Tactics
Do you ever think of why you hunt? When I ask this question, I mean like why do you do all the crazy things that you might do? What's the point of getting up at 4:00am, or sitting in a tree for hours in subzero temperatures? I have been pondering this question for quite some time now. I would love to hear your thoughts about this topic in the comment section or on the Facebook post for this article.
I think my favorite part of deer hunting besides creating all of the awesome memories with friends and family is running trail cameras. It’s almost an addiction in itself. There are more and more people these days that run trail cameras 365 days a year, and at some times of the year are using them to simply try and capture mesmerizing pictures. But during the summer months we're usually focused on finding that next big buck to go after. If your anything like me, there are thousands of pictures you get each year, and after a few years it can be daunting to have all those organized and know what do to with the information you get from all those pictures. Managing all those pictures, and using them as another tool will inevitably make you a more successful hunter.
It’s summertime and is a nice night outside. You are just sitting around the house, and decide to go out back a let a few arrows fly. All too many times, the common theme is you shoot for a while, maybe shoot halfway decent, and then had back inside, not really putting much thought into your performance out in the backyard. This summer, start taking your archery skills more seriously, and it just might reduce the chances of missing that big buck this fall.
It's June, and you know what that means, it's summer! Every year it's a thrill for me seeing bits of green in crop fields, knowing that I will be glassing bean fields in the coming months, and getting that itch to see what bucks are back, and what new ones show up. I can't wait for fall to be here, but at the same time, there is a lot of work that needs to be done in the summer months. I'm going to go over at a high level on how I attack summer, and the months leading up to archery season.
While driving in the rain to go take down a deer stand the other day, I couldn't help but think I was a little crazy. It was windy and cold, not to mention the rain that was pouring down. I got to thinking, over time I've done some things that people, quite simply, don't understand. But it's what I love, and as deer hunters, it's what drives us.
When it comes to deer minerals, there are a whole plethora of options on the market that you can buy and just pour on the ground, or something along the lines of a trophy rock that you set in a designated location. But if your anything like me and run multiple mineral sites, it can get expensive in a hurry. Today I'm going to outline in detail how I make my mineral sites, along with how I maintain them, and why I even use them in the first place.
With it being May, if your anything like me, your starting to get all of your trail cameras out in the woods. I run a ton of trail cams and have learned quite a bit over the last couple years. Much of what I have learned has come the hard way. Something that I have noticed and find true time and time again is that trail cameras are actually hurting people instead of helping them. In my mind, trail cameras have been the greatest technological advance in the deer hunting world, but only when used correctly. They should be a tool that is used to help your success rate, not something that hinders your ability to shoot a mature buck.
You hunt public land, or maybe you have permission on private property, but you have to share the property. You know there is big deer around, but how do you get into position to shoot one with all the hunting pressure? What I find to be very effective is to take the road least traveled. What I mean by this, is to hunt where other people don't want to hunt. There are a couple things that stand out to me over everything that I think if you apply to your hunting strategies, your success rate can go up quickly.
Failure, the concept scares many people. It can be a deterrent and make people not want to shoot for something. The thing is, failure isn't always a negative occurrence or something to be afraid of. Everyone fails, and that is perfectly ok. What is important, is learning from failure and using it as a learning tool to evolve as a hunter. A quote that will always stick out in my mind is from the great Michael Jordan. "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." I understand this is a basketball quote, but it applies beautifully to the art of hunting mature bucks.
