Whats your take on this?

[cornfedkiller]

Got a new issue of a popular bowhunting magazine a couple days ago, and started reading an article by a well known professional hunter and writer. The article was about the lessons learned from years of hunting...The following quote from the article kinda got me wondering, and I wanted to see what you guys think about what is said.

Don't let anyone kid you; where you hunt is more important than how you hunt. I have heard the opposite said many times, but they are wrong, or selling something. I will place my bet on an average deer hunter in a great area over a great hunter in an average area. To be honest with you, that is how I got to where I am today. I hunted great areas when I was just an average (or worse) deer hunter and everyone thought I knew something special about deer. All I knew was how to find great hunting spots.

Over the years, I have definitely learned a ton about deer and how to hunt them, but I have never grown so arrogant as to think I can kill a big buck in areas where they are heavily hunted. I still need great spots in order to keep shooting good bucks.

[Spysar]

where you hunt is more important than how you hunt

Kinda disagree with this statement, but I do agree a good spot can make a poor hunter look good.

[cornfedkiller]

I agree Spysar, a good area can make a poor hunter look good, but there are a few things in the article I disagree with, including the statement you quoted.

To me this whole section is saying it doesnt matter who you are, good hunter or bad, you need good areas..So how do we know he is a good hunter? Bc he can pick good spots? I dont think good spots are that hard to pick if you are in a good enough area..

And the statement "..I have never grown to arrogant as to think I can kill a big buck in areas where they are heavily hunted" makes me wonder if his success is because he is truly a good hunter, or just has good spots..

I think thats why Im so bothered by this article. Its telling people that it doesnt pay to try to be a good hunter and improve your hunting skills..what you need is good area, and if you dont have that, theres not much you can do..

[Spysar]

Sorry I screwed up this post....tried to delete...dang it..DOH!!

[magicman54494]

I will place my bet on an average deer hunter in a great area over a great hunter in an average area.

I totally agree with this

All I knew was how to find great hunting spots.

This is a big part of being a great hunter.

Whoever he is I like his honesty.

[PASwamper]

I don't think thats really what he meant by it. Theres a lot of truth to what he said. You can't kill 160, 170, 180 or whatever class bucks if they're not on the property you hunt. A great hunter can kill a big buck in areas heavily hunted but he's definitely not claiming to be a great hunter. He's attributing his success to hunting great properties and if you look at the guys on tv they all have it.

[Bucky]

Finding great spots year after year is one of the main ingredients to being a great hunter IMO (it takes work, unless you are a TV guy and have someone doing it for you). Same goes with fishing...

[DropTyne]

Finding great spots year after year is one of the main ingredients to being a great hunter IMO

I think your misinterpreting.... by spot he means properties, not a great funnel or a stand close to a bucks bed. If finding great properties is the main ingrediant of a great hunter then a person with deep pockets that can afford a giant lease and kills a 160 class every year is a better hunter than a guy who hunts public and kills a 120. Or a guy that has the vacation time to drive out of state for a hunt and shoots a big buck is better than a guy who hunts weekends only and gets nice bucks.

You can't hunt what you don't have access too. Some people don't seem to understand this. People are all different, I'm pretty outgoing and not shy, I'm also a pretty polite guy and it's gotten me on some pretty nice properties without any cost. Those are salesmanship skills that not all hunters possess.

If you happen to be a person that possesses these skills consider yourself lucky, but I certainly wouldnt think it makes you a better hunter, just a better salesman.

[DropTyne]

My definition of a great hunter:

"Someone that can consistantly take one of the better bucks in the area they hunt."

[dan]

I have been on and seen managed lands that a blind man could kill a P&Y on... A great hunter will kill a decent buck wherever he hunts, but an average hunter may need a good property as a crutch...
I don't really disagree with his main theory.

Take a look at Andrae... The guy has trail cameras all over his farms just like the big TV personalities from Iowa and Missouri. Killing a P&Y on his or there properties would not be really tough. However, the TV guys you all know who I am talking about show pic's of there "hit lists" and never kill the biggest animals, or should I say only occasionally.
Every time a huge buck shows up on Andraes cameras its a death sentence.
When he puts his mind to killing a big buck its done.
I was at his farm in Illinois once and he asked me to look at some trail cam photo's and asked my opinion on the score. I told him 180ish net.
He said, good, I was worried I was over estimating it. I am going to shoot it tomorrow.
The next morning when I got back from scouting some nearby public that buck was in the back of his truck.
Thats the difference between a great hunter and an average one.

[GRFox]

I have been on and seen managed lands that a blind man could kill a P&Y on... A great hunter will kill a decent buck wherever he hunts, but an average hunter may need a good property as a crutch...
I don't really disagree with his main theory.

Take a look at Andrae... The guy has trail cameras all over his farms just like the big TV personalities from Iowa and Missouri. Killing a P&Y on his or there properties would not be really tough. However, the TV guys you all know who I am talking about show pic's of there "hit lists" and never kill the biggest animals, or should I say only occasionally.
Every time a huge buck shows up on Andraes cameras its a death sentence.
When he puts his mind to killing a big buck its done.
I was at his farm in Illinois once and he asked me to look at some trail cam photo's and asked my opinion on the score. I told him 180ish net.
He said, good, I was worried I was over estimating it. I am going to shoot it tomorrow.
The next morning when I got back from scouting some nearby public that buck was in the back of his truck.
Thats the difference between a great hunter and an average one.

Thats an awesome story, and some great logic.

[Stuart]

Andrae is on a whole different playing field!!!

[Swampthing]

My definition of a great hunter:

"Someone that can consistantly take one of the better bucks in the area they hunt."

I agree with you totally DropTyne. If I,m hunting a property that has 3 bucks and the absolute biggest buck is a 110 in. 8 point which I harvest.And another guy is hunting a property that also has 3 bucks which the smallest buck on that property is a 120 in. 10 point which he takes, then WHO is the BETTER HUNTER ?

[cornfedkiller]

Andrae is on a whole different playing field!!!

Andrae and Dan both are IMO..which is why the article bothered me..

Is it really where you hunt, or how you hunt? Obviously Andrae has some very intensely managed properties, which helps, but its no secret that both of those guys can get it done on public land..and pressured public land nonetheless.

Why does Dan consistently kill larger deer than the other people hunting the same property? Is it where he hunts, or how he hunts??

The author says you still need great land to kill mature deer..I'll ask this to Dan - were some of the big bucks you have killed taken from land that others would consider less than great?

[dan]

The author says you still need great land to kill mature deer..I'll ask this to Dan - were some of the big bucks you have killed taken from land that others would consider less than great?

I think you already know the answer

Story time:
When I used to guide deer hunters on the public land near my home I had a client I put on a nice buck behind my house in the marsh. He shot the buck and if I remember correctly it scored around 150 give or take a little.
He shot it about 200 yards from my house on the public land.
a neighbor stopped by cause he saw the buck in the truck. He said Wow is that a big buck, etc. etc... Then asked if we were going back out. I said Yep. He said where you guys hunting??? I said we were short on time and would probably just head out in the marsh behind the house.
My neighbor ( who was a hunter and hunted the same public marsh for 20 years ) said " I would take these guys where ever you got that buck, cause there ain't no bucks that big in the entire public marsh"
It was real hard not to laugh.