Sometimes you can't avoid a reader seeing "what he wants to hear" I agree 100%.........the only thing keeping the average hunter from killing bigger bucks is they simply are not there. His stats are not questionable. Numbers don't lie.........as germ said he is not preaching excuses, he is telling it like it is..........you have to do things differently in tough whitetail locations to be able to get on a big buck.
Don Higgins is a self confessed hunting criminal..........why anyone would support him is a mystery to me.
Guy smokes a monster (biggest buck of his life) and yet chooses to head home and return under cover of dark to remove the deer. Deer was confiscated by the Illinois Conservation Dept and he was charged with Illegal hunting and trespassing.............he plead out to a lesser charge. I can't believe anyone would support someone who plea bargained out of a poaching charge.
Was he trespassing when he shot the deer or did the deer die on property he did not have permission to be on? Maybe thats why he went back in the dark to get it.
bry there is a chapter in his book about the ordeal. i have sat and talk to don twice now. i find him to be a good guy if i recall he paid a 50 dollar fine and got his deer. lets just say if it was a doe i bet there would have been zero issue. it was a 220'' buck
Man, some people are just angels when it comes to why they "would not" trespass to retrieve a buck like the one Higgins killed. Pffftt, whatever. Note: I do not condone tresspassing. I will however recover my deer. As far as Eberhart(s), I believe they know exactly what they are doing as far as hunting pressured whitetails. Do I agree with everything they write? Nope
I have picked up the all the little plugs for the Tree Saddle and Scent Lok....but that's ok, good business men do what they need to make a living...I just get lost in all the stuff they discuss, plus I don't mature bucks the way do, if I did, I wouldn't need to read a thing, I would write it all!!
I can say that I have been positively influenced by the Eberhart books I began reading 3-4 years ago.
Brett, what do you believe is the #1 thing a guy can/should take from this book and apply it to their hunting?
I have read both of his books and will purchase and read his son's Chris's most recent book.There is no consolation taken by me in the reference's of how much easier out of state hunts are.Although I have much better and more consistent results when I go out of state and hunt it fresh every year,where in my home area where I scout all year long and hunt for about the equivalent of three weeks every year I do not do nearly as well. The bottom line is John is right,hunting in the big buck states is relatively much easier. I find his writing fairly tedious.I respect his discipline and attention to detail,and he backs up his writing by putting the best bucks in his area on the ground consistently. Don Higgins book was excellent,and I will continue to support him.I read the chapter about his "crime" no one knows the real deal except he and the others involved.There was a similar occurrence for Roger Rothaar a number of years ago and he has forgotten more about big whitetails than we will ever know.I have read quite about the account of his circumstances and do feel like he was treated very unfairly. Any way if anyone was to purchase Don Higgin's book and read it cover to cover and follow the advice given they couldn't help become better hunters.
Paying attention to detail in every aspect of the hunt which includes picking the right areas to hunt at specific times of the year. Leaving certain areas alone until the right time.
VA John has a lot of MI references in the book, it's a lot easier to understand if you understand the tradition of MI hunting. If you want to discuess the mattter via phone or PM I may be able to fill in some blanks for you. Growing up and learning how to hunt the MI way is completely wrong way to hunt mature bucks. PM me if you want to chat.
For me it was walking to and from my stands, and paying attention to what I do in these times is more important than what I do in the stand.
Gary, I appreciate it...we will talk for sure..tell me this though...how is the buck to doe ratio in MI? here in Va it's soooo far out of whack..far too many does.
In SLP it's not very good, in the NLP it's a bit better, but deer numbers over all our down. The kill in the UP was down 40% this year, so the UP has other issues right now. What I have learned it's not so much the doe to buck as it is the mature buck to young buck ratio. MI issues is we simple do not have enough mature bucks to have a true full blown rut. There is no competition for the does. Have a good doe to buck ratio and a lousy age structure for bucks yeids the same results we have now IMO. I have never witness a true buck fight, I mean a knock out drag down fight for the ladies, have you?
Germ, I did not even see a single buck chasing a doe this year, or even a buck sniffing a does trail.
I have heard 2 knock down drag out fights in 20 yrs of deer hunting Va...years ago the ratio was balanced, but now it's rediculous.
Well VA is worst than MI:D Yeah we suck less than somebody. My area is pretty good for MI, I did see a BB chasing a doe this year, hell he was even grunting. I saw 4 bucks chasing a does 3.5 year old I shot 2.5 year old 1.5(2) dinkers and the bb:p
