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Woodsmanship

_Dario

_Dario

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2021
Messages
500
Location
South Jersey
In your opinion, what are must have resources to sharpen your woodsmanship/general deer hunting skills other than mentors or experience?

I know this is a somewhat loaded question since mentors and experience go together with hunting like spaghetti and meatballs (lamb and tuna fish?).

Being an unmentored, “later in life” starting hunter, I am interested to hear what others would consider must have resources (literature, media, etc) to becoming a better hunter, or interpreting sign smarter/identifying key components to a potential set, etc (woodsmanship).

One example that has helped me tremendously is pretty ‘new school’. It is an app that really had a great impact - I downloaded it and paid a yearly fee (like $20?) and I can take a picture of any leaf/mast and it will tell me (in seconds if I have service, later when I get service) exactly what plant/tree I am looking at. There’s no doubt that this has seriously boosted my knowledge in terms of tree identification and what to look for when scouting.

Interested to hear what you guys have.
 
_Dario said:
Being an unmentored, “later in life” starting hunter, I am interested to hear what others would consider must have resources (literature, media, etc) to becoming a better hunter, or interpreting sign smarter/identifying key components to a potential set, etc (woodsmanship).
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I'm all ears as well.
 
Mapping hill country bucks. Eberharts books are a good jump off point. Anything by the Wensells is worth a read. Dan Infalts dvds are a good video series. I’d further suggest books on local plant life and deer biology as a whole.
 
Just reading the land and sign, especially the subtle sign in order to understand what the deer are doing and why their doing it. The typical sign people look for is great for knowledge (rubs, scrapes, etc..) but I’m finding that most of the best spots I’ve found and hunted have been of a very minimal amount of sign like subtle browse lines leading into bedding where there is no other sign around. Like OP mentioned onX and similar apps are great to track these things then look at the big picture and put it all together. That and understanding thermals and how they can make or break your set up. Granted this is all catered towards deer hunting but to expand, being able to identify trees and plants to find out if it’s a good food source and when it will be ready for eating. Then finding these sources where deer are and can access securely with concealment. Apps like op mentioned are great for this if you know what the deer want to eat. Lastly, land navigation. Most people are just bad at this, it takes practice and an understanding of the lay of the land and terrain association. Just some 2 cents.
Most of these topics can be found just by googles, that and the hunting beast website has a ton of great knowledge and lessons learned from great hunters.
 
Tons of info available now and podcasts are huge. Learn from as many people as possible and take what applies to your situation. I wasted lot of time in my youth trying to replicate what I saw TV hunters doing.

Hunting with people in my area that were above my skill set helped me more than anything and still does.
 
I don't really know how to define woodsmanship so I won't comment on that

I am also a new later in life hunter. I waisted so much time hunting "spots/areas." I would walk along and look for areas I thought in my mind i would see some deer. I never liked hurrying up to go wait for hours in a tree but that's what I thought I had to do to be successful.....find nice areas, post up, and wait till something happens. I hated that. Our quota hunts are normally 3 days long. I would have my couple prescouted "spots" and I'd just sit there for 3 days looking at my pretty spot and not seeing any deer. It didn't feel right...like I was waisting tons of time waiting on the action to come to me vs being proactive and finding where the action is....but everything I heard or read said kinda otherwise. I would get stressed out during deer season up to the point it was no fun anymore. My favorite time of hunting season was after deer season closed and I would spot and stalk hogs and much more successful and more important was more fun. Then I found this site and started reading/learning which there is some real good info spread all throughout SH but it can be hard to find sometimes. Then I read this post ( https://saddlehunter.com/community/index.php?threads/my-style-of-hunting-by-mr-warren-womack.8155/ ) and I was like....ding, this here is right up my alley. Using this new mindset I have been much more successful... successful in a sense of I am consistently having deer in range on much higher number of sits. I might not always get a shot but I'm seeing animals and majority of the time those animals are close to or within my bow range. I still get skunked but , knock on wood, it's becoming less and less frequent.

IMO just being out there is best...everything is so regional (at least in my case) a good majority of stuff i read doesn't amount to anything because most of what i read or hear on utube doesn't apply to this area I live and hunt.

I'm always extra friendly to any other hunters I meet out in the woods hoping that maybe somebody feel pity and help show the ropes but I think in the long run it was better for me to learn on my own.
 
Awesome I am reading that thread now. I remember him talking about the “drop a leaf, kill a buck” tactic on a THP podcast awhile back. I copied all of those excerpts to my phone so I can reference them whenever. Thanks for posting that.
 
Bowonly said:
Tons of info available now and podcasts are huge. Learn from as many people as possible and take what applies to your situation. I wasted lot of time in my youth trying to replicate what I saw TV hunters doing.

Hunting with people in my area that were above my skill set helped me more than anything and still does.
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Bingo. Not everything Infalt or Eberhart or Womack or anyone for that matter applies to your area. Start making observations for yourself then mix in some of the advice they give.
 
Dario ,
You have the right mindset.
Later in life can be a good thing . You probably didn’t pick up bad habits from misguided friends or family members.
I’ll 2nd reading the Womack thread.
Nutter buster had a thread on worthwhile reads, but I can’t remember the cryptic thread name.
Try to meet up with a few SH members locally to chat gear, deer and the woods.
I like Eberharts books as well but read with a open mind. If I were that disciplined I would be a better hunter but I would not enjoy the woods as much.
Spend more time and money hunting/ scouting, then buying gear.
 
As someone that spends a lot of time in the woods, grew up in them and feel more at home in a tent than my bed I can honestly say wilderness/field medical training is something everyone over looks. From the major need for a tourniquet to herbs and grasses for bee stings and poison ivy. Life outdoors gets a little more comfortable when you know how to take care of yourself in a situation.
 
Jagger0502 said:
As someone that spends a lot of time in the woods, grew up in them and feel more at home in a tent than my bed I can honestly say wilderness/field medical training is something everyone over looks. From the major need for a tourniquet to herbs and grasses for bee stings and poison ivy. Life outdoors gets a little more comfortable when you know how to take care of yourself in a situation.
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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"
 
It’s not really a resource per say, but I’d say developing a love for scouting has been the most important thing for me in gaining woodsmanship skills. This has caused me to be in the woods WAYYYYY more than all my buddies who just show up a week before season and put out a trail cam. I’m out there every chance I get and because of it I see deer doing deer things all the time. The more I do it, the more I observe and figure out the deer, then the more I love it and the more I continue to scout. So bottom line: not just time in woods, but time in woods actively observing.
 
It has been mentioned but Eberhart's books are super solid. They really improved my hunting and my woodsmanship (from a deer perspective).

Identifying trees when they have leaves on is pretty easy most of the time. Any field guide will do the job. I use one that is specific to my province so I don't have to consider stuff that doesn't grow around here.
 
I havent done this because most of the ground I hunt, I have years of scouting and hunting knowledge of so I dont take many notes. But this year I am going to be hunting some new public areas and I will take a small note pad with me. As I scout and while hunting I will be dropping pins on Onx and will make some notes about that pin. Noting edges, thickets, food sources, ditch crossings, etc. Then you can zoom out and see the topography. It will help pretty quickly paint a picture of food, bedding and travel.
 
There are no real secrets, just time in the woods, time studying maps either real or memorex (remember that you old fellers??) (digital maps) and learning by mistakes. Also, don't get caught up in gear and gadgets but learning what is happening in the woods.

More recent and relevant specific to your area you may want to look up stuff from Ralph Scherder at his site First Fork Publications here:
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/bookstore-1 he has an ebook on Hunting Mountain Whitetails and also Pursuing Pennsylvania from another PA guy. Good information. I have no affiliation but I do also have a couple of his trapping books and they are very well done.
 
woodsdog2 said:
There are no real secrets, just time in the woods, time studying maps either real or memorex (remember that you old fellers??) (digital maps) and learning by mistakes. Also, don't get caught up in gear and gadgets but learning what is happening in the woods.

More recent and relevant specific to your area you may want to look up stuff from Ralph Scherder at his site First Fork Publications here:
https://www.firstforkpublications.com/bookstore-1 he has an ebook on Hunting Mountain Whitetails and also Pursuing Pennsylvania from another PA guy. Good information. I have no affiliation but I do also have a couple of his trapping books and they are very well done.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that, I’m going to check that out
 
It isn't a "hold in your hands" resource, but if you can make it work, attend one of John Eberhart's or Dan Infalt's in person scouting workshops. I've attended both in the past, well worth it in my opinion. Videos and books are great, and what has been mentioned here already are all awesome resources, but in person is so valuable.

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