1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:05,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,879 Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, presented by first Light, 3 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: First Light, Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson. 6 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 2: Hey everyone, welcome to the Foundation's podcast, which is brought 7 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 2: to you by first Light. I'm your host, Tony Peterson, 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 2: and today's episode is all about why we feel the 9 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 2: need to fill in the blanks with whitetail hunting and 10 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 2: how that might not be the best strategy. As I 11 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 2: get older, I kind of feel like I know less 12 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 2: about life in some ways. Maybe that seems weird, but 13 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 2: I think this is just because I've grown a little 14 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 2: more comfortable with not knowing an awful. 15 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 3: Lot of stuff. 16 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 2: Some of it I probably should know, and some of 17 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 2: it is about as unknowable as stuff gets. What does 18 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 2: this have to do with whitetails Actually quite a bit 19 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 2: more than you might think, And whether you believe that 20 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 2: or not, we should just keep listening, because I'm going 21 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 2: to break down right now how we often fill in 22 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 2: the blank for whitetail behavior and strategies and all this 23 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 2: stuff and how that actually hurts us a lot of times. 24 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 2: Us humans are a funny lot. We don't like not 25 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 2: knowing stuff, and we are very very good at making 26 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,839 Speaker 2: up stories to explain away the stuff we don't understand. 27 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,480 Speaker 2: Religions are often founded on this principle. And before you 28 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 2: get your undies in a bunch over me saying that, 29 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 2: give me a second delay something out, think about the 30 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,119 Speaker 2: explanations that come from religion, not just yours, because that's 31 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,400 Speaker 2: probably the one you believe, but from some other religion 32 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 2: that you don't practice. You probably think their origination stories 33 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,319 Speaker 2: are pure silliness because they don't make any sense to you. 34 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 2: Throughout history, we've concocted stories to explain where we came from, 35 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 2: who's in charge, what it all means to us. There 36 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 2: aren't a lot of Pagans or druids or whatever today, though, 37 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:54,760 Speaker 2: but we have plenty of folks who know in their 38 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 2: heart of hearts what happened and what will happen. And 39 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:00,639 Speaker 2: I promise you that those Pagans and Drews and whatever 40 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 2: else thought they knew too. We can look at them 41 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 2: now and say that they didn't, but that didn't matter 42 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 2: to them. A whole lot I bet we just need 43 00:02:09,760 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 2: explanations to calm our minds, to keep us going, to 44 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 2: make the whole freaking struggle seem worth it. Of course, 45 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,840 Speaker 2: there's this kind of thing when it comes to the 46 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 2: big questions about life and death and the existence of 47 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 2: a purpose or lack thereof, And well, you can just 48 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,239 Speaker 2: see why we want to be able to go. I 49 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 2: don't know, this is why, and that's all there is 50 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 2: to it now, as much comfort as we might draw 51 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,160 Speaker 2: from that, you know, when facing our own mortality or 52 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 2: that of our loved ones. It's also true that we 53 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 2: do this with all kinds of things in life. We 54 00:02:40,520 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 2: are quick to write people off as something they may 55 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 2: or may not be, simply because it's easier than considering 56 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 2: a world of circumstances that conspire to create a person 57 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 2: and drive their motivations. Take the corporate world here. You 58 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 2: probably think your boss is unqualified for the job, and 59 00:02:56,960 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 2: the reason he doesn't give you a giant raise or 60 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 2: a promotion every year because he's dumber than a bag 61 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 2: of hammers and just doesn't recognize your talents. But maybe 62 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,960 Speaker 2: he has a boss who has put really tight constraints 63 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 2: on his payroll and is holding him to such stringent 64 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 2: standards that only the top of the top performers are 65 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 2: gonna get anything extra, and those people have to beg 66 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 2: and plead for it. Everyone involved will justify their actions 67 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:22,640 Speaker 2: and their beliefs, but not one of them will be 68 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 2: able to contain the full scope of their interactions and 69 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 2: their duties and their lives with all these other people. 70 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,799 Speaker 2: There's just unknowable. So it's just easier to think your 71 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 2: superiors have the intellect of algae. Sometimes our desire to 72 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 2: just fill in the blanks is a self preservation method 73 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 2: to not go nuts by over analyzing something. And I 74 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 2: think somewhere in the deep recesses of our brains there's 75 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:47,920 Speaker 2: just a recognition that a lot of stuff is unknowable 76 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,640 Speaker 2: and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it. 77 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 2: I believe that in no small part to the fact 78 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:55,119 Speaker 2: that there are a hell of a lot of times 79 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:58,440 Speaker 2: when I can't outsmart any deer, let alone some stupid 80 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 2: smallmouse somewhere or I don't know, or rooster pheasant and 81 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 2: the cattails whatever. We labor under the delusion that we 82 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 2: have the answers to the questions when it comes to 83 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 2: the outdoors, But how often are we really just filling 84 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 2: in the blanks. Let me give you an example that 85 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 2: fell into my lap recently. One of the writers for 86 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 2: our site here at Meat Eater hit me up with 87 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 2: a question about how to find an antler list deer 88 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:23,839 Speaker 2: on public land in Kansas, or I guess I should say, 89 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 2: kind of just wanted to lament that for some reason, 90 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 2: finding bucks was pretty easy, but finding a doe wasn't. Now, 91 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 2: that would be a great problem to have for any 92 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:33,800 Speaker 2: one of us if we were looking to fill a 93 00:04:33,839 --> 00:04:35,960 Speaker 2: buck tag. But in a lot of states, when you 94 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 2: fill one of your buck tags, you filled all of 95 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 2: your buck tags. Minnesota is like that in most areas 96 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 2: of the state, and it sucks, but it is what 97 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 2: it is, So you got to choose wisely. Now, when 98 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 2: I try to talk through the Kansas antlerless situation, the 99 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 2: first thing I heard was that the does just must 100 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 2: not be moving in daylight. The rationale was this, The 101 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 2: sign was everywhere, and by that I'm talking tracks and droppings. 102 00:04:57,839 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 3: The bucks are there, so why not the does? 103 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 2: And you know they're all kind of keying on that 104 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 2: cut cornfield off the river bottom. 105 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 3: Great. 106 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 2: A lot of that adds up to an area that 107 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 2: should hold some does, but the confounding variables take this 108 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,479 Speaker 2: from something knowable to something that is truly a mystery. 109 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 2: Let's start with the public land aspect. There is no 110 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 2: way to know who is hunting a spot when you're 111 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 2: not there, and often when you are there, maybe the 112 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,680 Speaker 2: does aren't moving, or maybe they got pushed out by 113 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:29,200 Speaker 2: a quail hunter three hours before you showed up. Public 114 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 2: Land is a wild card that way, but there's a 115 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 2: lot more. This hunter had also actually successfully arrowed a 116 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 2: dough in that spot not too long ago. I don't 117 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:40,680 Speaker 2: know about you, but when I kill a deer in 118 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 2: an area, I just generally feel like I have less 119 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 2: of a chance to kill another one in the near term. 120 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 2: Even when it feels like that shouldn't be true, it 121 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 2: just often seems to kind of be so so far. 122 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 2: That's a couple of things that could be true but 123 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 2: are largely unknowable. There's another factor here where the general 124 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 2: firearm season was open, so you have more folks in 125 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:01,240 Speaker 2: the woods hunting at the time than any other time 126 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,440 Speaker 2: in the season. So just going out trying to arrow 127 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 2: a deer is a big challenge. You know, an old 128 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 2: dough hearing a pile of rifle shots or listening to 129 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 2: hunter's ride four wheelers through the pasture an hour before 130 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 2: first light is an old dough that isn't above heading 131 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 2: into the thick stuff to lay around for the daylight hours. 132 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:20,279 Speaker 2: It gets worse, though, because in a state like Kansas, 133 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 2: those same rifle hunters that are out on private land 134 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 2: close to that public are statistically very very likely to 135 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 2: be hunting over a big old pile of corn. If 136 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,599 Speaker 2: you want to influence the travel of deer in December, 137 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 2: a great way to do it is to dump a 138 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 2: pile of corn out and then wait. There's also the 139 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 2: reality of bucks being in a spot and the does 140 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:41,840 Speaker 2: who have been chased by them for a month or 141 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 2: so not really being keen on being chased any longer. Now, 142 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 2: while the bucks and does eventually will all kind of 143 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,800 Speaker 2: settle into similar bed to food patterns, there is a 144 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 2: time when the doughs have had just about enough of 145 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 2: the bucks. And now here's where things get really squarely. 146 00:06:56,839 --> 00:07:00,080 Speaker 2: In this particular situation, there are a pile of very 147 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 2: that could be standing between this hunter and a dead dough, 148 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 2: and most of them are kind of impossible to know, 149 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 2: So this leaves that hunter with just a few options. 150 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 2: The first is to decide that the circumstances are too 151 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 2: great to overcome and it's time to go do something else. 152 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 2: That's an option, even if it kind of sucks. The 153 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 2: second is to fill in the blanks and keep riding 154 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 2: a dead program, hoping that it comes back to life. 155 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:26,239 Speaker 2: If there is anything we are really good at as hunters, 156 00:07:26,320 --> 00:07:29,080 Speaker 2: it's talking ourselves into hunting the way we want to, 157 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,920 Speaker 2: even if it isn't all that productive. Or you can 158 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 2: accept what you don't know and try to learn about 159 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 2: what you can by doing something different, even if it's 160 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 2: only slightly different. One of the things that I've learned 161 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,559 Speaker 2: in a lot of unsuccessful late season hunts, in fact, 162 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:48,080 Speaker 2: just a lot of unsuccessful hunting in general, is that 163 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:51,920 Speaker 2: I'm often off by just a little bit, but it 164 00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 2: makes it feel like a lot. The deer are very 165 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 2: good at working around me and you, And if I 166 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 2: make that job easy and I offer and do, the 167 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 2: whole thing gets a lot harder. So the things that 168 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 2: we decide are unknowable, you know, we just decide they 169 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 2: must all be nocturnal due to the moon phase or 170 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 2: something else. Actually is just our way of wrapping our 171 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 2: egos in a warm blanket and not letting ourselves consider 172 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 2: that we just don't have a clue right now, or 173 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 2: that some style or way we've been hunting is hurting us. 174 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 2: So to get that clue on what to do, you 175 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 2: usually have to decide that, instead of declaring the deer 176 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 2: unkillable for some reason, that they are indeed actually killable, 177 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 2: just not on your current program. This is a hard 178 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 2: pill for a lot of us to swallow for a 179 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,320 Speaker 2: lot of reasons. But if you want to become a 180 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 2: better deer hunter, you have to figure out how to 181 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 2: solve the problem that the woods and the critters present 182 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,240 Speaker 2: to you. You won't be inclined to do that if 183 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 2: you just fill in the blanks with a perfectly logical 184 00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 2: to you excuse for why you can't get it done. 185 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 3: And this happens a lot. I think that it. 186 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 2: Happens because we hear a lot of people talk like 187 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 2: they know everything about deer, and since there's no way 188 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:11,559 Speaker 2: to check their work, the statements just stand. 189 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:13,559 Speaker 3: Let me give you a couple examples. 190 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,280 Speaker 2: You know how I feel about the deer aging thing, 191 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:19,679 Speaker 2: where everyone just confidently declares deer a certain age by 192 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 2: body characteristics or rack size or both. But they don't 193 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:24,840 Speaker 2: have to check their work, so it just stands. I 194 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 2: think that's bananas. But there are a lot of ways 195 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:29,679 Speaker 2: we do this. Think about how often you or someone 196 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:32,319 Speaker 2: you know has said that, you know, you just have 197 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 2: to hunt dough betting areas during the run, done and done, 198 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 2: just get down, win and the bucks will come. But 199 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 2: what dough betting areas? I've hunted so many places? Where 200 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 2: does bed in? A lot of areas throughout the season, 201 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 2: and they change depending on whether hunting pressure, the wind, 202 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 2: and probably about a thousand factors I don't know about. 203 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 2: We like to say definitive stuff like this. Hell, a 204 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 2: lot of people talk about bucks they are hunting as 205 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 2: if they know their day to day routines and that 206 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 2: never changes. But if that were true, so the success 207 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:02,480 Speaker 2: rate would be a hell of a lot higher than 208 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:05,040 Speaker 2: it is because those bucks that always do this or 209 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 2: never do that don't actually operate like that. Our dear 210 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 2: beliefs can be dangerous this way. Think about the folks 211 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 2: who are die hard moon phase believers, even if you 212 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 2: present them with studies that show collor deer seem to 213 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 2: be totally unaffected by the moon phase. Those folks won't 214 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:22,680 Speaker 2: believe it, and they'll cater their hunting strategy around the 215 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:25,480 Speaker 2: moon phase. And what does that do for them, Well, 216 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:27,320 Speaker 2: it's going to lead them to believe they are right 217 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 2: because it's the only way they hunt. But if they 218 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 2: ignored the moon phase and started hunting, they'd realize, you know, 219 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,960 Speaker 2: that what they know about deer actually isn't something gained 220 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 2: from broad experience, but something else that was influenced heavily 221 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 2: by an explanation for deer behavior that they just adopted 222 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 2: and held tight. 223 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:45,120 Speaker 3: We can wait broader with this stuff too. 224 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:47,840 Speaker 2: We might believe that the only thing you have to 225 00:10:47,880 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 2: do to kill a buck is to rattle on late 226 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 2: October mornings, right after sunrise. For some folks this is 227 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 2: probably very true. But for a lot of folks, you know, 228 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 2: like some person hunting public land in Georgia or something, 229 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 2: it would be a great one to not shoot any bucks, 230 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 2: you know, to muddy the waters further. You might think 231 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 2: that rattling will never work because you were only a 232 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 2: public land hunter in Georgia. But is that belief rooted 233 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 2: in reality. It's hard to say. When we use our 234 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 2: beliefs to keep us from trying new things, we get 235 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 2: into trouble. That's really where I wanted to go with 236 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 2: the show. I can think back to so many things 237 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 2: that I just knew to be true in hunting and 238 00:11:23,160 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 2: that guided me along certain parts of my journey in 239 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:28,440 Speaker 2: a way that for one reason or a nothing, were 240 00:11:28,480 --> 00:11:30,079 Speaker 2: eventually exposed. 241 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:31,080 Speaker 3: To be total bullshit. 242 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 2: While those revelations are super important to growth as a hunter, 243 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 2: we have to hunt in a way that allows them 244 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 2: to happen, because they mostly just won't happen by accident. Now, sure, 245 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 2: you might just go out to sit in the woods 246 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 2: to shoot a dough on October eighth, and I have 247 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty inch or walk in where you 248 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 2: don't expect him, and if you do pay attention, that 249 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:51,839 Speaker 2: buck could alter the course of your deer hunting life 250 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:53,600 Speaker 2: in a big way if you don't write off the 251 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:56,760 Speaker 2: encounter as a total fluke. But in other ways, we 252 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 2: have to make something happen to see if something will happen, 253 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 2: if that makes any sense. If you don't believe that 254 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 2: you can kill big bucks in the early season in 255 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 2: the morning, you won't hunt mornings and guess what you're 256 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:10,480 Speaker 2: gonna be right, or at least you'll never learn how 257 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 2: wrong you really are. This is where it gets tricky, though, because, 258 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 2: like I said way back in the beginning of the show, 259 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 2: there are just unknowable things, a whole shitload of them, 260 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 2: and because they exist and always will, we will always 261 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:25,839 Speaker 2: be faced with the impulse to explain them away as 262 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 2: best we can. But what your brain comes up with 263 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,839 Speaker 2: while sitting on the couch and just pondering your deerless 264 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,800 Speaker 2: life is a different thing than what your brain can 265 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 2: do when it's tasked with going and doing the thing. Anyway, 266 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 2: it's hard to get comfortable with not knowing the important. 267 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 3: Stuff, but it's also a part of this deer game. 268 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 2: Instead of saying that the bucks are all nocturnal because 269 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,560 Speaker 2: of the moon phase or seasonal timing, it's okay to 270 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 2: be like, I have no idea why I can't find 271 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 2: a buck right now, but I'm gonna keep looking. This 272 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:56,959 Speaker 2: is so important I can barely figure out a way 273 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,920 Speaker 2: to emphasize it enough. It's okay to hunt a new spot, 274 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,640 Speaker 2: and hell, seven new spots in a week and blank 275 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 2: every time. You'll never truly know why you didn't see 276 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 2: any deer on most of the CITs, but you can know, 277 00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 2: you know that you didn't do this or you did 278 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 2: do that. You know you can say, well, with this 279 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 2: access and this wind and the seasonal timing, I didn't 280 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 2: see a deer in that spot. You might not know 281 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 2: why the deer didn't show up, but you have enough 282 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 2: to try it again, or tweak the plan, to move 283 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 2: down the ridge and give it another shot. I think 284 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 2: one of the best things that ever happened to me 285 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:33,319 Speaker 2: as a hunter was deciding that when it was possible, 286 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 2: I'd hunt new spots for an evening and then a morning, 287 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 2: as long as it made just enough sense. Now, of 288 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,319 Speaker 2: course you wouldn't sit I don't know, like a beanfield 289 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 2: edge in the morning most likely, But for a lot 290 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 2: of travel route setups, there's a chance morning and evening. 291 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:49,920 Speaker 2: And while you might have to access the same spot 292 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:53,040 Speaker 2: from different ways, it's worth it because sometimes I believe 293 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 2: a spot will be an amazing morning spot and it's 294 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 2: a dud, but the deer go through there like crazy 295 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 2: in the afternoon. I might be able to figure out why, 296 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 2: or I might have just an unknowable thing on my hands, 297 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,600 Speaker 2: But that's okay. I don't need an explanation for everything. 298 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 2: Sometimes I just like finding a spot where, for whatever reasons, 299 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 2: it's known to them, they use it at a certain 300 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 2: time in a certain way. We are caught in this world, 301 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 2: this weird world of white tails right now, where it 302 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,160 Speaker 2: feels like you can know so much about them, and 303 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,840 Speaker 2: if you have enough cameras and enough time and enough land, 304 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:27,840 Speaker 2: you can know a lot about them. They can be 305 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 2: pretty predictable, but they mostly aren't that predictable because we 306 00:14:32,120 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 2: mostly can't know most of what they have going on 307 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,440 Speaker 2: during any given day. If you can find a way 308 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:39,960 Speaker 2: to take comfort in that and accept it, you can 309 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 2: find a way to just tease out enough knowledge on 310 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 2: their lives to maybe not always kill them at will, 311 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:47,960 Speaker 2: but to always be in the game and always on 312 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:50,840 Speaker 2: a path toward the next encounter. So, if this was 313 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 2: super muddy and incoherent, let me break it down before 314 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 2: we all move on with our lives. There's a lot 315 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:58,240 Speaker 2: of the deer's world that we just aren't privy to, 316 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 2: but that's totally okay. We can try to explain away 317 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:04,960 Speaker 2: certain behaviors or certain results from our sits, and we 318 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 2: might get some of them right or not. That doesn't 319 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 2: really matter. What does matter is that it's okay. To 320 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 2: admit that we don't know, and to try to learn 321 00:15:11,680 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 2: as much as we can about them. This only happens 322 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 2: one way, and it'll never happen if we decide that 323 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 2: we know about them something that we actually don't or 324 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 2: can't and then use that to try something that just 325 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 2: won't work or to keep us out of the woods. 326 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 3: You know what, Scratch that. 327 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,680 Speaker 2: Trying something that might work is everything to solve the equation, 328 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 2: even when we don't believe that we can solve it. 329 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 2: This is a good time of year to just fold 330 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 2: our brains into a mental pretzel over this stuff, because 331 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 2: we can look back on the bulk of our season 332 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 2: and see what we did and didn't do, what worked, 333 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 2: and what didn't. In fact, that's what I'm going to 334 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 2: talk about next week, and we should use all of 335 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,479 Speaker 2: that stuff and just feed the machine for the offseason 336 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 2: and at least help us try to think through new 337 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,240 Speaker 2: plans and strategies and hopefully just kind of alter our 338 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 2: dear mindset so it helps us more than it hurts us, 339 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:02,800 Speaker 2: which is always a good thing when it comes to 340 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 2: not only a life in general, but deer hunting. I'm 341 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 2: a big fan of just trying to reflect on what 342 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:12,280 Speaker 2: I got wrong, what I got right, and how I 343 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,640 Speaker 2: can do things differently. I think that's so important, and 344 00:16:15,640 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 2: I think it helps us to just not fill in 345 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 2: the blanks all the time, which is super dangerous to 346 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,680 Speaker 2: our deer hunting success. So think about that. I think 347 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:26,760 Speaker 2: about coming back next week because I'm going to just 348 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 2: talk about sort of my fall and review and some 349 00:16:29,840 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 2: of the bigger lessons that I took away from the 350 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 2: deer hunts that I had this year, because I think 351 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 2: that'll help you to do the same thing, which is 352 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 2: just going to set you and I up for this 353 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:43,240 Speaker 2: long off season we're going to be facing before we 354 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 2: can start really shed hunting and scouting, getting into a 355 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,160 Speaker 2: whole bunch of stuff. That's it for this week. I'm 356 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 2: Tony Peterson. This has been the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, 357 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 2: which has brought to you by First Light. As always, 358 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 2: thank you so much for listening. If you want more 359 00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 2: deer content, you know where to find it. Maybe you 360 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 2: need pheasant content content, maybe you need a new recipe, 361 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 2: maybe you just want to listen to some podcasts and 362 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 2: veg out. 363 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 3: Whatever. Go to the medieater dot com. 364 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 2: We drop new hunting and fishing and outdoors related content 365 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 2: literally every single day. There's so much stuff there. Check 366 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 2: it out and thanks again for all of your support.