Becoming a better hunter

Jaygee

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Well to date I have taken two deer and helped get my son his first. I got my first as a teenager then didn't hunt again till I was about 34. I'm not new to hunting, but I have alot to learn. We have our hunt coming next month. I didn't have alot of chance to scout, but will be scouting the next 4 weekends before our hunt. I want to become a better hunter. I read, watch videos etc, but sometimes I feel i'm clueless at certain aspects. I want to learn more about how to understand terrain and where deer would most likely be. Especially when looking at Google earth, how to figure where you would choose to scout. How to determine where deer feed and bed. Whether deer would prefer to be in the flats or canyons of the desert. How to find water sources. Etc etc. We have tags for any antlers deer in the desert of az. I like to be the best at things and i like to be educated. I want to greatly increase my expertise as a hunter. Eventually I want to go after elk, bear, mountain lion, Turkey etc. So what are some ways I can increase my knowledge?
 
learn yo hunt really, really slow amd constantly watch 360 degrees all around you like you were on point in the jungle of Vietnam..
 
Be observant, spend lots of time watching, lurking, glassing. Especially with animals that you are calling to.

It's a lot easier to call a critter to a spot where they already want to be.

Go frequently, then go some more. Sooner or later something is gonna make a mistake.
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-10-18 AT 08:19AM (MST)[p]Sit your butt down. This is the #1 way to not only fill tags but to fill them with trophy quality animals. So many hunters think that the more country they can cover walking the better off they will be. Get at least 2 miles from any road and sit down with the best pair of binos, spotting scope and tripod you can afford, even if that means going cheaper on other things. On a late season elk tag in AZ I literally sat in the same spot from sun up to sun down for 7 days. I passed up 118 bulls before killing a great bull.

When hunting a new area the first thing I do is circle all areas 2 miles or more from a road on a map. That's where I start.

If you can I recommend going on a guided hunt sometime. There is a lot to learn from an experienced guide. Some hunters will give you crap for going guided. I can say that I am definitely a better hunter from the few guided hunts I've been on. I've learned something new from each of them and have created great friendships along the way.
 
When I was teenager my grandfather asked me how far I had walked during a day of whitetail hunting. I told him I had probably walked five miles. He told me if I had walked more than a mile I was walking not hunting.

The number of miles for mule deer and elk hunting would probably be more than a mile but not a lot more.
 
So much of becoming a better hunter comes with actual in the field experience. Tips and tricks from other hunters can help a lot, but it's no substitute for actual time in the hills.
Here's some of my suggestions that I think can be helpful;

1- Be where you need to be before daylight. Don't be late! Bucks, especially older bucks, feel very vulnerable during daylight hours and will head for cover as soon as it gets light. If you're hunting a particular canyon, be to your spotting location before daylight. Take advantage of every prime time minute available.

2- Invest all the possible time into the hunt that you can. Don't use excuses to go home early or hunt only 3 or 4 days when you really can find a way to hunt 6 or 7.

3- Remain mentally strong. Don't let the presence of other hunters bring you down. Don't let weather scare you off. Don't let the wife guilt you into coming home early. There are always a million excuses to give up. You've got to resist them and keep after it hard.

4- Pay attention to some of the smaller things such as deer beds, trails, rubs, tracks at water, etc. Those are the things that will be most helpful when you're hiking around during the middle of the day when most deer are bedded. If an area holds deer, you'll find beds, trails, tracks and droppings.

5- Use your optics and look everywhere. I remember a scouting trip I did with a friend. I spotted a group of bucks (12 of them) standing on an open face, in the sun even, about 500 yards from where we had camped. My buddy was down in the area near camp supposedly spotting. I could see that even the bucks could see him, as they kept looking down there. I figured he saw them. Later in the morning when I met up with my buddy, I asked him if he got a good look at the 30-inch wide 185+ buck on the open face above camp with the other 11 bucks. He said he never even looked at the hillside. He was only 500 yards from 12 bucks, but never glassed the hillside. You've got to look for deer to find them! Over time and with experience, you'll get much better at knowing where to glass to maximize your effectiveness.

I could probably go on and on for hours, but those are a few tips that might be of help. The best way to get better is with lots and lots of time doing it.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com
@mm_founder on Instagram
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Take Founder's advice! I agree with all, mostly #3. But it takes time! Read up on all the books and magazine articles, study deer behavior more than hunting behavior. I suggested Mule Deer Country by Valerius Geist elsewhere on forums and think it s very helpful. Think like a deer instead of emulating hunters...
Spend time in the woods as much as possible, even in areas you cant hunt. I learned alot about wild turkeys by being around them in places i cant hunt. Same with watching early season mulies before hunting season starts. Without the pressure of wanting to go punch your tag instantly you can really learn a lot.
Try to go with some experienced locals if you can, but definitely bring a grain of salt in yer back pocket - recognize ethical behavior and hold yourself to the highest standards so you can always hold your head high.
Good luck and always take time to be thankful for the opportunity to be out in the wild.
 
Be where you want to be before light, stay until dark. Pay close attention to tree lines and other cover edges. When the pressure is on many animals don't venture out to far and usually only first and last light. Try and hunt the same areas if possible (at least on general tags). Take notes and learn habits. Many animals repeat year after year. Be patient. Most important have fun and smell the roses (well pine and Sage.
 
WOW!

Talk about a boat-load of great advice from some accomplished hunters!!!

I probably couldn't add much to the above and if a hunter were to follow the above advice, he'd be successful.

Zeke

#livelikezac
 
Was gonna add my two cents then read marley's and founder's comments. I agree with a lot of what they said.

I'm always trying to learn as well, but time spent in the field is the biggest factor. Learning where animals are and aren't, there tendencies, etc. Mental aspect is huge. I always tell myself that the hour, day, hunt, etc. is a marathon not a sprint. A close friend also got me telling myself that it only takes one moment.

I really like where marley says sit your butt down. Last year I was hunting a spot where you think you'd be able to spot deer really easy. It's not far off any beaten path or anything, but there were some nice bucks in the area. I hunted the spot all day everyday and really came to understand those deer. What I thought was really funny was the amount of people who would cruise by, stop to talk (mentioning they had heard of a good buck in the area) then drive off. Many of those times I had just seen, was currently watching, or shortly after saw the buck and they didn't have a clue. It's easy to get in the mentality of needing to cover more ground, but if you know an animal frequents the area slow down and find him.

Good luck and have fun!
 
This is great stuff ! You guys are great for posting very good advice and I enjoyed reading this thread. I wish I was healthy enough to go but I'm going to work on next year..
 
Thank you all for taking the time to give some really great advice.? I do sometimes need to slow down more, I do get caught up with trying to cover more ground and see more terrain.? Probably need to stay and glass more than I do. I have been thinking about going on a guided hunt to see what I can learn, also want to do a guided fishing trip to help my fishing skills. I know that alot of hunting expertise and knowledge comes simply from time in the field, I just want to maximize my learning while doing so.
 

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