Luck and Hunting
 

I know everybody will get mad at me for posting this one...but I truely believe it is true. I hunt hard every chance I can go...and the only thing I have come up with is does. One of my buddies has shot a 14 pionter and an 8 pionter in the same year, both scoring over 130. I'm not saying luck is a major factor in hunting, but i swear if there was one deer in a woods, he would shoot it,

What does everybody else think ?

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

I thinks it Karma

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

I think luck can come into play on any single instance, but consistent scoring year after year is more than luck.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

I too think Karma has alot to do with it! I enjoy earning a deer!

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

With that kind of success, I thiiiiiink he may be doing something right, rather than just getting lucky.

That aside, of course, luck is a part of everything. :D

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Luck has a lot to do with it but I agree you can better your luck by doing the right things! Sometimes luck is against you no matter how perfect you plan and carry out your hunt! Other times luck throws you a bone when your doing everything wrong! One time while driving a piece of property with my old club a group of deer with 3 bucks came from behind the drivers and ran right into our drive! The club on the next piece over was driving also and sent thier deer into our drive! Thats luck! I once shot a doe while sitting on the tailgate of my truck eating lunch! Thats luck! I once stalked a 5 point for over 3 hours trying to get around him and get a clean shot. I got myself within 15 yards of him and he was looking for me in the opposite direction. There was some skill in that one but I saw him before I even got out of my truck! Thats luck! LOL! My buddy Mike is a buck magnet! We would do the same drive 2 or 3 times a year. Mike would always post in the same spot and always kill a buck! I had the same spot for a few of those drives and never shot a buck! Mike who is now in the spot I usually stand and see nothing kills another buck! Karma!!!!!!!!!!

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Who made the deer?? ASK him for one

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

No such thing as luck.

A deer that comes your way because others bumped it is a fortunate coincidence. A bullet or arrow deflected by an unseen twig is an unfortunate coincidence. How about beginner's luck? A novice that kills a large buck often just goes out without a lot of pre-conceived notions about what's right and wrong. He simply goes hunting, maybe looks for sign, maybe thinks about the wind, maybe has some ideas about deer behavior. Fact is, this guy approaches hunting differently than the "experts", and those are the guys that the deer have pretty well patterned.

As hunters, we often overthink it, trying to establish "rules" for what deer do and don't do. We plan our hunts according to these rules, and think we are unlucky when we don't see or kill deer. The only rule that holds true is that deer break the rules whenver it suits them.

Some of the best (not luckiest) hunters I know are self-taught, based on their own experiences in the woods. These guys don't read the books or magazines and don't watch the videos. They just hunt using the style they have developed. One guy is a tracker in northern NH. He cuts a good track and then runs that deer down, even if it takes a couple days. Another guy does almost no standing, he just slips through good cover until he sees a deer before it sees him.

The more you do anything, the better you should become at it. The notion of luck or Karma is, in my mind, a crutch.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Actually, hunting is all about luck. Luck, and how you respond when luck provides an opportunity. Now, take a novice hunter and a bona fide hunting expert. They are hunting at entirely different levels of luck, but it's still luck. Take the rolling of a couple of dice, say one guy wins only if he throws snake eyes (he represents your novice hunter), and another guy wins by rolling a 7 (here's your expert). They are both counting on luck, but obviously the guy rolling for 7s is going to get lucky more often.

So, how do you maximize your chance of getting lucky? Simple, roll the dice a lot! In other words, hunt harder and hunt longer. Eventually, the effort will pay off. Then as a bonus, the more time you spend out there, the more you learn, and the higher level of luck you play with.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

As my grandfather always said"You gotta be in the right place at the right time".Talk about obvious!
I think it`s 50/50.
As many years that I`ve been deer hunting[about 24],it never siezes to amaze me,the situations I mean.
I`ve been on a week hunting trip,back to back years in the ADKS,N.Y.,during rifle season[in `97&`98],and the first year, hunted in an area for 6 days in a row without seeing a deer.I decided to move to different spot in this piece of woods for an evening stand,seen 2 doe and a 6 ptr within 25 minutes[tagged out].The same thing happened the following year,but that was 5 days of seeing nothing.
Now that I learned more about ADK deer hunting,It has made me a more successful, knowledgeable,patient deer hunter.I bring this back home to Jersey, and these poor deer down here dont have a chance when I string up my laces.But dont get me wrong---I`m still learning!You could know more about deer than God,but that does`nt mean that you`ll be successful every time out.
No matter how young or old you are,You`ll still get lucky once in a couple years.And thats where all the good,sometimes funny stories come from.:)

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

i believe you make your own luck by doing your homework, but it definately takes luck to have the deer walk into range and stop......;)

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

There just isn't any such thing as luck.

Is the hunter lucky or is the deer unlucky?

What was the lucky thing that "let you" get a deer. That your vehicle actually started, that you didn't get into an accident on the way, that you didn't fall from your stand, that your gun actually went off, your bowstring didn't break? All these things CAN happen, but we discount all these possibilities because they don't happen often.

Boils down to percentages. The odds for rolling snake eyes is 1 in 36. The odds for rolling a 7 are what, 1 in 12? Makes no difference who rolls the dice.

Luck is a superstition.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

I believe as others have said.."The harder I work, the luckier I get"....Is there luck in deer hunting... youbetchya. There is luck involved in almost everything we do and that's not necessarily a bad thing. I would certainly rather be good than lucky, but if Lady Luck comes knocking, I'll answer the door every time.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

i think it is a little of both. It takes skill and knowlege to prepare for the hunt but if luck is not on your side, your chances of seeing a deer are smaller

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Good “lucky” deer hunting has more to do with the term Serendipity. Which simply means being or appearing very lucky but in reality you make your own luck by paying attention to your surroundings. Please read on.
So begins the fascinating story of The Three Princes of Serendip. In order to provide the best tutors for his sons, the king travels throughout the island until he finds a number of scholars, each specialized in a different field, “And to them he entrusted the training of his sons, with the understanding that the best they could do for him was to teach them in such a way that they could be immediately recognized as his very own.”
As the three princes are endowed with great intelligence, they soon become highly trained in the arts and sciences. However, when the tutors inform the king of his sons’ achievements, he is sceptical. So he summons his eldest son and announces that he wishes to retire to a monastery and that his son should succeed him as ruler. The eldest son politely refuses, insisting that his father is wiser and should reign until his death. The two younger sons also refuse when commanded in a similar manner.
Although the king is astonished by the wisdom displayed by his sons, he decides to send them on a prolonged journey so that they can acquire empirical experience. He summons his sons and, giving the impression of being angry and disappointed because they have all disobeyed him, banishes them from Serendip. “Thus they started their peregrination and moved out of his kingdom until they reached the kingdom of a great and powerful emperor, whose name was Beramo.”
Misfortune befalls the princes when a camel driver stops them on the road and asks them if they have seen one of his camels. Although they have not, they have noticed signs that suggest a camel has passed along the road. Ever ready to dazzle with their wit and sagacity, the princes mystify the camel driver by asking him if the lost camel is blind in one eye, missing a tooth and lame. The camel driver, impressed by the accuracy of the description, immediately hurries off in pursuit of the animal.
After a fruitless search, and feeling deceived, he returns to the princes, who reassure him by supplying further information. The camel, they say, carried a load of butter on one side and honey on the other, and was ridden by a pregnant woman. Concluding that the princes have stolen the camel, the driver has them imprisoned. It is only after the driver’s neighbour finds the camel that they are released.
The princes are brought before Emperor Beramo, who asks them how they could give such an accurate description of a camel they had never seen. It is clear from the princes’ reply that they had brilliantly interpreted the scant evidence observed along the road.
As the grass had been eaten on one side of the road where it was less verdant, the princes deduced that the camel was blind to the other side. Because there were lumps of chewed grass on the road the size of a camel’s tooth, presumably they had fallen through the gap left by a missing tooth. The tracks showed the prints of only three feet, the fourth being dragged, indicating that the animal was lame. That butter was carried on one side of the camel and honey on the other was clear because ants had been attracted to melted butter on one side of the road and flies to spilled honey on the other.
The deduction regarding the pregnant rider is more complicated than the rest and is somewhat lewd, so I shall let the princes tell it themselves: “I guessed that the camel must have carried a woman,” said the second brother, “because I had noticed that near the tracks where the animal had knelt down the imprint of a foot was visible. Because some urine was near by, I wet my fingers (in it) and as a reaction to its odour I felt a sort of carnal concupiscence, which convinced me that the imprint was of a woman’s foot.”
“I guessed that the same woman must have been pregnant,” said the third, “because I had noticed nearby handprints which were indicative that the woman, being pregnant, had helped herself up with her hands while urinating.”
Although Walpole mistakenly believed it to concern a mule, it is of course this camel episode that he latched onto as an example of serendipity, inadequate though it may be.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

wasn't expecting that

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

I love EVERYTHING that has been said about this topic. First of all, lets remember that deer hunting is hard. Luck or no luck. You said that all you have killed are only does? WELL NICE GOING!! Nothing wrong with shooting does. We all want to kill a nice buck, but takeing a doe home is MUCH better than takeing home nothing! I hunted just yesterday, & the only thing I saw was a cat! Thats right a cat! A cat walked past my tree stand in the early morning. I thought it might make a nice mount but I let it go! (JUST KIDDING!) Anyway, I believe that luck has at least a little something to do with every thing that we do. (The right place at the right time.) Hunting smarter & harder helps alot also, however I killed a 10 point buck on opening day last year, in the first hour of hunting, in a place that I never been to or scouted. THATS LUCK! This year, at this point I would love to just get even a doe! I would even take a small doe & be happy! I have hunted 12 times this year so fare totaling 120 hours in the tree stand, including bow, muzzel loader, shot gun, & rifel. I have been the only hunter on a this farm that has 450 acers. I have done everything that I can think of to bring in a deer & have not seen thing. I have baited 4 tree stands, I have used sent loc, doe scent, I have tryed these new stupid punks that you burn in the woods to attract deer, & NOTHING! So if you ask me you have been VERY lucky becauce you have harvested at least a doe. I think I would rather be a lucky hunter rather than a smart hunter. I work on Wall St. & I know alot of really smart people that are also realy broke! & I have met alot of "lucky" people that have become millionairs with little education of the markets, & if you ask me, thats luck.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Skill is important, but it does take the combination of many fortunate coincidences happening to result in a deer. I think it's the height of arrogance for guys who come off thinking "it's all me". Like cardeer said, there's more to it.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

i say the same thing about my cousins when they goo grouse hunting....they can get 15....and i go and get 2..they could go newheres and find one

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

My point on the dice analogy was that a newbie hunter needs to roll snakes to get a deer, where maybe an "expert" needs a seven. See, the newbie and the expert are hunting at entirely different levels, but it's luck that determines if today is the day a guy puts his buck on the ground. If not, if it's really some scientifically precise process, then the expert should know the day, hour, and minute that he will kill his buck.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Its being at the right place at the right time IMO.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

all i know the more i hunt the luckier i get...you need to hunt smart and put in your time in a good area..

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Here is the way I look at it. There is a base percentage chance of killing a deer, lets say X%. Your skills and environment affect that percentage, it is constantly changing. An expert deer hunter may have X+Y% chance, but may also have X - Y% chance if unbeknownst to him someone spread coyote urine in a radius around his stand. I lump the environmental factors into a "luck factor". However, skill and the environment are not unrelated. A more skilled hunter can better control the environment factor than an unskilled hunter. It is usually a matter of semantics whether you "believe" in luck or not. I don't believe in some mysterious force of luck, I simply call unexpected developments lucky or unlucky depending on how they affect me.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Don't know who really started this phrase, but it's one of my favorites: "Success is when preparedness meets opportunity".

Another way of saying that without some luck, it's almost hopeless, but you've got to be prepared because you don't know when luck will strike.

One thing is for sure, if you don't get out there, you will need LOTS of luck to get one in your back yard, The more you get out there, the less luck you need.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

luck is a tool of the devil. When you want to kill a buck do not shoot a doe. If you are hunting for food then shoot a doe if thats what comes by and don't worry about what so an so killed. My friends say i was lucky cause i didn't get killed in a tractor accident , i say it just wasn't my time,my friends say i am lucky to have killed many a big buck ,i say it was because i was hunting bucks not luck. Don't let luck be a part of your hunt just hunt , the deer are there and none of them want to die .Do you think that when the deer run off untouched they say man we were lucky,no they say man what a lousy shot that guy was.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

I think I know the deer you were talking to!!!! Was he from Jersey? LOL!!!

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

what he said

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

Thats what I do.

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

That's really well said Deerslayer. My point in stressing the luck aspect of hunting is to urge people to get out there and hunt. You break down the luck element if you spend a lot of time in the woods. (The more times you roll that dice the better chance you have of scoring.)

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

So thats how I get the guys I dont like to not get deer ;)

RE: Luck and Hunting
 

I use the same saying. I'll look up the name of the guy who said it the first time I heard it.

I also use the same approach as cardeer and slugman. Modern Gun two years in a row deer appear moments after my prayer. 16" spread 8 pt year one. 24 1/2 " spread 10 pt year two.
The place you hunt, and the time you hunt [rut] doesn't hurt either. The first time you rode a bike without training wheels successfully wasn't due to luck. Your persistence was most likely preceeded with failure. Often times when we hunt it is ourselves we must find first. And it doesn't hurt to be persistent and patient.