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Nutterbuster

Nutterbuster

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2017
Messages
10,066
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Where the skys are so blue!
Gear is good. But no amount of LWCG, Tethr'd, Sitka, or Gearhead Archery gear will kill a deer for you. I know we know this, but I think we forget it often. I know I do.

Remember, the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. And the main thing is finding deer.

Below is a page from one of my favorite hunting books of all time. Reading it for the first time was a real game....it kinda changed the....

(Throws up in mouth)

Nope. Cant do it. :) It was a good read, and it made me a better hunter. "Whitetails" by Dr. Sheppard.

Screenshot_20200112-050922_Amazon Kindle.jpg


I keep that page printed out on my fridge and next to my computer at work. I post it on here prerry regular. It's not about gear. It's not about how high you climb, how far you walk, how early you get up, or even how much milkweed you drop. Doesn't matter how perfect your access was, how quiet your gear is, or how well you understand the thermals around your tree if there ain't no freaking deer there to walk by.
 
Yep been learning this the hard way this year, also been on my phone to much looking at on-x in the woods instead of keeping my eyes open around me.
 
Cbigbear said:
Yep I posted yesterday the definition of game changer - relocation to IA with unlimited free time while making the same about of household income.
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You joke, but seriously...

I spent more time last summer researching areas to hunt than ever before. It's paid off. I've walked less and driven more, if you catch my drift. I've also hunted more thanks to a career change.

Access and opportunity.
 
Finally bought it. It says on his website there is an audiobook also but I’m not able to find it. Be nice to listen while driving or sitting at work.
 
I read it every year right before season, sometimes more than once in a year. Every time start thinking deer "move" or "stage" or any other behavior that I color with a human crayon, I think of the book.

"I did not make the rules the whitetail lives by. I have learned to play by his rules and become an immensely successful hunter."

This is useful advice for hunting, but pretty much all aspects of life. You can beat your head against a wall trying to change some things. You can ignore obvious details in order to make stuff make sense in your head. Or you can accept that some things are, and they aren't worth worrying about, and adapt.
 
I figure the peak of my season (rut) I may have a 10-15% chance at a target buck on a per day basis. That's an approximation over 20 years of hunting. If I hunt 10 days, statistically speaking I should most likely get a buck of the caliber I am after. I don't go out there with the mindset "I am going to kill a buck today" because for my psyche, that creates too much disappointment when I don't. Just another day, another lottery ticket. Put the time in.

The way I mostly view gear is that the % baseline is static and totally dependent on my abilities and choices, but some gear helps me tough it out and accumulate enough lottery tickets to achieve what I am looking to. But mostly it's a money pit driven by the desire to try out shiny new things.
 
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It's easy to get distracted by new hunting gadgets. Same way with fishing and new fishing lures. It's taken a few years to realize that if I want to be successful I need to put in more time in the offseason. Hard to be successful on public land without having some spots picked out ahead of season. But it's easy to blame it on my broadheads, release, sight, etc. Need to keep it simple. Scout and shoot my bow more often. Worry less about equipment that is perfectly fine for killing deer.
 
Aaronpaul14 said:
Finally bought it. It says on his website there is an audiobook also but I’m not able to find it. Be nice to listen while driving or sitting at work.
Click to expand...
From Bob Sheppard's site: Digital downloads should be available from the iTunes music store as well as Audible, Amazon and other online sources soon as well. If you have a paper version of the book, you can download a free copy of the audiobook by going to the last page in the book for directions of how to download it.

Sent from up in a tree
 
Yeah this book is a real GAME CHANGER! EPIC at the very least. Some of the things he writes about are SPOT ON .
 
GTel said:
From Bob Sheppard's site: Digital downloads should be available from the iTunes music store as well as Audible, Amazon and other online sources soon as well. If you have a paper version of the book, you can download a free copy of the audiobook by going to the last page in the book for directions of how to download it.

Sent from up in a tree
Click to expand...

Yeah that’s what I had read but I still haven’t been able to find it. Maybe they aren’t available yet. I bought the digital copy. I will keep checking off and on for the audiobook to be available. If I’m missing something and someone has found it please share the link to them.
 
Bump-a-rump.

Season is creeping up on some of us. Are you hunting for areas that can make you look like a better hunter than you are? Or are you chasing bucks that don't exist and spending that gas and out-of-state license money on toys to play with on land that just don't cut the mustard?

Read the harvest reports. Check the record books. Find the places where deer live in abundance. Lace up your boots and go find the 20% of ground that hides 80% of the deer in those areas. Don't make it hard. Deer eat, hide, and sometimes breed. If your stand location doesn't capitalize on one of those things, dump that spot. Don't try to make a spot work, find a spot that works for you.
 
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