Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

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mainebowhunter
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Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Wed Jan 18, 2017 3:47 pm

JoeRE wrote:One thing, I do pride myself in persistence and attention to detail but don't assume I have anything close to Dan Infalt's big buck knowledge and intuition...I know people try to rank hunters and all that (I hate it) but don't stick me up there.I wouldn't shoot what I do if I didn't live where I live fellas....and Dan has close to 20 years experience on me, he shares a huge amount of information and we are all better hunters having found the Beast.


Its interesting that you bring that up. Its something we all really really have to fight. It does not matter if I am as good or not as good as the next guy. But its a basic human nature to compare ourselves / rate ourselves with everyone else. WE ALL DO IT IN ALL AREAS OF LIFE. Mention Mark Drurys success this season, immediately "well, if I had his cushy private land...I bet he would be lost on public land." OR if I live in Iowa...or if I hunted private land in Missouri....or or or... If I am honest, I know I fight it. I just don't dwell on it and let it sour me.

When ridge posted up his 2016 season, man, what a season. There is definitely some "man I wish I was in closer proximity to some of those states" I can either use it as an excuse or think outside the box more. Reevaluate the time that I do have and make more of it. There is nothing wrong with being challenged. Really made me think...

...and one of the thoughts I had was this: Last couple seasons been doing lots of all day sits in KS. BUT rarely seeing the mature deer on their feet mid day. Really been thinking that its just not a real effective use of my time. I have nothing else really to do...not going to sit in the room. No more scouting needs to be done in KS. I know when my best chances are to kill a mature buck. History shows the dates and highest percentage times. So why not use the 2 or 3 hrs mid day to scout/prep in a neighboring state?

Yes. We won't all have the same opportunities as someone else. Thats life. Part of getting better at this game is just not doing the same things over and over again. Its not giving excuses for why I can't do this or I can't do that.


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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby creepingdeth » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:29 pm

Hope I'm getting the right vibe from your post, but I do agree on my own excuses for having an unused 2016 tag. My first year I hunted public because I'm not rich (there I go) :lol: :lol: It's really because I was'nt prepared. Period. Since I'll probably hunt public mostly next year, its up to me to do better. I had a lot of experiences w/ hunters that I can learn from to get better. You are right, its up to us.
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby Stanley » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:46 pm

As we travel through the journey of life, we often don't appreciate the gift of life in general. We want what the next guy has good job, money, rich dad etc. I have said this before if you have it gifted to you, what do you really have? Those that work for what they have and have earned, what they have, really do have something.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby jwilkstn » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:54 pm

mainebowhunter wrote:Part of getting better at this game is just not doing the same things over and over again. Its not giving excuses for why I can't do this or I can't do that.


Very true!

Anything is possible if we make it a priority
Not all those who wander are lost...
mainebowhunter
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Wed Jan 18, 2017 4:54 pm

creepingdeth wrote:Hope I'm getting the right vibe from your post, but I do agree on my own excuses for having an unused 2016 tag. My first year I hunted public because I'm not rich (there I go) :lol: :lol: It's really because I was'nt prepared. Period. Since I'll probably hunt public mostly next year, its up to me to do better. I had a lot of experiences w/ hunters that I can learn from to get better. You are right, its up to us.


Oh just random post season thoughts I have when I am traveling or in woods scouting :D
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Nocturnal
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby Nocturnal » Wed Jan 18, 2017 5:04 pm

This is how I see it. Some people have the "cushy" private lands and do well every year with not much HARD work put into it. Lots of guys would be totally lost on public if they were forced off of their private. Your also right that we put ourselves into a category of some sort. It's a better thing to remain modest. Just as JoeRE was doing. He may be from Iowa and hunting some great public land. But he knows his stuff. We are all students of the game. No matter where you are in the country or how many decades you've chased deer. Great land or not. You will get out what you put in. Some guys Have to put a ton of work in, to come out successful.
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby Ack » Wed Jan 18, 2017 7:49 pm

mainebowhunter wrote:Part of getting better at this game is just not doing the same things over and over again.


Oh so true, and something I wish I would have realized many years ago.
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby Bowhunter4life » Thu Jan 19, 2017 12:53 am

Stanley wrote:As we travel through the journey of life, we often don't appreciate the gift of life in general. We want what the next guy has good job, money, rich dad etc. I have said this before if you have it gifted to you, what do you really have? Those that work for what they have and have earned, what they have, really do have something.


Great post Stan and one that I couldn't agree more with
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby mihunter101 » Thu Jan 19, 2017 12:54 am

Ack wrote:
mainebowhunter wrote:Part of getting better at this game is just not doing the same things over and over again.


Oh so true, and something I wish I would have realized many years ago.


X2
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby cbigbear » Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:15 am

This is one of those life lessons that apply to hunting. Make no excuses because you dictate your own successes. This is a great podcast relating to ownership as it applies to business, but it also can apply to hunting.
http://www.grittybowmen.com/gritty-podc ... of-mtn-ops

Now on the flip life is all about priorities & where do you rank hunting on this scale? Everyone has 24hrs in a day and most have to allocate the bulk to sleeping & work. The struggle is choosing the correct balance with the rest between family & hobbies.
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:13 am

X2 Ack !! Great post !
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby Jrichard » Thu Jan 19, 2017 2:57 am

IDK if its the mind set of a newby, or if it is just my mentality. But I can honestly say that I don't do that so much with deer hunting than I do in real life. And what I mean by that is, I go out and try to find an area that I can hunt. And I make my goals realistic. And I make them realistic for my area. I live (As I have said 100 times before) in good ole Rhode Island. Everyone and their mother in RI hunts. And I have seen a couple of monsters. (few and far between). But I can tell you that there are not as many as in other parts of the USA. So I set my goals accordingly.

If I get a monster on camera. I hunt in that area. I hunt that buck. But if any deer presents itself, I make my decision accordingly. Like this year. When I shot my 8 point, I KNEW there was a BIG 12 point running around. I had 2 buck tags. And I shot and got him for my first deer. I was not hunting that deer in particular. But his body was a good size. (good amount of meat). And a decent rack to hang on the wall and say "that's my first deer". Every hunter I show gets excited for me. Whether it be a seasoned vet or a newby. And I am happy about it.

THEN the next weekend I Was in the same area, but a different spot because the buck started frequenting a different area of the farm. The sun came up in mid October, and 6:30 hit. then 7:00 am hit. Then 8:00 am hit. Then right around 8:30 am two does presented themselves. And at that time, I was hunting that same big buck, and I still made the call to pull the trigger on a doe. Again it was meat in the freezer. And I am glad I did.

Not once have I ever looked at any hunter, whether it is on here, or on TV or in real life and say, the only reason he killed that buck is because he had this advantage. Or that advantage. And now that you have brought this us I am humbled and proud of my mind set. I have been setting goals for myself with what I have at my disposal.

And in my opinion, we all have the option to take a vacation. Go to a different state, and hunt there if we want too. Or you can even move to that state if you really wanted too. It would not be easy finding a job, finding a place to live ect. But neither is killing a giant buck. I mean I personally go and spend an extra $200 a year on tags and a license to hunt in CT. This is because I want to have a shot at taking a CT deer. And they have a larger herd of deer than we do here in RI. But all 3 of my deer were taking in RI.

So instead of facing challenges in life, I face the challenges in the woods. Low deer population. But hey I get through it. A lot of people told me, when I told them I was hunting a specific piece of private land, that I had no chance of killing a deer on that property. And what did I do? My VERY FIRST SIT, ON THE GROUND MIND YOU, I KILLED A DEER!

PERSONAL GOALS, in my opinion, is what hunting is all about. When I look at the picture of my first deer/buck I see my personal best. And it is better than most deer taken in RI. Now i would gauge it differently if it was public land. Or if I was hunting in a better state with better deer. But I dont choose to spend thousands of dollars on a hotel. A license. Tags. Food for the week. ect. For example A kid came in on Halloween with a buck. in my opinion a MASSIVE 10 point for our state. I could not believe the size of the deer. The deer was the biggest I had ever seen taken off of public land in RI. Not to mention I have a TON of trail cameras. And not once have I gotten a deer on camera this big. The rack tripled my bucks in size and mass. His personal best and his personal goals are obviously higher than mine. He has been hunting since he was young with his dad. Even before it was legal for him to have a weapon in his hand in the stand he would go out and sit besides his dad at 4 AM. Wait for the sun to come up. He would go out and scout with him since he was able to walk. So the kid was born and raised a hunter. Me I waited 24 years before I hopped on that train.

And another thing. As we all know, some people just have crazy good luck. Some people just get in a tree willy nilly and all of a sudden here comes a 14 point slob high on some doe in estrus. (also known as cat nip) haha and boom. But in my opinion when you are hunting a SPECIFIC animal and you succeed in knocking it down. then you KNOW it was not all luck. A good amount of skill was put into it and thats what its about

Me personally I am kind of glad that I did not have a shot at a GIANT. Because I would have screwed up the shot anyway and been mad at myself for it lol. But then again I would have been proud to have put myself on such a beautiful and massive creature. Its nice knowing youre doing something right once in a while. Even if you are not rewarded in the end.

So to sum it all up. I do not hunt for other people. I hunt for me. For the tranquility. The relaxation. The gorgeous sunsets. And the experience. If the other guy isnt enjoying himself and beating himself up or spending all sorts of money on hunting and eating tag soup every year because he wants to shoot this one buck. Thats his choice. I choose to spend my money on hunting and relaxing. Instead of at the casino or on high priced guided hunts.

Thank you for all who took the time to read this! Hopefully this hits home with a few people! Hope everyone is well and safe this new year!
mainebowhunter
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Thu Jan 19, 2017 3:02 am

cbigbear wrote:This is one of those life lessons that apply to hunting. Make no excuses because you dictate your own successes. This is a great podcast relating to ownership as it applies to business, but it also can apply to hunting.
http://www.grittybowmen.com/gritty-podc ... of-mtn-ops

Now on the flip life is all about priorities & where do you rank hunting on this scale? Everyone has 24hrs in a day and most have to allocate the bulk to sleeping & work. The struggle is choosing the correct balance with the rest between family & hobbies.


And many have run amuck by making the wrong choices when it comes to the rest of life.
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Jan 19, 2017 4:32 am

Not bragging just saying. After my 1st elk hunt out west. I lamented about not being able to afford or draw another tag for a few years. Finally I decided how important this was for me. I didn't really have any true commitments holding me to staying in Wisconsin. So out to Montana I went.

Now this is an extreme example, but the point is I did something about it. That said, sometimes we also just have to accept the situation we're in and do our best with what we've got. This is also doing something about it. Probably harder than the other route mentally! Cause we know we will be settling for something less.

I believe there are quite a few great hunters out there that have circumstances that have kept them from killing mature bucks. That's just life sometimes!!!!!
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Re: Joe had an interesting thought...got me to thinking.

Unread postby Kraftd » Thu Jan 19, 2017 5:02 am

I think the biggest thing is to be real with your expectations and desires, and it's much easier to enjoy what you're doing in the moment. If killing mature public land bucks is the most important thing to you, that takes a TON of work and experience. May be the right decision for you, so have at it. If there are other priorities that you value more, then don't let the inevitable difficulty in accomplishing the task take away from what is supposed to be fun. If you don't have great private ground to hunt, don't compare yourself to those that do and get bummed out. Success is all relative, we all have different skill sets and priorities. Some guys will never have the success of Dan or Joe or some other guys here, even if they did everything the same way. Not everyone has the DNA to be successful at anything. Challenge yourself within the context of your reality and you will be rewarded and enjoy the journey.


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