Germ

Brooks in buying me lunch on Friday

Outdoor writer

You guys bring up some very good points. WHERE you hunt IS VERY IMPORTANT, not just the state but the property that you are on. I will admit that I likely hunt better properties than some of youbut some of you likely hunt better properties than I do. I tried to convey the idea of not knocking another hunter because he made the effort to get on better properties but decide how important it is for you to kill bigger bucks. If you really want it bad then get out there and do what it takes to get on those better properties. It might mean working some over-time throughout the year to afford a week in another state or whatever. My approach has always been - don't make excuses just do what needs to be done. If you are REALLY serious it might mean moving to another state.

I dont claim to be an expert and I dont think my book is the ultimate last word on hunting big whitetails. I am still learning andI hope that never changes. I simply put forth more effort than the "average" bowhunter and thus my rewards are more than average.Any one of you could do what I am doing and in fact some of you probably are and maybe even doing more. It was brought up that I saidto beconsistently successful one needs to rank hunting in the top of their lifes priorities, not above God and family but right below them. ALL I think about is hunting big bucks, not fishing or football or anything like that. If I went fishing with any of you guys I would get my butt kicked good. Fishing just doesnt grab ahold of me like deer hunting has and thus I dont put the effort into being good at it. In fact I havent fished for years. That doesnt make me less of a person but it does make me less of a fisherman. It is the same with deer hunting. God lit a fire in me for big whitetails that few others will ever comprehend. That doesnt make me a better person than anyone else. My deer hunting knowledge wasnt forced down my throat or aquired by reading books and magazines. I ran to the woods and gobbled up every tidbit of information that I could find. I still do. I dont expect every deer hunter to approach it like I do and I dont expect other deer hunters to look at me as something special. I am just an ordinary guy like the rest of you and try to represent all of us ordinary guys with my writing. Sure we will all have our differences and all approach it a little different but we are what deer hunting really is in the "REAL WORLD". I really think most of you "get it" and know exactly what I am saying. We all have different interests and you may have several. I just chose to put all my eggs in one basket and that is hunting trophy bucks. It really just all boils down to what we invest in time and effort will determine our rewards over the long haul. Good luck to all ..... and dont invite me to go fishing!

Matt / PA

And with that, welcome to the discussion Don Higgins.

(For what its worth I'm a PA boy but still enjoyed reading through the book while staying at Greg/MO's place last November chasing those invisible IL bucks.....you made me feel very unaccomplished thanks.)

GMMAT

Well put, Don. I tend to think I go at this a little harder than the average guy.....but then I read stories and books about my fellow hunters that put my efforts to shame. Could I be doing more?? You darned tootin, I could. Would I reap better results if I did? Stands to reason, don't it?

Tom Watson once said that the thrill of the game (though he was talking about golf), for him, was to merely put himself "in the arena". He wants to do everything within his power to stack the odds MORE in his favor. In hunting speak.....he wants to make SURE he's scouted.....studied....practiced.....not only HIS woods (or course, if you will)....but also his opponent (or, deer...if you will). The more we can do ......the lenghts that we will go to......to put ourselves "in the arena".....the more successful we will be when we are "there".

Hunters shed hunt.....scout....set up trail cams....scout more....GAIN ACCESS TO GREAT HUNTING LANDS...practice........and pursue these magnificent creatures. Some just go to GREATER lengths......and we shouldn't be surprised by their results.....OR make light of their accomplishments.

The lengths we're individually prepared to go to differ VASTLY. What we take from our efforts differs (not incoincidentally) vastly, as well. If you're happy with the path you've chosen......GREAT! It becomes VERY transparent when we make light of others' accomplishments ......because we're not willing to go to THEIR lengths, though.

THAT beast rears its' ugly head WAY too often.

MOTOWNHONKEY

I enjoyed the read as I do most books or articles about Whitetail hunting. Keep them comming.

atlasman

Read my review.............3 things that jump out at me are.......Not touting a book as the "real world" and then describing hunting settings that are foreign to 99.9% of hunters............then try to minimize how many times you contradict yourself........finally, if you are going to spend so much time telling hunters what not to do, you should at least tell them what TO DO instead.


Well, I hope you reconsider because there are no personal issues at all and this thread was meant as nothing more then a discussion as to what people liked about your book so much...........I was looking forward to reading it (and finished most of it the first night)..........as I read it I just couldn't imagine what was so special as I found very little SPECIFICALLY applicable knowledge to be gained from the book..................and many poor choices that I have already talked about.

I WANTED to like your book.........I thought I would like your book........I have read many other books that I DID enjoy very much and felt they offered SPECIFIC actions I could apply to help me in the woods.


Pretty poor attitude to take without even knowing me.


Such as??


You have to understand that when you are outside the loop of a story like that you just don't really care........I didn't know anything about that story before reading your book so it just reads as someone with an axe to grind............It just serves no purpose in a hunting book, other then another one sided version of a story only you and a select few others REALLY know the truth behind. Just an opinion.


I agree 100% that raising deer in a pen will lead to negative opinions no matter what you do...........but that is a choice you have made and must live with the consequences of.


The exact same way I approached my review of your book.


Very mature of you Don.

Germ

Do you have any data to back this upSorry I could not help myself.

atlasman

I actually thought it was cool that Don put that in the book........most of the times you read the endless chatter about how there really are 200" bucks in everyone's woods............we're just not looking in the right places

Nice to see someone admit the importance of land..........and not try to act like they could kill a monster anywhere and any time.


That's why he put the picture on the cover..........and everyone else does too.........no different then clothing and product labels. Everyone wants to think that they can buy something that will bag them a wall full of huge bucks so that is what smart marketers will use to attract attention.



Exactly.

GMMAT

But a "reasonable" consumer/hunter looks at that and thinks to himself that there may be information in the book that will help him bag the best bucks in HIS woods.

There aren't more than a VERY few P&Y bucks bagged in MY state, every year. I STILL read these books to help me bag the best bucks in MY woods.

Everything IS relative. I know that before I purchase a deer hunting book.....and likely.....so do the same 99.99% you cite.

i was wondering who THAT GUY is (the 0.01%-er). Now we know!

buckeye

Ask the roughly 70% of bowhunters in Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin,Indiana etc etc that do not fill any tag, let alone lay down a slammer per year.