Every year we end a season and question ourselves if our hunting season was a success or bust, the what if's and the what could I have done to improve my hunting strategies for success! I would like to hear what peoples expectations are for their upcoming hunting seasons, whether being their first harvest with bow (doe or buck), film their first hunts, pass on certain caliper bucks for chance at a stud! I personally keep raising the bar for myself every season. I'm going into the 2011-2012 season with alot of confidence in my self filming practices, that is to harvest all my deer on film this coming season. Along with that I'm pushing myself to harvest at least 2 mature whitetails in a single season, maybe 3 considering 2 tags here in Illinois and a late october trip to central ohio. I know alot of people say people can't harvest big bucks every season, I beg to differ. I think this is what motivates me and gives me self confidence to go after these magnificent animals every fall!
Great post ! Well after last season targeting a specific buck and wrapping my tag around him I'm not sure where to go from there. I love it all for the food plots to the trail camera pictures. Putting the puzzle together and patterning a mature buck is the plan. Although I didn't have any good bucks on camera after the season I have seen a few that are really starting to sprout already. I have put 5 buck on the wall in the last 6 years and hope to keep that going. Some people call me "lucky" but I find the harder I work the luckier I get.
Mine would be to pattern 3 or 4 mature bucks, 3.5 or older, and put the finishing touches on one of them. I can only hope to duplicate what I did last year, but that could be once in a lifetime. I am working hard though to make it happen again. I also want to harvest a doe off of each property I hunt. Thats four total does. Taking a 3.5 or older buck would make my season though. Great topic, its time to start setting the goals!!!
I'll make my real expectations after I start running cameras in mid-late June. Right now I have very high expectations based on the bucks that made it through last season, but everything can change by the time the season comes around. The video camera will be with me for just about every deer hunt this fall again, I have high expectations with that. I should be able to get some good footage.
I have no plan. I'm just going to play the game the best I can and let the chips fall where they may. The only thing I want to plan is to get a buck for my daughter.
I'm changing everything I'm doing this year. I'm going to be hunting almost 100% on public land and all stand locations will be new this year. I'm scouting as much as I can to prepare and I have 3 solid stand locations that I have already and I plan to have at least 3 more solid stand locations by fall. I have no expectations on what the results might bring. I would love to kill a public land deer which I've never done bow or gun.
I've been at this for quite some time (20 years of trophy hunting) and I don't know anybody who has not missed a year. With multiple tags and/or states to hunt, it is possible to average 1 or better a year. I'm at 19/20 and I have gone 4 seasons without scoring. My personal best is 6 in a row. I've done that twice. Every year is quite the stretch but not impossible.
MY only expectation or hope is that I am able to get out and hunt this year they are planning my back fusion for June 1st so I am just praying I am ready by October.
I would like to kill two deer with my recurve. If one of them is a buck then that would be a bonus. I am probably going to lower my expectations on buck hunting b/c my hunting time this fall will be severely limited and I will not be able to take any time off work during the fall. My expectations will be lowered to higher end 2.5 year old bucks or better if I get the shot. And a higher end 2.5 year old buck around here might be 90-95 inches. That being said, I am big buck hunting and if I do not kill a buck I will be content as long as I gave it my best given all that will be going on with my life come summer. Good luck on your back fusion Michael. If it is ok with your doctor make sure you are strengthening your back now so that you have a good base prior to surgery.
At this point I have zero expecations for this upcoming season. Between not leasing any land, hunting public ground, and spending some time back behind the camera it should be interesting to say the least. My only expectation is to have some fun no matter what happens. And to not get eaten by a mountain lion on our elk hunt.
My expectation is to hold out for a buck the size of this past season. I am hunting a great spot, and it funnels everything down to about a 60 yard gap. If I shoot a buck, it will be one I will get mounted, so it has to be worth $400 at least I also plan on tagging out on does again this year. I love me some venison, and I give my girlfriend's family a deer every year.
I REALLY want to shoot a buck off my home piece of property. I didn't get to hunt it much last fall, and I missed out on some good opportunities. If we get good rainfall during the summer for our food plots, I will have a legitimate shot. I also want to save up some funds and head back to the Land of Lincoln to film JZ and/or Todd a couple days.
I have a couple of goals for this season, my son turned 10 this year which makes him old enough to deer hunt for the first time. I am going to do what I can to film him harvesting a mature buck or doe. For myself I am going to hunt my home state of MN and at least 2 other states. I want to harvest 2 bucks that are at least 4 1/2, while filming everything.
For me, I'll be happy to not have a repeat of last year: Serious auto accident that took me out of everything for months.
I am really hoping to kill one of the bucks I have been chasing for, for the last two years. Sheds, trail camera pics, and now I need to arrow one of them.
I expect to get busted in the first week of the season by a solid 140 class while sending Justin a text asking him if he is seeing anything I plan on getting winded at least a dozen times because I fight logic with bogus intuition and gut feelings I plan to shoot a doe as early in the season as possible so that I can get it tested for CWD, that way I will know if I can eat it by Thanksgiving I expect to be envious of all the huge bucks getting posted on here while being frustrated with my hunting spot knowing I have Booners that are smarter than me I expect to end my two year drought and kill a mature buck
I'm gonna be a lot more flexible and not get hung up on what I "should" be doing and focus on what my gut tells me.
