a question for all the great hunters out there,when will i be one?????
 

ive got 5 years under my belt and have shot 1 buck a 5 pter 1-1/2er, have only had 2-3 chances at good bucks and have never seen the slammers while in the stand! sooner or later w/ all the time put in will i get some great results?? scouting year round, scent control, rattling, calls, stands and more stands, ive tried it all at least a few times! i mean sooner or later i have to be in the right place at the right time! do you need to shoot a p&y every year and have a full wall of mounts to be a great hunter?? you old timers did you start off slow?? ive turned down alot of small bucks and does, i could of shot 20 or so deer already this year but i want a nice " earned" mount and i think i have earned it! your thoughts!

RE: a question for all the great hunters out there,when will i be one?????
 

I am not answering this because I in any way consider myself great:D

But I was in your shoes once and worked very hard - and rarely saw a " good" buck.

For me and the woods I hunt - it was all about location, location and location.

I now hunt the same woods but setup differently - and usually get a couple chances at mature bucks every year.

My advise would be to really look into how you setup and how close you are to areas a mature buck would feel safe in during light. For me the beds are key - you don' t need to be in them - but you really need to know exactly where they are and set up as close as you can. leave the pretty woods alone - abandon the types of areas you hunt now and change your overall game plan.

Mature bucks are IMO a complete different animal than young bucks and doe - and you need to hun them differently. Cover is key, funnels with heavy Cover are key, and this time of year add some doe to that mix and it can be golden:D

Good Luck

RE: a question for all the great hunters out there,when will i be one?????
 

The more you think you deserve a nice deer, the less you' ll be likely to get one. Too many lucky son-of-a-guns have gotten nice deer and can' t even tell you why......Are you looking for crowd satisfaction or internal satisfaction?

RE: a question for all the great hunters out there,when will i be one?????
 

Some people don' t understand that sometimes you have got to put in A LOT of time. Not saying that you dont' , but you' ve got to really earn big bucks. Of course there are a few people who just get lucky...but it takes a lot of time and a lot of passing up smaller bucks. I hunted over 95 days last year, never shot a buck. Had plenty of opportunities on smaller ones, but no good shot opportunities on a big one. This year alone I' ve sat over 43 days. Without exaggerating, I' ve probably passed up 9 different eight pointers on maybe 20 different occasions this year. One was a decent 125" buck. But it takes time, and you' ve got to be hunting an area where there is a big buck. I spend most of my preseason not only locating a lot of deer, but mature bucks in particular. Hopefully I' ve helped a little, good luck to ya.

RE: a question for all the great hunters out there,when will i be one?????
 

still waitin on my first real mounter to. My grandfather told me somethin once when i was gettin impatient with it " Time spent in the woods=success." He' s right just gotta be patient. I feel your pain.