My hunting evolution

[tgreeno]

Years ago I too hunted a small private area. Sitting in the same 6-8 pre-set stands all season. We used to shoot a couple bucks every year. We scouted very little, and set out camera's in the same spots every year. Then it seemed every year it got harder and harder to tag a buck or even see a nice buck. Obviously, they were on to us, and re-directing around our stands. I never realized it back then, but the pressure aspect does hold true! And as I recall, the times we'd move a stand, we would end up shooting a buck shortly after. The light bulb never really went off. We would still spend many hours in our "historically" favorite stands.

25 years later: I've been hunting strictly public land for four years now. I love the freedom to move whenever I want to. I found the Beast a little over a year ago. I had never hunted a bed my entire life. I never scouted before like, I do now. If I scouted a handful of times pre-beast, now it's 10 times that. I was hunting mobile four years ago, but since the Beast, I've stepped up my game significantly. I've abandoned a few of my original areas, just because of pressure. 4 years ago, they were my primary spots, now I don't even hunt them. I have probably tripled my hunting sets in the last two years. As I go thru my hunting season, I make notes of areas I like the "look" of. I cyber scout those areas, and if things look good, I get boots on the ground. Sometimes during the season and sometimes after. You need to be ever expanding your hunting areas. I'm always on the lookout for that next big buck honey hole.

It is definitely much more work, but I'm enjoying it more than I ever have before! The Beast/Beast members help to motivate me to scout harder, scout longer & strive to be a better hunter!

[Singing Bridge]

Great post- the bottom line is the fact that you are enjoying it. You have continued to develop as a hunter and you weren't satisfied with where you were... so you did something about it.

[mainebowhunter]

And the learning never ends. You don't have to be gifted. Just a willingness to learn and a willingness to work and work hard.

[Dewey]

And the learning never ends. You don't have to be gifted. Just a willingness to learn and a willingness to work and work hard.

I couldn't have said it better.

[tgreeno]

I'm not afraid to put in the work. That won't be one of my shortcomings this season! Even though I have a few.

The biggest unknown for me is: Will the sign I'm finding & sets I'm planning, actually produce encounters with mature bucks? Does the land I'm planning on hunting actually hold a mature buck? I think I know what I need to be doing, but all bets are off until the season starts.

The learning curve is steep and I feel like I'm still climbing hard!

[Tufrthnails]

I feel the same. The success I tasted this year putting things together and seeing some nice bucks from the stand on public has been incredible. I am still trying to figure out how to kill that mature FL buck and this year I am pumped to get it done. Either way at least I am in the game now. Moving from hunting the KY farm 100% of my time up there to hitting some public and actually seeing bucks was very cool and I plan to do more of it this year in another piece of KY public land.

[SidewayZ]

Well said!

I am just hoping to stay married now that I have started all of this Beast hunting....

My kids love it tho!

[UofLbowhunter]

[<DK>]

It is truly an evolution, congrats Tgreeno! Great Thread!