Skill vs luck?

Couple real accurate posts here , It dont matter how hard you hunt if theres no game where you are ;-)

I will hunt in the rain, snow(prefered) as tracks can be seen easy and fresh ones are noticable.

Yesterday i spotted a cow moose across a cutblock while driveing
She was just a small black spot ;-)

Gotta pay attention and drive slowly.

I have run chains all day just to stay on a road..it sucks but i come equipped
 
Doc Sharptail said:
I've had more walk-ups when on a smoke break than any other time, so go figure. Maybe they like the smell of burning tobacco?
They also will draw in to the smell of warming libby's beans...

Seriously though, aftershave and deodarant are big no-no's. Plain un-scented soap and water are your friend.

If you are able to can the smoking long enough to hunt on stand, quitting is a hell of a good idea- especially while it's still easy. I'm a smoker, and far beyond not smoking on stand...

Regards,

Doc Sharptail
Click to expand...
Yup me too I have had more walk ups when I'm smoking, I think it's because deer are curious and that new smell they have to come check it out. Just my opinion.
Cheers
Geoff
 
Stepping off the tread mill is probably one of the hardest things to do. Running hard all week at work. Relaxing and becoming part of your surroundings leads to success while hunting. Relaxing and becoming part of your surroundings is success in and of itself. That is probably why most of us hunt, of course the meat is a bonus. Enjoy the hunt with your smokes, as an ex-smoker I would guess they are the ones that taste the best.
 
A buddy of mine was walking along the top of a ridge and spooked a doe. She bounded a few times and was gone. He kept looking at were she disappeared and noticed a buck with head down following her. He took a shot and missed. The buck turned and ran straight for him. He shot again and missed. The buck continued to run for him. He finally shot and hit him at less then 30 yards. I call that total luck. That buck could have as easily done the same as the doe. Sitting in wait knowing that deer are in the area is skill in finding there stomping grounds. Having a big buck come out in the open and a clean shot to boot. Luck all the way.
 
I'm the most unlucky hunter in the world, I work, and hard for every critter I harvest so if you get the odd freebie be happy and take all the luck you can get, because I have none!!!
 
As effective as truck hunting is..... I would rather be unlucky out walking in the woods than consider that actual hunting.
 
Tikka6xc said:
As effective as truck hunting is..... I would rather be unlucky out walking in the woods than consider that actual hunting.
Click to expand...

I concur....The only time that road hunting comes into play for me, is going to/from my hunting spot...The majority of my travel time is in the dark, so my road hunting is pretty much nonexistent ....
 
There is some types of hunting where virtually no luck is involved, short of weather. Backpack sheep and goat hunting involves no luck as far as I am concerned. If you are relying on luck you will most likely never harvest these critters. It requires knowledge of their whereabouts, their habits and their weaknesses and a great deal of hard physical labor. I really don't think there is much left to luck on these hunts if one is to be repeatedly successful.
I have heard of the odd guy driving down a back trail and catching the odd sheep or goat changing ranges or whatever, now that is real dumb luck, but you could do this for your entire hunting career and not have that kind of luck, so I really don't think it could be called effective hunting of that species and would be put down to 100% luck.
 
subdermal said:
First, a story....


All of which got me thinking... In the opinions of those who've been doing this a lot longer than me, how much of hunting success is skill, and how much is blind luck? How much is scent management, and moving quietly, and knowing the terrain and where the water and food sources are, and migration habits and breeding seasons etc, and how much is "sometimes a deer jumps out in front of you and waits for you to shoot it".

I know I still have a lot to learn, and I intend to, but... how much of an improvement should a newb expect?
Click to expand...

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Seneca quotes (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)
 
c-fbmi said:
There is some types of hunting where virtually no luck is involved, short of weather. Backpack sheep and goat hunting involves no luck as far as I am concerned. If you are relying on luck you will most likely never harvest these critters. It requires knowledge of their whereabouts, their habits and their weaknesses and a great deal of hard physical labor. I really don't think there is much left to luck on these hunts if one is to be repeatedly successful.
I have heard of the odd guy driving down a back trail and catching the odd sheep or goat changing ranges or whatever, now that is real dumb luck, but you could do this for your entire hunting career and not have that kind of luck, so I really don't think it could be called effective hunting of that species and would be put down to 100% luck.
Click to expand...

Seems some people have to work harder than others to get results but every hunt i believe has a certain amount of luck involved.
For instance the sheep hunting you describe it would definatly benefit to know where their habits and whereabouts, but what if the sheep stay over the peak or out of sight? The knowledge of their habits helps, but does not guarantee success.

I will agree that some are luckier than others though.
 
crazydave said:
Seems some people have to work harder than others to get results but every hunt i believe has a certain amount of luck involved.
For instance the sheep hunting you describe it would definatly benefit to know where their habits and whereabouts, but what if the sheep stay over the peak or out of sight? The knowledge of their habits helps, but does not guarantee success.

I will agree that some are luckier than others though.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry but I don't follow your meaning. Sheep stays over the peak...............then you must check over the peak.
Dall sheep hunting is different than bighorn though, you can see them for miles and they live well above treeline 95% of the time.
 
Skill and patience , deer are habitual,they will come off the field at the same time generally early morning just before first light during rifle season and head in to the bush. the trick is to find out their patterns and wait on a cut line or area with a shooting lanes in view of the main trail or likely path and estimate when they will be in the location after first light so you can see em. once rifle season starts to get in to full swing or if the deer have been shot at and pushed around allot they become very nocturnal and allot less predictable. but they still have their underlying patterns eat and sleep.... Big Bucks on the other hand during rut tend to loose their brain and often are cough out in the open chasing a sent "on a mission" nose to the ground and walking/trotting with purpose to an unknown location. getting a shot at them is usually right place right time , that's it that's all. you may be able to rattle , grunt or lure them with in shooting range but they have to be in your area for that and they tend to roam very far and wide.
 
Last edited:
Skill, patience, luck...bring lots.

I know for sure some hunters that I know that cant sit in their stand for very long and walk around spooking eveything within a km dont' shoot a lot of deer.

Road Hunting: i would say 50% luck 50% spotting ability. I Personally cant see everything I would like to as well as others when driving so I would prefer sitting for an entire day waiting for something to show in a spot that I deemed productive.

Ideally I would like the ability to track and still hunt for all big game animals but Im still working on that skill.
 
c-fbmi said:
I'm sorry but I don't follow your meaning. Sheep stays over the peak...............then you must check over the peak.
Dall sheep hunting is different than bighorn though, you can see them for miles and they live well above treeline 95% of the time.
Click to expand...

What i meant is if the sheep is over the peak at the end of the day then you wouldn't have time to get to them, overnight they may move off and again you are playing catch up.

I haven't hunted sheep, but with whitetails i do my homework, set up trailcams, scout the area for months before season starts. Many times once season starts though the huge bucks i get pic's of seem to dissapear, Sometimes they stay nocturnal once season starts.

As i stated i believe there is a little luck with each successfull hunt, doing your homework and hard work helps tremondously but being at the right place at the right time isn't always achieved through hard work alone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom