James B

I don't know if I am a good hunter or not when it comes to deer. There are so many deer in my area that its next to impossible not to see a lot of deer. Mostly Mule deer.
However good I am as a hunter, I strive to get better.

zrexpilot

What classifies you as a good hunter ?
Put any joe blow in an area of lots of deer and big bucks and he will score.
Put a so called good hunter in an area of very few deer and he will not.
Hunting is about being in the right place, nothing more.
It's about opportunity. People who hunt the mid west kill big bucks all the time, people in Florida dont kill huge bucks. Is the Floridiana a bad hunter because he doesnt kill big bucks ? No he just doesnt have the opportunity.
Some hunters dont even have a place to hunt, just get invited or hunt on public land and they wont kill as much as someone who owns or has access to big properties or ranches.
Its all about opportunity and nothing more.

nchawkeye

I was kinda thinking the same...And wonder how some guys ever get there, with the short seasons they have...We are lucky here in NC, bow comes in about September 8th, Rifle October 10th-Jan 1st, with a week of muzzleloading in between...

I'll just say this, I was a good hunter before I ever got serious about deer hunting...When I define good in this way, by the time I was 16 I could walk out the back door to our house with a .22 andhave a mess of squirrels in
2-3 hours...Or with my 12 gauge doubleI mightcome back with squirrels, quail, rabbits, ducks or a deer.

We didn't have as many deer here in NC at that time, in fact we had more squirrel hunters than deer hunters...That's hard to imagine, but that's how it was...Back then I didn't have to sit still in a stand all day, because we have X amount of acres to hunt on...A fellow could just walk out his back door, step into the woods and go as far as he wanted in any direction, neighbors didn't care a bit...

tsoc

I understand the posts about good being linked to the area or opportunity provided,I don't agree though.The best hunters are the ones that consistently kill the best class of animals an area has to offer.The best hunters in trophy rich area's or deer rich area's are not the ones who simply kill deer every year,they are the one's that kill the best bucks that their area's hold.
A lot of this has to do with the level in which a hunter is satisfied but in my opinion the best hunters are the ones who meet the criteria I previously stated.A big factor in this discussion is TIME.Once a hunter arrives at a particular level of skill or mastery their success is commeasurate with how much time they put in the field,either scouting or hunting.
Personally I consider myself a good hunter but I want to be great.This is a personal consideration.What others think of my hunting skills,While I may be appreciative,means very little to me.It is my quest for learning and improving,and not duplicating the same mistakes that drives me.I enjoy it so much it does not feel like an unhealthy obsession.I take real pleasure in everyone's success.I just want to do the best I am capable of!

petasux

Ill probably never consider myself a good hunter, the deer have a way of humbling a guy.Shot one of my better bucks this year, about 100 yrd shot with a muzzleloader, spent 3 hours following him around a huge 2 mile section in the snow to get the shot.It was an awesome hunt and tested my skills.the story I dont tell is about the small doe I choked on at 25 yards the week before that

Same thing with a bow, one of my best hunts and bowkill bucks was one I crawled up on in a picked beanfield.I had to crawl past the doe he was laying with and killed him from about 4 yrds away when he came over to her.Ive killed lots of deer now in a similiar fashion but none that were quite that exciting and that was only the second one Id ever shot from ground level with a bow.Most challenging stalk Ive ever faced and I pulled it off.Yet I missed a doe that was feeding peacefully at 15 yards with my bow from a treestand later that same year and had to eat my doe tag for the year.

I think overconfidence played a huge role in both misses, both were easy shots, and I knew it, I didnt concentrate as hard as I normally do on making the shot and I blew it.When I start thinking Im good something always happens to put me in my place

rybohunter

Being good is way more than just where you hunt. Yea it may be easier to "look" good but you could stick some guys in the best pieces of land and they still ain't going to kill a deer.

buckstalker1187

IHAVE BEEN HUNTING FOR ABOUT 9 SEASONS NOW AND I MUST BE HONEST. ALTHOUGH I HAVE SHOTMY FAIR SHAREOF DEER, DONE ALOT OF RESEARCH IN THE FEILD, AND TRY TO DISCOVER WHICH WAY THE DEER ARE TRAVELING TO AND FROM.......I AM STILL NOT 100% HAPPY WITH MY PERFORMANCE.

I FEEL THAT I AM ALWAYS LEARNING FROM MISTAKES, ALWAYS GROWING IN KNOWLEDGE. EVERY TIME THAT I GET A CHANCE TO GO IN THE FEILD IS ANOTHER OPERTUNITY FOR ME TO LEARN MORE. I WILL NEVER BE SATISFIED.

WHEN I WAS 21 YEARS OLD I WAS TOLD BY ALOT OF MY FREINDS AND PEERS THAT I WAS THE BEST HUNTER THEY KNEW. (KEEP IN MIND, I HAD BEEN HUNTING FOR ONLY 3 OR 4YEARS AT THE TIME AND SOME OF THEM HAD BEEN HUNTING30 YEARS OR MORE. I JUST LAUGH AND SAY, "YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE GENTLEMEN THAT I LEARNED FROM." THEY WHERE INDEED LEGENDS AROUND OUR AREA ANDALL BUT 2ARE PASSED AWAY NOW.

IT HELPS WHEN YOU HAVE A GOOD TEACHER OR TEACHERS. I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE TAKEN UNDER THE WING OF 6 MEN THAT KNEW THE SPORT OF HUNTING IN AND OUT. KEEP IN MIND ALSO, THE YOUNGEST OF THESE MEN WAS 74 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME I WAS BEING TAUGHT AND THE OLDEST WAS 88. THE REASON THAT THESE MEN WHERE SOOOOO GOOD AT HUNTING WAS BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT OF TIME THESE GUYS SPENT IN THE WOODS ( ALL OVER 60 YEARS OF HUNTING EXPERIENCE EACH) IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, I WAS HEARINGAND LEARNING ABOUT HUNTINGFROMALMOST 400 YEARS OF HUNTING EXPERIENCE. I GUESS YOU CAN LEARN ALOT FROM 400 YEARS EXPERIENCE.

I HOPE THAT SOMEDAY I MIGHT BE AS GOOD AS THESE MEN....BUT PROBALLY NOT.
THE BEST ADVISE IS TO KEEP PRACTICING. THE MORE TIME IN THE FEILD, THE BETTER.

djschuett

I know I'm still not a "Good Hunter." I know I move to much and daydream too much when I haven't seen anything all day. I also tend to get up and walk around about every 3 hours to keep my legs from getting stiff. Ironically, the doe I got this season I shot while standing coming back from a 15 min walk. Where she was, I wouldn't have been able to shoot her if I would have been sitting in my usual spot.

I've been a lucky hunter the past two years (13pter and a big doe on public land) and I think hunting is one of those arenas where it's sometimes better to be lucky than good. I know that I got these 2 deer through no fault of my own. (The buck was broadside 20 yards from me, it would have taken the worst shot of my life not to hit vitals! The doe was about 70 yards out, about my max comfortable range with my 20ga).

When will I become a "Good Hunter"? I don't know, maybe never, maybe after a few more years experience. As of right now, I'm perfectly content on just being a lucky hunter while learning to be a good hunter!

Ol JohnnyBoy

Well let's see, I've been at it solidly for about 9 years now (I'm 30 y/o). This was the first year that I've felt confident in some of the skills that I've developed over time.

Phil from Maine

I can't really say that as I have been hunting squirrels when I was quite young and shot my first deer st 14 years old and have hunted ever sence. I had good luck hunting for the most of my life. So this would be very hard for me to say as I have hunted now for 33 years now and will always enjoy it.