Finding your style

[Buckshot20]

So with all of the different terrains, and all the mega buck killers we have, what defines your style of hunting?

Hunting here in Florida I have always chased the rut throughout the state. But things being the way it is the rut acts much differently here than it does in the Midwest. With the abundance of browse, and stifling heat deer tend to not cruise the same as they do elsewhere. You have to hunt them where they lay. This is something I've tried to do for a couple years but I didn't really understand bedding. Thankfully I found the beast and I think I understand bedding better. This year I will be starting with my best game plan to date. While I still have a lot of work to do most of it revolves around better access to spots. Hopefully this year will be a foundation solidifying my style.

Anyway, my question to you beasts is, when did you realize you had a style? Also what defines your style?

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[CNYarcher88]

I think its dangerous to get too hung up on a certain style....its too easy to get stuck in a rut that way....That's why I am on this site now. I have a style, I have a system that has never failed me no matter where I have hunted from suburbia, to ag country, to hill country all over NY which can be a relatively difficult state to hunt do to the immense amount of hunting pressure and the VERY long gun season. The one thing I never stopped doing however is trying to learn and get better. I set goal every year that I do my best to achieve. This year its to be successful on public land. That means I have to abandon my style and go completely out of my comfort zone which has produced 3-4 doe and a decent buck for me almost every year, but I am ready for the challenge and know that I'll be a better hunter because of it.
Working in the industry I constantly run into guys that refuse to bend from "their style" eventually it can stop working for you even guys who have been doing the same thing for 10,20,30+ years. My advice is stay flexible, try new things, and always try to continue bettering yourself as a hunter.

Just my humble opinion

[Buckshot20]

I don't disagree, but I think different parts of the country yield different results due to different factors. I think that helps represent and mold your style. For instance Dan's style of hunting marshes probably wouldn't work as well in the marshes here because in early season there is usually 6-8ft of water in those marshes. Once water hits the 2-3ft mark high spots start to show up. Those deer have relocated but focusing on bedding will still work. Some people prefer morning hunts focusing on the j-hook, some prefer evenings. Some people love cameras some like the surprise. I think everybody here is pretty open-minded but naturally you will lean toward what has been successful an i think that molds your style.

[ Post made via Android ]

[justdirtyfun]

Is empty-handed a style?

[dirt nap giver]

I don't know that I would call it my style so to speak, but more along the lines of really trying to grasp the habits of the deer we hunt in our neck of the woods.
After a couple years of trying to apply the Beast principles, I came to the conclusion that I was placing the tactics in a box. Bed hunting 50 miles from here can vary from what is happening on my turf. It isn't cookie cutter, cut and dry as I thought.

With Beast tactics of bed hunting being the foundation, take factors such as you mentioned and plug them into the equation, then make it work.

If sitting observation stands a month before the season starts is what you need to do to figure things out, then by all means do so.

What ever you need to do to advance the learning curve process is time well spent toward a successful future in handing out dirt naps to mature bucks consistently.

If Beast tactics are a filing cabinet, then other factors such as temperatures, terrain, hunting pressure etc are the file folders. One area you hunt may need a combination of folders 1, 3 &5, while another area may need folders, 2, 4 & 7. It's my job to analyze and figure out what is needed to accomplish my goal.

Hope that makes sense, it does in my brain anyway.

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[Lockdown]

Great post DNG

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[DaveT1963]

My style I guess I would call capitalization..... i look for a vulnerability or weakness and try to exploit that.

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[JoeRE]

Style results from opportunity paired with ability. Depending on where and when you are hunting opportunity is going to vary. Ability also varies there is no denying it - we all have certain strengths and weaknesses. For instance I like to think I am pretty good a looking at several different variables and trying to line them up, getting the odds, but on the flip side when it comes to it I am not a very patient person.

Some hunters can just sit out there all day, day after day...to me that sounds like death. Sure I can sit still for a few hours but then my mind starts wondering what is over the next ridge. I jump around a lot and have learned to use that as an advantage. I have seen some hunters use great patience as an advantage. Others are very innovative, out-of-the box thinking. Cater to your natural strengths as a hunter, if you find something that works keep that close at hand...there are many ways to succeed. Although many hunting principles are universal, everyone does end up with a different brand of getting things done.

[Hawthorne]

Something I picked up on in the interview with Andrea in hill country is nothing is etched in stone hunt the buck where he's bedding. I think he meant there is no one style in doing it

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[PK_]

'By any means necessary.'

All is fair in love and war and the pursuit of heavily pressured whitetails.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[DeerDylan]

I'm in the process but I'll refer to it as freestyle.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Kraftd]

Right now, and for the last several years, and perhaps many more, my style is sponge. I'm just trying to soak in as much info as I can, whether that is large-scale concepts or micro-intel on specific deer or property, for me it's about learning, whatever that takes.

[redfeather]

I guess my style is to just try and kill whitetails. When I first learned of the beast tactics I got so caught up in trying to kill them his way that I was letting big whitetails that would of been easy to kill at a food source get killed by my buddies because I wanted to kill one coming out of it's bed.

As some of the above posts state. Don't get to caught up in hunting your "style" more often than not it hurts you more than helps you. The whitetails are always adapting to the changing world around us and I feel to be the ultimate "Hunting beast" we have to change and adapt with them.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[whitetailassasin]

When it comes to how I prepare my gear for a hunt, specific pockets for equipment, and how I pack it's a system. That's something that's a staple for me.

When it comes to how I prepare for a hunt, I'm a analytical thinker. I take in every variable I know, wind/thermals, entrance, time of year, food source, pressure, etc, and I think why would this deer be here and where would he have the advantage. I put many hours into thinking and rethinking my set ups, going over maps, I have folders with aerials/topos of every piece of land I hunt. I take in account physical changes in the woods, crops, weather, plug them all in my brain and determine what I think is the best way to hunt. When it comes to style, I'm like PK anything goes and whatever gets the job done. I've swam rivers, ditches in my underwear, clothes up over my head and gear. I've snuck hands and knees through water and mud, you name it. Find a way to kill the mature buck that's my style. Change is the only thing constant and you have to be willing to adapt to situations and scenarios and do the unexpected. Crazy, nuts, extreme, overboard, too much, are terms I've heard several times over the course of each year and the eye rolls from guys who "want to talk whitetail". I will say this, whatever style folks want to call this, it's not for everyone. Anyone can do any of the tactics we discuss on this forum, but hard work, dedication come with sweat and blood, and most nowadays aren't willing to put forth that kind of effort.

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