• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Things you've learned (no gear allowed)

Nutterbuster

Nutterbuster

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2017
Messages
10,064
Location
Where the skys are so blue!
I know we generally talk about gear on here. We all know what kinda saddle who wears, what kinda bow who shoots, and what kinda camo who wears (or doesn't wear.)

I wanna hear what you've learned, that can apply to any hunter, saddle or no. I don't care if you hunted 2 years or 60. But...

RULES

You cannot mention a piece of hunting gear, you cannot argue with what somebody else has learned, and you cannot comment without including what you have learned. Dem'z da rules.

I'll start.

Deer are pretty simple to hunt. It all revolves around the desire to not be eaten and to keep their bellies full. For about one month out of the year, they also wanna breed. This inclusion of one little task throws their entire, simple little world into insanity. Wanna find deer? Ask yourself, "Where can I hide, what can I eat, and where can I hookup with the ladies?" That's 90% of the game.

Deer don't read hunting magazines. They don't know where they're "supposed" to live, or how they're "supposed" to move. They don't read maps, or feel obligated to be where the map says they should be. They live where nobody bothers them, and eat the best food they can find without compromising their safety.

Your secret spot is not secret. No, not even that one.

Bucks die during the first week of season and during the rut.

You can't shoot as well as you think you can.

20% of the spots produce 80% of the deer. Don't hunt a good spot. Hunt the best spot. Always be looking for the best spot, whether it's on 50 acres or 50,000. Collect best spots like crazy ladies collect cats. You can't have too many, and you obviously have to replace the ones that die off, right? ;)

I'll add more as I think of them. Maybe this will be a good summer thread?
 
Hunt on a downwind angle from where the animals will be approaching from. The deer use the wind to find the food and the ladies.

Practice at being better at shooting than everyone you know. Than get better than that.

Sent from up in a tree
 
Your teachers and your parents lied to you when they told you that you could be president (unless your teachers taught at Yale and your parents are millionaires with political connections). Likewise, unless you hunt in an area where big deer can consistently grow to maturity, you will never be a big buck serial killer.

Everybody hunts in "the hardest state to hunt" regardless of their zip code.

I'm better off burning gas than I am burning money.

Apophenia is real.
 
I've realized that the farm I like to hunt W/ over 55 deer on it is too hard to hunt the wind. It seems all bedding is down wind from any legal access I have. The smaller plots I have to hunt have few deer but a little easier to kill. I've learned to enjoy hunting more W/ a saddle than I ever did before. I've also learned to enjoy using milkweed, technically not gear. This is still the greatest place for learning new hunting tid bits. Thanks.
 
I learned that Nutterbuster is wordy...when he cracks a High Life, he’s more wordy.
I learned over the years to keep hunting fun. Too many folks get too wrapped up in doing what they think they are supposed to. Go back to hunting the way you like and keep it fun. You’ll be more successful and you’ll still really enjoy the days it doesn’t go your way.
 
This is one many of you may disagree with. For me, as I have aged, hunting deer has become less about the actual killing and more about the entire experience. I hunt in a state which only allows 2 deer (unless you draw a separate doe tag or have access to AG block permits) and I now find those two tags are more valuable to me than the deer they allow me to take. They are my access passes to get in the woods with a weapon and enjoy the hunting experience. Once they are gone my season closes and my fun ends. When friends ask why I didn't shoot deer early in the season my statement is always the same " For me to shoot one this early it's gonna have to be Bullwinkle to make it worth expending that tag early." I mean, what happens if another "Bullwinkle" walks by the next day.

When I was younger, the success criteria was all about the kill. No deer, no success. I've been hunting deer now over 45 years and I've killed a bunch of deer (not @WHW numbers but I've been above average successful). At this point in my life it doesn't matter to me if I put one down as long as I've met the challenge of getting close enough to have been successful. One of the things I track in my deer log is "Passes", situations where I'm pretty sure I could have connected but chose not to.

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't get too wound up about the end of the hunt that you forget to enjoy the experience of the hunt. It's a lesson I've learned over the years.
 
Now, actual deer hunting advice. Focus on edges. Edges can mean a break in tree type (pines to hardwoods, 80 year old hardwoods to 5 year old clear cut, etc) or it can be edges of terrain. These edges provide deer travel corridors and I sit them when the wind is blowing across the edge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top