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Re: What is a great hunter when on stand

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 5:18 am
by dan
muddy wrote:Learning to trust your gut instinct is huge. This plays a roll in everything hunting from scouting that little extra, hanging that stand 3 trees over, or just learning to embrace "auto pilot" when that buck is bearing down on you.

I agree... Unfortunatly I think a lot of that comes from experiance killing. Even if you really have the scouting and everything else down pat, untill you get that 1st big one down, your going to naturally question wether or not your doing it right... Even if you have 1 on the wall, your going to question wether it was luck or your skill level...
The more you knock down, the better that auto pilot works, and the more confidance you will have.

Re: What is a great hunter when on stand

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 5:52 am
by JRM6868
Buckfever wrote:No question some are better suited to execute than others. That aside it comes down to experience and preparation. I have to agree, maybe for the first 25 bow kills, focus on reading the deer and executing a good shot, before you go on to exclusively buck hunt. And then finally to borrow from the military, "you don't rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of training". Every year we need to reacquire our hunting specific archery proficiency, if we do that and have enough experience, things come together.

Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 1:18 pm

Re: What is a great hunter when on stand
muddy wrote:
Learning to trust your gut instinct is huge. This plays a roll in everything hunting from scouting that little extra, hanging that stand 3 trees over, or just learning to embrace "auto pilot" when that buck is bearing down on you.

I agree... Unfortunatly I think a lot of that comes from experiance killing. Even if you really have the scouting and everything else down pat, untill you get that 1st big one down, your going to naturally question wether or not your doing it right... Even if you have 1 on the wall, your going to question wether it was luck or your skill level...
The more you knock down, the better that auto pilot works, and the more confidance you will have.

Experience as stated is probably one of the best requirements to be a great hunter. Being able to perform under pressure only comes from multiple kills. This allows you to be able to read the animal and know what will come next as your going to full draw and how to adapt to what the animal is doing. It will allow you to take that extra few seconds to think and realize where you hit the animal,what the animal did after the shot and whether to pull out and wait to recover or to recover right away.
The patience and sitting still get the animal to you but if you can't perform at the time needed it's all for nothing. Being proficient in your weapon as mentioned let's you go into autopilot when the time comes so that you can concentrate on the task at hand.
Another thing that I think makes a great hunter is being able to understand what the deer are telling you through their body language,travel routes altered and understand what is causing them to do the things they do and knowing their hunt, etc. and a good hunter adjusts his game plan based off what he is seeing and what time of year it is.

Re: What is a great hunter when on stand

Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 5:03 pm
by magicman54494
It helps a lot to be a cold blooded killer. :lol: I think the biggest key for me was when I stopped worrying that I was going to goof up and get all nervous and instead focused on killing that darn buck. It helps to imagine that buck is your ex-wife! On a bit of a different note. I never felt as much pressure as when I was being filmed. I kept thinking if I screw up everyone is going to see it! And knowing my budddy again and again and again!

Re: What is a great hunter when on stand

Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 1:51 am
by Arrowbender
I think Dan nailed with the killing experience thing. The more kills under your belt the better prepared you will be when the opportunity arises to make a quick judgement and effective shot.
Experience is what programs your "autopilot" to do what is right. (and how to do it).