What is your best skill???
 

What would you say is the number one reason for whatever success you have in the woods.....no matter how little that may be ;)

I would say that my best attribute in the woods is a combination of being focused and calm enough to get the job done when the moment of truth arives.

I am a good shot. I know my ranges with gun and bow and won't pretend they are longer then they are.......so that part is solved by the time I hit the treestand. I don't have to worry about my shooting ability so I never do. I am confident and sure of my equipment.

I get excited as anyone.......but I don't get buck fever. I don't fixate on the rack or count points or start reserving a place for him on the wall while he is still walking around. My father taught me very well from an early age that you have to stay focused on the job at hand and you can count the points on the rack when he is down. I have never been so worked up that I missed a deer right in front of me or blown an easy shot that I know I should have made due to nerves.......my 2 brothers on the other hand have some pretty funny stories about deer they could have spit on yet managed to miss. LOL


Things I could use some improvement on are patience......I need to just stay in a spot that I KNOW is gonna produce sooner or later instead of bouncing around between a couple different stand sites.....Nothing worse then seeing deer go by the stand you were in YESTERDAY [:@]

I could also be better at sneaking around quietly in the fall woods. If there isn't snow on the ground or really wet leaves I just feel like I make too much noise. I seem to step on every damn twig on the ground. I think I need to be more careful and walk slower sometimes.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

My strongest attribute is patience. It allows me to stalk quietly..and I'm a fat guy, it allows me to shoot very well, and it allows me to remain totally calm when shooting at game. I find as much enjoyment in the act of hunting as I do the kill. That inner calmness allows me to be patient and never really have much disapointment.


Like you, Atlas, I have never succumbed to buck fever. Although I have only shot one big game animal with a bow, the countless kills on small game and rifle hunting have convinced me that I should really never have an issue with it.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

I'm right with you guys. I shake like a leaf watching the deer's approach, but when the time to draw and shoot comes, I am dead calm. No buck fever. If I shook like I do on the approach, I would never hit anything.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

I am always well prepared for any situation/condition....whether that be a buck coming from behind me or a buddy who has twisted his ankle and needs help I always have the mindset and equipment to cope with it.

As for the rest...I have no illusions. I am an average hunter at best...but I sure have fun just being out there.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

I'd say that pretty much sums it up for me too;)

RE: What is your best skill???
 

I would say I have a unique ability to be able to focus on a sound quickly. My eyes can pick out a sound in the woods in a split second. Even if it comes from directly behind me as soon as I hear a crunch, I can immediately pick out what made it. Of cours 98.2% of the time they are squirels, but I think it helps me out. Another one is my ability to stay completely motionless on stand. The only thing you can see moving on me is my eyes. I think this stems from doing a lot of ground hunting. Whether it be from a blind or stalking, I like the challenge of hunting on the ground. You learn how to not move an inch pretty quick.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Well, let's see, I can't hear, I'm am OK shot, I don't get rattled, I don't give a dang if I do or I don't. I guess they're right. I have people that tell me everytime I get a deer, I'm just damn LUCKY. OK, I can live with that.;) So there you have it. Number one attribute...... LUCKY sum-beesh.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Killing deer:D

Actually, I feel I'm quite good at detecting deer as early as possible while they are still a ways away from my tree. Allowing me to get ready. A close second is that I don't get rattled at all.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Don't let Dave fool you, he has a lot of attributes. True, he can't hear worth a dang; but, he makes up for it in many other areas. He's great at tracking, deer sense, location of stands, and patience.

I think attitude is equally one of our biggest attributes as well. We both respect the animals intensely. We love it when everything goes right, but don't let it get to us if we don't get a shot off. If we do happen to have a shot go array, we hope intensely for a clean miss. If that is not the case, we will search until we are sure that any further search is futile.

We have the utmost confidence in our equipment because we tune and practice often. We accept what we cannot change and change what we cannot accept.

Good hunting to all.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Ditto PA and SA...you nailed that one. :D

I'd say if there is one thing that helps me out, it's the fact that I have more patience than most of the guys I hunt with. Not that it's helped me take any monsters or anything LOL...but I have taken alot of deer, and many of those when everyone else was either not hunting, or already came in. Like PA said it's all fun, and I enjoy just getting out :D

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Never hurts to be lucky Dave. Put my older brother in 100,000 acres of woods with one deer in it and he will trip over it..........then shoot it ;)

Just the way it goes I guess.


Glad to see I am not the only imperfect hunter out there :) I KNOW I can seal the deal when the time comes...........now if I could improve all my other skills so that time comes a lot more often I will be all set ;)

RE: What is your best skill???
 

I thought being "regular" was your best attribute. And NO not the picture again.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Like a few of you have mentioned, I consider myself an average hunter. I am a good shot (within my range). And knowing my range and not shooting beyond it definitely contributes to my "success"

And second and probably most important is my persistence. I hunt until I get somthing! If I get skunked, I hunt that much harder. Even if I finish the season with only a doe or two, I consider it a success if it was a tough season.

Last season it seemed I had a black cloud over me. All of my stands that are normally good for me I was striking out. Not seeing many deer and in general having a tough time. With about a week left in the season I tried a spot I never had before and scored with a nice doe. For me, that hunt made my season a success and I know many guys who wouldn't have put as many hours in as I did.

Persistence!

RE: What is your best skill???
 

I would say that my best attribute is spotting movement. The day I shot my buck, I caught the movement of a doe. I saw her in a window of two downed logs about 70 yards out. There was only maybe square foot line of sight. I think I picked this up when I was a Cavalry Scout in the Army. Too many days spent staring out into the woods and desert.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

TWC.... when and where were you a Cavalry Scout? I served two tours in Vietnam with the 1st Squadron 1st Cavalry in I Corp. Also served a year in Hawaii with a separate Cav Troop as a platoon leader and XO and for a short time with them in Vietnam before going to the Cav. Scouts out.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Wow...Put it like that and I kinda suck at everything:D

Persistence. I'd have to say persistence would be my greatest. I'd go every day for 50 years in a row if I wouldn't be divorced:D

I'm not a bad shot either.

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Patience is my best attribute for sure. I can commit to a spot, climb in at dark and climb out when the sun is over the opposite horizon.

My weakness.............The actual commiting to a spot. Is this tree better than that tree...how about this one.....is it better just over the knoll.....how about here in the bottom...........maybe by the fence line...........oh, this looks like a good funnel......etc.......

I make myself nuts with this crap sometimes....Jim

RE: What is your best skill???
 

perserverence--- i hunt 7-10 hours a day for the entire bow season. (i work nights). some days it is hard to get out, but luckily ive got a wife that will push me out the door at 5 am (i missed a day ONCE on 5 seasons and she said i was impossible to deal with for 3 months) :D
i should have a few more BIG deer to show for it, but it's not for lack of trying;)

looking back at this post has me thinking i might have a problem......NAHHHH!
moose

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Observing deer movements, making educated guesses on where they'll be, and being flexible on going to them. Also, being able to stay in one peice at the moment of truth.

Above all though, I think it's luck and good old bulldog persistance. ;)

RE: What is your best skill???
 

[8D] Dropping everything when my son, Joe calls and says, "feel like a hunt, dad"?

RE: What is your best skill???
 

I was a scout from 91 to 99. I served in the 3/11th ACR in Germany, 1/16th CAV in Ft. Knox, and 3/2 ACR in Ft. Polk. Nice to have a fellow Cavalryman on the board. Just something about the Cav that no other branch can relate to huh? I'm in the Guard now, but back to my first MOS, 52D (generator mech.). But I still have the Cav blood runnin through me. SCOUTS OUT!

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Once in the Cav you're always Cav. I suppose you had all those new Bradleys and all that stuff. I started with M114s and went to M113s. We had M48A3 tanks in Vietnam in 68 but changed over to the Sheridans in 69 or early 70. Here are a couple oldies. Mouth of the QueSon Valley 1968

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Holy Crap.....I served during peace time fellows. Thanks to all who served and those who serve today. Say a little prayer for all our servicemen who won't be with their families this Christmas. We got it way better back here in the nice warm computer room..................Jim

RE: What is your best skill???
 

;) OOH, those were some tough times davidmil. Are you sure you were not on that flaming hill scoutin for deer? All kidding aside , Dave, thanks for your duty to our country. There is a lot of folks hunting today who tell stories about crappin their pants. Contempories, like myself, tend to know all about messin drawers and don't get overly shaky when a big one comes strolling along. God bless you. Jim

RE: What is your best skill???
 

Started out with these, M3A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle



This was the last vehicle I was on M966 TOW (iirc)

RE: What is your best skill???
 

My strengh is that I am persistent. I work hard and then work harder. I scout and scout and scout. I do my best to pattern deer and then pattern hunting pressure as 90% of my hunting is done on public land. Also, I am quite perceptive in the outdoors. I think some people scout and don't really interpret what they see very well. I once determined a buck's change in travel route just by observing some kicked up leaves. I saw that at 10:00am and that buck was dead at 5:15pm.

My weakness is that I am lazy when it comes to practicing. I am proficient with my bow, but I don't practice year round. I do plan to change this bad habit. One other weakness I have is that I am gullible. You tell me that Joe Hunter got a big buck in Area B and I will be there the next day even though I have hunted there about a dozen times and never seen a buck there!?!?!?!? Then, I find out it was only a rumor.

TBO

RE: What is your best skill???
 

I have 2 strengths that compliment each other and a 3rd that is the one that gets me deer. I have a knack for being able to pick out the slightest movement in the thickest of cover, this leads to the second strength which is being able to quickly adjust by changing stand locations to take advantage of what I have observed. The 3rd strenght is persistance, I have confidence in my scouting and know that just because I didn't see a deer today does not mean I won't see one the next day.

David and every other Vet and active duty person out there, thank you!

RE: What is your best skill???
 

What is my best skill? I can not put it in this forum, but here is a hint: it involves stalking, control and face paint! LOL ;) Wait, what? OH, OH--you were talking about HUNTING SKILLS! Silly me....

I think I can all but eliminate my scent when I bowhunt. I've said for years that I think women can get rid of their body scent better than men and I think it has something to do with sweating. I see a lot of action bowhunting and I'd like to attribute it to scent control and patience.