Eight years since I've shot my last deer

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lewiss009

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I was just pondering on that fact yesterday, and realized it's been eight years. I'm in university, so i'll have to use that as an excuses lol. I'm sure some of you will still have succeeded while being in university. The reason I post this is to ask you guys, what are your opinions about a successful hunter?

Thanks
Lewis
 
Its like anything else, if you don't make the time for it, the time will never show up. It doesn't matter what the hobby is. I often get busy with reacting to everyday life and find it stressful to be loading campers and quads and such, but I'm both thankful and glad I got out once I'm there. Everyone has to get out and smell the roses, and for me, its getting out in the forest on a nice day hunting to recharge my batteries. The joy is in the journey, the bonus is coming home with a truck full of meat.
 
I think if you have time to scout a good area and know where some bucks are youre on the way to success. Good scouting I think is #1, without that youre just pissing in the wind.
 
Some years you get one, some years you don't...I'm in the CF, and over the past 3 years I have either been on pre-deployment training, deployed, or on course during deer season. I had no time to scout, so I don't go out expecting anything. I just enjoy the time in the woods whenever I can manage to get out there. Taking a deer is just bonus if it happens.

I never judge the quality of the hunt on what comes home in the back of the truck. I take a lot of pictures, and those are the memories that mean the most to me.
 
I hunt the exact same amount every year in the same area. I went 8 years without pulling the trigger on a deer because of not seeing one to shoot at or not having the right tag. My dry spell came to a end 3 years ago and I have shot 5 in the last 3 years. Just the way it goes.

The first time I saw a deer I could shoot after a 8 year dry spell was a highlight of my hunting experience. It was only a small 8 point but in my mind it was a trophy.
 
lewiss009 said:
I was just pondering on that fact yesterday, and realized it's been eight years. I'm in university, so i'll have to use that as an excuses lol. I'm sure some of you will still have succeeded while being in university. The reason I post this is to ask you guys, what are your opinions about a successful hunter?

Thanks
Lewis
Click to expand...

If you mean you have been in university for eight years, you should be changing your username to Dr.lewiss009 around now, shouldn't you?
 
I went the past 2 years without seeing anything, this year had 2 walk out in front of me, one on wed morning, one thurs night... ended up dropping both.... Right place right time lol
 
So many variables to a successful hunter IMO. I mean first thing is the land they are hunting whether there are an abundance of animals on it or not. The amount of time you put into scouting, baiting, glassing and all that. Basically the more time you spend out there will get your better success rate but luck has a great part of it too. The right place at the right time can help huge. As long as you have a passion for it I think your a successful hunter whether you get something or nothing.

I forgot to mention guided tours too. I personally am a DIY hunter but if you have the $$$$ you can get someone to do all the work to put you on a great trophy. I would like to do that one day but for now I do it on my own. That is another key variable of being a successful hunter for sure.
 
Too many of us think it's all about the kill. If you were in need of meat and using it to survive, it would be a different story. Most of us don't need deer meat to live. It's about the experience and if you get a nice deer, that's a bonus.

My father has hunted all his life. Doesn't shoot much but wouldn't miss a season. He just likes to go find deer and watch them. He'd be better off taking a camera.

As others have said though, for bagging good bucks the secret is time, time and more time. Time for scouting, set-up and then more time to wait for him to come along. Oh, patience is also a huge asset...I'm still working on that one...
 
lewiss009 said:
I was just pondering on that fact yesterday, and realized it's been eight years. I'm in university, so i'll have to use that as an excuses lol. I'm sure some of you will still have succeeded while being in university. The reason I post this is to ask you guys, what are your opinions about a successful hunter?

Thanks
Lewis
Click to expand...
I'm sure that you will receive various opinions about success in the hunting world. I know that it is difficult to harvest a buck every year in many places in Canada, however; I never measure success when the buck is on the ground. Success to me is getting out and having a safe and enjoyable experience. Walking in the timber, field edges, and cut lines is what I enjoy the best. Finding rubs, scrape lines, big tracks, many tracks, watching a flag disappear into the trees, bucks chasing does, and to persue a mature whitetail buck is what makes me go............... my definition of success.
 
AdrianM said:
Too many of us think it's all about the kill. If you were in need of meat and using it to survive, it would be a different story. Most of us don't need deer meat to live. It's about the experience and if you get a nice deer, that's a bonus.

My father has hunted all his life. Doesn't shoot much but wouldn't miss a season. He just likes to go find deer and watch them. He'd be better off taking a camera.

As others have said though, for bagging good bucks the secret is time, time and more time. Time for scouting, set-up and then more time to wait for him to come along. Oh, patience is also a huge asset...I'm still working on that one...
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more!
 
For the amount of time spent hunting I actually kill very little. I still do it because I like to. I also like to spend time in the woods off-season but I do like eating game meat. There are many variables with hunting success - productivity of the land you hunt, your hunting and shooting skills and luck.
 
My father went 25 years hunting every year with us, and never even saw a deer. Wrong place, right time. Then he shot two in one year.
Another friend went 12 years on his dry spell, then shot two.
Hunting is much more than shooting deer, and once you get really dedicated to that aspect, shooting deer is the easy part.
 
University can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I spent 5 years in uni and only dropped one small buck. Some years I got out and didn't shoot anything, some years I didn't even get out (not for a lack of wanting to). The years that I count as unsuccessful are the ones that I didn't get out. The buck on the ground is really just an added bonus to the hunt for me. Now that my fiance comes hunting with me I let her have all the opportunities to shoot, as she has yet to drop a deer (first season trying so far). I really enjoy just being out with her. That being said, I am also really looking forward to next week, having it off for moose hunting. A whole week will be the longest stretch I've ever had to hunt.
 
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