So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

The thread was intended to be a learning tool.

If you are the most accomplished hunter on your hunting grounds.....what make you successful (vs. what the "others" are doing)?

If you aren't.....what are the most successful doing that you aren't? Might be as simple as....."they get to hunt more than I do"....which is valid.

But it's a chance to learn.....SPECIFICALLY.....what makes the same ground.... more fruitful for some.

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

The others don't put in much effort and they shoot the 1st legal thing to come by. Plain and simple. There is no worry of scent, figuring out which trails the deer are using more often that season, anything. Plus few of them bowhunt, and our gun season is much more "random" chance. But even in gun season I am killing deer with pistols at 25 yds while they are struggling to even see a deer.

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

Whenever I talk to the guy who lives on the farm that we hunt, his camo clothes smell like bounce fabric softener.:DThat should give you a clue as to why he doesn't see many mature bucks.

The other guy maybe stays on stand for an hour or so and then he likes to walk around and "sneak up on them". You tell me how he is gonna sneak up a buck with a forest floor covered in crunchy oak leaves!![&:]

Luckily we have our own sections of woods we pretty much stick to. But their stands are always crowding my section. Because that is where all the deer live, according to them.;)

It' pretty simple why I kill more deer than they do. I hunt the parts of the woods they don't.

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

Like I said in your other thread my dad has always been the man in the woods I hunt. If I knew what he was doing, I'd (be the man)! He's just got that instinct! He knows what he's doing.

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

Schultzy.....this is the kind of thing I'm trying to break through (generalities). I understand that some people have better woods sense than others (your dad sounds like a perfect example). Granted. But is there anything specific he's doing? Or....does he just simply put himself in the right places on a consistant basis?

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

From the first couple of responses I see that we are equating succes to killing mature deer.

Many of the people that hunt around me,don't care about killing mature deer so they are very succesful according to what they are hunting for enjoyment, to relax and meat.

My father doesn't care if he shoots anything he might be the most succesful of all becasue he gets exactly what he's hunting for. Time with his friends.

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

Exactly.

I get that, time alone, time with my Saviour and if an arrow leaves my bow, I get the deer I wanted. (If I hit the darn thing[8D])

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

Honestly Jeff I'm not sure what seperates the 2 of us. I try hunting the exact way he does and the way he taught me but so far I haven't had the success he has had. I've had some but not as much as he has had. Like I said earlier he just has that big buck instinct built in him. In time I think I'll get it too if I stick to what he taught me but its something one has to earn in time I think. Whatever it is I really envy him in what he does in the woods hunting these whitetails.

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

That's good stuff, Schultzy.

Sounds like he knows when, where and how to get it done. "Instinct".......interesting.

RE: So if you are or aren't "the man"
 

I will never be the man. I couldlearn somethingfrom a guy thats been in the woods 1 day, or 30 years. I think for me its easy to decipher why I consistantly get decent bucks and some of the other guys I hunt with dont. I put hours and hours into pre season scouting includingseveral trail cams and days and days of glassing. They dont do any and have no cameras. Ialso hunt every day possible, last year I was in a stand over 80 days, the others were in stands maybe 20 or 30 days tops. 3 of the guys hunt the same exact stands for weeks, yikes. I move to different stand locations daily,to completely different properties. Even this site gives me tons of new info I learn constatntly, the other guys I hunt with never go to these kind of web sites. Their knowledge comes from TV shows, maybe some magazzinesand whatever info I give them about what bucksIve seen or have pics ofon the property, where they are coming out to feed early season etc. So I guess Jeff, its all about how much time and effort you put into it compared to other guys you hunt with in my case. I wouldbet some of the same guys would kill more deer and bigger bucks consistantly if they hunted as much as did.