1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:05,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:10,799 Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, and now your host, 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson. Hey, folks, welcome to the Wire to Hunt 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: Foundations podcast, brought to you by First Light. I'm your host, 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson, and today's episode is all about late September 6 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:39,319 Speaker 1: and how to avoid terrible hunting. Hey, if you're just 7 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,879 Speaker 1: randomly finding this Foundation's podcast, or maybe listening to this 8 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: episode as your first one, I want to give you 9 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: a heads up. All of the episodes up until this 10 00:00:48,159 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 1: one and from here on out until next summer are 11 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: loosely chronological. That means they're bendworthy, and it's best to 12 00:00:55,840 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: do that in order, starting with Numero Uno, which we 13 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: dropped way back in June. Now about this episode, I 14 00:01:04,319 --> 00:01:07,640 Speaker 1: gotta love hate relationship with late September. It's one of 15 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: my favorite times to be in the woods, but it's 16 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:12,320 Speaker 1: also the time when I waved goodbye to my chances 17 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 1: of killing a buck in the field from an easy 18 00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: to get too set up. Of course, I know you 19 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:21,040 Speaker 1: can kill a soybean muncher all day, anytime in the season, 20 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: depending on your hunting situation, but on pressured ground. This 21 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: is the time of year to accept reality and understand 22 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,039 Speaker 1: that it's actually time to get back to work. Now, 23 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: you might be listening to this and thinking, well, my 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: season doesn't even open until October. Dude, that's okay. This 25 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: show is really about the second week of the season. 26 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: So even if your opener is the first or the 27 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: tenth of October, whatever, this is what you do after 28 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: you haven't filled your tag on opening weekend or opening week. 29 00:01:49,360 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: That's really what this show is all about. When I 30 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: don't kill a buck in my home state of Minnesota 31 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: or across the river in Wisconsin on opening weekend, or 32 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: at least during opening week, I start to feel this deep, 33 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 1: dark sense of just dread. I know things in my 34 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: life are about to get a hell of a lot 35 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,080 Speaker 1: more difficult. It's the same feeling I get when my 36 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: wife casually starts talking about how our yard might look 37 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 1: a little better with some new landscaping, or maybe how 38 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: our garage would benefit from having just some new shelving 39 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: units in it. You've probably felt this too, at least 40 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: dear wise, if you've ever been super excited about your 41 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: home state's opener and for whatever reason, you didn't feel 42 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: your tag. Now, the question comes to most of us 43 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: whether we should back off through the slow part of 44 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: the season to wait out the run or keep at 45 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: it and risk putting the deer down further. The easy 46 00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: answer is to back off if you have the option. 47 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: I don't, and I don't like not hunting now. If 48 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: you live in Iowa and you know the full month 49 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: of November is waiting for you, Even if you're a 50 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: public land hunter, then waiting might be an easy call, 51 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,160 Speaker 1: and it might be the right call. Everyone's situation is different, 52 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: but remember this, A lot of experts telling you to 53 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: wait are hunting places where the deer won't get pressured. 54 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: That's where the waiting advice comes from mostly, and at 55 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: least from some sources. Doesn't really make sense for the 56 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: average hunter. If the rut will bring loads of hunting pressure, 57 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:27,519 Speaker 1: or you're in a state where you'll only get to 58 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: hunt maybe part of the rut before a general firearm 59 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 1: season opens, then waiting might be a really bad call. Plus, 60 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: as I've mentioned earlier, don't you want to hunt? I do, 61 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,840 Speaker 1: so I do. This is also why I really like 62 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: having backup spots, and I always encourage hunters to keep 63 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: looking for more areas, private, public, whatever, the thing that 64 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: keeps us out of the woods. A lot of times 65 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: it's just limited options. So even if you think the 66 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,560 Speaker 1: public land you know half an hour away won't be 67 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: as good as your private chunk closer to home, it's 68 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 1: something that you can hunt when you feel your best 69 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: stuff isn't right. That's important. Now, here's how you should 70 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: look at the back half of September or the second 71 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: week or your season, depending on where you hunt. It's 72 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: time to acknowledge what's happening and how the deer will react. 73 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,200 Speaker 1: It's the first step. Once you do, you can react 74 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: to their reaction and all of a sudden, possibly beyond 75 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: them again. How's that for a weasel word salad tasty. 76 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 1: Let's look at the bad news first. There's a combination 77 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: of two things working against you buckwise right now. The 78 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: first is that they naturally start to go vampire in 79 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: their lives. As they go hard antlered, they break up 80 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: from their summertime bachelor groups, and the days start to 81 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,280 Speaker 1: get shorter. That's reality for most deer in most places. 82 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: Couple that with the added pressure of bow hunters and 83 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: small game hunters in the woods, and the bucks are 84 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: even more likely to avoid moving in daylight in places 85 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,160 Speaker 1: where they are likely to encounter hunters. This is simple stuff, 86 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:57,200 Speaker 1: but it's important to understand and acknowledge. Hell, you can 87 00:04:57,279 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: also throw in the kicker the woods getting more open 88 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,039 Speaker 1: by the day as the leaves fall. While late September 89 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:05,080 Speaker 1: is usually pretty thick foliage wise, it might start to 90 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: open up, especially if you live in the northern part 91 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: of the deer's range. I can't prove this because I'm 92 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:11,840 Speaker 1: a human and not a deer, but I don't think 93 00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: bucks are super comfortable with that. I was going to 94 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: move on from the bad news here to all this 95 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: good news, but I'm not gonna yet. We might as 96 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: well take all of our medicine now aside from dear behavior. 97 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,799 Speaker 1: We have to acknowledge our behavior up to this point. 98 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: When our optimism wanes, so too does our dedication to 99 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: hunting intelligently. It's easy to get sloppy when you think 100 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: your best patterns have died, and to sort of go 101 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: through the motions with fingers crossed, hoping a buck walks 102 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: into the alfa filfield in frontier stand where you've already 103 00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: sat five or six times. After all, this is a 104 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: safer play than getting in too close to his bed 105 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 1: and pushing him onto the neighbors long before the whispers 106 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: of the rut get him on his feet again. Right wrong. 107 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: The only thing we do when we get complacent is 108 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: cement our behaviors so that the deer can pretty our 109 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: actions very well. If this seems like great a bowlshit, 110 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: go hunt high country mule deer if you ever have 111 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: the chance. Better yet, hunt them in an area with 112 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: a high concentration of mountain lions. You'll see through your 113 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: glassing efforts a level of neurotic dear behavior that highlights 114 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 1: how a buck has to behave to reach maturity when 115 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: he's been shadowed by one of the best deer killers 116 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: in the business his entire life. Those mule deer, they 117 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:29,799 Speaker 1: don't let themselves get patterned, and you can bet neither 118 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:34,840 Speaker 1: with alliance. Neither. Should you be honest about what stands 119 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: their spot, you've burned out and move on. Even if 120 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: you haven't totally burned out your spots, they might have 121 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 1: died anyway due to a litany of factors, which brings 122 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: us to the good news. First off, fully, nocturnal deer, 123 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: they probably don't exist. Let's acknowledge that right away. If 124 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: you don't believe that, do me a favor and go 125 00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: pull your trail cameras from the woods and keep hunting. 126 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: Trail cameras will keep you out of the woods right now, 127 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: I promise, mostly because they'll show you a skewed view 128 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: of the deer's world. Those field edge and food block 129 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: cameras will start to show more nocturnal movement that plays 130 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: on our psyche. Fewer random bucks walking down trails does too. 131 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,080 Speaker 1: But the deer is still out there, and you want 132 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: to keep hunting, don't you. I learned this lesson every 133 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: I don't know a few years at least, and I'll 134 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: never forget about I don't know. Six seven years ago, 135 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,320 Speaker 1: I had a free night to hunt this little property 136 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: by my house in the Twin Cities. I knew from 137 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: recent trail camera polls that the odds of running into 138 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:36,800 Speaker 1: a good buck were next to none, but there were 139 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: a few does frequently hitting a small kill plot. I 140 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: had planted. The one though, that did come in that night. 141 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: She busted me immediately. She was onto that stand and 142 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: it was obvious. But later I also heard something working 143 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: from the swamp to the woods behind me. Which is 144 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: a direction I did not expect a deer to approach 145 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: from the buck. A legit hunter and thirty class deer, 146 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: which was the biggest buck I ever saw in that 147 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 1: property and five years of hunting, it came into bow 148 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: range but never offered a shot. He also skirted that 149 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,559 Speaker 1: plot like it was hot lava, and in that move 150 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: he also skirted my cameras. When you hunt when you're 151 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: not supposed to, you see dear do what they're not 152 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:18,000 Speaker 1: supposed to do. The second week of the season, no 153 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: matter what state you bow hunt, is a reset moment 154 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: for most folks. Sitting on an unfilled tag, that means 155 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,280 Speaker 1: the first plan didn't work. That's okay, most of our 156 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: hunting plans don't work. We fail a lot. It's just fine. 157 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: But what you do now is important, and that should 158 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:36,680 Speaker 1: really involve thinking about the patterns that deer probably have 159 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 1: on you and other hunters they've dealt with. Think about 160 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: this too. From the perspective of this question, how could 161 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: the deer possibly pattern us after a week? Well, for 162 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: some deer it's only a week, but for others it's 163 00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: the second or third, or fourth or eighth season of 164 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,959 Speaker 1: the same stuff, And It's not just the same stuff 165 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: as far as the heightened activity around the opener, and 166 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 1: then the same mostly hairless apes climbing into trees to 167 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,319 Speaker 1: send sharp sticks in their direction. It's the scent trails 168 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 1: that get investigated. After dark. It's the crunch of truck 169 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: tires on gravel and the pre dawn darkness and the 170 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: quiet but not all that quiet closing of truck doors 171 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: or tailgates. That last one is a doozy and it 172 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:21,440 Speaker 1: factors into my hunting in a big way on some ground. 173 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:23,840 Speaker 1: Now this might not seem like a huge deal, but 174 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: it is. I honestly think that on a lot of properties, 175 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: both public and private, where we park kills our hunts 176 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: faster than a bad wind. Our trucks make a lot 177 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: of noise. We make a lot of noise driving them, 178 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: getting out of them, getting into them, messing with our gear. 179 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: That's just what happens. Now. This is something that is 180 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: highly variable. But I'll give you a pro tip I've 181 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,199 Speaker 1: learned from hunting public land over the years. Where there 182 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: are expected points of ingress by hunters, like public land 183 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:56,800 Speaker 1: parking areas, the deer are totally aware of them. But 184 00:09:56,920 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 1: the good news is in most places you don't have 185 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,439 Speaker 1: to park in the was rutted up parking areas. Last year, 186 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: when I drew a coveted Iowa tag and set out 187 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: to kill a good one on public land, I paid 188 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,600 Speaker 1: close attention to this, mostly because every other hunter I 189 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:12,600 Speaker 1: saw seemed to park exactly where you'd expect them to. 190 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: Some even seemed to go out of their way to 191 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:17,079 Speaker 1: park right in the open on a field edge where 192 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: visibility was highest. I took a different approach, and the 193 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: best spot I found involved pulling off of a gravel 194 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: road and climbing straight up a bluff to get to 195 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: my hunting area. That piece of public has two parking areas, 196 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: one on each end, but the spot I parked at 197 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: which is not a common access point, and it was 198 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: positioned between two farms, which meant I had some cover noise. 199 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,920 Speaker 1: I'm speculating here, but I think the deer were used 200 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,120 Speaker 1: to hearing all kinds of clunks and thunks and driving 201 00:10:44,160 --> 00:10:47,560 Speaker 1: from that spot because of those farms, and I really 202 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: feel it worked in my favor after seeing how well 203 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,160 Speaker 1: I could sneak right into a Big Bucks guard in 204 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:55,719 Speaker 1: the morning. I've seen this on almost all public land 205 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,720 Speaker 1: I've hunted over the years, including down in Oklahoma, where 206 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 1: the patchwork of public we hunted one year would have 207 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: only one parking area per section. Right there, you know 208 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 1: that probably the pressure is going to start it exactly 209 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: one spot. Now, that might not matter on opening day, 210 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: but by the second week of the season count on it. Now, 211 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:17,800 Speaker 1: it's not enough just to be a sneaky bastard with 212 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 1: your parking strategy. Usually you've got to factor in what 213 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: else is going on so you can get on top 214 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,760 Speaker 1: of current deer movement. Now. I tend to simplify this 215 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: by assuming I know the food sources they're probably hitting 216 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: at least if there's some egg ground around. This is 217 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:35,800 Speaker 1: a safe bet usually and can help distill down some 218 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 1: of the mystery of current deer travel. Big woods hunts 219 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: are different, but they also don't allow for easy spot 220 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 1: burnout quite the same way, at least quite the same 221 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,640 Speaker 1: way as that egg ground does. This is, in my opinion, 222 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: evidence that a lot of this hunting stuff balances out 223 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: in weird ways. Now, is that clear as mud? Probably right? 224 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,400 Speaker 1: What I mean is that hunting egg ground is orders 225 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: of magnitude easier than hunting bigwood stuff. But egg ground 226 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: also allows us to hunt easy patterns and get patterned easily. 227 00:12:07,920 --> 00:12:10,760 Speaker 1: Big woods without the cushy bean field edge type of 228 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: stands aren't as easy to hunt and are obviously not 229 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: as easy to find destination food source, and that by 230 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: itself is enough to often keep the burnout factor lower 231 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,640 Speaker 1: and leveled off. So now that you're thoroughly confused, I'll 232 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,120 Speaker 1: get back on track if you've got the easy food 233 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,719 Speaker 1: factor it in. But think about the snacks they can 234 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,319 Speaker 1: eat along the way to and from that food. If 235 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: you don't have that, think about the brows. Think about 236 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:36,920 Speaker 1: the hard and soft mass that might play into their 237 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: daily lives. Way back in the summer, you built a 238 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 1: grocery list, Now is the time to revisit it. You're 239 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: working with deer that are wise to lazy hunters, but 240 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: not so jaded they won't move in daylight. They are 241 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: also listening to their stomachs, but not usually laying down 242 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: enough sign to really clue you into the hot spot 243 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: of the week. In the areas I tend to hunt, 244 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: I find a strong gravity toward oak trees if they're 245 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: avail bowl. We all know white oaks are the best, 246 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: and they are, but in places where lower quality food 247 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: is the rule. Red Oaks and other varieties will do 248 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: in a pinch. Where are they and are they dropping? 249 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: Do you have a deep woods meadow to watch that 250 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: might have some tasty stuff growing in it or around 251 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,520 Speaker 1: the edge? How about some apples. One thing I find 252 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,839 Speaker 1: in the big woods in northern Wisconsin, where I consistently 253 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: get my ass kicked by the deer is that there 254 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:28,400 Speaker 1: are random, old, long abandoned homesteads tucked into the forest, 255 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: usually deep into the forest. I tend to find these 256 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,839 Speaker 1: while grouse hunting, after stumbling across a random pile of 257 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: rocks where there definitely shouldn't be. A random pile of 258 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: rocks that, along with a thicker vegetation and usually some 259 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 1: baily visible remains of the remnants of a homestead, make 260 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: everything click. That's when I start looking for apples and 261 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: I forget about the rough grouse for a second. But 262 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: it really doesn't matter how you find these spots. What 263 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 1: matters is those long ago folks planted fruit trees, usually 264 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,079 Speaker 1: apple trees. The grouse know it, The deer know it too. 265 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 1: As a kicker, they also tend to get some solid 266 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:04,400 Speaker 1: betting areas out of the deal, provided they don't fall 267 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:07,439 Speaker 1: into an old root seller. I know finding these areas 268 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: sounds easy when some random dude talks about it on 269 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: a podcast, but it's not, at least not always. These 270 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,800 Speaker 1: spots would be easiest to find through extensive scouting, but 271 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: that's not all that appealing right now. So there is 272 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: another way to keep at it and keep your way 273 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: to hunting knowledge base expanding hunt for meat. If you 274 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: don't have this strategy where you can go in and 275 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: quickly find some cool spot to sit in the big 276 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: woods or the staging area, type of thing that you 277 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: don't think you can rely on, just hunt for meat, 278 00:14:35,280 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: go look for dose, and forget about the buck quest 279 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: for now. This is one of my favorite strategies for 280 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: finding deer concentrations once the easy hunts have died away. 281 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,600 Speaker 1: Not only does this keep me hunting even if the 282 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,400 Speaker 1: plan doesn't involve a lot of big buck strategies, it's 283 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: more enjoyable. Low standard hunts are fun and often put 284 00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: you on deer that don't necessitate a low bar. The 285 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:00,080 Speaker 1: very first buck I ever arrowed that I put on 286 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: the wall ended up dying from this exact approach. It 287 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: was the second week of the season in Minnesota, and 288 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,160 Speaker 1: my goal was simply to find some acorns that some 289 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: doughs might be eating. I slipped into a flat situated 290 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 1: a couple hundred yards from the field edge and picked 291 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: my tree. Three quarters of the way up. A dough 292 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: feder way passed as I did my best fright and 293 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: squirrel impression while hugging the trunk. Later that evening I 294 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 1: saw other dos but never got a shot, and well 295 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: before last light, a good buck walked in and bedded 296 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: down at thirty yards. I fed the gnats and the 297 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:32,040 Speaker 1: mosquitoes whilst white knuckle gripping my bow like it was 298 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,800 Speaker 1: a rubber chicken neck. He stood up. I shot him 299 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: square in the liver, and the next morning prayed to 300 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: whatever gods would give me some blood to work with, 301 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: and I actually found him. It was revelatory for me 302 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: on so many levels. But what is stuck all these 303 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:48,640 Speaker 1: years later is that I went out to find the 304 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: hot food so I could just have a chance at 305 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 1: a doll and I killed my biggest buck ever. Happy 306 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: accidents happened in the woods. My friends. Don't let the 307 00:15:57,960 --> 00:16:01,440 Speaker 1: doubt creep in because opening week didn't account keep hunting, 308 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,200 Speaker 1: but work off a new strategy. If you're not seeing 309 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:06,640 Speaker 1: deer like you were just a few days ago, think 310 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: about where they've probably relocated to and what they're eating. 311 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: Think about who is hunting them besides you, and where 312 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: that pressure is coming from. How can you do things differently. 313 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: The more ways you can answer that, the more ways 314 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: you can stay in the game, and the worst case 315 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,520 Speaker 1: scenario is to keep hunting, which isn't a bad thing now. 316 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:28,360 Speaker 1: Next week we'll start to fine tune this whole thing 317 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: and dive a little deeper into why staging areas matters 318 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,600 Speaker 1: so much right now and how good hunting can be 319 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: had when most hunters think it should be bad out there. 320 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 1: That's it for this week, my dear loving friends. I'm 321 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:45,880 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson and this has been the Wired Hunt Foundations podcast. 322 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: Visit the meat Eater dot com slash wired to check 323 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,240 Speaker 1: out our latest deer articles, or head on over to 324 00:16:52,280 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: the wire to Hunt YouTube channel to subscribe to all 325 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: of our videos, and, as always, thank you so much 326 00:16:57,960 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 1: for your support.