Hunting Beast Rookies

[Singing Bridge]

I monitor the new members joining the various factions of the Hunting Beast- incredibly exciting and there are countless new additions. One thing I find myself guilty of is assuming that almost everyone here is highly experienced and high pressure public land proficient... and that's far from true. I always need to remind myself of it when I post.

In our modern society of instant gratification for everything we do, the HB methodology has to be frustrating for many of our members. Being proficient at reading buck sign in the woods, doing a recon and knowing exactly how old the bucks are and where is something I take for granted... but it wasn't always like that- not even close. I think it may help if I and other experienced Beasts point out some initial struggles... we were far from good at it.

I recall being in Michigan's Upper Peninsula as a young man and scouting with a serious, big time and highly proficient hunter. When we met up for lunch at the "intersection" of the two areas we were scouting, I told him how frustrated I was because I knew there were big bucks in the area I scouted... I had found a couple of monster rubs that were fresh but little else... I told him I knew there was mature buck bedding, droppings / tracks / scrapes in the area, there had to be... and I shook my head.

He smirked a bit, lifted a finger and pointed behind me. I turned around to see what he was pointing at, and it was a fresh scrape that was five feet long with huge tracks and droppings in it... I hadn't been able to see the trees from the forest.

Being great at this style of hunting is hard work and there is nothing easy about it. It takes time. Unless you are independently wealthy and can buy your big bucks, hard work and dedication is what it takes to get there.

Know and understand that we were all where rookies are now at one time or another. Any other experienced Beasts care to add a blunder or two?

[mipubbucks24]

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.

[backstraps]

Really good post SB

I am by no means an experienced Beast hunter and I have a simple blunder to add. I remember when I first joined the BEAST I was pouring out questions and ideas, and asking for help understanding how you guys read maps so quickly and efficiently! I was getting help and help was directed towards me as a rookie, and that info shared with me was soaked in!!

I had posted a topo that I attempted to mark up after I thought I had an idea of what I was doing with maps. A certain veteran hunter and Beast member was quick to point how incorrect I was!! (not mentioning any names but his user id was Singing Bridge ) I remember when he pointed out I wasnt even in the game, I knew I had to keep pounding it. So something that is so simple as reading maps in comparison to reading sign in the woods, predicting when why and how a buck is using a bed, etc IT TAKES TIME AND DEDICATION!

This style of hunting is not by any stretch instant success without a lot of prior experience. It IS NOT easy, It is not going to happen over night, and most likely will take several seasons to adapt this style hunting into what works for you!

There is something that is easy about this style hunting: YOU HAVE THE VERY BEST WEBSITE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS! You also have some of the very best buck slayers reading through these pages. I would suggest, take advantage of that. Dont be afraid to post up questions. Your questions may very well help others besides yourself. IF nothing else, if there is a BEAST member you have read their post before and they make sense to you, and you are "shy" and maybe not want to post questions, shoot that member a private message and ask for help.

I can honestly say, I have not asked a single member here for help that did not graciously reply to my request!!

[Jackson Marsh]

After joining the Beast I killed some decent bucks almost immediately and I thought this stuff really works! I had done a lot of scouting off season, then had some kills and thought "I got this".....but I really didn't have all the info/experience etc I needed to be successful.

It's a never ending progression for improvement. New guys should watch Dan's videos for sure, but they also need to scout and hunt as much as possible.

I've had countless bed hunts where I was setting up and hear a deer blow and bust out of the area I was targeting. I had a hunt last year where, on a still afternoon, while setting up I heard a couple of faint splashes in the bedding area and then silence. 15 minutes or so later I hear a deer slowly and quietly slosh away from me

A couple of years ago I walked past a fresh scrape to get to "my tree"....what an idiot....just before last light a 2 y.o. came through and after him an unseen and probably BIG buck locked up after hitting my ground scent....live and fail and learn.

[headgear]

Very similar experience as JM, been here about 9 years and probably have 900 screw ups to show for it. You can read and know everything but unless you are out in the field combining that info with experience you just won't grow as much as the guys putting in the time. You really want to be learning every time you step in the woods even if that learning means there wasn't much sign around in a given area at a given time of year.

[Jonny]

If you aren’t out there making mistakes, you aren’t learning anything

[xpauliber]

Really good post! I've been here 8 years and I can remember spending HOURS and HOURS on the site reading after work. I also have a library of about 20+ books on whitetail hunting & map reading. Some of the books I didn't gain much out of but I did get another hunter's perspective and I applied some of the tactics to my own style. You really have to WANT success in order to succeed hunting this style. This forum has just about every answer you'll need but it's up to you to spend the time reading, learning, asking questions, and then going out and applying it/learning the hard way.

With that being said, one of the first things a new member should do is buy Dan's Hill Country and Marsh Bucks videos and watch them 2 or 3 times each. There is so much gold in those and it will give you a foundation to apply all of the other information that you'll read on here.

[greenhorndave]

First, Bridge is bringing the heat with killer threads today. Thanks a ton.

This will technically be my first full Beast season, but I did have a swamp experience like Jackson mentioned. Thought I was in a good spot, which I suppose I did, but either they crossed my scent trail and/or other guys set up there before. Slosh, slosh, slosh, then nothing for about 10 minutes until I moved my head laterally to look and then “blow.” Game over.

I’m looking forward to making more mistakes this year.

And hopefully sealing the deal on a few occasions. We’ll see.

But y’all have helped a ton. Just wanted to voice my appreciation.

[cspot]

I monitor the new members joining the various factions of the Hunting Beast

I knew I felt like someone was staring at me thru my window last night!!

[MrT]

This is my first year as a beast member. I'm still figuring out the buck bedding. Definitely have found some old buck beds this off season. I really can't wait to start the in-season scouting and screw some stuff up!

[Lockdown]

This is my first year as a beast member. I'm still figuring out the buck bedding. Definitely have found some old buck beds this off season. I really can't wait to start the in-season scouting and screw some stuff up!

That’s what it takes. You don’t gain much with a conservative game plan. It takes an open mind and lots of time spent in the woods. Everyone is faced with a different situation. It takes lots of tweaking of the tactics found here.

If you’re new and serious about putting big bucks down, then I have 7 words of advice:

“Never, never, never, never, never give up.”

Every year we get people posting that they’re frustrated and can’t find beds. The ones who don’t give up eventually catch on and do well. Most end up fading away...

I can remember many threads from guys like PredatorTC, BigHunt, and DaveT. They’re all household names now

In 2016 I had basically given up mentally, then just like that my target buck showed and I killed him. It takes SECONDS to turn your whole season around.

We had a thread a while back where several veteran Beasts agreed it takes 3-5 years to get comfortable with these tactics. I wholeheartedly agree.

[Crazinamatese]

There are only a handful of true beast style hunters here on this site and you will know who they are over time. Listen to them! God willing, they stick around for awhile. Seems like many of the big hitters that I got to know when I joined this site don't come around anymore. Sooo much good info in these forums. Put the Netflix away for the weekend and sift thru these discussion boards... Why not?

[jwilkstn]

Have to crawl before you can walk

[live2hunt]

Great post. I realized just the other day while reading a new beast post that I’ve learned a lot here. I was once was that excited newbie almost cocky stage when I first joined since I had some nice kills under my belt. Once I dug deeper I realized there was another level. I do not hunt 100% true beast style but I have read/learned enough here to form my own style. I combine hunting methods from multiple well seasoned hunters and have a tool box of tactics. I have the info here to feed the obsession and the grit push harder. All that said thanks Dan and BEAST members.

The blunders never really end. Last year I walked in a mile or so. Snuck down a drainage the last couple hundred yards. Picked a tree hung my stand. Perfect setup never made a sound also had great cover and shots. I was in a pinch just back from a point with heavy dead falls where I had found a bed and old sign during turkey season. I was between the bed and fresh cut corn field. Was in the tree for about 15minutes and it began to downpour. It rained right up to 30 minutes before sunset. Five minutes before legal light it was darker than normal because of the clouds from the storm. I called it quits. Lowered my bow and started my climb down. Just as soon as my foot hit the first step I heard a deer blow and bound 15yards away from the way I expected him to come. You all know what big deer sound like leaving. My first thought was Beasts wouldn’t quit early and began to remove my stand. Thought about my mistake on my walk back but didn’t dwell. I chalked it up a lose and went right on planning my next move.

[oldrank]

I remember just forcing it all into my brain. I have been a member here for 6 years and have been a student of Dan's for over 10 years. I have fine tuned alot of things but still am far from being a great hunter. Still so much to learn. I do feel I have achieved a balance between life and hunting. It's not about giant bucks to me but more of just enjoying my time in the woods and challenging myself to achieve certain personal goals. Sometimes I fail. I still have alot of week points. Sometimes I succeed and it's an amazing well played move. That always feels great.