ORIGINAL: quiksilver
Gary - I think you're getting the wrong impression about where I'm going with this. I'm definitely not making excuses as to why I'm not getting it done. Honestly, I think I AM getting it done. Hell, I've killed a pretty decent buck for my area, something like 6 years running. 14 years in a row filling my buck tags... You'll never hear me make an excuse. (2-time world champion
)
But the point that I'm trying to make here is that we have to set a reasonable bar for ourselves, if we want to be able to shoot a good deer, and actually have a realistic chance of success - it's all about tempering your expectations.
If you soak in enough time and keep a reliable log - you'll start seeing identifiable patterns. Those patterns will change between locations, they'll change during the rut, they'll change over the summer. . .
The moral of the story is having the confidence that "this may be my last best chance" and taking it. You don't want to let opportunity walk away, and regret it thereafter. Likewise, you don't want to shut your season down too early, when you stand a high statistical chance of success - later.
Huntingis a game of time and chance. You can move around from spot-to-spot, trying to enhance your odds. You can manipulate your vacation time to enhance your odds. But at the end of the day, you're still trying to maximize your efforts and take the best deer that you're going to have an opportunity to take.