I've been following this thread. Now I'll admit to not reading every single post/reply.

Experienced?

1 a : direct observation of or participation in events as a basis of knowledge
b : the fact or state of having been affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or participation

2 a : practical knowledge, skill, or practice derived from direct observation of or participation in events or in a particular activity
b : the length of such participation <has 10 years' experience in the job>

3 a : the conscious events that make up an individual life
b : the events that make up the conscious past of a community or nation or humankind generally

4 : something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through

5 : the act or process of directly perceiving events or reality

There are hunters here that may have hunted all their lives yet have no "experience". They may never have, they don't get it, they are just out there.

There are others and since Jeff is a topic of conversation I'll use him because I had the honor of hunting with him. I say Jeff is very experienced, sorry Germ. He not only defines experience, he's still learning from his experiences. He's learned his herd, how they travel, where they go, the bedding areas, the funnels, the food sources and more. He has read books with willing enthusiasm, he asks questions here, he's called me to ask a question to further his experience/knowledge. He asks this forum questions, he's humble enough to admit his novice time in the woods and his, experience hower his experience thus far has put 5 whitetails in the freezer and sure, luck has alot to do with it, I'll take as much luck as I can muster every year. I wish I had his opportunities for knowledge when I was starting out. I learned from mistakes that's he's fortunate enough not to have to make, at least all of them from some of our previous experiences.

I've been bowhunting 25 years, I'd say Jeff has as much experience as I do on his herd vs me and my herd. I've learned mine, 25 years of experience "learning" put my treestands where they are.

1.5 years of experience put Jeff's stands where they are.

Like Germ said, we cannot connect experience with number of years. If you hunt every year and learn nothing regardless of a time line, you are not experienced. Being experienced is having the ability to learn, take something away from each hunt.

I love GregH'.s signature,
" I learn something new about
the game I hunt every season.
That's what makes it so fun."

Just when you think you know the whitetail , they teach you something new. I'll never stop learning about hunting this magnificient animal. I guess I could be inexperieinced because there are experiences I have yet to learn from.

Experience, that's a strange word to explain.