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Woodsmanship

SNIPERBBB said:
There's all kinds of ID apps...some are better than others
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You are right about that!
I loaded PlantNet on my phone a couple years ago and, initially I was impressed. But then I started testing it on some plants that I knew 100% their variety and PlantNet was only correct about half of the time.
 
The Stickboys podcast has several episodes entitled "Woodsmanship". There's lots of great Stickboys podcasts but the Woodsmanship ones are among my favorites. Check out the ones with Allan Altizer and Nathan Killen.
Read anything Wensel. Those guys are the pioneers of what a lot of what is considered "common knowledge" now. Game biologists have consulted them about their findings. Gene and Barry are the real deal.
 
Plenty of resources out there to read or watch but the best way is to get out there and make the mistakes like the rest of us. Every state and areas is different to hunt but if you get the basics down you can get successful but it might take a season or 2. Don’t be afraid to go knocking on doors because least in my areas where I hunt a lot of deer hang out on posted pieces but I have areas that are honey holes. I’ve hunted long enough in these areas to learn the pattern snd like my buddy up there @TreeCreep says get out there and scout
 
If you live in the burbs or just don't want to spook all the deer in your backyard honey hole, you can learn a lot about tracking in a county park. Any time you see a deer, go check out the sign it left behind. Learn the difference between tracks of a calm animal that is feeding vs. a spooked one high-tailing it out of there.
 
Weldabeast said:
If it stings and u got no bleach u gotta pee on it....duh everybody knows that.


Seriously....what resources should someone look up if they also wanted to know that kinda stuff? I imagine it's pretty regional as far as "herbs and grasses"
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Mostly books. Every time I go someplace new I like to grab a book or two for the area on edibles in the area and local info on the good bad and ugly of anything I might encounter. Across North America once you learn one area a lot of that info flows over to the next you get into, just update yourself on the local info for plants insects and stuff that might harm you. As far as wilderness medical training, there are usually classes anywhere you are. A tourniquet works the same in the woods as it does in the city. Look at local collages offering one day classes and you can learn a lot that is helpful anywhere you are.
 
The Wensel books recommendation was great. I picked up Treestand Strategies (Whitetail Secrets Series Book 2) and I am halfway through it. It is the exact sort of book I was looking for when I opened this thread.
 
Reading, watching video's, etc. are all great but the knowledge learned must be practiced or its of zero value. Its like reading personal growth books and not applying them to your life. I agree with what most others have said already. Read/watch as much as you can and understand the WHY of it all. WHY do deer do this or that. WHY do deer use saddles. WHY do I consistently see deer in this area and not another. I am a journaling nut. I journal everything in my life. My hunting journals/notes have helped me understand the WHY's which lead me to be more successful. I have only recently (in the past 5-6 years) become very intentional on the WHY's in my hunting. Whether its turkey or deer wordsmanship is key in my opinion to have regular success.
 
can you share what items you are documenting and is this something you do when you get home or are you literally jotting things down up in the tree while they are fresh on your mind?
 
Side note - having just finished that Wensel book, it is interesting how he and his brother have a completely opposing strategy to what is mentioned in those Warren Womack excerpts (pre season scouting/presets vs aggressive in season scouting/huntIng fresh sign). Both traditional bowhunters and both wildly successful. I love that you can be process oriented in hunting, really honing your own process and come out with the same successful results as someone who has an entirely different refined process than you.

I got a ton of awesome info from that book and the main takeaway I got was it’s more about where you hunt and less of how you hunt.
 
You can document via apps like Onx in the notes section when you mark a waypoint of any kind. I try to give details to jog my memory of what aspect of that waypoint compelled me to mark it in the first place. You can just mark a rub or scrape but also add notes in the context of why that sign is important enough to mark it. Is it close to bedding or feed? Is there adequate cover and terrain features (benches, saddles, spring seeps, ridge spurs, ridge lines, creek crossings) that seem to funnel deer movement. Is that why the rub or scrape is there? Are there more around than one? Does the sign look more random and sparse or heavy and used over long periods of time? Rub clusters back in thick cover tell me... I think a buck is bedding around here its probably a spot to consider a sit near about 75 to 100 yards from this section on hopefully a trail intersection or two within shooting range. What's the wind need to be for you to get in there undetected? How will I get to that spot undetected? Do I have to wait until thermal shift? When I'm scouting in the late fall/early spring I think my dog gets so bored because when I'm into sign or terrain features or both, I'm standing there thinking and adding notes to my waypoint markers. I also like to just go to the "Notes" section of my cell phone and create a heading with the date and location and add information that way too. You can then just air print it and put it near your hunting reading material for review.

I get all the focus on the proper location and yes, overall where you hunt is vastly more important than how you hunt.... for the most part. But, if you're a home town ground pounder day in and day out in pressured public land or whatever, how you hunt becomes very important if your goal is a decent buck in the area you have to hunt... I think how becomes pretty critical too.
 
_Dario said:
can you share what items you are documenting and is this something you do when you get home or are you literally jotting things down up in the tree while they are fresh on your mind?
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Dario - my note taking started when I was 16 when I was really big into waterfowl hunting. This is where I learned that hunting geese late in the season on high pressure days was a waste of time. I now keep the same type of notes for deer. However, its a little more detailed with deer. I still pay attention to pressure, etc. For most we get out when we can so we don't get to pick and choose the days we get to go for the most part. I like to keep notes on when deer moved through a certain area. Day/time/weather/etc. Keeping track of all of this and trying to find a common theme. Sometimes there are and sometimes not. I hunt pretty much the same terrain but in different parts of the state. My archery notes consist of earlier in the year and then notes on the rut. Rifle season here in PA is the beginning of December and this is when I hunt northern Pennsylvania. When I locate deer/or find deer moving through an area I like to understand why. If its in the morning are they leaving their beds and going to food or the complete opposite. I've already shot a deer, located it and then when into the area it came from looking for its bed, etc. Some might thing "who cares" you shot the deer. But for me like I stated I want to know the 'why'. This has led me to finding more deer sign and simply learning more about deer movement. But a lot of what I do I've picked up on reading/podcasts/YouTube, etc. I try and read/watch as much as I can. Some good comes from it and some not so much.
 
Thank you very much for that info. I decided I am going to start doing that this year. If nothing else comes of it, it could be a cool way to remember hunts. Pictures/mounts are a cool way to remember hunts when you don’t leave empty handed - reading logs will be for all the other hunts!
 
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