Last year was a break thru year for me. My hunting could be compared to weight lifting. After a while you peak out. Then it seems that no matter how hard you try you don't gain any ground. Last year I started tracking. It has given me new insite as to what mature deer do. This is going to help me in several ways. I hope to get good enough to track down and shoot big bucks on a yearly basis. It is also going to make my stand site selections much more productive. I am just as excited about the upcoming season as I was the first year I started hunting. I view this as a long term learning process that will pay off bigger and bigger as the seasons roll by.
Anyone reading this take note. If you hunt the big woods like I do or small wood lots in farming country, Get out and track deer. Your eyes will be opened. You will discover as I did that deer don't act the way we think they do. Pay attention to every track you cross. Not just " oh theres a deer track" but really study each track. Try to learn the differences in each track. How big is it? is it a buck or a doe? how many fawns? how often does this deer come thru here? Can you look at a bed and tell me how big the deer was that layed there? Can you age a scrape? rub? track? I am paying much more attention to these fine details and am confident that it will increase my percentages in the future.