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Working my way towards a successful hunt this season.

Schemeecho

Schemeecho

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2020
Messages
313
Location
Gaston, SC.
Hello everyone. As must of you know I am new to not only saddle hunting but still fairly new to hunting in general. I would like to share a little about myself and what I have learned over the past few seasons. Most of which was a due to this site and the forums within it. I started hunting roughly about 6 years ago and started out bow hunting. I did that for two seasons with no luck at all. So I got frustrated with myself and figured that the reason I wasn't being successful was in order to drop something I had to be close, and by close I mean I didn't want to take a shot if it was more then 40 yards. So I sold the bow and bought a rifle. The only thing that changed in two years was my weapon of choice. Still getting frustrated, I was hunting with a few friends and they had no problem filling their tags. I asked all of them what I could be doing wrong. The answers ranged from wrong place wrong time to simply getting busted. I know I wasn't seeing deer so I figured that i was just spooking them or simply setting up wrong. i started to ask myself why was this so hard for me and easy for everyone else? I literally, hopped on Youtube and searched how to hunt deer. I was desperate to make some changes and just didnt know where to start. I started to follow what I was watching and still nothing helped. Then one of my friends said let me help you. He put me on to a spot. He walked me in and said sit here and just watch and listen. That repeated for the entire third season. Again with no luck. On the fourth season I didnt hunt much maybe 5 times that year. On the fifth season and during riffle season that same friend said ok you need to go hunt out here and he showed me another piece of land which was in his family. So there i was just sitting next to a tree at 5 am listening to silence and as the Sun started to crest I saw movement then nothing at all. All of a sudden about 5 yards in front of me were two doe staring right at me. No snort, no blowing just bobbing their heads. i knew if I moved it would be over and I see the white flag of failure. this happened for what seemed to be 20 minutes but I'm sure was only like 5 then they walked right around me like I wasnt there. I was awe struck didn't know what to do and froze. So I told my friend and he laughed so hard then handed me a beer. He said well at least we know the wind was right your scent control was right. So he started to explain that I was set up on the trail where they were known to travel to bedding at that time of year. This was around the last of September. I asked him what I could do differently. He said just keep hunting and it will fall together. He did explain about food sources , how they move, when they move but I was till left with more questions then answers. He's a great guy but not built for mentoring. he did help me and show where to hunt and how to find the public lands to hunt and he did try to help but in the end it was up to me. So surfing Youtube more I found a video about saddle hunting and saddlehunter.com was mentioned. So I came here and started reading and found a lot of answers to some of my questions. Then I started posting and asking specific questions myself. On the following season I was jumping deer as I went in but still no kills. All my fault rookie mistakes. Then a few guys on her really helped me out with some things. A wealth of knowledge and I was over loaded with info. @Bigterp actually took time out of his evening to call me and help me look at some areas on a map to scout and where would be good places to start looking and why. @bowhunterchuck took time to meet with me and go look at the area. when we got there we simply followed a creek until we found small sign. He showed me what to look for and pointed out things as he saw them. We kept following the sign and found an area with really thick cover around the edge of a swampy area, There were lots of deer droppings, multiple rubs and nice big fresh scrape. @Nutterbuster suggested I ask myself why were the deer there? and summed it up with deer all do the same things eat, sleep and hide. @Bwhana Told me in his own way to just get out there, make mistakes and gain experience and to weed through the BS that might be wrong. There are others that have helped also but I just can remember everyone or how they helped me out. All I know is the information was invaluable to me My point to this long post was to thank you, each and everyone of you for the help. This season I feel will be the year it all comes together and if I can only fill just one tag. That's enough to say I'm learning and I owe it all to all of you on saddlehunter .com
 
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I am like u....new adult hunter. Last season was my 6th since I started hunting. It took me 5 years of messing up till I made my first kill. I have been an outdoor enthusiast my whole life and I thought hunting would be easy....I've always seen deer and hogs while growing up. Quickly learned that it's a totally different situation when u start actually trying to kill them.
It get easier after u kill 1 or 2.....I would also suggest u give bow hunting another try. IMO much more gratifying to connect with the bow over a firearm

My Style of Hunting By Mr. Warren Womack

For all you folks new to mobile climbing methods, or those of us that have tinkered with our system enough to be dangerous.... "Not only is it good practice but it's also a good conditioning program for climbing. I try to shoot every day and climb up to shoot and down to retrieve arrows, about...
saddlehunter.com
 
Weldabeast said:
I am like u....new adult hunter. Last season was my 6th since I started hunting. It took me 5 years of messing up till I made my first kill. I have been an outdoor enthusiast my whole life and I thought hunting would be easy....I've always seen deer and hogs while growing up. Quickly learned that it's a totally different situation when u start actually trying to kill them.
It get easier after u kill 1 or 2.....I would also suggest u give bow hunting another try. IMO much more gratifying to connect with the bow over a firearm

My Style of Hunting By Mr. Warren Womack

For all you folks new to mobile climbing methods, or those of us that have tinkered with our system enough to be dangerous.... "Not only is it good practice but it's also a good conditioning program for climbing. I try to shoot every day and climb up to shoot and down to retrieve arrows, about...
saddlehunter.com
Click to expand...
I plan on bow hunting in 2022 that's when I plan on buying another one. I agree that connecting with a bow is much much more gratifying. I love the outdoors also. That's why I don't get bothered much anymore if I don't make a kill. I'm just happy to be out there
 
Hay,
Glad you haven’t given up. I can still set you up out back at my house. Got a crossbow all set up if you want to give it a try. You still got my number? I could use some help with shooting lanes before it gets too hot.
Bowhunterchuck


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bowhunterchuck said:
Hay,
Glad you haven’t given up. I can still set you up out back at my house. Got a crossbow all set up if you want to give it a try. You still got my number? I could use some help with shooting lanes before it gets too hot.
Bowhunterchuck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

We can set something up soon. I'd be glad to help out with the shooting lanes. Thanks again for offering to let me hunt your property. I will take you up on that, especially if you don't mind me hunting on a Sunday? My wife and I are about to go on vacation for our anniversary tomorrow but I will get in touch when we get back and we can plan a day for me to come out and help with shooting lanes. Yes I do still have your number
 
Weldabeast said:
Take advantage of small game to....hunt after hunt of not seeing anything and not being successful will drain u pretty quick. Going out and getting a couple squirrel or whatever other little critter help break up the monotony
Click to expand...
I do the small game when I'm out doing some bushcraft things. I use small game to practice survival skills
 
Weldabeast said:
I am like u....new adult hunter. Last season was my 6th since I started hunting. It took me 5 years of messing up till I made my first kill. I have been an outdoor enthusiast my whole life and I thought hunting would be easy....I've always seen deer and hogs while growing up. Quickly learned that it's a totally different situation when u start actually trying to kill them.
It get easier after u kill 1 or 2.....I would also suggest u give bow hunting another try. IMO much more gratifying to connect with the bow over a firearm

My Style of Hunting By Mr. Warren Womack

For all you folks new to mobile climbing methods, or those of us that have tinkered with our system enough to be dangerous.... "Not only is it good practice but it's also a good conditioning program for climbing. I try to shoot every day and climb up to shoot and down to retrieve arrows, about...
saddlehunter.com
Click to expand...

I would second that. I don’t have many deer under my belt (it’s tough being a gun hunter afforded 2-3 weekends a year in a state with antler count restrictions and buck/doe season splits) but I’d agree that something gets a lot easier after killing one. Don’t know if it’s confidence or woodsmanship that has finally ripened but I hunted age 13-21 and got nothing. Looking back I can’t believe I didn’t give up. However after getting my first doe I started seeing deer waaaay more often, even if they weren’t legal to kill per the season.


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And I’m no expert by any means. But I have to remind myself to be patient and just enjoy the hunt. I’m far more relaxed and probably a better hunter with that perspective than if I’m wound up about filling a tag or bust. A dry season isn’t a failure if I learned something.


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Marmuzz said:
A dry season isn’t a failure if I learned something.
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If you spent a season in the woods with a weapon in your hand and didn't discharge it, that's a failure. It may not be a failure that bothers you. But it's most definitely a failure. You didn't bring that rifle along with you for protection against bears while you endeavored to learn about deer hunting. You brought it to use on a deer and you didn't.

I regularly fail to kill deer. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Doesn't make you a lesser person and shouldn't mean people look down on you. But if you can't admit failure when it occurs, you're killing your ability to get better.
 
Topdog said:
I’m probably in or over the 100 club mentioned in another thread, I have never kept track for sure never really made a difference to me but I have killed a bunch of deer and some great bucks, maybe somebody has already mentioned this I don’t read all the posts generally.... one of the most important aspects to any super successful deer hunter is keeping a positive attitude, I cannot stress this enough, every “legend” deer hunter that I personally know keeps a positive attitude no matter what the conditions are and pushes forward, so much confidence that at times it comes off as being arrogant, comes with repeated success I suppose, every single time I step in the woods I feel as though I am going to kill a great buck, and if it doesn’t happen, which we all know it usually doesn’t, the next day I start the whole process over again, I never quit, I never complain, and I never give up. Whiners who hunt with me or at my camp usually last about one day. Granted it’s hard to feel super confident when your just starting out and learning, it comes with time, but keeping a positive attitude is something that a new hunter can accomplish on day one, costs nothing, and to me is one of the most important qualities a person can posses, don’t be afraid to think out of the box, try new things, there is no set recipe for deer hunting, hence the reason for so many varying opinions, what works for most of these guys mite not work for you. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have killed nice bucks when others would have quit early because it was nasty outside, were tired, or scared to be that far in the woods alone. Hunt like your life depends on it..... but at the end of the day, the number one goal truly is to have fun and spend time with family and friends, good luck this season!
Click to expand...

Great post.

I think this is an underrated concept. When I ask people I work with, or a family member struggling with a task or an issue, how to execute it, I often get this type of answer:

"Well I'm not ready to do this thing." "I tried doing this, but I need this other thing to happen." "I haven't done this before, so I don't expect it to work."


It's all wrong. Get out of your head for a minute. Instead, think "if this is going to work, what will it look like?" if there are things that need to happen or fall in place for success to occur, assume those happen for a minute. Now tell me how you will execute. Visualize it. Practice it. Run through it. Now, go make the missing pieces happen, with the vision of success rattling around in your brain. Actually defining the end result, and working back from there gives some real guidance and motivation.

Some would call it confidence, I reckon.
 
Nutterbuster said:
If you spent a season in the woods with a weapon in your hand and didn't discharge it, that's a failure. It may not be a failure that bothers you. But it's most definitely a failure. You didn't bring that rifle along with you for protection against bears while you endeavored to learn about deer hunting. You brought it to use on a deer and you didn't.

I regularly fail to kill deer. It's not necessarily a bad thing. Doesn't make you a lesser person and shouldn't mean people look down on you. But if you can't admit failure when it occurs, you're killing your ability to get better.
Click to expand...

Well, I’ll meet you halfway. Here’s my caveat: any season in which you don’t draw on an animal is a failure. I pull up my scope on deer often and have to pass them up because it’s a buck/doe in the wrong season or a buck which is legally too small. I think your overall point is don’t be comfortable with failure and use it to push you towards improvement, to which I’d definitely agree. And maybe I’m making excuses and if you think so I can hear that. I’m just saying as a PA gun hunter it’s tough hunting short seasons on heavily hunted public land (on the weekend, mostly just Saturdays) after archery, bear, and turkey seasons have all had their opportunity to spook up the woods and deer are locked down, only to see some but they don’t legally fit that particular season. So I don’t feel the tag alone can weigh your skill as a hunter but it is the ultimate standard. I’m sure that scenario varies by state and I know I need to step up my preseason scouting to promote my odds. But even if I’m diligent with that it feels like when I see deer—on the precious few hunting days I have available—the odds are already stacked against me based on season restrictions. I frequently see bucks running in early doe season/the rut and see pushed-out yearling does/spikes in late buck season (again speaking as a gun hunter). And I never seriously considered archery because I grew up gun hunting on the ground but I gotta admit now that I’m trying saddle hunting, the idea of bowhunting is way more tempting now that I have an elevated stand option. Plus the season is so much longer. Push back on any of that if you disagree because I think the feedback from guys on this site can definitely coach up my ability and I welcome that!


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Marmuzz said:
Well, I’ll meet you halfway. Here’s my caveat: any season in which you don’t draw on an animal is a failure. I pull up my scope on deer often and have to pass them up because it’s a buck/doe in the wrong season or a buck which is legally too small. I think your overall point is don’t be comfortable with failure and use it to push you towards improvement, to which I’d definitely agree. And maybe I’m making excuses and if you think so I can hear that. I’m just saying as a PA gun hunter it’s tough hunting short seasons on heavily hunted public land (on the weekend, mostly just Saturdays) after archery, bear, and turkey seasons have all had their opportunity to spook up the woods and deer are locked down, only to see some but they don’t legally fit that particular season. So I don’t feel the tag alone can weigh your skill as a hunter but it is the ultimate standard. I’m sure that scenario varies by state and I know I need to step up my preseason scouting to promote my odds. But even if I’m diligent with that it feels like when I see deer—on the precious few hunting days I have available—the odds are already stacked against me based on season restrictions. I frequently see bucks running in early doe season/the rut and see pushed-out yearling does/spikes in late buck season (again speaking as a gun hunter). And I never seriously considered archery because I grew up gun hunting on the ground but I gotta admit now that I’m trying saddle hunting, the idea of bowhunting is way more tempting now that I have an elevated stand option. Plus the season is so much longer. Push back on any of that if you disagree because I think the feedback from guys on this site can definitely coach up my ability and I welcome that!


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Click to expand...
I'll definitely push back a little. Iron sharpens iron but only if there's friction, right?

I'll start with where we agree. Gun hunting weekends on pressured public can definitely be difficult. It's far from an ideal learning environment.

Now for where we kinda agree. Bow hunting would potentially open more opportunities, but if you're already learning to use a saddle it just adds a bunch of crap to the list of stuff to learn. If it's really as bad as you say, I'd say buy an out-of-state license to somewhere where there are more deer and fewer people. Folks say it's expensive and they don't have the time, but dollar-for-dollar it's literally the cheapest investment of time and money with the highest rate of return. I would go so far as to say if there's an outfitter in your area that will allow you to do a self-guided hunt to by all means go do that a time or two. You'll get to learn what good deer habitat and density looks like and go through the motions of a successful hunt which is absolutely invaluable.

I just bought a puppy to fetch ducks. Right now he sucks at it and is doing good to bring back a duck wing thrown 10ft. So we throw 10ft in a hallway where he has to run back to me. When he has that in the bag we'll move to 15. 20. 50. If I tried to teach him to make 200 yard blind retrieves, we'd never make a lick of progress. If I decide that in addition to learning to fetch ducks he also has to learn to point at pheasants (kinda like learning to kill deer, saddle hunt, and bow hunt) then it's gonna take a lot longer to achieve proficiency at the duck fetching.

There is nothing wrong with crawling before you run. There is everything wrong with smashing your head against a brick wall because you want to skip a step. If you're hunting all season and not killing deer, you're smashing your head. Something needs to change. A better mentor, different hunting grounds, lower standards for what a "shooter" is. Something.

I absolutely disagree to meet you at your halfway point. A successful hunt means there's a deer in the back of your truck. The purpose of toting a weapon into the woods during open season is to kill with it and I honestly have deep misgivings about the future of the sport if we're telling ourselves different. I strongly suspect it means we're failing to mentor new hunters or that we're failing to maintain good hunting grounds. Probably both and it keeps me up at night. How many people would play a sport if they only got to actually score once a year or less? I'd take my ball and go home and honestly question the mental faculties of anybody who stuck around on that team. The fact that we have these conversations is unsettling. Grown men with disposable income and free time can't kill a goat. That's bad.

Don't settle. Don't be patient. Don't "stay the course." Don't make something up like you enjoy the challenge of heavily-pressured public, or you like the skill required to bowhunt, or you don't think private land is real hunting, or "it's about the friends we made along the way." Take the mentality that if you're not killing deer you're not a hunter, you're a backpacker with lots of useless and weird gear.
 
@Nutterbuster reading through your posts on my post while I was away for the weekend with my wife actually made me laugh. But, like you said failure is failure and there is no two ways about it. Yes I have failed every season, I take full responsibility for that. As you mentioned about a mentor, Remember I haven't had one. I'm learning as I go every year. Remember what i said, the first few seasons I wasn't even seeing deer. Now I'm jumping deer goin in so i have learned to find them a little bit more. Your advice about setting up when i jump them is what I have never done. I was under to impression That when I jump them I blow my hunt. Like I said before. My lack of knowledge is what's causing me Issues. I have no outlet for private land to hunt. I only have public land to hunt. Cant hunt here on public on Sundays and I work every other Saturday .Plus like most people I work all week long so that only gives me 2 Saturdays a month during rifle season. Our deer season opens for public in September. Rifle season opens in October and season ends January 1st. So figure that I have 12 actual weeks to hunt, now my job only allows me to hunt 6 of those weeks. So I'm trying my hardest to bridge that gap and maximize on the days that I can hunt to make something happen. I like what you said about failing to mentor new hunters. I think it boils down to most dont have the patience to mentor anyone or simply dont want to. Thats why I am glad for those of you on here that are willing to help. I dont hunt for bragging rights, I dont hunt for the trophy rack. I hunt for meat so if its brown it's down this season. I have 300,000 acres of forest land that I can hunt so I'll be spending a lot of Sundays scouting before season this year.
 
@Nutterbuster Good friction. You raise some intriguing points. I’ve been mulling it over the past several days. People hunt for many reasons and may enjoy the hunt even if they return empty handed, but ultimately whatever the motivation, all those reasons are succinctly nullified by the immediate post-hunt question when you walk through the doorway: “Did you get anything?” We hunt to kill game. Anything else is a walk in the woods.

To what you said about bowhunting: yeah, I’m not trying that for another year or two. Figuring out the saddle is a steep enough learning curve, let alone also trying to neatly pierce some walking lungs at a 45° angle.
 
Schemeecho said:
Hello everyone. As must of you know I am new to not only saddle hunting but still fairly new to hunting in general. I would like to share a little about myself and what I have learned over the past few seasons. Most of which was a due to this site and the forums within it. I started hunting roughly about 6 years ago and started out bow hunting. I did that for two seasons with no luck at all. So I got frustrated with myself and figured that the reason I wasn't being successful was in order to drop something I had to be close, and by close I mean I didn't want to take a shot if it was more then 40 yards. So I sold the bow and bought a rifle. The only thing that changed in two years was my weapon of choice. Still getting frustrated, I was hunting with a few friends and they had no problem filling their tags. I asked all of them what I could be doing wrong. The answers ranged from wrong place wrong time to simply getting busted. I know I wasn't seeing deer so I figured that i was just spooking them or simply setting up wrong. i started to ask myself why was this so hard for me and easy for everyone else? I literally, hopped on Youtube and searched how to hunt deer. I was desperate to make some changes and just didnt know where to start. I started to follow what I was watching and still nothing helped. Then one of my friends said let me help you. He put me on to a spot. He walked me in and said sit here and just watch and listen. That repeated for the entire third season. Again with no luck. On the fourth season I didnt hunt much maybe 5 times that year. On the fifth season and during riffle season that same friend said ok you need to go hunt out here and he showed me another piece of land which was in his family. So there i was just sitting next to a tree at 5 am listening to silence and as the Sun started to crest I saw movement then nothing at all. All of a sudden about 5 yards in front of me were two doe staring right at me. No snort, no blowing just bobbing their heads. i knew if I moved it would be over and I see the white flag of failure. this happened for what seemed to be 20 minutes but I'm sure was only like 5 then they walked right around me like I wasnt there. I was awe struck didn't know what to do and froze. So I told my friend and he laughed so hard then handed me a beer. He said well at least we know the wind was right your scent control was right. So he started to explain that I was set up on the trail where they were known to travel to bedding at that time of year. This was around the last of September. I asked him what I could do differently. He said just keep hunting and it will fall together. He did explain about food sources , how they move, when they move but I was till left with more questions then answers. He's a great guy but not built for mentoring. he did help me and show where to hunt and how to find the public lands to hunt and he did try to help but in the end it was up to me. So surfing Youtube more I found a video about saddle hunting and saddlehunter.com was mentioned. So I came here and started reading and found a lot of answers to some of my questions. Then I started posting and asking specific questions myself. On the following season I was jumping deer as I went in but still no kills. All my fault rookie mistakes. Then a few guys on her really helped me out with some things. A wealth of knowledge and I was over loaded with info. @Bigterp actually took time out of his evening to call me and help me look at some areas on a map to scout and where would be good places to start looking and why. @bowhunterchuck took time to meet with me and go look at the area. when we got there we simply followed a creek until we found small sign. He showed me what to look for and pointed out things as he saw them. We kept following the sign and found an area with really thick cover around the edge of a swampy area, There were lots of deer droppings, multiple rubs and nice big fresh scrape. @Nutterbuster suggested I ask myself why were the deer there? and summed it up with deer all do the same things eat, sleep and hide. @Bwhana Told me in his own way to just get out there, make mistakes and gain experience and to weed through the BS that might be wrong. There are others that have helped also but I just can remember everyone or how they helped me out. All I know is the information was invaluable to me My point to this long post was to thank you, each and everyone of you for the help. This season I feel will be the year it all comes together and if I can only fill just one tag. That's enough to say I'm learning and I owe it all to all of you on saddlehunter .com
Click to expand...
Never get discouraged. It took me 11 years to get my first kill under my belt I made every mistake you could read about all while trying to everything you’re “supposed to” there are lots of very knowledgeable guys here from what I’ve seen I’m my short time here. And they all seem more than willing to help out for the most part! Just keep working at it buddy read the books all you want but read the terrain,the sign and the wind for the real success
 
Tim0712 said:
Never get discouraged. It took me 11 years to get my first kill under my belt I made every mistake you could read about all while trying to everything you’re “supposed to” there are lots of very knowledgeable guys here from what I’ve seen I’m my short time here. And they all seem more than willing to help out for the most part! Just keep working at it buddy read the books all you want but read the terrain,the sign and the wind for the real success
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I'm trying to do, read the sign, play the wind, and understand the terrain, But most of all I'm trying my best to understand why the deer do what they do and how us hunters make them change the way they act. Trust me when I say that I'm not giving up on the hunt. I'm not making the same mistakes I once was. I know I'll make plenty more along the way. I'll figure out my game plan and do my best to make something happen this season.
 
Marmuzz said:
@Nutterbuster Good friction. You raise some intriguing points. I’ve been mulling it over the past several days. People hunt for many reasons and may enjoy the hunt even if they return empty handed, but ultimately whatever the motivation, all those reasons are succinctly nullified by the immediate post-hunt question when you walk through the doorway: “Did you get anything?” We hunt to kill game. Anything else is a walk in the woods.

To what you said about bowhunting: yeah, I’m not trying that for another year or two. Figuring out the saddle is a steep enough learning curve, let alone also trying to neatly pierce some walking lungs at a 45° angle.
Click to expand...
I wouldnt wait 2 years to learn how to bow hunt. Its not as hard as everyone makes it out to be. I grew up gun hunting and bought my first bow 4 yrs ago. Practiced for a few days and shot a doe my first hunt out on public. My first yr i shot 7 does and 2 bucks. The first week of archery isnt the same as rifle season. The deer arent as cautious yet. Find some archery only public land if you can. You dont need a $1200 bow. My bow cost 200 bucks (used) and killed deer just as dead. You have all summer to practice. Take 20 shots every day and youll be more than ready when season rolls around. A good example of keeping it simple is "the hunting public" on youtube. They dont try to sell you on a bunch of unnecessary gear and tactics.
 
We face failure in every single thing that we do and it doesn't mean that we strive to fail, but hopefully the opposite! On the other hand, if it's not a life-threatening failure (to you, not the deer haha), it doesn't mean that we cannot enjoy the experience and hopefully learn something from it. I have been hunting since 10 years old, playing and stalking in the woods since as far back as I can remember, and I'm well seasoned and successful at this point (for my age, I won't throw numbers out there, but it's more than many have harvested in a lifetime). I was lucky, and my father to date, is still one of the best woodsman and hunter that I've known... I've personally have become more selective with age and/or success. To the failure point, I don't know anyone with a 100% success rate for every hunt. So what is a failure, a "0" for the season, or "0" for the "hunt"? Failure should not be "accepted" but rather used as the incentive to do better! That being said, if we hated the outdoors and loved harvesting game, I highly doubt most of us would continue as hunters lol. My failure "rating" would be a season in which I was not able fill my freezer and tags, and did not learn something each time afield. I was lucky enough to mentor someone last year and they were able to harvest two good freezer queens, which happened to be their first and second deer with the bow ever. Good luck everyone!
 
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