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Woodsmanship skills

I harvested my first deer and I knew instantly that I was created to do this. This realization coupled with a general love of the outdoors that my dad saw and fostered in me (he was not a hunter but a hell of a camper) means that I am in the woods 12 months of the year. I don't think these things are the "woodsmanship" skills that the OP was initially asking about but I could not have built my woodsmanship skills without the first 2 realizations. I think the fact that I feel absolute joy every single time I find a steaming fresh pile of deer poop says it all.
 
kyler1945 said:
Some folks do.

I happen to find the way things actually are, or to the limits of our measurement capabilities, appear, far more interesting and fascinating and awe inspiring than our made up human stories. The most mundane insignificant details, coupled with my intense curiosity, turn into universe tilting questions for me. We are lucky not only to live in this weird place, but we’re somewhat aware of it.

In regards to deer hunting, I don’t want to, or need to convince myself bucks wake up from their nap in a buck bedding area, and spend the afternoon in a staging area discussing the previous nights’ skirt chasing with each other, before moving out to the corn field for a snack.

Billions of years of evolution led to a deer bedding in thick cover, using its nose to navigate to food, and me tricking him into bow range. The amount of small incidents that led to that moment is staggering. I can’t help but be dumbstruck by the enormity of it all.

One of those stories is far more compelling to me.
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If you believe that evolution is the only construct in our universe that relates to animal adaptation than you may be correct. I believe we were all created by a master, I’m dumbstruck by the enormity of that!! And he gave us dominion over all these awesome creatures.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I see it a little differently.

The idea of the sun being a fiery chariot pulled though the sky by a magical man is an uninspired and barbaric explaining-away of ignorance compared the the realities of nuclear fusion and the movement of its satellites through the universe.

The stuff we make up is nowhere near as inspiring to me as reality is. The nuts and bolts of what a whitetail really is, is fascinating. It doesn't need a soul or animus or spirit or human consciousness. It has a four chambered stomach that allows it to chew cud and that uses microbes to convert inedible material into nutrients it can digest. It has horizontal pupils that rotate in their sockets so it can scan it's surroundings with its head down. It's been around longer than we have as far as we can tell. A good bit longer. You could make the argument that it's a superior life form, but even if you don't want to go that far, they're incredible.

Knowing them as truly as we can should only enhance our lives. Same goes for every other phenomenon in the universe. Truth is way more jaw-dropping than the stuff we hatch in our heads.
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I agree that we shouldn’t be Walt Disney world and assign anthropomorphic traits to animals, but everybody knows of a horse, cow, dog, coyote, etc. that has certain behaviors and characteristics that may make them a little different from the norm. I believe its entirely plausible that certain deer will act differently than others for whatever reason. There’s something about hunting some bucks one way and other bucks or deer other ways. Should we over think it? No. Is it fun to consider the possibilities of how some deer manage to be able to grow to maturity in highly pressured environments? Totally.
 
I believe in an intelligent designer that made all we see for a reason. I dont believe that all this intelligence (ours and the deer's) just came from a big boom somewhere. It takes a lot more faith to believe that all of this came from a big boom than to believe that it came from an intelligent creator.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I think on some level a lot of hunters have the idea that there is a lost and subtle art of some sort and if they can learn it they'll be able to see the unseen.
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This is exactly what I was wanting to get at. Hunter A and Hunter B are standing at the same spot in the woods, Hunter A "sees" the spot as THE spot to kill from and knows how to position himself at that spot to maximize his chances for a successful kill and Hunter B does not. Lets also assume the 2 hunters have comparable years of time in the woods. One clearly sees the unseen of the other, why? There is very clearly nuance to why deer make the choices they do as it relates to how, where and when they move, bed and eat. Scouting until you find the spot of highest feeding activity can be time consuming but is easy. It is also a highly effective tactic and how I was taught to hunt. There was no real consideration of buck or doe, it was about maximizing opportunity to kill deer, a tactic. There are lots of very successful tactics and I am keenly interested in them as well. However, I am more compelled to better understand all that I can about the why of the nuance of deer doing what they do. To me woodsmanship skills are the application of observation. The more I can refine those skills, the more effectively I can choose and apply the appropriate tactics for a given scenario.

That was the reason for the post, I want to know what hunters see that clue them in to making the decisions to hunt where they do.
 
BTaylor said:
This is exactly what I was wanting to get at. Hunter A and Hunter B are standing at the same spot in the woods, Hunter A "sees" the spot as THE spot to kill from and knows how to position himself at that spot to maximize his chances for a successful kill and Hunter B does not. Lets also assume the 2 hunters have comparable years of time in the woods. One clearly sees the unseen of the other, why? There is very clearly nuance to why deer make the choices they do as it relates to how, where and when they move, bed and eat. Scouting until you find the spot of highest feeding activity can be time consuming but is easy. It is also a highly effective tactic and how I was taught to hunt. There was no real consideration of buck or doe, it was about maximizing opportunity to kill deer, a tactic. There are lots of very successful tactics and I am keenly interested in them as well. However, I am more compelled to better understand all that I can about the why of the nuance of deer doing what they do. To me woodsmanship skills are the application of observation. The more I can refine those skills, the more effectively I can choose and apply the appropriate tactics for a given scenario.
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In my opinion deer act differently in different parts of the whitetail range. A deer down here in south Alabama does things different than a deer in Kansas. I feel people are different for a reason. Some are natural talented killers, and some are learned killers. I once heard that a man said, "I'm glad everyone is not like me because everyone would want my wife". To which the other man said, "And be glad everyone isn't like me, or nobody would want her". My point is God made us all different and being different is good. It adds variety to life. Now do I wish I was born a natural killer, for sure, but God made me the way I am and if I became a killer it will have to be a learned skill. Some are born to be star athletes, and some become star athletes thru hard work. My lot is the hard work route.
 
Ability to use a compass and read a map, ideally including topo lines should be near the top of everyone's list. Gotta be able to get in and out of the woods safely, and if you're just following a well worn trail or road, you may not see the same numbers of animals as if you get off trail.

Understanding your body-when to eat, when to drink, how to dress for your activity level/sweatiness/cold tolerance

Reading the woods-theres a bajillion subsets to this, from understanding vegetation changes and transitions to finding mast to trails to pretty much everything. Not getting yourself covered in poison ivy or it's unfriendly cousins is a subset of this. So is knowing it's just a squirrel and not looking.

Choosing the right tree to climb(or not)- wind, sun, terrain features, spatial reasoning (estimating shot angles and such from cover)

Fitness.


I'm sure there's a bunch more, that's what initially comes to mind
 
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