Disagree.

Hunter "B" hunts 50 hunts a year for 4 years. Hunter "A" goes out 10x a year for 10 years. Multiply.......

Either way it is relitive to time in the woods. Now you changed it to the guy that is shooting more deer is spending more time in the woods.

Jeff, I have respect for you, as a hunter and maybe more importantly as a friend. What do you want to hear? Your the best hunter? Your as good as most? Your above average?

I don't mean to take anything away from you..but your beggin for some honest constructive critiscm. It seems you hunt 1 area. It's teaming with deer. You see alot. Could any of us go to your spot and see those deer? In reality..I would think so!

Have you truly learned about deer or just observed "your" herd. Can yo go to another area and be successful? Can you go to a big woods and see deer? Can you compete on public land?

I'm sure if your hand was forced to go to another area you could, over time, be succesful..your smart and have the drive to succeed. However success wouldn't come as quickly and your knowledge would be tested as a hunter not a shooter.

You guys made this about "me". I'm not beggin for anything.I stated what I did to attempt toprove a point.

I agree with everything you said below that. I said the other day I do nothing
"special".

Yeah the person sitting in the seat not seeing anything has gained experience. And that is that he needs to scout more...LOL

Just because you're tagged out doesn't mean you can't go sit in the stand and watch and learn. But most people wont do that.I don't call myself a trophy hunter but I do pass up lots of deer. Most people aren't that picky about what they shoot and could care less if they are done in the first 2 weeks of the season. On the other hand some don't have the long seasons like the rest of us. And if you can only go on weekends that makes it even shorter. I take 1 - 2 weeks off every year in the peak of the rut. So I'm going to be a little picky about what I shoot the first part of the season.

Darrall Dougherty

Jeff, where did I say that you didn't pass up deer? Never did. You don't want anybody to read anything into you posts, yet that's EXACTLY what you are doing with mine.

Here's what's not hard to fathom. I hunt every single day in the big wood of Ontario from Sepember 20th - November 10th. During that time I PASS ON, not see, more deer than most people see in their lifetime. Just because I don't kill them does not mean I am not gaining as much expereince as someone who does.

After that I head back to WI for a couple of days, then to SK for 10 days where I basically hunt on my own (because of the Reservation I am on), then back to WI to hunt almost every day until Jan 6th.

During that time I will probably KILL 2-3 bucks and 2 does. And Pass on over 150 bucks. (My earlier figure was for Ontario only.)

So.....according to you, you are gaining more experience by hunting your patch of woods and killing twice as many deer as me. Doubtful.

Bowhunting is not a gameI do not hunt each year to get "better" than my brothers in Ohio. I work to get better for my own enjoyment

In 1998 I shot7 deer, 6 does and a buck. I did not become any better hunter because I shot more deer. Shooting a pile does in over populated huntingarea like mine is not to hard. If you know the area you are hunting, it makes it real easy

About 5 years ago I did not shoot a buck. I learned more that season than any past 3. I have shot over 560'' of antler the past three.

Sorry but I will disagree huntng where the populations are low like Northern MI have taught me pile info about killing a whitetail. Those guys who hunt deer in areas with 10 or less deer per sq mile and tag out each year are the real studs of our group IMO.

My buddy will hunt Hard in the UP of MI and see less than 20 deer a year. He still manages to find a deer and kill it. Maybe he does do it first two weeks of the season, because he is that good

My other buddy hunts Jackson MI and if he see 20 deer a night it is bad night He has shot 20 deer last 2 years, and he is no better hunter than he was 2 years ago. He just decide to thin the herd like you.

Hunting is great and it has become a numbers game to most, and I get sucked into the big antler game at times myself. I can not help myself

I did what you are going to do. You are all pumped up about shooting pile of deer. It will get old quick Jeff, when I did it by number 6 I just wanted to throw the damn deer in the river[:'(]

Sorry if it sound that way on my end jeff. Not my intent.

You say you posted this to make a point? What it is it?

The way I read it is that you feel or are presenting the argument that the more deer you shoot the more exp. you will gain. I don't feel that it true.

I think everyone starts out with a base or a foundation. It will be different for all. Some have people to give them knowlege others don't.

But lets say everyone started there first day in the woods with the same amount of knowlege. I would assume that the hunter who spent the most time in the woods would gain the most exp.

Good topc by the way.

Okay if I chime in???

I think that the fundamental difference here is the difference between the "hunt" and the "kill".

One doesn't have to "kill" to have "hunted". I don't believe that multiple kills necessarily make a better or more successful hunter. To me, a successful hunter is someone who understands his quarry and his quarry's environment, formulates a plan to put himself/herself in a position to take the quarry, and then has the composure and skill to follow through.

I don't know if I agree that the "shot" is only 5% of the equation, but shooting a bow is archery. Hunting with a bow is hunting.

Last year I hunted in Hardemann County, Tennessee, where you can kill 4 does a day. I only got to hunt there three days, but I took 4 deer... 1 buck and 3 does. There's no way that I would say that makes me a better or more experienced hunter than someone who only has one tag to fill who spotted a specific buck, scouted, learned the animals habits and habitat, planned his his hunt and then took that animal.

The multiple tag folks mayget to makemore actual shots at animals, and probably rack up more kills, but to me, it doesn't make them better hunters.

Germ,
Great post!

Darrall Dougherty