I spoke with an older guy at our gun club last night...........I was telling a few guys about my recent trip and they said "you should talk to Frank over there, he has killed some monsters". I've only seen this guy around a few times and never really said much so I strike up a conversation and start asking about his "monsters". He says he has 4 deer all over 160" with the largest being 184"............immediately I know none were killed in NY but I was talking about an out of state hunt anyways so we chatted on. He tells me that he got to a certain point in his life and just decided he wanted to kill a big buck. He took 6 weeks a year and booked hunts in 3 big buck states (mostly Kansas, Illinois, Ohio.........with some trips to Missouri and Wisconsin mixed in) Some outfitters and some just permission to hunt. For 6 weeks straight he would sit from dark to dark and in 3 years he had his current wall decorations. He spoke VERY boastfully and made claims like "I won't even pick up the bow unless it's over 160"...............as I asked him what was most instrumental in him killing these big bucks all he could offer was "stay in your tree.......you never know when a hot doe will happen by"........then he gestured towards another guy listening and said "he's a GOOD hunter ask him........he sits all day" When I said to him "I'm not much for the lottery mentality approach to hunting" he didn't seem to understand what I meant...........I clarified by saying "I don't like just sitting in a tree all day hoping to get lucky"..........he didn't care for the last word of that sentence. Trying to avoid the ugliness that was about to unfold I said "Don't get me wrong, I'm not taking away from your accomplishments but seriously..........it's gotta be harder to sit for 6 weeks straight dark to dark during the rut in 3 big buck states and NOT kill a wall full of slammers then it is to do it" The conversation deteriorated rapidly at that point and we all just kind of changed the subject. I really meant no offense..........I just don't view sitting all day hoping a hot doe runs by as a skill. He obviously does. I read it a lot of times on the boards too..............just tough it out man, you never know, hot doe comes by and everything changes, slammer could be on his way to your stand any second..........my buddy killed one on the last day 10 years ago.........I saw a buck one time in a hail storm............hunt 10-2 when everyone else heads in. I cringe when I read stuff like that because it reduces everything we do to a game of chance.............I can't stand the thought of putting in as many hours as I do and sitting in my stand thinking "man I HOPE a hot doe runs by" My best friends uncle won $2,000/week for life on a scratch off ticket at a local gas station last year..........should I go there and buy a bunch of scratch off tickets now thinking I will have the same thing happen to me?? His cousin shot an absolute monster on state land out here about 10-12 years ago (150's)............he has gone to the same tree religiously ever since and only killed one doe with his gun..............I asked him why the hell he still sits there and he looks at me like I am CRAZY and says "did you see the buck I killed from that tree"?? I can't stand the lottery mentality in any aspect of life............it just surprises me how often it pops up in the world of hunting, even among guys who work VERY hard at trying to succeed.
Luck is the biggest part of hunting. Then money. IMO. Your either LUCKY to have good bucks in your woods/area/properties, or you go out and PAY to either: A) Go on guided hunts B) Lease good land Nothing wrong with either...but even the most SKILLED hunter in the universe gets lucky. Nobody can make the buck do what they want, they can influence him to do certain things, but hes not on a rope....you could do everything right and that buck could miss your shooting lane by 6 inches...you just gotta get lucky somewhere in the equation.
I think there is a HUGE difference in the luck you are speaking of and just climbing any old tree and hoping a hot doe runs by at some point.
Yes and no. It can tie into each other. Take the last part of my reply, somewhere in the process of arrowing a mature buck, your going to have to get lucky. Maybe im wrong...i just can tthink of a situation where luck doesnt play a "little" part.
GREAT post Atlas. As I sat for 33 hours on stand in the lat 3.5 days, I reduced my entire hunting "strategy" to sitting there waiting for a hot doe to run by. A monkey could do what I just did. Hunt a travel corridor near a thicket & hope. That's all the more skill it takes at times.
It's about putting yourself in a situation to get lucky. I plan, I plan, I plan, but in the end I need a little luck. I am ok with that!!!!
I am getting over the part in my hunting life where I "just have to tough it out and sit all day" or I "have to hunt in the rain or snow or wind....". Yes I will hunt all day at the right times, but I want to put a plan together and make it happen. That being said, I was invited to hunt at a better place on Tues/Wed and WILL sit all day, even if the temps reach 65 degrees, because at this place, a buck might appear that would definitely be bigger than anything I see all year. I disagree with the luck part...90% of it is hard work, the remaining 10% is the luck factor.
I see it alot here with fishing - tricks (i should say techniques) aren't gotten out of some one easily. That being said, luck plays a big part in it also. Left track instead of right and the buck passes 70 yds from your position, 40 yds north and you miss the school. Animals don't always behave in way we can predict, we can only do our best to be in the most likely place at the most likely time. But the better you are, times the more time you do it, equals more (and more impressive) success.
If I'm not mistaken, but we set up based on several variables. Wind direction, food plots, bedding areas, trails, etc. Those improve our chances of when a deer may come by. But hunting & fishing are the same. Go to where the game are & your chances improve, but that is the key. The deer have to be where you are at the exact same time or your empty handed.
I agree totally! We can do all the work and planning we want, and when it boils right down to it, the right place at the right time is all it is. I prefer to base my sits on previous sightings and even previous year behavior because the does still want to do their thing even if they have a wild eyed horny animal chasing them!:D
Bingo!!! This is how more "slammers" are taken than any other way I believe. Does luck play a part in "every" hunt? Heck yeah. As Siman stated, none of them are on a rope. Just when you get cocky, you will lose.
I disagree 100% You are saying that if you booked (meaning you are on private land) 6 weeks of hunting time in big buck states every year and sat dark to dark you would likely NOT kill a wall full of slammers.
I'm saying it is VERY unlikely. TONS of variables would come into that. How many acres? How does the land lay? Good for both AM and PM hunts? I guess it doesn't matter because you sit in one spot all day.... And, it'll never happen. Anyone who sits dark to dark for 6 weeks straight isn't very bright. They would largely be "wasting" their time. IMO, I think your problem is you think Midwest hunting is too easy. It's still very tough, brotherman.
No........I liked your post and it brings up many good discussion points. It just does't apply to this thread........that's all. Rybo nailed it.
I couldn't disagree more..........in fact I could guarentee if an open wager was placed on the board by ANY member, that no one would be stupid enough to bet against him. 6 weeks straight during the rut in Kansas, Illinois, Ohio, Wis, Mis, Iowa, Ky.......sitting dark to dark every day on private land. Nothing in hunting is "easy"............and I never said it was. Just playing the odds and being realistic. Some places the odds are against the hunter and some places they are with him. I don't think ANYONE on earth would argue that given the choice they would be sitting in a known big buck producing state during the rut bow in hand. 100 out of 100 times.
