Confidence, ability and luck

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Coalcracker
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Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby Coalcracker » Mon Nov 23, 2020 12:43 am

What an up and down season I've had. Overall, I had an enjoyable bow season but the old bucks ruled once again.

Allow me to elaborate the subject of the post. Going in to the season and during the season my confidence was pretty good. I believed I had prepared and worked hard before and during the season to be successful. At times I question my ability to interpret sign until something happens to solidify my belief. Luck, well if we didn't have some of it, I believe unfilled tags would be even more common. Granted, I believe we create our own luck through hard work but sometimes....there's a four leaf clover hanging from someone's hat and its usually not in mine.

So, from day one I was out being mobile trying to figure out where the deer were hanging. For whatever reason,(believe it was poor mast crop in my area) the rubbing activity was very light this season except for edges of ag fields. So, I hunted my only really good public ag location early. The pressure was unusually high on this small piece. I used unconventional entries and had encounters but not with the "right" deer. As the season progressed into the pre-rut I confirmed big buck sign in my post season (2019) scouted areas. I started "attacking" those areas. My "attack" wasn't very formidable and the deer survived my onslaught. Then, it happened. One of my hunting friends asked for advice on where to hunt. Specifically, he had limited afternoon time to get it done. I sent him in and very specifically told him how to approach, how to test the wind and thermals and to back out if they were wrong. On his first sit, he missed a buck. On his second sit, he had a buck hang up at 30 yards in a thicket. On his third sit he saw a big 10 point but couldn't get a shot. On the fourth sit a mutual friend accompanied him and killed a nice 3-4 year old 8pt. with a 20" spread.

For me, I had no such encounters. It just baffles me that I can send a guy or two into areas I have scouted, hunted, strategized and they come out smelling like a rose while I flounder. Don't take me wrong, although I didn't fill the tag, it certainly was a confidence builder in my ability to scout, interpret sign and strategize how to hunt an area.

In the end, I have confidence, sometimes it's really high and other times it get knocked down. We all face that at times but quit we don't. My ability on the surface appears average, I can identify specific areas that hold good bucks but getting that kill shot on a consistent basis for myself is lacking. Luck, well there have been moments in my hunting life where luck shined but I gotta tell you, overall, it's below average. When I look back over the years at all the opportunities "others" have had in the very same locations I previously hunted and suggested they hunt, its pretty amazing. My own sons, when young and I or someone else had to accompany saw more mature bucks in a few short years than I had seen in 20 years on a particular piece of public!! It was awesome but at the same time it really makes you wonder!!?

Is there anyone else out there who believe, sometimes, they would be better off guiding than actually hunting for themselves?!! Glad I love to hunt, happy for other hunters but...Really?!
Looking forward to rifle season and I really do hope my hard work pays off for a very good friend of mine who lost sight in one eye. His shooting eye no less. Its been a challenge for him to learn shooting opposite but he's a determined deer hunter with very limited time to hit the woods. I'd be more than happy to drag his buck off the mountain with my unfilled tag in a pocket.


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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby hunting_dad » Mon Nov 23, 2020 1:14 am

Sounds like you’re doing everything right and really onto figuring out what the deer are doing for the most part. I will say that in the end, you can’t control what the deer are gonna do and I believe you gotta have a little bit of luck. Weather, changing winds, changing food sources, hunter pressure, non-hunter pressure, all have an effect. It’s ultimately up to the deer as to what they’re going to do that day and that particular time. Believe me when I say I know the feeling. That’s why it’s called hunting :D

Sounds like you’re a great person helping out your friends. Good on you man, that’s awesome. It’s gonna click and all of a sudden happen for you so be ready. Hope you have a great rifle season and get on a good one. Be safe and good luck!
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby headgear » Mon Nov 23, 2020 1:26 am

I know some lucky people, it might even be a skill because they are good at it. :lol: With that said I have gotten lucky and had to work hard for my deer so I see both sides of it, sometimes I just figure if someone else gets lucky off my deer work or knowledge then good for them. Try not to turn it into a "thing" when they are lucky and you are unlucky because that will drive you insane. With deer hunting I like to play the long game, after enough hunting, scouting, learning you just eventually make luck less of a factor and more go with the flow of hunting. This season I have had almost everything go wrong, at the same time I have seen several shooters it was my best season in years, so sometimes it is just a matter of perspective.

It can also be a pretty good feeling to put someone else on a big deer and to know they had no chance at that deer without you certainly brings a level of confidence. They might get lucky and get to the end game faster but over the long haul you are going to put more big deer down by having the skills and experience to do it. There are also levels to this stuff and we all learn at different speeds, the way I think about hunting and setups is vastly different than I did just a few years back, same for a few years before that. I am always trying to grow and learn and tweak by setups and scouting.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby Prairie Sasquatch » Mon Nov 23, 2020 7:17 am

I think there is luck involved with hunting but hard work usually wins the day. It’s great you helped a buddy onto a spot but it may have been better for you to make him find his own spot. You just gave away your hard work and a potential place to use your “luck”. You have to ask yourself if he will return the favor. Maybe calling you for advice was nothing more than them knowing you will put them in a good spot.

I have a lot of “friends” that are always asking me how the hunting is going if I’m seeing stuff etc etc. They aren’t my friends. They are free loaders looking to poach my spots.

I don’t want to be negative but it’s something to think about.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby Coalcracker » Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:04 am

Prairie Sasquatch wrote:I think there is luck involved with hunting but hard work usually wins the day. It’s great you helped a buddy onto a spot but it may have been better for you to make him find his own spot. You just gave away your hard work and a potential place to use your “luck”. You have to ask yourself if he will return the favor. Maybe calling you for advice was nothing more than them knowing you will put them in a good spot.

I have a lot of “friends” that are always asking me how the hunting is going if I’m seeing stuff etc etc. They aren’t my friends. They are free loaders looking to poach my spots.

I don’t want to be negative but it’s something to think about.


Thanks for the response, its a good reminder, but, I only help family and "friends", the ones who would help me do the same.

The fella I sent in there first actually helped me kill my largest buck three years ago. The one who killed the buck this year has helped me with home projects and would do just about anything for me. This was his first year of public land hunting. In the end, what I learned from this year was my scouting, hard work and thought process is in the game. I have plenty of other "spots" I haven't revealed to either one of them and don't plan on it either. They have the idea now and both of them are hard working types who can take it from here.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby cspot » Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:29 am

headgear wrote:I know some lucky people, it might even be a skill because they are good at it. :lol: With that said I have gotten lucky and had to work hard for my deer so I see both sides of it, sometimes I just figure if someone else gets lucky off my deer work or knowledge then good for them. Try not to turn it into a "thing" when they are lucky and you are unlucky because that will drive you insane. With deer hunting I like to play the long game, after enough hunting, scouting, learning you just eventually make luck less of a factor and more go with the flow of hunting. This season I have had almost everything go wrong, at the same time I have seen several shooters it was my best season in years, so sometimes it is just a matter of perspective.

It can also be a pretty good feeling to put someone else on a big deer and to know they had no chance at that deer without you certainly brings a level of confidence. They might get lucky and get to the end game faster but over the long haul you are going to put more big deer down by having the skills and experience to do it. There are also levels to this stuff and we all learn at different speeds, the way I think about hunting and setups is vastly different than I did just a few years back, same for a few years before that. I am always trying to grow and learn and tweak by setups and scouting.


Good post. Also when I seem to be having a string of bad luck, I try to remember the times that I got really lucky or I had a good string of luck. Things tend to balance out overtime.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby Hawthorne » Mon Nov 23, 2020 9:32 am

They were in the spot at the right time imo. Sometimes the guy that doesn’t overthink gets the buck. Weird how that happens sometimes
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby twinkler » Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:02 am

Don't get frustrated. Doesn't matter how good of a hunter you are, there's always luck involved. Maybe the deer decides not to bed there that day, gets a thermal swirl etc etc. The main thing is you're learning and putting in the time. The only way to be more successful is to put in more time. That's the way it goes in every hobby
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby Trout » Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:24 am

I have the same "problem" and often joke that I should be a whitetail guide. I've put three people on dandy bucks this season alone- like, go sit in this tree kind of advice- based on my own scouting and they killed first sit. To me its all about confidence. When I told them what to do, ainwas 100% confident which made them 100% confident and they approached the stand and hunted it like they were going to get the kill. VERSUS when I hunt similar spots myself and overtbink things and talk myself out of the spot when I get there. Our problem is we need to learn to trust ourselves. We obviously know what we're doing or those peoplewe set up wouldn't have got deer, we just have to believe in ourselves.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby Brad » Mon Nov 23, 2020 2:25 pm

I heard a quote a while back that stuck with me. "If you don't invest much, winning doesn't mean much and losing doesn't hurt much". If it were easy, it wouldn't really be worth doing would it? Those ups and downs are what make anything you do worthwhile. Just enjoy the ride, put in the work, don't let the so called "failures" get to you.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby LukeTM » Tue Nov 24, 2020 3:30 am

Trout wrote:I have the same "problem" and often joke that I should be a whitetail guide. I've put three people on dandy bucks this season alone- like, go sit in this tree kind of advice- based on my own scouting and they killed first sit. To me its all about confidence. When I told them what to do, ainwas 100% confident which made them 100% confident and they approached the stand and hunted it like they were going to get the kill. VERSUS when I hunt similar spots myself and overtbink things and talk myself out of the spot when I get there. Our problem is we need to learn to trust ourselves. We obviously know what we're doing or those peoplewe set up wouldn't have got deer, we just have to believe in ourselves.


This.
I STRUGGLE with trusting myself. I entered last season with insane confidence, saw 3 “shooter” bucks day 1 and killed a 13 point 2.5 year old day 2 (my biggest). This year I’ve seen two shooters in 28 days of hunting. It’s gotten to my head enough that I found myself not hunting as hard, second guessing and making mistakes, scouting instead of hunting, etc.
It’s been great learning from everyone on here and I think this is a topic that deserves more attention.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby mspaci » Tue Nov 24, 2020 6:33 am

I move around a lot, until I find them. Then my confidence goes way up. There is always an element of luck. I do think scouting & moving until I find them brings my luck level way up. Took me a while to figure it out this year, but then killed doe & 2 big bucks in 4 days. All different properties, but I figured out pattern. This year they are going to grass in my area. Got all of them between bedding & the grass. Mike
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby mipubbucks24 » Tue Nov 24, 2020 6:46 am

Most likely if you are on here, using beast methods, hunting bedding, doing things that other guys aren’t, then it’s not luck. This forum has some of the most amazing deer hunters there are, and they make their own luck.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby headgear » Tue Nov 24, 2020 7:09 am

mspaci wrote:I move around a lot, until I find them. Then my confidence goes way up. There is always an element of luck. I do think scouting & moving until I find them brings my luck level way up. Took me a while to figure it out this year, but then killed doe & 2 big bucks in 4 days. All different properties, but I figured out pattern. This year they are going to grass in my area. Got all of them between bedding & the grass. Mike


This helps big time, the more you are on them the better you feel about everything. When 80 to 90 percent of my encounters are from scouting and finding that killer fresh sign and little to no pressure you keep moving until you find it.
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Re: Confidence, ability and luck

Unread postby Coalcracker » Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:30 am

Had some great "luck" first day of rifle here in Pa. Shot this fella while walking over to my buddy for lunch. Suppose if you do that enough in 40 years it can happen. LOL. Thanks for very informative replies.
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