Wow. What a great post.

I'm a first year deer hunter. My background is waterfowl and turkey hunting....and I was, I guess, mildly successful....and a huge enthusiast.

"Successful Hunter" .....man that's a great thought. Here's how I measure MY successes, to date....and I haven't harvested my first deer, yet. I started out by gaining access to some private lands for my son and I to hunt on. We honestly scouted and set up the first time near some rubs we saw. We knew NOTHING of where the deer were bedding OR feeding. This was fairly early in the season. I THEN gained access to the land I REALLY wanted to hunt (Adjoins my land)....and that's when the fun began. I looked for all the signs .......and soon had 3 stand placements staked out. We had a place to hunt....whichever direction the wind blew. I finally found out which way they were coming from (and going TO).....by viewing the aerial photography(available to anyone)....and just trial-and-error stand placement. I felt like a world-class hunter when I had deer under my stand the first time. I was grinning from ear-to-ear.....at 41 yrs old.

I've now seen 5 bucks on the property....(only 24 acres)....numerous does......3 bucks work the same scrape in a 2 hr period.....bucks chasing does (grunting).....and FIFTY turkeys under me that didn't spook. I also haven't released an arrow.....though I've drawn down on a nice little 6 pointer....only to let him pass (Facing almost directly away from me).

Now....I'm a novice.....but....

Do I consider myself a better hunter than the fat-axx that pays his fee to go on a canned hunt in Tx to shoot 180 class whitetail deer.....from a box blind @ 240 yds???

You damned right, I do.

Jeff