Hunting Beast Rookies

[mag1]

I’ve been following Dan since before the beast. Been hunting since the early 80’s. Wish I could say I have had a ton of success in deer down, only a handful. But the ones that have gotten away, now that would fill a volume. Like some have mentioned, i’ve Had some of those experiences where you figure nothing is around, and decide to come down early, only to have them blow out from 20 yds away. Others, just hurrying a little to much when I should have been slowing down, and others when I should have been shooting left hand vs right do to a lh dominant eye. Oh the list could go on, but it’s been an enjoyable experience.

Keep learning and get out there. Seasons only 27 days away.

[basspro05]

I’ve been following Dan since before the beast. Been hunting since the early 80’s. Wish I could say I have had a ton of success in deer down, only a handful. But the ones that have gotten away, now that would fill a volume. Like some have mentioned, i’ve Had some of those experiences where you figure nothing is around, and decide to come down early, only to have them blow out from 20 yds away. Others, just hurrying a little to much when I should have been slowing down, and others when I should have been shooting left hand vs right do to a lh dominant eye. Oh the list could go on, but it’s been an enjoyable experience.

Keep learning and get out there. Seasons only 27 days away.

I’ve only been hunting since 2005...otherwise I’m pretty sure what you just typed up is the story of my hunting career I will be switching to a LH bow soon enough as well due to eye dominance.

[Dewey]

As far a blunders go I have had way more than I can count. Pushing too far into bedding and bumping bucks when setting up is probably the biggest one. Many times just moving too fast that last 100 yards is the difference between a great hunt and a failed hunt. It's a fact we fail WAY more than we succeed. The failures are what drive us to grow as a hunter. Each one is a learning experience . The biggest mistake you can make as a beginner is to not pay attention to your mistakes and correct them. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the quickest route to extreme frustration.

I've been at this Beast stuff since 2008. The first two years I killed my two best bucks and thought I had it all figured out. I ended up raising my standards way too high after that and didn't tag another buck for four seasons. One great thing about hunting is it keeps you humble. Each season is a completely different challenge. I will always consider myself a rookie no matter how many bucks I kill. Every once in awhile the term "elite Beasts" gets thrown around. I have no desire to be in that group. I have never been interested in labels or recognition for what I do. I'm just a guy that loves to hunt. The way I see it I'm a student and will till be till the day I die.

[DaveT1963]

I don't look at mistake or blunders as a bad thing - its an opportunity. But only if you stop and ask some questions like, what could I have done differently, why did I bust that deer, what was the wind doing and why was he here..... and perhaps the most important, if I would have know then what I know now, what would I have done differently. Most of us, when we are starting out, treat Symptoms and never get to a root cause. Take time, after every hunt, to analyze what you did, what worked and what can you improve on.

A quick example, I hunt a lot of lake edges, with any large body of water you will have thermals. After getting busted numerous times, I now have 1-2 alternative trees picked out knowing full well that I can hunt noon to right before dark - but then I will need to make a move quickly and quietly to catch the final 30 minutes. I used to worry I would bust deer doing it but then I realized Heck I am busting them anyway. So I move, often it is only 30 to 100 yards to get on the thermal side of things. I plan this move now to be 1 hour before the end of legal shooting hours and I don't worry about busting a deer - I just move as quietly and quickly as I can. result: I bust far fewer deer and have had far more encounters at last light with big mature bucks. The ones that I do bust moving I accept as part of the game. What I am not busting anymore is those mature bucks using the thermal shift right at prime time. Sure I have an occasional deer cut my scent trail, usually an older doe or young buck and they blow and go..... however, the rewards have far outweighed the cost in my experience.

[greenhorndave]

I don't look at mistake or blunders as a bad thing - its an opportunity. But only if you stop and ask some questions like, what could I have done differently, why did I bust that deer, what was the wind doing and why was he here..... and perhaps the most important, if I would have know then what I know now, what would I have done differently. Most of us, when we are starting out, treat Symptoms and never get to a root cause. Take time, after every hunt, to analyze what you did, what worked and what can you improve on.

A quick example, I hunt a lot of lake edges, with any large body of water you will have thermals. After getting busted numerous times, I now have 1-2 alternative trees picked out knowing full well that I can hunt noon to right before dark - but then I will need to make a move quickly and quietly to catch the final 30 minutes. I used to worry I would bust deer doing it but then I realized Heck I am busting them anyway. So I move, often it is only 30 to 100 yards to get on the thermal side of things. I plan this move now to be 1 hour before the end of legal shooting hours and I don't worry about busting a deer - I just move as quietly and quickly as I can. result: I bust far fewer deer and have had far more encounters at last light with big mature bucks. The ones that I do bust moving I accept as part of the game. What I am not busting anymore is those mature bucks using the thermal shift right at prime time. Sure I have an occasional deer cut my scent trail, usually an older doe or young buck and they blow and go..... however, the rewards have far outweighed the cost in my experience.

Great stuff from everyone.

Dave, when you make that late switch, are you doing a complete tear down of the old tree and fresh setup in that target tree in that last 30-ish minutes? Going in to hunt off the ground? Just curious. Thanks.

[DaveT1963]

Saddle and 3 sticks.... yep

[Tennhunter3]

This is my 4th beast year I'm far from experienced.

Its definitely a progression system. Dont expect instant success beast hunting requires alot of errors to be made to improve.

I have very few spots I hunted my first two years I still hunt. Its definitely slow progression. Only experience can teach you where you went wrong. I hunted alot of bad spots at the beginning.

New beast definitly need to be patient with the process it does work. I'm still learning things all the time. Don't be upset if you don't kill your first year most beast fail their first year.

It's hard to remove everything you thought you knew about buck hunting and relearn all new tactics. It can be overwhelming at the start.

[justdirtyfun]

The focus for most people here is mature bucks. We have been hunting for some time and try for a more rewarding experience.
Beast rookies can sometimes be rookies to hunting as well. That will be good and bad for a hunter. Bad because you don't know what you don't know. When to draw is an excellent example. Good because of not being stuck in the wrong way of thinking or doing something.
A friend is new to deer hunting and has had some good experience already. But I hesitate to have him in Beast techniques since that brings fewer encounters to gain experience with. The locations people here post about have few deer. Again FEW DEER. The deer in these strategic locations are usually GOOD DEER. But early in a hunter's career so much more is needed than just GOOD DEER.

So beware of selling yourself short of lots of interaction for the draw of mature bucks.

[WV Bowhunter]

I think it was Dan that said it in a podcast, but it was something along the lines of “don’t totally stop what you are doing if you are already seeing and shooting deer, just add some beast stuff to what you are doing”.

I think that’s about the best advice I’ve heard for someone wanting to get on better deer. Things will make sense about why you see a nice buck in a certain place once you put bedding into the equation.

[Wetfoot]

Years back, when I was still living in the Marquette area, I had found some tremendous big buck sign during the bow season. I figured I had this buck figured out and as rifle was starting in a couple of days I planned on getting a crack at him opening morning. I made the 2 mile trek in well before first light and was in position and hour before first light. I set my gun down and was pulling of my pack when I heard the buck jump to his feet only a few yards away. Total silence followed and I stood motionless for what seemed like an eternity. As shooting light approached, I was no longer sure the buck was still there but knew my unloaded gun was no good to me.As soon as I started to reach for it the buck exploded away and was in the alders only 40 yards away. I had failed to note the little coffee sized hummock that was worn to the ground 50 yards to the SE of the little hardwood island with all the sign on it. Lesson learned. When you find an area that's all marked up, take the time to look at all of the sign. There was a solid trail from the bed to the little knoll I should have seen. Being in a hurry and failing to see the whole picture cost me a tremendous buck. I spent the rest of that season chasing him and only got eyes on him once. Note that this was 1994, a good 20 years before I heard of the Beast.

[Singing Bridge]

I am by no means a beast, this will be year 4 or primarily hunting public beast style, but I would say one of the biggest struggles is not reverting back to old styles of hunting pre beast. It’s just easy to go sit in that preset stand that you have had in the same tree for years, might produce a small buck but no mature buck is walking by there in daylight.
Another hard thing that I am still trying to figure out is tracks. I watched a mature buck from about 400 yards away last year. He was in a corn field. As soon as I knew the coast was clear I went over and got on his tracks. They were very hard to tell between all the Doe tracks. I made them out because I knew the rout he took. Anther instance is my friends wife shot a 170 inch 10 point a couple years back. When I went and looked at it, it’s feet were actually smaller then I expected. They would not have been a 4 finger track. All this to say I am still struggling to tell deer track size unless it really stands out.
The last thing I would say is just confidence. I scout my way into a bedding area and find great sign, I set up. Then I always keep over analyzing everything. Just need to have confidence in my scouting skills. I could go on and on but these are some of the things that have been harder for me the last 3/4 years.

Great post- singular sign is enough to make a move, whether a track, dropping fresh rub etc. A lot of guys wait for a bunch of big sign and it is too late.

[tgreeno]

I've been deer hunting since 1976, and am still learning things every season. I've killed a bunch of deer, and I've messed up on a bunch more. You have to remember to stay humble and always keep an open mind. Mature bucks will school you on a regular basis! It seems all these younger hunter want to be experts their 1st seasons. And shoot a booner. It's not all about the kill, it's about the journey you take to get there.

Many things have changed since those early days. I shot a Browning Wasp recurve, wood arrows and broadheads you had to sharpen yourself. I wore an original grey trebark jacket & jeans. A compass in my pocket and that's all I needed. I made a home made climber, that was a death trap. And there was no such thing as a safety harness. I was happy with any buck with a rack on his head. But those are some of my fondest hunting memories.

[daveynewman]

Awesome thread

[justdirtyfun]

I am by no means a beast, this will be year 4 or primarily hunting public beast style, but I would say one of the biggest struggles is not reverting back to old styles of hunting pre beast. It’s just easy to go sit in that preset stand that you have had in the same tree for years, might produce a small buck but no mature buck is walking by there in daylight.
Another hard thing that I am still trying to figure out is tracks. I watched a mature buck from about 400 yards away last year. He was in a corn field. As soon as I knew the coast was clear I went over and got on his tracks. They were very hard to tell between all the Doe tracks. I made them out because I knew the rout he took. Anther instance is my friends wife shot a 170 inch 10 point a couple years back. When I went and looked at it, it’s feet were actually smaller then I expected. They would not have been a 4 finger track. All this to say I am still struggling to tell deer track size unless it really stands out.
The last thing I would say is just confidence. I scout my way into a bedding area and find great sign, I set up. Then I always keep over analyzing everything. Just need to have confidence in my scouting skills. I could go on and on but these are some of the things that have been harder for me the last 3/4 years.

Great post- singular sign is enough to make a move, whether a track, dropping fresh rub etc. A lot of guys wait for a bunch of big sign and it is too late.

Very much on point. Singular sign in the right place when you have much of the puzzle figured out is awesome. Most of the threads call it spot check but if you find it without calling it it spot checking, make sure you ACT ON IT.

[stash59]

Been bowhunting whitetails since 1972. Yet I never thought I ever knew everything about it.

Joined the Beast in 2014, and got humbled even more by the knowledge Dan and many other Beasts had. That willingness to always keep learning has kept my mind open. Sure I tried and used alot of pixie dust along the way. Some I feel still has a place in certain circumstances. But the basics of bed hunting will probably serve me well in the seasons to come.

My physical limitations have kept me from putting much boots on the ground time. But I'm getting the first of 2 new hip replacements tomorrow. And once I've recovered from those. I feel the sky is the limit. Although my main objective is to just have a ton of fun!!!!