Lessons learned?

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
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BowtechHunting
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby BowtechHunting » Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:02 am

dan wrote:
Let's face it, hunting is luck. Yes we can prepare ouselves and educate, but the bottom line is we don't have a clue what a whitetail is going to do.

I couldn't disagree more.
There is a lot more to it than luck... Yes, you can be in the right spot at the right time and the deer just does somthing weird.
But by trying to outsmart the bucks and figure them out we can certainly out hunt those who do not use skill and planning.
I continuasly get nice bucks in a very over hunted marsh near my home where I figure less than 1% succeed. Lucky? Maybe once or twice. Consistantly seeing and shooting big bucks? Thats skill and hard work.
Failure would just push me harder to succeed.


I see I pushed some buttons here and people do disagree, that's cool. I understand that there are a lot of hunters out there that take nice bucks every year - i.e. our friend AutumnNinja. I put a lot of time and money in chasing down whitetails, and adopt the same tactics that others use, with no luck. I never give up nor will I, or maybe I don't have the foggiest clue what I'm doing. I'd like to think I prepare and educate just like everyone else does. Maybe I'll get a crack at decent buck and everything will come together and it will click, but it's been a long time coming for me and no shooter or decent buck for that matter for me yet. Dan I remember you saying in your hunting public land hunting video about your standards for bucks. We have some good bucks but, not a lot of monsters roaming in these parts. I know the bucks in my areas that I hunt and the score isn't to important. We don't have'em like WI, TX, KS, or your popular states, I just find this season to be less than mediocre and not producing like they have in the past. I guess more time this summer into scouting for me.

And to wmihunter, I do know what this site is all about; that's why i'm here. :|


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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby Schultzy » Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:06 am

I could type and type about lessons I've learned but Instead I'll just say this....

There Isn't a season that goes by that I don't learn something while out hunting. The minute I quit learning something Is the minute I better hang It up as a hunter.
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby wmihunter » Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:33 am

sorry bowtechhunting. this is a great site. i sympathize with you. i have yet to shoot a mature buck myself.
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby wmihunter » Fri Jan 07, 2011 11:34 am

have you tried the ballard wma? its in western kentucky...
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:37 pm

Every year I learn more and more about how keen their senses are.

I was hunting on a heavily pressured 236 acre State Forrest with another +300 acres of private land surrounding it. My hunting spot is a mere 250-300 yards from the parking lot down any easy access footpath. I knew the Doe's bed across the creek, past the thick hemlocks, and up the hill from my stand site. They sometimes come off the hill and feed into my location before crossing the footpath in which I'm 60 yards from... This is a beautiful transition area with large residual water puddles funneling the Deer right to me. I've passed a bunch of Deer waiting for Mr. Right (No - not in the BrokeBack Mtn. kind of Mr. Right, but - Yes to a big buck kind).

This particular evening a very large Doe (probably 140 lbs. dressed) came strolling into sight with her two little button bucks. These cute little guys sparred in front of me @ 25 yards for 10-minutes giving me some great entertainment. The kids then bedded down after their playful antics, @ 17 yards, for quite sometime and the Doe knew something wasn't right. She was starring in my direction the whole time for the full 30-minutes trying to pin-point my scent. As I sat motionless, I finally watched the Doe's head moving along slowly and at that point I was able to look over my shoulder, only to see two gentleman walking down the footpath. Once they cleared her sight, she laid down with her offspring to take her nap.

This was "the light dawning on marblehead" for me!
They like to use TWO of their senses to put their minds at ease...
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby cwoods » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:42 pm

The lesson Ive learned is that Im not quite there yet. Im still a few steps behind.
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby Stuart » Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:45 pm

That is the great part about hunting, you never get board because you can never learn enough!!!
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby Tadmdad » Fri Jan 07, 2011 1:28 pm

Schultzy wrote:I could type and type about lessons I've learned but Instead I'll just say this....

There Isn't a season that goes by that I don't learn something while out hunting. The minute I quit learning something Is the minute I better hang It up as a hunter.


Schultzy, I agree 100%

The constant in hunting is your always learning, part of the journey of being a hunter.

But I think Autumn Ninja was asking if there was one particular
buck that you have hunted that made you question your tactics and changed the way you approached hunting, and the lessons that were learned from that buck
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BowtechHunting
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby BowtechHunting » Fri Jan 07, 2011 1:52 pm

wmihunter wrote:have you tried the ballard wma? its in western kentucky...


I haven't checked into that. I know that it's a wildlife refuge the last time I checked. But, it's worth a look into. You can't have enought places to hunt. So many times wind has been a issue in some of the places I hunt, but since I got a handful of choices I always have somewhere to go.

It's frustrating and depressing at times, I catch on to things pretty quickly, but like most of us said in here, there is always somehting to learn and it never fails to get the best of me. But that's why I hunt every second of every opportuinity I get until the last second of the season is gone down bechind the horizon. I keep going back for more.
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby PASwamper » Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:49 am

More time scouting now and early spring will help a lot more than summer. Its probably at least ten times harder scouting in summer, for me at least. Unless you meant watching fields and spotting at night to locate where the big ones are. Sounds like it would help you to do that too, your not gonna kill a big one if its not there. Its also a major confidence thing knowing a big ones there. Yeah some things about hunting are of course about luck, but theres so much you can do to increase your chances. The bbo videos are by far the most helpful videos and this is by far the most helpful site I've ever seen for really understanding what your doing out there. Scout now and scout as much as you possibly can and I'll be surprised if you feel the same way next year.
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby Southern Man » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:54 am

BowtechHunting wrote:
dan wrote:
Let's face it, hunting is luck. Yes we can prepare ouselves and educate, but the bottom line is we don't have a clue what a whitetail is going to do.

I couldn't disagree more.
There is a lot more to it than luck... Yes, you can be in the right spot at the right time and the deer just does somthing weird.
But by trying to outsmart the bucks and figure them out we can certainly out hunt those who do not use skill and planning.
I continuasly get nice bucks in a very over hunted marsh near my home where I figure less than 1% succeed. Lucky? Maybe once or twice. Consistantly seeing and shooting big bucks? Thats skill and hard work.
Failure would just push me harder to succeed.


I see I pushed some buttons here and people do disagree, that's cool. I understand that there are a lot of hunters out there that take nice bucks every year - i.e. our friend AutumnNinja. I put a lot of time and money in chasing down whitetails, and adopt the same tactics that others use, with no luck. I never give up nor will I, or maybe I don't have the foggiest clue what I'm doing. I'd like to think I prepare and educate just like everyone else does. Maybe I'll get a crack at decent buck and everything will come together and it will click, but it's been a long time coming for me and no shooter or decent buck for that matter for me yet. Dan I remember you saying in your hunting public land hunting video about your standards for bucks. We have some good bucks but, not a lot of monsters roaming in these parts. I know the bucks in my areas that I hunt and the score isn't to important. We don't have'em like WI, TX, KS, or your popular states, I just find this season to be less than mediocre and not producing like they have in the past. I guess more time this summer into scouting for me.

And to wmihunter, I do know what this site is all about; that's why i'm here. :|


Where in Western KY are you at? This end of the state has more deer than anywhere else in KY. As a matter of fact the farther you go east the less deer you'll find. I am seein more deer and more big bucks than I ever have. Partly due to some of these people here.

Image
Image

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that luck has very little to do with it. Hard work, determination, and payin attention to your deer herd 365 days a year. Deer huntin in western KY couldn't be better.
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby wmihunter » Sat Jan 08, 2011 11:57 am

i was reminded that deer hate it when you cross their trail. I learned that a rutting buck can stop on a dime when you bleat at him. So don't stop him til he's within range. Also, I was reminded that big deer make me lose my killer instinct! I was freaking out when I saw a 150" 8 pt running at me in the middle of the day
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby dan » Sat Jan 08, 2011 1:01 pm

I'd like to think I prepare and educate just like everyone else does. Maybe I'll get a crack at decent buck and everything will come together and it will click, but it's been a long time coming for me and no shooter or decent buck for that matter for me yet. Dan I remember you saying in your hunting public land hunting video about your standards for bucks. We have some good bucks but, not a lot of monsters roaming in these parts. I know the bucks in my areas that I hunt and the score isn't to important. We don't have'em like WI, TX, KS, or your popular states, I just find this season to be less than mediocre and not producing like they have in the past. I guess more time this summer into scouting for me.

I understand your fustration... My hunting here is not as good as one might think, but it used to be.
To create "luck" here you have to put in a ton of time scouting, and a ton of time hunting. a couple years ago I went a whole season witout a chance to shoot a decent buck. That was the only year since the mid 80's that has happened. But there have been plenty of buzzer bucks too like an 11 pointer shot on the last day of the season in 1990.
What has worked for me is to really believe in what Im doing. Unfortunatly, I believe that confidance comes after success, but once you know what your doing works and if you spend enough time at it you will be successful, I believe that attitude is a major key in the success.
When you believe in yourself, your willing to walk a mile through muck day after day... Your willing to go that extra effort. Your mind is spinning about what your next move should be...
When you lack confidance and you have the attitude that your just sitting in the tree, you don't concentrate, you leave early, you don't feel like wading thru muck, etc...
My best advice would be to keep working hard at it. When you see the success from me and others on this forum remember a lot of that success comes after weeks of hunting without a glimpse of a shooter.
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby Autumn Ninja » Sat Jan 08, 2011 2:36 pm

Southern Man wrote:
Where in Western KY are you at?
There are a bunch of zone 3's in west Ky. now...That used to be zone 1's 20 years ago, back when the hunting was much better than it is now. ;)
This end of the state has more deer than anywhere else in KY. As a matter of fact the farther you go east the less deer you'll find. I am seein more deer and more big bucks than I ever have. Partly due to some of these people here.

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that luck has very little to do with it. Hard work, determination, and payin attention to your deer herd 365 days a year. Deer huntin in western KY couldn't be better.

Where are you at in West Ky? The hunting (here) was 100% better 20 years ago. We lost nearly 90% of the heard just 3 years ago to EHD....The particular piece of land I hunt has never had over 10 deer per square mile.

The north eastern part of the state has way more deer per square mile than than west Ky. Here are some interesting numbers for you.....there where 6 B&C killed in west Ky. last year....there where 35 B&C killed in Eastern Ky. last year. :o Hunting could be much better in west Ky....if we could get things back to the way it used to be.

I don't hunt Christian Co. But heres another interesting stat...It was in the top 5 best county's in the nation 20 years ago....Its not even top 5 in the state now or even in the top 100 in the nation.
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Re: Lessons learned?

Unread postby Swampthing » Sun Jan 09, 2011 3:44 pm

I agree with what Dan stated about confidence ,even if I don,t harvest the buck setting up on him and him coming through gives you that confidence you need. The public land hunting in the marshes can be very demanding.It,s tough to tromp miles into darkness through water and muck and not see the buck your after.It can be real easy to loose your focus and second guess yourself .And if u don,t believe in your set-up you will not execute it the way you should.
The biggest thing that I have learned is to not be so hard on myself ,it,s easy to give up on yourself ,a lot harder to keep sticking it out.Problem is them hunts where you know your set-up was right on and you really had the high hopes and you get a no-show.


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