Thanks Germ,
It always irritates me when people state that I have it lucky, that the big bucks are so plentiful where I hunt. It wasn't always like that and still isn't in all but one of my hunting spots. When I first got real serious about bowhunting, deer were unheard of where I lived. My father and I used to rabbit hunt there all the time. To hunt for deer, we had to travel "up North". Eventually we started seeing deer tracks and about two years later we spotted our first deer. I began bowhunting them because it was close to home and I didn't have to wait until we could go up North. It took me a few years to get one where I lived, but in doing so, I had to learn the hard way what they would or would not tolerate in order to get close enough for a shot. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Later in my hunting career, I took up serious archery. I rubbed elbows with some of the best in the nation and world. My personal best was a third place at the indoor nationals in mens freestyle. The one thing I learned...

You can be the best shot in the world but if you can't find a deer, you won't shoot one.

However, being a good shot does give you an important advantage...Confidence. I never think to myself "I hope I can shoot this deer". It's more like.... I'm shooting this deer! Very important.

What makes me so lucky at getting mature bucks is the Time that I spent learning about my quarry. Know your animal and its habits. Then you too can be lucky. This includes going out and finding better habitats to hunt.

Gospel