Do you have this "game" all figured out?

Jeff,if you have it figured out why do you need to be mobile? Why not just the one set placed where you know they are going to be?

 

Yeah...If I ever figure it out, I don't think it would be fun at all... Kind of like video games. I beat them, they are boring...

 

Are you implying there aren't the same number of variables in hunting (if not more) to have "it all figured out"?? Wind, entry/exit routes, funnels, rut phase, camo (haha), practice shooting, stand locations, etc.... It's all relevant. It depends on what level one has "figured it out" with any of these analogies. Yes you CAN figure it out to a certain level. Nobody will ever figure anything out completely at what they do. That means there is nothing more to learn. I'm not buying it.

I'll go back to baseball and golf. When A-Rod bats 1.000 and hits a homerun every plate appearance, then he really has nothing else to figure out. He has perfected the baseball swing. When a golfer gets the ball in the hole on every shot he hits, then he has nothing else to figure out. He has perfected THE GAME. Untill then you haven't figured the whole game out. You may be excelling in it at a high level but haven't entirely figured it out.

 

I am going to use another sporting analogy. Lets talk mixed martial arts fighting. There are some mma fight trainers out there that can diagnose and create a fighting game plan for their fighters that simply cannot be duplicated by others in the field. They are simply uncanny in their ability to find the weaknesses of other fighters. If you ask most anyone in the fight game about that specific trainer, they will almost all say they are phenomenal and would appreciate their input when preparing for a fight. Does that trainer have the fight game "figured out"? I would say yes. Now can that same trainer strap on the gloves and fight the best in the world? Most cannot due to age or physical ability, yet they have the knowledge to help their fighters win in almost any environment, under an ever changing set of rules, and against the best fighters in the world. See the difference between having the game figured out, and actually being able to score on what your brain already knows to be true. That is the point I feel that is being talked around since we introduced sporting analogies in this post.

 

Define what kind of hunting you're referring too? Deer or mature deer?

Define what part of it being figured out?

Let me just add.. I once was a phenomenal fisherman (really.. not trying to brag).. years ago I basically all but gave it up.. became a bowhunter..

I still get out about 5 or 6 times a year and really fish for some largemouth.. the rest is divided into putting my wife on gills.

About 2 weeks ago I headed out for the first time this year to a familiar piece of water with my cousin.. in less than 2 minutes I hooked on a good 4 1/2 pound female.

BUT.. and it's a big BUT.. I know that I am just not the fisherman I once was.. as I didn't catch another fish the remaining 2 hours.. years ago that 4.5 pounder would have just started my day.

What changed?

My mind did.. it keeps reflecting on past presentations that once worked this timing of the year which kept me constantly changing my lure and entire presentation.. instead of just being patient with what should work.

So.. I don't think hunting would be that easy 10 years from now. Sure.. I could take a deer.. and every now and again could take a buck i was after.. but I wouldn't be as good as I was 10 years before..

WHY?

Because I would have forgotten much.. and would have troubles staying focused on what IS working and what once worked.

We're all people.. and it would happen to you too. Because we would reflect to quickly on what ONCE worked and always try to do what ONCE worked (10 years ago) instead of letting go (today.. 10 years later).. and just allowing yourself to get past early frustrations and being patient.

The brain is stupid like that.

 

I haven't read all the posts on here but I'm shocked by the few I have. Isn't there always something to learn? I find it extremely challenging to hunt new properties every year. I pride myself in networking multiple states and hunt different properties year after year. It's tough. However, it does all depend on what you're after. If you just want to bloody an arrow, then yeah, after a couple years of experience you can do that. Now try taking a mature buck on a regular basis... Now THATS a challenge and one I feel very few people around can lay claim to.

 

Yes, the question is too broad I guess. Another thread should be do you feel you have the "game" figured out to a point where you can kill mature bucks consistantly. (Then again, you can make semantics out of that as well.)

 

If you are meeting your individual goals each season does that mean you have it figured out? I suspect that is why we change our goals from time to time at least until we set goals that we can't meet each year. Perhaps we "figure it out" in stages and change goals so that we need to figure more stuff out.

That was what we did when I was powerlifting. Figure out how to attain certain goals under prescribed conditions (drug free, using nutrition and training methods) and once we attained those goals, we set new goals. Nutrition and training methods would change and adapt to reach the new goals. Just like hunting methods must change and adapt to meet new goals.

When I have "figured it out" that just means I have to set new goals.

 

Jeff, in my post i was referencing successful as killing a mature 4.5+ buck.

 

I can say with 100% honesty... I have picked the wrong setup MANY, MANY more times than I picked the right one.

Make your own conclusion.

 

Do I have it figured out, maybe. I am pretty good at killing deer. I can go to nearly any hunting ground and kill a deer in a reasonable time frame. But let's be real, I learn something every time I go to the stand. Even if it is a small thing like how a deer moves and looks around during different weather situations. When I stop taking that from a hunt I am not going anymore.

 

No, there aren't the same number of variables. Deer don't have a mind, nor do they have the power to reason. Period.

Execution and having it "figured out" are two totally different things. Just because someone has it all "figured out" doesn't mean they can execute every single time. If you have the game of bowling "figured out" it doesn't mean you roll a strike every single time.

 

:D

 

Bedding area feeding area, be some were in between at the right time. RUT no telling they travel out of there area
just like I did and you did when when we were looking for some PU-TANG not no more but we have
all done that and been there before.

 

Thats exactly what I'm talking about! And yeah, we are arguing semantics. BUT,if you have it figured out shoudn't you know the when?

I have deer hunting figured out enough to find deer and give myself a reasonable chance at killing a deer. I can find where they eat, sleep, water, and breed and I can find those places in a reasonable amount of time. When I can consistantly,(75% of seasons?), kill a mature buck or 2 by knowing WHEN to be in the place I need to be to kill a mature buck then I'll think I have it figured out. I honestly don't have the timing down so I don't have it figured out.

 

All this, for that - wow!

Jeff - Are you the guy that writes the puzzles for the children?
You know, the puzzles where you have 4 pictures and you have to find the one thing different about one of the pictures...

Your posts can be like, "verbal camouflage", grasping onto one little detail that others can simply assume!!!

That's a catchy new diplomatic saying (verbal camouflage), LOL

My Pappy (RIP) used to tell me "it never pays to assume". I wholeheartedly agree with him on some instances,
but as I get older (@ a ripe age of 42), I have realized that in "conversations" assumptions must be made,
in order to assume what another is thinking.

Or

Is this a battle of wits for you???
Wesley represents the many forums you frequent,
come on laugh a little I know you have it in you!!! LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUee1WvtQZU

 

Lol I disagree (again)

If a bowler had the game figured out why didnt' he roll a strike? Something broke down in his game. Why would he have to decide why he did NOT roll a strike on that particular ball if he already had everything figured out? Very simple actually.

 

Not figured out, but I know what I am doing, and that is a good feeling. Confidence is nice to have instead of a lack of it. It took years to learn, and there was no one to teach me.

 

this is really funny.....why do men feel the need for this?? is it ego? is in insecurity? Let me let a few of you in on something of a secret.....NOBODY has it all figured out. If they did, they would kill a big buck everyday of the season if it were legal. They tag out the first 3 days of the season. They would be bored...NOBODY wants to have it all figured out, well, maybe there is one guy.

 

Is there another way of looking at things? Maybe I'm missing something. I didn't get to where I am by accepting anything less than 100%. Still not there at anything I do, but I'm going to die trying to get there at everything I do.