Lousy Hunter

[dh.hamilton1]

Anyone else love hunting whitetail but are pretty lousy at it? Haha

No matter how much time I do studying, researching, reading about whitetail and what they like as well as finding sign, I’m not good at getting on them.

I do hunt public so that presents its own challenges but still.


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[Stickmark]

What lands: BLM, state, National Forests, and where?

 

[dh.hamilton1]

What lands: BLM, state, National Forests, and where?

WV Public Land … north central, so more rolling hills than mountains


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[Yoder]

Check out areas like this:
Deer will travel across the top of this valley and will also use it to travel down the hill. I usually find beds up on top. If you have good sign, hunt it in the afternoon and pick a day where the wind is strong enough to overcome the thermals going up the hill. It will switch once the sun goes down. I've seen quite a few deer using this setup in hills.

 

[rookieforever33]

I tell people all the time. If you dont love being out there doing it, you wont like hunting. Killing is the smallest part of it.
As long as you love it out there, keep at it. It will happen. When you are in the whitetail woods on THAT day its amazing.

 

[Scottf270]

I hunt mostly public in SE MO. and in S. Illinois at times. I have hunted them over 50 years. I have killed a number of bucks and several of those over 150 inches.

Having said that, I don't consider myself a good whitetail hunter. I can get on deer but I'm no where consistent on bigger bucks. I'm actually bored (frustrated) with whitetail hunting from stands in hardwoods on small properties. I guess my lack of success fuels my boredom.

 

[Yoder]

I kill a lot of does and 2-3yr old bucks. I haven’t figured out the big bucks yet. My biggest was a 130in 8pt a few years ago. I do exclusively hunt public land in PA. I rarely hunt the same place two sits in a row. Dan Infalt has a great YouTube channel. His advice has helped me a lot. Highly recommend.

 

[henkel19]

Just keep at it. Public is always tough and there are variables outside of your control. The more time you spend in your zone learning its ins and outs the more success you'll have. Just like with social media remember what you see online/youtube/tv are everyone highest moments and rarely the parts that suck.

 

[Boarmaster]

I did a lot better at whitetail hunting on the public I hunted for 25 years when I learned to set still. Especially late morning when most hunters start to move again. I was most successful sitting outside heavy cover where trails lead into it. During that same period and still these days I hunted private.
I found them to be much different. On public where I didnt have control of pressure from other hunters I
I took on a drive hunt mentality. I let other hunters push the deer my way. On private I hunt corridors between beds and feed. Some depends on how many hunters are using or have been using the public ground.

 

[Jpsmith1]

It's me. I enjoy it but I kind of suck at it.

It does sometimes get frustrating seeing friends and acquaintances on socials stacking deer up while I'm missing doe and watching spikes for half an hour hoping for a chance at a legal buck.

 

[Macintosh]

You MAY suck at it. Or there may just not be a lot of deer around you. Or both. But if youre having fun, stick with it, because success breeds more success. I dont know if its learned, or plain confidence, or some “manifesting reality” juju, but its true. Good luck!!

 

[Jpsmith1]

You MAY suck at it. Or there may just not be a lot of deer around you. Or both. But if youre having fun, stick with it, because success breeds more success. I dont know if its learned, or confidence, some some “manifesting reality” juju, but its true. Good luck!!

Man, I outlined my struggles in a topic here last year. I've been hunting for closing on 4 decades now and still lose my mental composure on a yearling doe because of how few I've had opportunity on.

I am learning to reframe what "success" is and making my peace with the fact that, for me, seeing a small buck is a 'win' and getting a shot opportunity on that yearling doe is a 'win' rather than putting the heavy focus I have in years past on a buck.

Doesn't help when you zip one through the guts of that yearling like my dumb ass did last night but I'll wear out my boots and donate a bunch of blood to the brier gods and see if I can find her this morning. If not, that's a filled tag in my mind and I will remove it from my bag and not hunt it anymore.

 

[Macintosh]

@Jpsmith1 good luck finding. Thats rough, Im sorry to hear. That’ll leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. If you are able to use a tracking dog it works. And, at least around me it was cool enough last night that you might not have lost any/much meat. Good luck!!

 

[EdP]

Man, I outlined my struggles in a topic here last year. I've been hunting for closing on 4 decades now and still lose my mental composure on a yearling doe because of how few I've had opportunity on.

I am learning to reframe what "success" is and making my peace with the fact that, for me, seeing a small buck is a 'win' and getting a shot opportunity on that yearling doe is a 'win' rather than putting the heavy focus I have in years past on a buck.

Doesn't help when you zip one through the guts of that yearling like my dumb ass did last night but I'll wear out my boots and donate a bunch of blood to the brier gods and see if I can find her this morning. If not, that's a filled tag in my mind and I will remove it from my bag and not hunt it anymore.

All hunters lose game. You have no legal responsibility to fill out a tag on an animal you have not recovered unless your state game laws say so. Your moral responsibility is to make a through search. Then move on if unsuccessful. As far as getting over excited goes, hunting small game can help with that (squirrels, groundhogs, etc).

 

[LostArra]

Anyone else love hunting whitetail but are pretty lousy at it? Haha

No matter how much time I do studying, researching, reading about whitetail and what they like as well as finding sign, I’m not good at getting on them.

I do hunt public so that presents its own challenges but still.

In spite of what you see on the internet most deer hunters are lousy at it. Deer win most of the time unless you are parked in front of a feeder.

The old saying "90% of success is just showing up" definitely relates to deer hunting.
More time in the woods = more success.

The biggest whitetail I've killed was from a stand I chose after a morning sit in another location only because it was a comfortable place to eat lunch and check football scores. The "tactic" was don't go back to the truck for lunch. The buck was the only deer I saw the entire day.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

On public where I didnt have control of pressure from other hunters I
I took on a drive hunt mentality. I let other hunters push the deer my way.

I agree with this. I have a lot of success when I just look at how I can profit from the actions of other hunters.

Deer usually don’t move without a reason. You can try to be out there at first light to catch them moving from food to cover or something similar, but I find that hit or miss. Other hunters being out in the woods is a consistent reason for them to move. And hunters are generally even more predictable than deer.

 

[Sooner]

It just takes time. Especially on public. The more time you spend there you’ll start to zero in on where they like and what they’ll be doing. I can’t tell you how many times a year I make the two hour drive and scout my public spot.


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[MallardSX2]

A lot of people just don't hunt where there are a lot of deer. I know a lot of people who are unsuccessful but if you look at where they are hunting, its obvious that they don't have a lot of deer to work with.

The only way to combat that is to move areas or spend a LOT of time in the woods. I do the later. But I rarely kill big bucks. Because, for the most part, they don't/cant exist where I hunt.

Also, I don't get hung up on guys who are always bragging about their Midwest whitetails. 95% of the guys who kill trophy bucks in the Midwest would fall flat on their face hunting in high pressured areas of the southeast. Hunting in the Midwest for whitetails with a bow, during the rut, is literally like taking candy from a baby compared to where I hunt. I know. I have hunted there, many times. Its like your hunting completely different animal when I hunt Illinois.

 

[LostArra]

But I rarely kill big bucks. Because, for the most part, they don't/cant exist where I hunt.

One of the Wensel brothers said " if you want to kill a *** inch buck you better make sure there is a *** inch buck where you are hunting. All the tactics in the world won't make a big buck show up if he is never there".

 

[MallardSX2]

Were I deer hunt, there has NEVER been a 125" buck killed or even on any of our cameras in the past 10 years.

I know that if I want to shoot a buck, I need to be willing to shoot something in the 100-120" range. They will simply NOT live to be bigger than 125" where I hunt. 10 years, meticulous record keeping and 20 trail camera have proven that. We have tried letting deer live and the neighbors kill them. Always hated saying that but in my area it is 100% true.