This will fire up some souls.......Can open.... worms everywhere!

I'm pretty sure he didn't mean what you think. His was more a statment and not a respnse to the thread.
I agree with everything you said about hunter "A" and hunter "B" hunter B has to work harder to have the same success as hunter "A" so in this case hunter "B" needs to have some pretty good determination, more so than hunter "A". In most cases hunter "B's" hard work still may never be enough to compete with "A's" easy habitat.
IMO

 

Hunting is definitely harder in some places than others.

Which means, some people can be successful and not work real hard at it and some people can work pretty hard at it and not have a lot of success. Granted, those who work the hardest in both cases will have more successes than the slackers in either situation. But it would be silly to say that some people don't have to work at it harder than others.

 

What she said^^^^

 

In my opinion there are a ton a variables to this question. So saying that it opens a can of worms might be the only thing that everyone can agree on. Anyways here it goes.

Frank and I live in Fulton County, Central Illinois. We have a ton of deer everyone in the country knows that. Going out and seeing 20 deer a sit is common. But we work our tails off all year round planting plots to make this happen. Taking care of 15 to 20 acres of food plots is no easy task. WE work non stop to make our plots happen. It takes a group of four guys to make this happen. I would hate to know how many acres I have worked and planted in the dark in the last ten years.

But trying to find the one acorn tree in 500 acres that they are hitting isnt exactly a simple task either.

The first Time we pass a 140 or 150 3 year old on BOWHUNT or DIE Im sure you will be able to read the posts about the spoiled guys from Illinois. But thats where we live. WE are very fortunate to hunt in a area that has few outfitters and tons of local hunters who are conservation minded and manage there farms very well. It has been years since I have went in town and saw a young buck in the back of someones truck. WE still take everyones kids on youth hunts they still shoot young bucks and enjoy the hunt. Whatever makes your blood pressure rise.

Deer Hunting is what you make of it. I myself live for the hunt. We put in 75 to 100 sits a year. How hard you work depends on what you want to kill. If I go shoot the first 130 in deer that walks by, my season will be over in a hurry.

I think that every hunter needs to set his goals for the season and try his best to reach them. When a season passes and you didnt reach your goal this makes every hunter work harder for the next year. Anyone who is trying to go out in the woods and kill something with a bow is already half crazy and determined.

Sorry if this went a little off line, must be my morning cup of joe.

 

well put clinton no matter what we are all half crazy and were all going to work pretty hard.

 

I think it all comes down to TIW TIME IN WOODS. Guys who farm their own plots oppossed to scouting for natural food sources work just as hard. IMO I hunt big woods and do alot of scouting every sat. and def put in my hours of woods time. I think its 6 one way 1/2 dozen the other.

 

I think it all comes down to what your meaning of success is.

 

Ok..... So my loving and deer hunt crazy (yeah right) and english major wife just informed me that as usual I only defended my point and skirted the real part of the question that might not agree with my hunting strategy.

Ten years ago we hunted without food plots and without out self implemented age limit restrictions.
Was our hunting good then? Yeah I would say it was better but It was also a lot less work, and there was no outfitters. Know in order to compete and keep the deer on your farm thats what we do. Thats what it has come to.

Can we kill a big deer without doing this yes. But I could also type this response with a typewriter and then fax it to Justin and have him post it for me but that would not be a very good use of the available resources.

I think that I good bowhunter will put in as much work as it takes and use all his resources to reach his goals.

So do I think its more work to hunt and kill a big deer in the timber. YES

But then again that depends on what your opinion of big is. It might be just as much work for me to set my goals and kill a 190 as a mountain man killing a 130.

So I guess in going with my wife and trying to address the full question and not just defending my half. I would say that a person has to work harder to kill a big buck without the bait and food plots.

 

Is scouting big woods any harder than spending hours in the heat of summer putting in food plots ? ? ?

I think both hunt just as hard and scout just as hard. Just in different ways. To me it's a wash.

 

The only question that matters is do you enjoy what you do? Maybe we'd all like to sit in Tree in Pike County. Reality is we are spread out across this Great Country. As hunters we have to learn to adapt to our area, it's different in each Sector of the Country. I moved from Ohio to North Georgia in the summer. Gone are the Farms and Croplands, and cozy honey holes, replaced with the huge expanse of the Appalachian Mountains. Work and sweat and deer-less sits are faced with a smile as I learn the new rules of the game. (seeing those first 2 deer was a small victory in itself). I missed the entire scouting season with the late move and new job and buying a house etc..

So in a nutshell I've seen both areas as mentioned by the original question...and ya know what..both are great with their own set of challenges, and I love it!

 

I agree,
Big Horns or Just Flat A$$ big....200 - 250 field dressed!
That is Big to me.
Thank you very much I'm Hungry & my mouth is druelling yours truely,
Corn Fed Naturally!

That little F'n Ninja Warrior!
Is at it again!

 

This is kinda the direction I was going..

Justin's statement of how hard one works is determined by the individual is true to a certain extent....but not just in hunting, this is true all things. An individual with ambition and goals will always work harder than an individual who has no ambition or goals....thats just a given.

Beyond the abviouse......An individuals surrounding environment will dictate how much he/she has to work to reach said goals.