Poll: Success Rates

[Mario]

Maybe this was already stated but I think your scouting during the off season can play a lot into this or the history you have with a particular area.

For a set, so you know the optimal
1. Time of year
2. Time of day
3. Weather conditions
4. Wind
5. Available food sources
6. External pressures
7. Herd make-up

to constantly score on a buck year after year.

I think knowing your patterns for each of your locations can play into your success rate significantly.

But on the other hand I really like just being in the woods so I tend to hop around and sit a lot of spots. Not necessarily seeing deer, but enjoying the solitude

[kurt]

The one thing I'd add is EHD has hurt some areas and cwd hurt parts of WI. For cwd in Wisconsin it was more of the free tags and shoot them all mentality then the actual disease that hurt alot of areas. I know Dan has stated how many more bucks he would see before the whole cwd thing went down. It's not that great way to judge yourself too. Herd make up change's every year

[ Post made via Android ]

[rutjunkie]

Success for me is dependant on what state I'm hunting.

[ Post made via Android ]

[IkemanTx]

I'll throw out my previous years of hunting over bait and just go with last year's numbers.
7 full day sits
-passed a broken 8 (2.5-3.5yr) at 22 yards on one sit
-had an antler restriction illegal 6 (3.5-4.5 yr) at 35 yards on another

That's a pretty small set of numbers to draw any kind of accurate percentage, but 2/7 is 28.57% for that small subset.

EDIT: I fully expect that percentage to drop with a full season's worth of hunting this year. I will have many more sits since I took 2 weeks vacation (one week at archery opener, and one week around peak rut)
[ Post made via iPhone ]

[BassBoysLLP]

Less than 20%

[ Post made via Android ]

[Hawthorne]

Interesting most guys have about the same percentage on target animals.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Hooks1]

I voted less than 20%.

[dan]

Interesting most guys have about the same percentage on target animals.

[ Post made via Android ]

I think there is not a huge difference on sightings with guys here, on the same given properties, but the huge difference is in capitalizing in those opportunities... I think most guys that come here are above average on there game, but its the little things that separate the killers from the watchers... Like being anal about picking the exact right tree without walking around stinking the area up, like going way out of your way to have the right entrance, like knowing when to give it one more hunt, and when to move on, etc, etc...

[Divergent]

For those of you with high success rates...what are your success rates are outside of the rut?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[mainebowhunter]

Interesting most guys have about the same percentage on target animals.

[ Post made via Android ]

I think there is not a huge difference on sightings with guys here, on the same given properties, but the huge difference is in capitalizing in those opportunities... I think most guys that come here are above average on there game, but its the little things that separate the killers from the watchers... Like being anal about picking the exact right tree without walking around stinking the area up, like going way out of your way to have the right entrance, like knowing when to give it one more hunt, and when to move on, etc, etc...

Good point. I would say between me and my buddy out of the bucks we have killed in maine since 2011 ...the first time we saw them we killed them. Most we were hunting but never saw one of them from stand before we killed them. Trailcams played a big part in most of them rather than observations.

Funny...really had not given it much thought until you posted that.

[ Post made via Android ]

[dan]

Interesting most guys have about the same percentage on target animals.

[ Post made via Android ]

I think there is not a huge difference on sightings with guys here, on the same given properties, but the huge difference is in capitalizing in those opportunities... I think most guys that come here are above average on there game, but its the little things that separate the killers from the watchers... Like being anal about picking the exact right tree without walking around stinking the area up, like going way out of your way to have the right entrance, like knowing when to give it one more hunt, and when to move on, etc, etc...

Good point. I would say between me and my buddy out of the bucks we have killed in maine since 2011 ...the first time we saw them we killed them. Most we were hunting but never saw one of them from stand before we killed them. Trailcams played a big part in most of them rather than observations.

Funny...really had not given it much thought until you posted that.

[ Post made via Android ]

That's what I see too... Most bucks that I hunt, if they show I kill them, other guys I hunt with or talk to see them, but don't have a shot, or there out of range, or some other unexpected problem...

[Tufrthnails]

Interesting most guys have about the same percentage on target animals.

[ Post made via Android ]

I think there is not a huge difference on sightings with guys here, on the same given properties, but the huge difference is in capitalizing in those opportunities... I think most guys that come here are above average on there game, but its the little things that separate the killers from the watchers... Like being anal about picking the exact right tree without walking around stinking the area up, like going way out of your way to have the right entrance, like knowing when to give it one more hunt, and when to move on, etc, etc...

Good point. I would say between me and my buddy out of the bucks we have killed in maine since 2011 ...the first time we saw them we killed them. Most we were hunting but never saw one of them from stand before we killed them. Trailcams played a big part in most of them rather than observations.

Funny...really had not given it much thought until you posted that.

[ Post made via Android ]

That's what I see too... Most bucks that I hunt, if they show I kill them, other guys I hunt with or talk to see them, but don't have a shot, or there out of range, or some other unexpected problem...

I am definitely guilty of this. The learning curve has been really step for me. I sat on the outside looking in for so many years. One simple fact that if you aren't close enough to the bed you will never kill them, because they don't have the time to actually get to you if you are hunting a travel route instead of the bed/staging area. That alone boosted my siteings last season when I started getting more into this.

Prior I was prob in the 3%-4% area and I was just reading my notes and it was 12% last year. With a big fat 0% of them killed, due to those outside factors I am still learning.

[JoeRE]

For those of you with high success rates...what are your success rates are outside of the rut?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

My success rate is pretty constant regardless of time of year, probably even lower during the rut on mature bucks. The big difference is I am a lot pickier about when & where I hunt outside of the chasing and cruising phases of the rut.

During the rut I may pick a setup just because it is a good rut location. Any other time of the year it is rare I will hunt anywhere w/o having the scoop on a buck being there at the time I want to hunt. No intel = no hunt. I am admittedly an efficiency freak, and know that approach isn't for everyone, but I don't have time to hunt 30 times a year so that is what has driven me to hunt like that.

[whitetailassasin]

For those of you with high success rates...what are your success rates are outside of the rut?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

My success rate is pretty constant regardless of time of year, probably even lower during the rut on mature bucks. The big difference is I am a lot pickier about when & where I hunt outside of the chasing and cruising phases of the rut.

During the rut I may pick a setup just because it is a good rut location. Any other time of the year it is rare I will hunt anywhere w/o having the scoop on a buck being there at the time I want to hunt. No intel = no hunt. I am admittedly an efficiency freak, and know that approach isn't for everyone, but I don't have time to hunt 30 times a year so that is what has driven me to hunt like that.

Agreed

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[DaveT1963]

For those of you with high success rates...what are your success rates are outside of the rut?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

My success rate is pretty constant regardless of time of year, probably even lower during the rut on mature bucks. The big difference is I am a lot pickier about when & where I hunt outside of the chasing and cruising phases of the rut.

During the rut I may pick a setup just because it is a good rut location. Any other time of the year [glow=red]it is rare I will hunt anywhere w/o having the scoop on a buck being there at the time I want to hunt[/glow]. No intel = no hunt. I am admittedly an efficiency freak, and know that approach isn't for everyone, but I don't have time to hunt 30 times a year so that is what has driven me to hunt like that.

X2 - this alone I believe has upped my game over last decade or so.... I want to be in a stand where I know I have a good chance at him. If I don't have confidence I am in the right stand I get bored, start second guessing myself, thinking of the greener grass over yonder, etc., and thus I usually cannot stay still and usually wind up leaving to soon for that green grass....