All VERY valid points, guys.....
I've got a great friend who started bwhunting at an early age. If I'm not mistaken.....he went 6 SEASONS....admittedly killing a deer in each of them....and never recovering one. Would a person starting out be better served (andwould the herd he's hunting?) to go through such a stretch?
Woodmanship......"killer instinct"......can be learned hunting any animal. I'm not sure these things CAN be "taught". Asmany of you have said.....I wouldn't trade the days I started out shooting sparrows with a crossman for anything.
But let's take Duke and Gri22 as examples......
Would they be better served to go blindly into new grounds and learn it the hard way (ALL on foot) v. studying aerials and topos? Would they be shorting themselves the "experince" if they took tidbits of knowledge from the landowner? The farmer? Is it better to take a shooting tip from an accomplished hunter....or learn it on your own?
Some of my fondest memories in deer hunting are from the early days when I walked into a woodlot and willy-nilly set up a blind or clibed a tree......with NO direction. None. I realize, now, how foolish I was....and that's OK!
But learning to read a topo (even at the level I'm at, now) is only a first step. Ya still have to be smart enough to apply any knowledge gleaned. That's done through trial and error.
Tactics? I've eaten more crow than anyone I know, here. Bucks not hanging out where does frequent? Crow. Playing the wind? Crow. Heavier arrow setups? Crow. Speed as THE factor in arrow efficiency? Crow. Concealment issues? Crow. BH's? CROW!
If someone is smart enough to ONLY take solid advice......then they're smarter than I.
Duke loves to say "hang to kill". I probably did this 5-7 times out of a TON of sits, this year. My goal is to be smart enough to do this on a more regular basis. Would it be more virtuous to learnALL of this (see above)on one's own? Maybe. I DO see both sides....but I think people have views that lead them to believe that there's no trial/error process that STILL needs to be experienced. If there is.....I'm not that good.