RE: How well do you know deer?
 

above average, thnx to the web

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

With deer I am average, now if elk is in the poll, I would put Expert. Not that I am trying or wanting to be cocky, but given the fact I give elk calling seminars and also that I am a competition elk caller who does rather well. I have many who think I am a expert. So that is why I would say I am. Now with that said truth be told I don't feel one pereson can truly master all the knowledge a game animal can teach ya. With elk I have found to a degree,that in one area I can patten them, knowing what time they are out and about moving around, eating, drinking, breeding. As well asknowing what calls they like the most what wallows they like to visit, what routes they like to travel, and on and on. Then in the same year in the same state I can go to another area and the elk there will act totaly different, and will need totaly different hunting tactics and knowledge that I may or may not have.

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

I marked advanced only because I have studied/hunted them for a long time, but advanced might be a bit of a stretch otherwise and here is why.


I am not grilling you but I will respond in a way that will sound harsher than I intend but that is how it goes with the written word.

This may be true if you are just talking about deer in general. But I beg to differ in regard to killing the true mature deer in your area. I know you think you have killed the biggest deer in your area, and since I have never hunted or been in your area, maybe so.

But I highly doubt it. Just the biggest ones you have seen. Why do I say this? Because of my own experience over many years and I suspect it is true for most of us.

Onetopic that I know we will agree on is relativity. I have killed 3 Pope and Young deer but then again I live in an area that produces a higher percent of P/Y deer than most areas. So the fact that I have 3 deer over 125" by itself doesn't mean anything, hence the relativity. None of the three have scored over 135".

But I can also attest that they are the biggest deer I have ever seenon the hoof.But that doesn't mean anythingeither other than I am not yet smart enough or lucky enough to shoot the really big boys that I know live right under my nose. How do I know that bigger deer are there if I haven't see them? Three specific examples.

1. 5-6 years ago I found a dead deer on my property that was hit by a car on a nearby county roadthat scored around 155 that I HAD NEVER SEEN even though I had hunted that farm over 30 days directly prior to finding him dead that season.

2. I found a shed about 3 years ago that would have been in the same category as the deer mentioned above with a huge droptine. I never saw the deer anytime of the year and haven't yet. And again, I hunt A LOT OF DAYS and use trail cameras as well.

3.I had a picture on a flash camera a couple of years ago of a very large and unique deer that would have scored in the 140's that only showed up on camera one time and I have never seen on the hoof.

Now these are only three incidences in over 20 years of intensehunting of the same farm. But they were all within the last 6 years and to me they are more than random coincidence.
Until these three incidences, I was convinced I was shooting the biggest and most mature deer in my area in any given year. WRONG

It may not be rocket science, but then again I am no rocket scientist.:D

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

Just average for me on deer...it would be a different story if we were talking about hogs or bear...

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

i really do not know how much i know about deer.

up until 2006, i was a deer hunter period. hunted rifle season and flintlock season...mainly by stand hunting in a funnel, relying on the pressure of opening day or saturdays to move deer through a funnel or thicket, or by setting up on drives with the crew. dad loves venison and is far from picky...if its legal and he doesnt think its a button buck, hes drilling it unless i already layed it out...he said he took his bucks and used to be all about antlers..but now hes about filling the freezer and just being out there...sure, dad taught me ALOT about deer sign, habits, feeding scouting, stand selection etc etc....but i really feel the methods we hunted were ALOT different from bow hunting and DEER HUNTING period. yes, we scouted..found the sign etc...but we were always in a thicket, thicket edge, bottle neck etc...sure they might make good bowhunting spots, but in reality, without pressure, alot of deer may never came through the areas we hunted...

dad got out of bowhunting before i became old enough to hunt...i always wanted to bowhunt but dad didnt wanna get back into it. 2006 i bought my first bow...been learning everything i could since and learned that what i knew helped, but wasnt enough. i never had to scout on my own. never had to pick my own trees. never had to worry about how far from the deer i was, just as long as i could see them. never cared where they bedded or where they fed..just mattered that i would see them...cared somewhat about wind, but not a ton...scent control? ha! ive killed a pile of deer within 50yds of me...seems when someone else scares them, they dont care/have time to check the wind..by the time they do its far too late.

2006 was an eye opener..i struggled to see deer period. 2007, i did more scouting, did more learning, applied what i learned and i feel im becoming a different hunter. 2007, i was into bucks from day 1. no monster bucks...but i was into bucks and deer pretty much every hunt. i saw the difference...

i just spent the afternoon trimming shooting lanes and clearing a small path to access my favorite spot quietly..things i never before did. im learning more all the time. learned that spot is a hot spot because it is a saddle, and is just deer heaven....chestnut oaks, cover, bedding areas, corn, beans, alfalfa all within 100yds of my stand. but i have many spots...thats just my favorite and where i focus on because yearly it always seems to draw in and hold 1 or 2 GOOD bucks...small woodlots on farm land is one thing...

i also hunt BIG woods up north at school. i REALLY struggled up there. i grew up rifle hunting there and took a pile of deer from those same woods...bow season i didnt see a tail. couldnt find the deer. i didnt know where they ate...didnt know where they bedded...woods are huge..no fields..last year i saw my first 2 deer from stand up there...

im getting there....theres ALOT to be learned...but im getting there..

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

This is easy to say......because it can always be claimed and can never be proven. Regardless.....of if they were THE biggest/oldest.....they were mature. Good enough.

I have never claimed this as "easy". Hell I may have to eat my words on teh rocket science thing when I go into new woods this fall. We'll see.

But regardless of where you hunt......what I said hold true. We catch them going to eat.......coming home.....or thinking about making little deer. If we do a little homework, we can find them.

Some people have this down to a science. Some people think it's far less complicated than that. Truth be told.....they're probably both right.

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

Good post.

I suspect that this might be true for most hunters. I live and hunt in areas that can produce bucks that will go 200+ inches. In the 17 years that I have hunted for mature bucks I have only seen 6 that were 170 or above and was fortunate to kill two that were 170 and over. I have used cameras for three years and have not gotten any buck over 150. These super bucks are usually loners that are super hard to see let alone tag one of them. They are something that you just don't see all the time, but they are there.

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

I put average however after thinking more about it I think beginner would be closer to the truth. I have bowhunted deer for three years now and have killed 7 deer in that time. I took 20 years off from hunting before that. When I was younger I was a gun hunter and did all I could to learn about my prey. I'm trying again to learn all I can not just about my prey but also about my gear. I have a long way to go but it is an enjoyable ride.

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

I have no idea. I doubt I know much of what is avalable.

RE: How well do you know deer?
 

I put expert mor michigan deer and where I hunt. But in diffrent areas of the country I would say advanced. Deer are and act diffrent in other states.