The Gamechanger

[WV Bowhunter]

Hunt where a big buck lives in daylight.

[Hawthorne]

I think a hunter with 20 or more years experience could write a book on this. I know I’ve had many game changing events thru my close to 30 yrs hunting and I’m still having them

[Redman232]

Recognizing that knowing where deer are not, is almost as valuable as knowing where they are. It's much easier to obtain this information.

[Lockdown]

Realizing that, like Dan says, no one thing is the crucial element to success. It’s all the minor details.

Look at all the successful killers on here. In the Q&A’s no two hunters sound identical. Some are vastly different. You have to find your own recipe for success. Still working on mine. Got a long way to go.

[Bucky]

#1 location #2 proof = trailcams #3 time and effort #4 hunt all season (cold, rain, heat, snow) #5 scout/shed hunt as much as possible in “off” season

[tim]

#1 location #2 proof = trailcams #3 time and effort #4 hunt all season (cold, rain, heat, snow) #5 scout/shed hunt as much as possible in “off” season

Yup this right here and then pick the one deer I wanna kill on each property I hunt

[mipubbucks24]

2 biggest game changers learned from Dan and the beast:
1. Mature buck bedding, how “wind”, where “terrain”

Before the beast I just thought deer and bucks in general had random bedding habits.I knew thicker areas that had bedding but had no idea what I was looking.

2. Hunt fresh sign when fresh sign is hot. Dan has said this on some of his podcasts several times.

My best hunts the last 2/3 years have been finding super hot sign and hunting it. It’s always just outside or inside of a bedding area.

[may21581]

For me it was when I started consistently sitting all day. Probably half my big deer were shot at midday. That being said I think no matter what your approach you need to mix it up and step outside your comfort zone last year I shot a good one Beast style in a swamp during the so called October lull on an evening hunt. So maybe the game changer is to constantly evolve and push yourself to get better every season

Midday bruisers are no accident. These deer are very in tune with their surroundings and pattern the local hunters, vehicle traffic, farm work, kids playing outside, factory noise ect....they learn when the safest time is to travel and go undetected on properties where they have never been seen before for 5 plus years. Thinking outside the box, sitting all day, hunting those off peak times may just put you in front of a slob.

[Coolhandluke]

I think learning how to play the wind would be one of the biggest. Learning to set up in a way that allows you not to get busted but still encourages him to show up. “Just off” wind as it’s often called.

I think it was Don Higgins who said “he’s not just going to get up and commit suicide” if he was that dumb he wouldn’t be an old buck.

[218er]

Hunt the bed not the food source

[Ranger Matthews]

For me it was when I started consistently sitting all day. Probably half my big deer were shot at midday.

Were these midday kills during the "rut" or around then?

I thought I responded so if I’m doing this for a second time I figured I would add some stuff. I normally start hunting all day around October 25th, definitely by Halloween. Over the years I’ve found you need a very specific spot to really make it work.
Access is really important because I don’t like to spook deer or let them cross my track for at least several hours. I prefer to work my way across a field in grey light. That way I don’t spoke anything in the field. The deer usually look almost like hay bails and you just wait for them to work there way off. I have actually had several bucks walk right up to me cause they can’t figure out what you are. One time I actually got a shot at a big 10 pt. Another time I had my target buck walk past and I ended up shooting him right at last light from my tree. From there I look for a tree on the uphill side of a leeward valley normally so I can get high enough to were my wind blows over the top of the trail and over the valley. The trail I hunt is going to be associated with some type of funnel. The key is all this need to be close to thick nasty cover or a swamp. It takes a lot of scouting to find spots that are really worth sitting all day. They need to be secure and have a bunch of things going on. I probably shoot half my big deer midday and the rest are split between morning and evening.

[Bio1]

Hunting an “off” wind as Dan says. I always thought of it as being ALMOST right for him. I’ve shot quite a few older bucks off public since then.

Bio1

[Kraftd]

Never hunting just to hunt. Always hunt with a purpose and a plan. Too many sits in the past just being out to be out, relying on old intel, guessing, assuming, etc.

Now, every sit I make I am there for a reason and I am confident. Why should a buck be here right now, and is there sign that is the case? If I lose that going in to a sit based on sign or even intuition, I just scout until I find it or prove my gut or the sign was right and move on.

[funderburk]

Never hunting just to hunt. Always hunt with a purpose and a plan. Too many sits in the past just being out to be out, relying on old intel, guessing, assuming, etc.

Now, every sit I make I am there for a reason and I am confident. Why should a buck be here right now, and is there sign that is the case? If I lose that going in to a sit based on sign or even intuition, I just scout until I find it or prove my gut or the sign was right and move on.

Couldn’t agree more with this

[Brian1986]

Hunt where they live. You can't kill what doesn't exist and you can't kill what doesn't live where you can hunt in daytime.