What has made you a better hunter?

[Bass1090]

Curious as to what one or five things you think has made you a better hunter.

For me-
1. Hunting high. At 56 I have been hunting a little lower though
2. Minimal movement, when I do move around I try to do it slow and try to have a back drop
3. Hunting edges- edge of a thicket, edge of a creek, edge of a field/wood line, edge of a road bed or firebreak, etc
4. Watching deer behavior. I used to be brown it's down and I don't have a problem with anyone that does that, to each his/her own. But for me personally, when I stopped killing as many I started having opportunities to kill more.
5. All day sits when possible

 

[Coker]

1. Paying attention to wind direction and how it is affected by terrain

 

[fairchaser]

Learning to shoot better.

How many deer have been lost due to poor shots or misses? Where else would you sit if you were confident in 300 yd shots? How many bucks slipped past you in the woods or smelled you and never showed? It's mostly about putting odds in your favor.

 

[deerhunter10]

When I learned playing the wind.
When I learned about thermals
When I didn't hunt every single chance I got but hunted the good days

Many more and countless hours learning and still learning and hope to always learn.

 

[knightrider]

Experience and patience

 

[Lost Lake]

1. The main thing……..patience. Staying on stand at least four hours at a time unless I'm doing all day prime rut hunts.

2. Laying off the trigger when needed and watching more than I shoot.

3. Wind. Paying as much attention to it as possible, and not hunting when it's primarily blowing in a bad direction. I know it's unpredictable most of the time, but it works for me if I don't get lazy and ignore it.

4. Flexibility. Hunting by treestand, ground, or whatever different method will change it up and keep the deer guessing where I might be.

5. Finally, learning WHEN to shoot. Up until my early twenties, I'd feel entitled to take a shot if a deer was in range. Once I figured that's not the case, the switch flipped and I started taking better shots. Sometimes that means not pulling the trigger or dumping the bowstring at all.

 

[Remi]

Wind/thermals

Hunting the thick stuff

Being a better shot and knowing when to pass a shot

Angles/anatomy - learn where their shoulders are and shoot accordingly

Stop over hunting my best spots, fewer sits and make them count

 

[Deer Assassin]

Be in the woods(outdoors) period

 

[backyardtndeer]

Time in the stand watching deer, and patience.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

A lot of has been mentioned but one thing I'll add is… hunting many different states with different terrain, different ideas, different methods, different food sources, different vegetation, etc on public land. That really broadens your viewpoint and opens your eyes to a lot of techniques/tactics that can be used elsewhere.

 

[Outdoor Enthusiast]

#1 by far - Hunting during the best time which is pre rut in early MZ in my area.

 

[saugerboss]

Hunt the thick stuff…just because the open woods look good, deer don't see it the same way we do.

 

[Apostolic Outdoors]

Moving to TN - More public land to hunt. More opportunities to learn.

Becoming a member of TNDeer - I have learned so much reading and interacting on TNDeer. Thanks to everyone who is willing to share!

Taking up bow hunting - Before moving to TN I wasn't a bow hunter. Bow hunting has made me learn to be a better woodsman.

Learning certain pieces of public land and focusing on those, not trying to hunt everywhere.

Learning to play the wind and thermals.

YouTube - Watching to learn, not just for entertainment.

 

[DoubleRidge]

1. Mid 90s killing my first mature buck.
That deer lit a fire in me that still burns hot today. I had killed plenty of deer before that buck but something changed that day.

2. Trail cameras. But NOT for knowing where to hunt. I dont even hunt the specific locations where our main cameras are.
Its the fact that trail cameras opened my eyes to how many good bucks are actually around the area...I'm still amazed at the number of different identifiable buck there are using the property. Trail camera history makes it much easier to let good bucks, that have potential, walk.

3. Laying off the trigger. Letting more bucks walk and mature. Spending more time watching deer and learning what they do verses shooting deer. Letting more bucks walk and mature no doubt increased my oppurtunity to kill better deer.

4. Hunting the best days for our area.
Last week of archery. Two weeks of muzzleloader. First week of gun season.
With the two weeks of muzzleloader being the peak of the bell curve. Save and use as much vacation time during the rut as possible. Pack a lunch. Sit all day.

5. It may sound silly, but hunt where deer are...not where you want them to be....and if there are not deer that meet your goals or expectations in your area then change locations...make it happen.

Lastly...not a single action but more of a general statement...managing habitat, increase bedding cover, increase food sources and in turn, increase oppurtunity...give deer a place they want to be.

 

[TN Larry]

1) Learning to hunt terrain and how wind/thermals react to ridge and hollow hardwoods

2) Willing to be mobile and spend a lot of time walking/scouting

3) Stay out of prime spots until the time is right and only hunt them on days when the conditions are right

 

[mike243]

Having deer to hunt, when you have little to no deer in your area it's tough to get proficient, rabbits and squirrel hunting with a 22 for so many years helped my shooting at deer.

 

[lafn96]

Yall have covered just about everything. Only things I haven't seen mentioned are -

1. Entry/Exit - make it as unnoticeable (not just sound, but just as importantly sight) as possible

2. Learn how to move in the woods. Slow down, spend more time looking than walking. It's possible to mimic a deer's cadence, you land with your toe first then heel and twist it to the side. Can also use a turkey mouth call to disguise yourself.

3. Deer's diet changes drastically throughout the season. If you want to know what they've most recently eaten, slice open the stomach AFTER you're done gutting/cleaning/quartering. Will also let you know if any of your neighbors are baiting if there's no corn fields near by.

 

[rem270]

Having multiple stand locations for wind direction
Not overhunting stands
Spending more time in the stand and not leaving early
In early season I pick my days to hunt to try and not pressure or blow a deer out of an area for when the time is good (pre rut and rut)

 

[BSK]

Reseach. My own research made me a much better hunter.

My decade-long rub density and distribution survey taught me how bucks use terrain as they move across ridge-and-hollow hardwoods. This study also taught me which habitat edges bucks prefer to use.

A study on why certain stands were producing more "shooter" buck sightings than others taught me how import proximity to good cover is to hunting success.

I study on the link between localized habitat diversity and deer sightings while hunting taught me how important habitat diversity is to daylight deer movement.

Experiments in how terrain affects thermals taught me a great deal about how wind flows across terrain as the time-of-day changes.

A study on how older buck sightings decline over time from a given stand taught me how to not overhunt stands.

My annual photo census of the local deer population was unquestionably the most important for learning to be a better hunter. Although my goal was just to inventory the constantly changing buck population using my place through the hunting season, as I constantly moved cameras to try and find better census locations, I began to discover situations I would have never guessed funneled so much deer activity through them. That alone made me a much better "stand positioner." In addition, as the rut winds down and target buck sightings decline, I would often get dejected as a hunter and start giving up. Yet reviewing trail-camera data often showed me that bucks were just learning to avoid us and were still quite active in daylight, just not where we were at the time! That taught me to keep at it even at the end of the rut, and to start hunting more unorthodox locations.

 

[Gravey]

1. Paying attention to wind direction and how it is affected by terrain

That's probably my #1. Also sit longer. Keep saying 10 more minutes.

 

[DMD]

Learning to hunt terrain features. Changed everything.

 

[WTNBowHunter]

experience, time in the woods, wind/thermals, agree with all of those. a few additional things i feel that have made me a better hunter over the past 7-10 years has been reading/listening to deer research. taking what i can from deer research and applying it in my own hunting has made me a better woodsman. aerial photo study has also played a factor, now i think about total landscape, areas where mature deer travel & why, areas where deer feed & why, different locations where mature deer bed & why, and learning to read the woods during different times of the year. tree/shrub id. looking to learn something new each time out. God has his handywork all over His creation

 

[UCStandSitter]

Once it clicked that I could have multiple spots on the same land depending on the weather/conditions.

Also, cell cams. Won't lie, helped me pattern em better and it's exactly how I developed the multi spot strategy. I could get a daily view of how they moved and when without going out there and spookin em

 

[Savage]

I love and hate OnX Maps…

It has given me a place to log notes, which helps immensely. I've always know how to read maps but the ability to measure distance and give me a sense of where I am in relation to the landscape is surreal. It also gives an advantage when heading to any property yup I've never been to before.

It also gives others the same edge, so you have to figure a different competitive advantage.

 

[Smo]

Almost as addictive as bowing hunting.
And it'll make you a better shooter too…

 

[fatboy at heart]

Not taking it serious as if I had to prove something.
Quit using cameras
Now it is
Much more relaxing and enjoyable. My larger deer I've killed I had no idea they existed.

 

[cbhunter]

Wind definitely ranks up there with the best of them


Hunting alone: I grew up hunting with dad and his buddies. While I miss that greatly, before it ended I started gravitating towards hunting wherever they weren't. If 2-3 people went to a certain farm, I decided to hunt a different farm and started killing better bucks.

Again I miss hunting in parties as it's a lot of fun and especially miss hunting with dad (he no longer hunts), but hunting alone changed things for me

 

[GumbyGuy]

Hunting where deer are …not where I think the deer are supposed to be.
Missed getting a really nice buck several years ago because I was watching what he was doing and not even thinking about shooting him, I guess getting older helps too, you don't rush a shot, was raised hunting with dogs so still hunting wasn't my choice. I've had to develop patience.

 

[DayTrader]

What's made me a better hunter? Sitting in the living room where it's comfy and warm until I see 3-5 deer come out of the woods and then taking 2 of them. Just kidding.

Getting in better physical conditioning is helping me. I want to ground hunt instead of sitting in the living room, on the porch or in a blind. I'm up to 45 minutes of stealth hiking, but want to get to several hours of stamina.

 

[BSK]

What's made me a better hunter? Sitting in the living room where it's comfy and warm until I see 3-5 deer come out of the woods and then taking 2 of them. Just kidding.

Getting in better physical conditioning is helping me. I want to ground hunt instead of sitting in the living room, on the porch or in a blind. I'm up to 45 minutes of stealth hiking, but want to get to several hours of stamina.

Good for you DayTrader! Keep at it!