lease has seemed to screw up the hunting. The lease is next to a state park yet he saw more deer and bucks hunting with me. The last couple years he just hadn't seen much. Also, a farmer, now replaced, had supposedly killed over a 100 deer while farming cause they were eating his crops which may have impacted it severely.
Maybe with some changes, the hunting can be improved?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[JoeRE]

I find it sad when a person thinks they are wasting their time hunting because its not exactly what they want it to be in their head. If that had been a conversation with me I would have replied honestly with "yup, if you feel that way you might as well quit."

If he walked away from it for a year or two that might give him a better appreciation for things, and would hopefully return to hunting with a new perspective and get a whole lot more enjoyment out of it...which is what it is about.

I will tell you what life is too short for - sitting around grouching about what things used to be like or might have been.

None of us hunt perfect land. I used to hunt some great farms and lost access to pretty much all that over the years...stuff happens. No one can take away the peace I feel just sitting in a tree in the woods.

[moog5050]

Why not continue with that parcel and look for permission elsewhere? Phade and I hunt small parcels here in NY (20-40 acres) with really no good public land close by. But, we are always looking to add another parcel into the rotation. Rather than give up on the land, just add more parcels if possible. That may help reduce pressure and give him greater opportunities. To Phade's credit, he is pretty good at seeking out parcels and obtaining permission, but its work.

I also agree that you have to be realistic about your target. I am not waiting for a booner on our parcels since they just aren't around. A great deer here is not a great deer in OH, IA or WI. So be it. Have fun with what is available and try to kill the biggest buck that is there.

[DaveT1963]

I understand having moved from Montana to Texas several decades ago. However, what I do is try to kill the best buck on the land I am hunting. To me it is the chess game challenge that floats my boat not what is ultimately on their head. I do take a trip every Nov to Ohio to chase the big boys, but I am content chasing local, highly-pressured bucks and trying to pre-select and target the oldest deer where I hunt. There is one property where the oldest deer I believe on the place last year was only 3 1/2 years old and sports a rack of around 130. I hunted that deer hard several times and he proved to be quiet elusive and as far as I know still walking around. I would put him against some of my 150+ inch deer I took up in Montana as an overall better challenge - to me that is a better trophy.

I think we as hunters need to move past the bone obsession and focus on the animal. There are some two and a half old deer on the properties I hunt that are almost unkillable. If anyone can outwit one of those deer then my hats is tipped to them for taking such an illusive and fine TROPHY. I guess we each have our goals and that is good. But I am grateful I have some land to hunt, that supports good deer numbers and offers me some exciting hunting..... the fact that it is public and usually heavily hunted just makes it sweeter..... IMHO

[bones09]

Both Bucky and JoeRE make good points. He can not shoot what isn't there but he also may just need some perspective as to what hunting is about for himself. Many people take themselves too seriously, especially deer hunters. I would advise him to be thankful for the land he has to hunt and just keep trying to find more/better spots.

[Stanley]

Great great topic for sure. If you do the math, there is not enough, really good ground to get every hunter on those great places to hunt. As the years go by a hunter has to make changes and decisions on the direction he wants to go. Years ago you could knock on doors and get great places to hunt for free. It has changed from those days. You now have to pay up for those great to hunt places.

It is human nature to never be satisfied. That holds true on every level. A guy knocking down 100 inch bucks wants a 125. A guy knocking down booners wants world class bucks, and the list goes on. There are very few places that aren't hunted. So it's not like there are vacancies everywhere.

If you are hunting a lease and want bigger bucks to kill you have to upgrade from that lease. All of these things don't make time stand still. You only have so many years to hunt then you get too old or you die trying. If you realistically look at the big picture every piece of property is better than some and worse than others. If not satisfied don't whine about it, try and do something about it.

I personally do not hunt one single property I did 15 years ago. My free places were taken over by guys willing to pay.
I am lucky to have some friends that own ground and are gracious enough to let me hunt. I feel I am lucky to have those places to hunt. I sure am not going to complain about those places not being good enough.

[hunter10]

I totally agree with the posts. Dont get me wrong hes a great guy and would give the shirt off his back for stranger but it frustrated me hearing him not want to pursue the land he is on when it is better than all the places i have to play! Gave me a bit of a headache thinking "if he has bucks on the wall, hunted for almost 20 yrs and isnt satisfied with his land because of lack of killing mature deer... maybe hes onto something im not figuring out.. or hes taking things for granted"

[justdirtyfun]

Maybe it's the same scenery that has him restless.

[ Post made via Android ]