PredatorTC your up!

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MN_DeerHunter
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby MN_DeerHunter » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:52 am

Fantastic write up TC, I can tell you are as hardcore as they come. Whenever you post I definitely make it a priority to read up and try to learn as much as possible so I appreciate it. Thanks for sharing the pictures too, you've chased some dandy's


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PredatorTC
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby PredatorTC » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:53 am

Dpierce72 wrote:Really enjoyed the post - great insights and I took some good notes.

I heard John Maxwell say "I'd rather have 1 person with passion than 99 with a casual interest". You passion shines my friend. You're a great example of what it takes ...No shortcuts to the top!


I like that 8-)
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby PredatorTC » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:57 am

Babshaft wrote:Wow that was awesome. Time to start creeping a lot more of your earlier posts. I've found a ton of them helpful so far, but feel like I'm missing a lot after reading that.

That write up has me pretty excited to see the farm bedding dvd.



I don't post a ton anymore because of how busy life has been, but i'm getting caught up on things and hope to post more. If you click back 5 pages in my posts your going to find me asking a lot of questions and not knowing a ton because 5 pages was many years ago. I still have a lot of questions :lol: The way I approach hunting has changed a lot from my old posts.
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby PredatorTC » Wed Mar 21, 2018 8:59 am

Dhurtubise wrote:
Dor wrote:Solid bowhunter for sure!


Nice to see you back on here Dor. You were missed. Solid bowhunter here too.


For sure!!!
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby Marshbuster89 » Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:38 am

Awesome write-up Joe! Look up to me....psssht that's garbage, if anything it's the other way around! It's just awesome that there's still some of us younger guys that love doin this and take the time/put in all the hard work that comes way before any success story!

Couldn't agree more about negative attitudes and the term "lucky" :hand: Don't forget the classic "oh I see so-and-so poached another one"... :snooty: I've learned to let those terms go in one ear and out the other, but it ticks me off pretty bad. 9 times out of 10 it comes from the guys who aren't putting in the work and scouting/hunting their tails off year round. They're the people with the excuses. It says a lot about a person. Every now and then, yeah someone'll just end up in the right place at the right time, but a guy will never be consistent like that. Even most of my friends don't realize how much time I personally put into deer until I send them a Snapchat every single day of scouting or what not and they'll say, "deer hunting doesn't open til September...theres no need to be scouting in February." And I just laugh and say, "I know it starts in September...I wish I had more time!!!"

Anyways this isn't about me, it's about Joe the Whitetail Whack-assassin Rentmeester! Keep it up man, always love seeing what you're finding or seeing and talking deer with you! 8-) Gonna be a good year!
Last edited by Marshbuster89 on Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Mar 21, 2018 9:39 am

Joe I remember early on when you first joined and were asking questions like crazy. I knew right then that you were going to be one heck of a big buck hunter. Your quest for knowledge and passion was and still is at a level I haven’t seen by many.

It’s been a real joy for me to see your progress over the years and not afraid to admit I learned a lot from you in the process. 8-)
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby PredatorTC » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:23 am

Net Guy wrote:Fantastic write-up Joe! Thank you for taking the time to do that. Couple quick questions if you don't mind. What time of the evening do you like to be set up for glassing and what's the best method you found for "camoflauging" your trail cameras? Do you put them up high and cover them with branches, bark, etc?

Thanks!


I try to always catch that last while just as the sun his hitting the treeline and then the hour or so till its dark dark. I get out of work around 6 often, so Ill head straight to some spots. The 169 and the 172 came out super early in July. probably two hours before dark. I guess If your a mile away glassing them, then it really doesn't matter. More time the better I would suppose. But if your close to them, then definitely be early so you can get there before them.

Putting them up high is one tactic, but it really limits where your camera is shooting and picking up motion. I try to use smaller cameras to minimize the chance of people and deer noticing. I've spray painted a few as well when they really stick out. I use branches sometimes, but they seem to move to much in front of the sensor and lense. I like putting them on the ground sometimes looking up. Its a neat outside of the box trick. Ill attach a photo of my 2016 buck that i got in this way. I guess the biggest thing is sticking them up one climbing stick high if i can, but I hate how it cuts down the already small field of view.

One thing that I want to point out about cameras that I forgot to bring up is that they can really trick a guy and make a guy think that a deer isn't there. Picture this... you have one camera setup on say a 20 acre woodlot. That sensor on that camera is only picking up what is straight in front of it maybe only up to 18 yards out. On 20 acres, you have an 18 yard line that a deer needs walk into at the correct speed just for you to get a picture just so that you know its there. Maybe the camera is in the wrong spot? Maybe the deer sees the camera and walks around it, maybe the sensor isn't picking everything up. Maybe your battery died quick. Cameras are great, but they can be super misleading and give you the wrong info if a deer is in the area and not on your camera. No picture means you will probably rule the spot out and you will move on to different turf when the deer was there all along.

Here's the photo where I camouflaged my camera by putting it on the ground in an unsuspecting spot.
Image

Here he is dead
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby JAK » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:50 am

Awesome write up Joe. Reading it makes me realize how much more effort I can put into hunting. There's a reason you keep laying down some dandy bucks. Passion and dedication. I look forward to trying to utalize some of your tactics to make myself I better hunter. Thanks for sharing :clap:
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby tgreeno » Wed Mar 21, 2018 11:10 am

Joe just curious. Seeing your not bed hunting, I'm assuming you hunt more mornings, than guys that are bed hunting. How many of your bucks were taken on AM hunts?
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby Whitetailaddict » Wed Mar 21, 2018 2:08 pm

PredatorTC wrote:
Whitetailaddict wrote:Good write up. You definitely get a sense of your style of hunting and how you've adapted it to your situations. I do have a few questions and probably more in the future.

1. You mentioned good glass. What is your preference in terms of size and brand
2. How much observation do you do on a buck before moving in? I worry about observing too long and patterns changing.
3. How far are you typically observing from? I have a few areas that are tucked back in the woods that open up but I worry by entering them I may tip the deer off and not get a shot at them so I was wondering if I would be better hanging around open fields with better access or just diving in to hopefully find some reclusive monarch.

Thanks for taking the time to do the write up.


1. You mentioned good glass. What is your preference in terms of size and brand
To be honest, I did a ridiculous amount of glassing last year and have come to a lot of conclusions from those experiences so I'm just searching for better glass now. I've always glassed a lot but never felt that I had it figured out like I did last year. I'm going to make a purchase on something vortex, I'm just not sure which one yet. Robert let me use his last year. I think it was some sort of vortex, but it beat the socks off of my fleet farm special spotting scope and my Leopold Acadia binoculars. I remember scanning a filed with my binos and not seeing anything in the back of the field. Then I switched to his spotter and sure enough, there was a good buck in the back of the field feeding tight up to a fence-line that I couldn't see in my binos. I'm not a huge product expert on anything, but the more light I can pull in as it gets dark the better IMO.

2. How much observation do you do on a buck before moving in? I worry about observing too long and patterns changing.
The real ticket in my opinion is to be able to get glass on them two or three nights before the season opens. That's when you really know your in the game come opening night. I honestly go as much as I can if I know i can do so without tipping off a buck. Just remember to play the wind and consider entry and exit. I try to walk where all the hunters walk and the deer are used to scent anyways.

3. How far are you typically observing from? I have a few areas that are tucked back in the woods that open up but I worry by entering them I may tip the deer off and not get a shot at them so I was wondering if I would be better hanging around open fields with better access or just diving in to hopefully find some reclusive monarch.
It really depends upon the situation. I glassed the 169 and his buddy probably from over a mile away for most of the summer because of the position that I could get in. I would glass them every night that I could because I knew I was having zero impact. Wind direction didn't matter a bit. When they relocated I then glassed them from probably only 200 yards away. I glassed this spot probably every three days when the wind was okay just to checkup and make sure that they were still there. I was defiantly concerned about getting picked off and tipping them off. I moved in the second day of the season because the wind was wrong the first day. On public, I want to make my move asap before someone messes it up.

When you talk about your spots in the woods, are they public or private? If they are private and you know them as well as where the bedding normally is and you have control, I would just stay out and wait for the season opener to make your move. If they are public land and other people are going to be scouting in there and poking around late august, early September and ruining it anyways, then I would defiantly want to be the first guy in there in July to get an eye on whats in there. Just do a few nights to learn whats in there and stay out. The deer may bust you, but at least you know whats there. Better than not knowing and not hunting the spot at all.

My buddy has a spot that he recently showed me that I think your kind of describing. It's a average size hardwoods island surrounded by bedding with cats for miles. The island is hard to get to but not hard enough. you can count on people being on the island come the opener. By the time the season rolls around, any mature buck wont make it to that island before dark with all the yahoos poking around in there and leaving scent. I doubt there will be human scent down in the cats though making there deer feel safe there. What I would do Is get in there in July and see whats coming onto the island. Maybe you learn something, maybe you don't. My buddy will probably bust the deer out when he leaves, but at least he will know if there's a shooter in there. The other variable that can mess with things in this case is acorns. In mid summer, there wont be acorns in the hardwoods and the deer may be bedding elsewhere. Come the opener there may be acorns which may result in the bedding around the island being prime where as it wasn't mid summer. Another thing that a guy could do in my buddies case or perhaps your case; is if he is happy with any pope and young deer, is to just leave it alone entirely. Come up with another game plan for opening day. Then, on opening day mid day or morning, run out to that island/hardwoods and do a perimeter check where the cattails and hardwoods meet up. Look for big tracks coming out of the cats onto the island. The sign will be obvious if there has been a good one in there coming onto that island for the past few nights in a row. If the sign is hot, I would slip down into the cats before all of the other public land guys get into the hardwoods and start clanking with their climbers. This is where Marshbusters ground hunting tactics would come in handy. If there is no sign in the woods opening day, at least you have your backup plan.


I hunt 95% public but I am moving to a new city this summer. I've hunted here but not had the chance to summer scout as much as I will this year. Do you prefer to bounce around until you find a few bucks your interested in and then zero in on them closer to opener? I have access to some easy to view fields from the road but I also know of some hidden crop and crp fields I believe are holding good bucks but worry about leaving scent behind and spooking the deer before season. I also am not sure how close I can push but it may just end up trial and error. I also have vortex diamondback binoculars but it seems people have better things to say about more expensive glass in low light. Thanks for the insight.
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby Lockdown » Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:01 am

Awesome stuff Joe. Loving the insight on glassing as your situations are similar to mine.

Would one of the moderators put this thread in the hunter profiles in all time best tactical. Definitely needs to be there!
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby Hawthorne » Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:34 am

Good read joe! I liked your mindset section. Most guys just won’t put in the work. I’m talking about guys outside the hunting beast I’ve hung out with thru the years. They want it easy or free
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Thu Mar 22, 2018 7:27 am

Great write up and your results speak for themselves. Good job young man :)
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby tgreeno » Thu Mar 22, 2018 9:46 am

Sorry Joe another question.

Would you characterize the spots you set-up in more as travel corridors or staging areas?
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Re: PredatorTC your up!

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:30 pm

Hey Joe:

Thanks for all your hard work and dedication !!

Truly Inspiring 8-) 8-)


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