The confession box...

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


User avatar
john1984
Posts: 4708
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 8:08 am
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: The confession box...

Unread postby john1984 » Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:35 am

What helps me succeed the most? Well I do live in WI, that helps. I'm not too picky,, I feel all deer are great trophy's, especially ones taken off public land. I've been more mobile that past 5 years id say.


My weaknesses? I have a lot. I'm not the healthiest person in the world. I can be lazy at times. My spring scouting has taken a huge seat in the BACK these past few years. I rarely utilize my 2 trail cams for deer anymore. I feel I didn't do enough target practicing last year, and it cost me big time this past fall.

What can I do better? I should scout more. I should start using elevation again. I shouldn't let my trail cams collect dust during the fall. I can try and put more thought into THEE exit trail instead of JUST getting close to the bucks safe zone.


User avatar
Sam Ubl
500 Club
Posts: 1647
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 4:38 am
Facebook: https://www.carbontv.com/shows/chase-na ... red-slider
Location: Wisconsin
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: The confession box...

Unread postby Sam Ubl » Tue Apr 10, 2018 3:26 am

dan wrote: Lets take a second to look in the mirror... ( Not literally!!! I just scared myself! :lol: ) Lets each reflect on what our strongest asset is in hunting deer. In other words, what helps you succeed the most?

My success largely depends on the work I put into finding places to hunt. You can't kill what isn't there, so with that notion I am constantly seeking out areas of habitat that shows promise of holding big deer. That way, the time I am able to put in the woods is less dependent on wishful thinking and more so on a plan of action coming to fruition.

Then lets flip the coin, and ask that guy in the mirror what is your weakest asset... What makes you fail the most?

If the plan foils and time is running out, I do find myself scrambling to come up with a new plan, rather than remaining confident in why I'm there doing what I'm doing in the first place and waiting it out. Some instances demand a call to action, but all too often I'll begin second guessing my decisions and that conflicts with my confidence. If you're not confident in your position and setup, you won't be in the game when you need to be.

Ok, so now that we built ourselves up, then beat ourselves up, what can we do to enhance what we do good? And to fix what we do bad?

Confidence is a major asset to me as a hunter. When I'm most confident I find the most success, but when I lose confidence I resort to my cell phone as a distraction, or climbing down early and making a move that ends up ruining everything. I've been working on confidence in my abilities and find that the more success I have year after year, the more confident I am in myself as a hunter. In other words, I'm starting to realize I might know a thing, or two, about what I'm doing, and while there's new lessons learned every time out, those I've been taught through experience up to this point are darn good lessons I am putting to good use these days - what to avoid, what to do more of, and always willing to fail through new trials to learn how to overcome in the future.

Ok, I sat in the confession box ... Whose next?
Chase Nation | Reality Hunting TV | http://www.chasenation.tv
Watch Chase Nation on Carbon TV: https://www.carbontv.com/shows/chase-na ... red-slider
Huntmore | http://www.huntmore.io/
User avatar
street28ss
Posts: 191
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2018 11:23 am
Location: MN
Status: Offline

Re: The confession box...

Unread postby street28ss » Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:09 pm

dan wrote: Lets take a second to look in the mirror... ( Not literally!!! I just scared myself! :lol: ) Lets each reflect on what our strongest asset is in hunting deer. In other words, what helps you succeed the most?

For me, it has to be my ability to be clutch in the moment. I don't know what it is that sets me apart from the other hunters I hunt with(we all have those friends that miss almost every year), but I go into this kind of autopilot mode where I just execute.

Then lets flip the coin, and ask that guy in the mirror what is your weakest asset... What makes you fail the most?

My lack of experience and time in the woods.

Ok, so now that we built ourselves up, then beat ourselves up, what can we do to enhance what we do good? And to fix what we do bad?

I've joined the beast, which was my first step towards fixing the bad. I've also started heavily escouting the properties I hunt and potential properites I may want to hunt.

Ok, I sat in the confession box ... Whose next?
[/quote]
Itchy Bones
Posts: 309
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2016 3:22 pm
Status: Offline

Re: The confession box...

Unread postby Itchy Bones » Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:25 pm

My strongest asset is probably my commitment to year round scouting and adapting to changes from Sept-Dec. while hunting. I'm absolutely in love with the process.

My weak point is same as someone I saw earlier... indecision, it is very self defeating. I need to have more faith in the work I've put in, make a decision and follow through with it and accept the results, not be so focused on connecting on a mature buck but enjoy the journey more. There are times when I've been heading to a spot and start obsessing about another spot I like that could be more productive. This train of thought saps confidence and I know I do it.

To enhance my strengths I will continue to expand my horizons as far as the ground I cover and not lock in on a single buck.

To fix my weakness I'll learn to balance my brain and my gut, I'll start by listening to my gut more.
User avatar
may21581
500 Club
Posts: 1186
Joined: Mon May 28, 2018 12:48 pm
Location: north east ohio
Status: Offline

Re: The confession box...

Unread postby may21581 » Sat Jul 21, 2018 4:14 pm

Ok so I have several items I struggle with and have gotten alot better with. It doesnt feel natural to do it yet but I fight it all the time and do it. The first is believing in your scouting work and staying out of an area till the time is right. Its only natural that we need or want a visual confirmation of the buck we are after. Either with trail cams or our own eyes we are dying to get that one glimpse. The fact is he will only show when he is ready and by going into areas we know are good we only ruin what chance we may have.
The second thing I struggle with but yet again do is stick to the plan. During the season we want so desperately to shoot this buck we think in our minds that hunting more is the answer. Again this is counter productive and stick to the plan and hunt smarter not harder. It drives me nuts knowing he is in an area and im not hunting him because of the wrong conditions.
Ok so now some positives. The first is I do alot of early spring scouting.I do this while shed hunting and it is super productive and by far the best info one can gain. The second is I have learned to have patience and learn to focus and find the small clues that will set us up for the shot. And the third is I purchased a range finder last year and it was a game changer. I have learned to become effective with it and my accuracy has improved dramatically. Im not a good estimator so it helped me tons.
"Failure is the price for entry for achieving something great"
User avatar
JPiskun1080
Posts: 43
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:55 pm
Facebook: facebook.com/JoePiskun
Status: Offline

Re: The confession box...

Unread postby JPiskun1080 » Sun Jul 22, 2018 11:40 am

strengths
Willing to learn, take advice and criticism.
Confident in my shooting
I feel I put a forth a decent effort in hunting
Not allowing my type 1 diabetes to stop me from hunting

weaknesses
Not confident in my scouting(both cyber and in person)
Think negatively and constantly question my plans
Get discouraged because of other hunters
I constantly compare myself to other hunters
Totally suck at getting up early enough to be in stand hour and half before sun up.

Fixing the issues
Tell myself daily to be confident and follow through with my plans.
Keep learning and researching all I can on hunting whitetails
Remind myself to have fun and enjoy the Ride
Stop making excuses for not doing something, getting up and go doing it.
You can’t hunt something that’s not there :think: :think:


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 95 guests