Tales of a Greenhorn

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Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Lastcast#1 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 10:10 am

Ok gentleman this is my first post as a new member other than in the Introduction forum. I intend to flood the scouting forum with questions while also reporting my findings, but I thought Id like to give a little more before I take if that makes sense. Hope this doesnt bore the heck out of everyone.

This past year was my first year bow hunting here in Michigan. So yeah, I certainly am "green" to say the least. So I thought I would talk about how it went, what I learned, and how grateful I am for the fact I discovered this site before this adventure began, and how I was hooked myself. I apologize in advance if this ends up being a short novel..

For years I would trade with my buddies. Fish for venison. Never thought about hunting myself. Although I have always considered myself an outdoorsman, I race beach catamarans and fish all over the great lakes, the thought of hunting just never resonated. Summer of 2014 my wife says to me, "I want to deer hunt". Not surprising to hear this from her. A Beast "ette" lives in my house. she helps me prep trees now! Well mid October rolls around , we go out and get her an x bow. Arthritis prevents her from shooting a vertical bow. Lucky for me my buddy tagged out early and we had access to his property. So fast forward to her first sit on which I tagged along to be with her.

First light arrives and a couple does are moving about out of shooting range. I immediately get this feeling inside of what the heck have I been missing. We both had tags but the deal was she would get the first opportunity. No different than fishing. I would rather see her catch a big ole chromer than catch one myself. No different in this circumstance.

On the advice of my friend we sat in one of his ground blinds. Around 1 pm a doe works her way over and ends up 20 yards away directly in front of us. She passed 2 button bucks earlier, which she had the green light to kill, but decided she didnt want to kill a young buck. But would rather kill a nice doe. For us, and it is a personal decision, we figured without any outside influence, that venison is venison ,why not let the little guys go. I was proud of her and myself. It was very clear that hunting wasnt about killing. Rather about the encounters, the woods, mother nature man!

Back to the doe at 20 yards. Well it just so happens I had the crossbow in my lap. I am thinking, I just need to ever so gently hand her the x bow when this doe takes a step or two. The doe was between shot windows. I put the scope on her vitals for a few seconds, let it down and hand it over to her.. Heart is pumpin for sure. Now she just needs this doe to take a couple steps. At this point my excitement is intoxicating, literally trying not to laugh for some reason. Wierd. Anyway I can hear her heart pounding, the blind I swear is pulsating with every breath.Take a step man! Well this deer quarters off in a direction with no clean shot available. Things settle a bit in the blind. Remember my plan of her shooting the first deer? Well Angie looks at me and says " and I quote," Hun, I appreciate the fact you wanted me to have the first chance at a deer, but that was the dumbest F"n plan you ever had! Lessoned learned. Take the opportunity if its the one you want, and don't over complicate the situation. Hook, line, sinker. I am in. Very next week I went out and bought a compound for myself.

I didnt hunt again myself in 2014. It was late November at this point, I hadnt shot a bow in my life, I spent that time practicing. If I am going to take a life , I better know how to use my equipment. December 2014 I discover the Beast. Journey begins.

I will continue this story about what ensued in the following months early 2015, when I have a bit more time. 300 miles of winter and spring scouting leading up to this past season , two trips to Ohio and the endless lessons learned by a new hunter. Which never end. Also how the beast and my buddy helped me avoid some of the common mistakes made by the average hunter in the woods today. Thanks again for all of the help everyone. Hope I didnt bore everyone to death with this post.

Regards
Chad

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DeerDylan
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby DeerDylan » Fri Jan 29, 2016 10:18 am

sounds like this could get pretty interesting. keep it coming!
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Tcarlson » Fri Jan 29, 2016 10:22 am

Looking forward more! Thanks for sharing.

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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby dan » Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:08 am

:clap: We want more...
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby SamPotter » Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:28 am

Welcome!
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Joe68 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 11:39 am

dan wrote::clap: We want more...

X2

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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Tufrthnails » Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:20 pm

well written. I'm intrigued to see how 2015 went for you.
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby rmrnr » Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:30 pm

Great story so far. Looking forward to the rest.
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Lastcast#1 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:31 pm

Guys, you asked for it, and you shall receive whether you like it or not. :)

I think about the massive amount of experience of the hunters on this site, stories of success and failure. How both failure and success can both lead to an educational moment. Its crazy when looked thru the eyes of a beginner. Its been mentioned over and over on here that there are rungs on the ladder...No one starts on the top rung unless the ladder is upside down! There are ways to expedite your climb, but that takes time, blood sweat and tears. When I use the term expedite, I dont mean that I have set any obsurd goals for myself. Its just that I feel like I am making up for lost time. I love the water. I am drawn to it. That single morning in the woods was an eye opener. A new world that I felt like man, I need to be here. Although I wish I had begun earlier in life, I was pursuing other aspects of being outdoors that I love. I look at discovering hunting at the age of 42 as a gift. The draw and the emotional connection was instantaneous. I want to be the best hunter I can be. I have certain ethics, a certain protocol for how I approach different pursuits in my life. Its just a coincidence that here on the beast, I find despite my lack of experience, there is common ground between what folks on here are doing to get it done, and what I am willing to do to get it done in the future. Its inspiring.. If a new hunter just read our local sportsman forums, they would be led to believe that deer hunting here was impossible, why would you even try. State land sucks, Michigan sucks, blah blah f'n blah blah.

A while back Dan had mentioned that some of the best hunters in the country are the ones you never heard about in places like my neck of the woods in Michigan. It just so happens I am lucky in this regard. I know someone like that. In fact I have been fishing with him for 25 years. A bonified public land killer. He doesnt talk about it, he just does it. Lucky for me, he was as pumped about my beginning to hunt as I was. Long explanation, but essentially the point I am trying to make is that I knew it could be done, and I knew it first hand.

Very few sports allow one to play on the same field as the very best of the best. For example,If you golf, your probably not going to be able to call up Tiger woods for a swing consultation..Ya like to shoot hoops? Probably not going to play a round of horse with Michael Jordan. Racing beach catamarans, and other boats, which I have done my entire life, is a sport where the weekend warrior gets a chance to be on the same course as the world champion in some events. I became a better sailor at a faster rate because I could play in the same sandbox instead of trying to figure things out on my own. The very best willing to help the beginner.What the is the point you ask? Well the beast is home to some of the best hunters in the country. I am just some dude who has never killed a deer. I can type a sentence on the ole intraweb and get guidance from the best there is. That my friends is unique. If you want to excel at something, ie push the learning curve in your favor, surround yourself with the best. Get your but kicked, get up and get it kicked again. You will improve.

All of this leads me back to the end of the 2014 season. Time to begin scouting for 2015 . In writing about how I decided to go about things I hope to ask you guys questions without you even knowing it.:) I find this helps me as well to reflect back while its still fresh.

From my research here back then and guidance from Ditchfisher, (buddies nickname) I knew that one, I would be mobile, two I would be scouting hunter sign as much as deer sign, if not more, and three , have enough spots ready to go in addition to going in blind hunts, that I would never have to hunt the same tree twice. First sit is key right! Go into the season with options. Ditchfisher, like everyone says time and time again on here- it takes years to build up an inventory of good spots. But ya gotta start somewhere.....more to come...

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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Hooks1 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:53 pm

Let's hear more !!
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rbuckleyjr1
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby rbuckleyjr1 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 2:03 pm

I think you're lucky to have found this site so early in your hunting career and to have what sounds like a public land beast as a mentor. I'm still trying to correct 20 years of bad hunting practices. Looking forward to reading more! What part of MI are you from?
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Lockdown » Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:05 pm

You're gonna kill something this year and I can't wait to hear about it :D

I love seeing new hunters introduced to bowhunting. Get ready... it's an addicting sport and it sounds like you're already hooked! Good luck my friend!
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby hunter_mike » Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:39 pm

That was a fun read. Welcome!

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“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Lastcast#1 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:30 pm

Mid michigan rbuckley. East of I 75. Thanks lockdown thats the plan.

So where to begin....

Scouting and the discovery of pressure. Wow...what else to say..As a hunter you walk thru and observe the woods differently. 2 years ago I could have wandered thru the woods and I wouldnt have noticed a thing. Drive down the highway and not even notice a box blind. Now I can predict where a treestand will be around here by looking at an aerial. Friggin crazy..I cant tell you how many times I would find a stand within 10 yards of a waypoint selected from an aerial once I arrived.

I didnt care then and I dont now. I made it a priority to know exactly where every stand was located. Many are left out all year or at least into april -may.around here. I went as far as to mark every known stand in an area. Slap em on an aerial, and look at was left of the property. Similarities began to appear with where guys tend to set up and what deer were doing to avoid them. My friend uses the term " deer bumper". I am learning about how hunter pressure dictates movement , how much, where to, and when etc. I have an area that borders an unhuntable one. I kid you not I would do an o servation sit from the unhuntable side and watch deer move around and downwind of a known stand during daylight ,and just hold up until dark. Experience like these only only reinforced what I was learning here. Get in the thick dude.

Confirmation....confirmation of what I was being told by my buddy, and what I was reading and learning about here. To me its an important part of the never ending learning process. Its a key component to help build and maintain confidence as a new hunter. Make an educated guess, get out there and find out if your right. Next thing you know your not guessing. Experience is guiding you to that confirmation of yes this is a buck bed, yes this likely doe bedding, yes it looks like these deer are swinging around downwind of so in so's giant pile of corn, or camera, or stand, or all three etc. The scenarios are endless. I determined I would limit the amount of areas I would hunt and really just focus on learning every square inch of a property I knew held deer, All the while considering pressure and its effects . I spent the winter bustin marsh, crawling thru thickets, walking transitions, noting food sources.rubs, beds, travel corridors. You name it.

Without experience its hard to hold a strong opinion.I think the deer are doing this, I believe bucks will be hangin out here etc. An equation i can use to describe it is- A hunch followed by confirmation in the field equals confidence. Even when your wrong you have learned something. So I just set out to confirm or deny what I thought was going on. Humbling when your wrong , gratifying when your right. Of course my respect for the whitetail grew by leaps and bounds and many of my hunches would have to wait until the season to be confirmed or denied.
Ultimately when done scouting my goal was to have spots I thought were good for early season , pre rut and rut , and late season. Also areas I planned to walk in blind in order to test what I was absorbing here. Not full on bed hunting, but definitely trying to get into some core areas of where I thought these deer were living.

One step at a time grasshopper.

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Re: Tales of a Greenhorn

Unread postby Uncle Lou » Sat Jan 30, 2016 1:19 am

Welcome Chad.

Awesome thread.

Oh, and keep going
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