Efficient Killers?

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Bowhunter4life
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Re: Efficient Killers?

Unread postby Bowhunter4life » Fri Jan 04, 2019 12:06 am

Andy pretty much touched it all here in my opinion. By no means do I consider myself some great efficient killer but I understand what it takes to get there. I also don’t know if the word efficient is the proper term to use here much like PK said. It takes a certain level of obsessiveness in this game to really evolve into a much better hunter. For me this has been my entire life. I have hunted and I mean hunted a ton since I was a little kid. Every weekend during the winter months if I wasn’t involved in some sort of sports activity then I was hunting. I grew up this way and am thankful my dad and grandfather loved the outdoors. Spending all that time out there whether it was deer hunting or small game hunting you learn a lot. Each and everytime out there you become a little more in tune with nature. Nowadays with everyone’s life style and this go go go all the time it is hard to slow down once you hit the woods. For those who don’t spend or haven’t spent a ton of time out there over the years I believe it is hard for them to really slow things down and understand how to make things happen in the woods. I’m sure most go to the woods with a lot of other things on their mind and I know from experience that if you don’t clear the mind and become completely focused on the task at hand then your gonna slip up out there. So to me experience, a different level of focus and paying attention to the finest little details ultimately breeds efficientcy if that’s the word we are gonna use here.


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Re: Efficient Killers?

Unread postby ETNyates15 » Fri Jan 04, 2019 5:52 pm

moondoondude wrote:I won't hunt until I have a layup on the buck that I want. This usually involves some crafty camera work and a whole lot of time not hunting. I talk myself out of going or even the possibility of going until I know all is well. I would love to just go sit in the woods or just go hunt - but I relieve that itch by going out west every year now.

I hunted once this year, I was done in less than 20 minutes.

Last year, I was dialed in on opening day. I had some cold feet from attachment issues and hopes that the buck would get another year under his belt. He came in and I didn't shoot. But when a couple other bucks he hung out with started popping up on some of the local facebook hunting pages, I decided it was go time and went in and shot him.

I don't hunt based on age, I don't hunt based on antlers per say. If that were the case - there would be more than a handful of mature bucks I could move in on this week and shoot. If I have a layup on a really old buck, I'll usually tell buddies and bring them out to shoot it when the deer starts sliding downhill. Deer are a limited resource and #s around here have been falling quickly. I usually pick a buck at a young age and say when he gets to age X, I am going to take him. That provides the history and knowledge needed for a 30 minute sit. Hunting a layup means hunting the perfect everything - perfect wind, perfect day, perfect time, etc. If there is even an inkling of doubt, I just look at the next possible day and then so on right down the line.

The bucks I hunt are the product of years of history and cameras. I run cameras all year, glass fields all year, and shed hunt until my feet bleed and then I buy new feet and shed hunt some more. Thousands of long lens shots and thousands of trailcam pics a week usually. I do the food plot thing but the more I look into it, the more I believe that TSI and native restoration is the way to go, so beginning last year that has been a focus. I don't necessarily do all that stuff for big bucks, I do it because it is fun and it keeps my mind occupied and it is fun to see the results of it (again, not the big bucks but just seeing the habitat function as it should and benefiting not just big game species but the system itself).



This is the epitome of what I was hoping this thread would produce. Thank you for laying it out like you did. I believe this is true efficiency at work as it relates to actual "hunting" time. He still uses lots of field time and year over year data, but when he decides to hunt the chances are probably 80+% that it's a done deal. I know even though Dan hunts a lot and others do as well I believe Dan and others still speak a lot about percentages and about the spots they pick being a very high percentage of seeing a mature buck. Thanks moondoondude for laying out your strategy, this almost exactly replicates the strategy of the other person I mentioned in the first post of this thread. I think you are definitely on to something when it comes to actual hunt kill per sit success as defined by your standards. Awesome!
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Lockdown
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Re: Efficient Killers?

Unread postby Lockdown » Fri Jan 04, 2019 7:21 pm

This thread is pure gold. I found myself nodding my head in agreement through the whole thing, especially your long post Andy. Love it :clap:

When I first joined the Beast I was lucky enough to have quite a bit of free time to scout. I'm so glad I did. Scouting is SO crucial and if you haven't picked that up by now then you're a lost cause :lol: Dan has said many times that when people ask "What's the most important factor when it comes to killing big bucks" his response is "there isn't one. It's all the little details."

That statement couldn't be more true. With all the variables involved, how else can you get those details without finding them out for yourself? So a guy walks 80 miles during spring scouting. Sure he's going to pick up on a few things, but is he understanding the sign that he's seeing? :think: Is he walking where he needs to be? :think:

With all the effort I put in early on I thought I had a couple different bucks/situations PEGGED. Man was I wrong. The biggest buck I ever hunted was dead when I was hunting him... EH HEM... anyone interested in finding some hot sign?!? :lol: I completely wasted 3 hunts that year.

You can read on the Beast or watch Dan's DVD's as many times as you want, but until you put the time in on your home turf, all you've seen is text and video. Get out there and learn the hard way.

We've had posts in the past from respected members claiming it takes 3-5 years to become proficient with Beast tactics (if you truly apply yourself). I agree. That might even be on the short end depending on your situation.

2019 is year 5 for me. Every spring I look back and think "I thought I had it figured out last year" and laugh to myself. It takes time. Scout hard and focus on the details.
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Kraftd
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Re: Efficient Killers?

Unread postby Kraftd » Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:13 am

Lockdown wrote: 2019 is year 5 for me. Every spring I look back and think "I thought I had it figured out last year" and laugh to myself. It takes time. Scout hard and focus on the details.


This is it. You only becom efficient, I’d there is such a thing, with experience. If I don’t feel like I grew over a season no matter how many years I had in, I would really step
Back and evaluate things. Even Dan reflects a lot in his posts during and after the season. That doesn’t mean you are more successful every year. That’s almost impossible for anyone with a decent wall of Good bucks, but just grow and learn.
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Re: Efficient Killers?

Unread postby muddy » Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:19 am

RRunner and moondoon... very well written out thoughts. Wish I could write like that. 2 great posts hitting the nail on the head
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DaveT1963
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Re: Efficient Killers?

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Sat Jan 05, 2019 12:25 am

I am a very efficient killer - I have fun 100% of the time I go out in the woods :)

Some great advice above on this thread. I will never forget a quote from the Kevin Costner movie Robinhood "learn to use this (pointing to brain) then learn to use these (Pointing to hands)" I honestly believe more folks would be consistently successful if they scouted more and hunted less. appropriate
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Re: Efficient Killers?

Unread postby ETNyates15 » Sat Jan 05, 2019 1:00 am

Another point I’d like to add to the echoing statements of overall time spent in obsessiveness in general to honing this craft is how well documented in scientific research the 10,000 hour rule is. You can do a quick google search to find the specifics but more or less to become a master or extremely proficient at anything you have to spend a minimum of 10k hours actually doing/practicing it. Dan/Andy/and others are right on ultimately with stating that there is no substitute for time spent practicing our craft. Let’s get out there and spend some time in the field this year, not necessarily hunting if you can’t for whatever reason, but in some way ultimately putting in your 10k hours!


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