What could you do to make yourself a more successful hunter?

For me my problem would be over hunting an area to much...I tell this to myself all the time, but still I keep on doing it. This year SHOULD be different, I have access to more land and plan on getting more, hopefully this will keep me out of a single area. Also, I believe checking my trail cams also hurt my chances of hunting a mature buck...Checking them to often. This year I placed my cameras in areas I don't plan on hunting...We will see what happens.

Just curious if you guys find yourself doing something that hurt your chances on a mature buck like hunting with the wrong wind, scent control, entry/exit routes, and the list goes on!

What could you do better??

 

Find better land...

 

I feel it's simply time...young family/3 little kids - and even though I could hunt more - I know the kids are young for just a bit - soon will be in school and open my schedule up a bunch!

 

I will not use my family and three small children, nor our busy work schedules as an excuse. I simply need to figure out more about the deer I hunt...where they bed, why they travel the way they do, and understanding food sources and how they tie into all of the other factors.....so you could say I have a lot to learn. I would love to say "better" land but I know we have some big racked bucks where I hunt. I just need to get good enough at locating and then killing them.

 

I tend to put to much pressure on certain sports. I also need to work on hunting the wind, entry/exit routes, and hanging stands in the right spots. If i can do this, i believe i will become WAY more successful.

 

Care more. Plain & simple.

 

put more time in

 

For me I believe I could use better time manage skills. Choosing optimal times and
locations to make my hunts more beneficial and productive. Each year I believe we learn from
previous seasons on what to do and not to do; it's just a matter if we heed to our new experiences.

This year apply what I have learned this off-season.

 

I need more land to hunt on, my main piece of ground see's a little too much of me I believe.

 

Be single but that aint happening fer sure.

 

This is me pretty much.. but also using the wind and terrain more to my advantage for bigger bucks...just deer hunting, Im successful as I want to be.

 

Do you believe your killing the best deer In your woods?

 

I need to work harder in the offseason. Finding new and better places to hunt, scouting more...shed hunting......Hanging stands......It's difficult for me to do that, though, with all of my 2 daughter's school activites, softball, vollyball, ect ect. I just don't have the time to do it. But, if I wanted to badly enough, and worked at it hard enough, I could do better than I do now. So while I don't have much time, I could use what little time I do have a little more efficiently. Ie, give up a weekend of bowfishing and go scouting instead. Stuff like that.

 

i still have alot of stuff to learn,
i need to find a better enter/exit routes to my stand, i also could become better at patterning deer. stand placement also i think i have decent areas but i know if i really want to get those big bucks i have to know where they are and i just dont know that yet

 

I need to scout more in the offseason.

 

Guilty as charged for overhunting my honey holes. I don't know what happens. It's like a magnetic field draws me to them. I burn them out too early. I asked my landowner if he would deny me permission to hunt his land untill the first week of November . Another bad habit I have is trimming too much for shooting lanes. Another thing I tell myself NOT to do every year but end up talking myself into giving myself a clear no brainer shot so I don't miss the opportunity of a big buck. I think it has cost me more than helped me. I'm going to scale back the trimming (a lot) and if I'm not presented the shot because of lack of a shot then so be it. Chalk it up to part of hunting and hope he'll be back in a better position. Oh yeah.... no more tow ropes either. Like hanging a scent wick. I'm always working on entry/exit routes but could still improve on them. The list actually goes on and on but I'm starting to get depressed at how bad I am at this!!!!!

 

I would be more successful if I lived closer to my hunting area. I do pretty good from a distance but know that being close would let me scout more and keep an eye open for shooter bucks.

 

Word to that. Traveling 3 hours plus on weekends doesn't get it done.

But truthfully.. for me.. and its gonna sound totally gay..

I could stop loving my wife so much. Seriously.. I feel bad that I leave her so much during the season that I don't go NEARLY as often as I could easily go. And now I have a pup I've totally fallen for.. mother f!!!!!

I'm likely doomed when I have my first kid.

 

try travelling 12 to your primary hunting grounds... gotta find closer land...

 

Honestly, I need to get in better shape. I will be hiking longer and setting up on the fly this year, so loosing 20-30 pounds will be crucial before season so I can get where I need to go.