The 'lightbulb moment'
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The 'lightbulb moment'
In reality I know becoming a beast hunter is a long process. However, there are often clear moments that stand out were you said yourself, "Aha, this makes sense." Maybe it was finding a bed in a certain spot. Perhaps it was a new strategy that you tried. Maybe it was an actual hunt that you were on. Or it could have been a myriad of other situations or things. Share your 'light bulb moment.' Maybe it will lead others in their journey to become a beast hunter.
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
For me the Beast made sense out of several things I observed but hadn’t put all the pieces together.
The things that have made the most difference for me are finding where the buck I am after is moving (IN DAYLIGHT), being stealthy in my approach instead of letting it settle down after I come crashing through the woods and if plan A is not working move on to plan B or K or whatever it takes to find what I am looking for.
The things that have made the most difference for me are finding where the buck I am after is moving (IN DAYLIGHT), being stealthy in my approach instead of letting it settle down after I come crashing through the woods and if plan A is not working move on to plan B or K or whatever it takes to find what I am looking for.
- Dewey
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
Just so happens we have a few old threads about this very topic.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=26386&p=342566
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33516
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=26386&p=342566
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33516
- Cchez
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
My lightbulb moment was when i first discovered the beast this spring. I cant recall what i was searching for when i first found an article dan wrote, but i had finally found something that made sense to me, that i could relate to the terrain that i was hunting. Over the years, i had had success killing my share of bucks, but nothing ever that was truly mature. My biggest being a 3.5 year old 9pt that weighed in at 235lbs dressed. That kill was pure luck, out of a pre set stand i hung with my uncle and my grandpa in large oak forest, which is rare where i live. A couple years ago, after i had killed another 2.5 year old 8pt, and i thought to myself, "there must be something im doing wrong. I put in lots of hours in the woods, i hunt areas with lots of sign, but there has to be some reason i always seem to kill the same age class deer". So last year i tried some new things i had never done before. I moved all my ladder stands to new spots, and i utiilized a climber as well to hunt even more spots. My encounters with bucks increased, but still wasnt finding anything big. Then i discovered the beast, and ive quickly learned that i was doing something wrong. I wasnt hunting mature bucks. I was hunting younger bucks. This is my first year of using beast style tactics, and im really excited for hunting season to put all this info to the test! I know my area has large bucks, I've found the sign, ive got the cam pics, and had sightings from the truck. So im really hoping i can put some puzzle pieces together this year and connect.
- Scratchman
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
When i started tossing milkweed every 10 steps i got an education in wind.
"I could eat shlapjacks every day of the weeksh, eh." Jimmer Nagamanee from Menominee
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
When I began looking at bedding at first I looked at the wrong stuff most of the time. Oneday I was walking around a very steep cliff about 60 feet which created a funnel only a few yards wide before a slope dropped off.
I found a large bed right atop that cliff in the funnel then the lightbulb turned on their was no possible way to effectively hunt this buck. Because of wind and thermals in this spot. He laid In the same bed no matter the wind direction nothing could get close to him.
If your thinking how on earth can I hunt this buck effectively chances are your in the right area. This wasn't the first big buck bed I found but it was the one that I remember the most.
To this day I stopped even trying to hunt that spot.
I jumped that buck my first 2 beast years.
I found a large bed right atop that cliff in the funnel then the lightbulb turned on their was no possible way to effectively hunt this buck. Because of wind and thermals in this spot. He laid In the same bed no matter the wind direction nothing could get close to him.
If your thinking how on earth can I hunt this buck effectively chances are your in the right area. This wasn't the first big buck bed I found but it was the one that I remember the most.
To this day I stopped even trying to hunt that spot.
I jumped that buck my first 2 beast years.
Never give up Freedom for imagined safety.
- VaBowKill5
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
My lightbulb moment came in 2016 actually before I had even heard of the beast. I chose a random spot to hunt one morning and had taken a climber in way before daylight. As I say in the darkness waiting for light I had a super big bodied buck come right under my stand and go about 70 yards from towards the top of this knob just in front of me. It was very still that morning and I could hear every step he took so when the sound stopped for good I expected to see him standing there once it got light. As the light came thru the trees I looked and looked but he was not there. All that was there were a bunch of blown down pine trees. That’s when it clicked that he had bedded right there. The wind was supposed to switch around lunchtime so at about 11 I snuck out as quietly as I could.
Around 2:00 I headed back in but on the other side of where he was bedded where there were several white oaks dropping acorns and got in a tree. Just before dark he came out of the pines and I shot him at 12 yards. He was and still is my largest bow kill and after the fact I started recapping what had happened and later the following spring I watched an interview with Dan and it all clicked. I had gotten inside of his comfort bubble by pure luck and it came together but it wasn’t till after the fact that it all made sense. I have since used that tactic almost every time I go to the woods and have taken at least one mature buck with my bow every year since.
Around 2:00 I headed back in but on the other side of where he was bedded where there were several white oaks dropping acorns and got in a tree. Just before dark he came out of the pines and I shot him at 12 yards. He was and still is my largest bow kill and after the fact I started recapping what had happened and later the following spring I watched an interview with Dan and it all clicked. I had gotten inside of his comfort bubble by pure luck and it came together but it wasn’t till after the fact that it all made sense. I have since used that tactic almost every time I go to the woods and have taken at least one mature buck with my bow every year since.
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
Scratchman wrote:When i started tossing milkweed every 10 steps i got an education in wind.
Nothing like the stuff!
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
Tennhunter3 wrote:When I began looking at bedding at first I looked at the wrong stuff most of the time. Oneday I was walking around a very steep cliff about 60 feet which created a funnel only a few yards wide before a slope dropped off.
I found a large bed right atop that cliff in the funnel then the lightbulb turned on their was no possible way to effectively hunt this buck. Because of wind and thermals in this spot. He laid In the same bed no matter the wind direction nothing could get close to him.
If your thinking how on earth can I hunt this buck effectively chances are your in the right area. This wasn't the first big buck bed I found but it was the one that I remember the most.
To this day I stopped even trying to hunt that spot.
I jumped that buck my first 2 beast years.
Nice! Sounds like you and a buddy need to go in from opposite sides and soft bump him...
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
ccfutball1 wrote:My lightbulb moment came in 2016 actually before I had even heard of the beast. I chose a random spot to hunt one morning and had taken a climber in way before daylight. As I say in the darkness waiting for light I had a super big bodied buck come right under my stand and go about 70 yards from towards the top of this knob just in front of me. It was very still that morning and I could hear every step he took so when the sound stopped for good I expected to see him standing there once it got light. As the light came thru the trees I looked and looked but he was not there. All that was there were a bunch of blown down pine trees. That’s when it clicked that he had bedded right there. The wind was supposed to switch around lunchtime so at about 11 I snuck out as quietly as I could.
Around 2:00 I headed back in but on the other side of where he was bedded where there were several white oaks dropping acorns and got in a tree. Just before dark he came out of the pines and I shot him at 12 yards. He was and still is my largest bow kill and after the fact I started recapping what had happened and later the following spring I watched an interview with Dan and it all clicked. I had gotten inside of his comfort bubble by pure luck and it came together but it wasn’t till after the fact that it all made sense. I have since used that tactic almost every time I go to the woods and have taken at least one mature buck with my bow every year since.
Very cool! Congrats on figuring it out!
- VaBowKill5
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
Double Draw wrote:Tennhunter3 wrote:When I began looking at bedding at first I looked at the wrong stuff most of the time. Oneday I was walking around a very steep cliff about 60 feet which created a funnel only a few yards wide before a slope dropped off.
I found a large bed right atop that cliff in the funnel then the lightbulb turned on their was no possible way to effectively hunt this buck. Because of wind and thermals in this spot. He laid In the same bed no matter the wind direction nothing could get close to him.
If your thinking how on earth can I hunt this buck effectively chances are your in the right area. This wasn't the first big buck bed I found but it was the one that I remember the most.
To this day I stopped even trying to hunt that spot.
I jumped that buck my first 2 beast years.
Nice! Sounds like you and a buddy need to go in from opposite sides and soft bump him...
Excellent recommendation Double Draw. If it’s a cliff then he’s not gonna jump off has to be limited on escape trails from there.
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
That still gives him 240 degrees he could escape.
5 people might be able to surround him.
The southern slope he would probably die.
The northern is steep but manageable.
5 people might be able to surround him.
The southern slope he would probably die.
The northern is steep but manageable.
Never give up Freedom for imagined safety.
- JAK
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
Can find all the best looking bedding . But if your hunting it when nobody is home your gunna see nobody. So i dont know if its a Aha moment or just my moment things started to click is once i started hunting hot sign. Theres times if gone into a spot looked dead. And kept on going. Might not be in some guys confert zones to do that but in my eyes thats almost a wasted sit.
- funderburk
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
When I accepted the fact that I’ll never beat his nose...
“I’ve always believed that the mind is the best weapon.” John Rambo
- Hawthorne
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Re: The 'lightbulb moment'
When I could read the nighttime buck sign and knew where the buck was spending daylight on public land. Killed two bucks last season with this.
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