WEBVTT - Ep. 1059: Back 40 - What's One Thing Every Hunter Is Making Way Too Complicated? 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.160 What is going on this Jake Hoefer and welcome to 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:05.480 another episode of Back forty. This week we have the 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:08.719 same crew. We have Aaron Warburn, Jeff Sturgis, Adam Keith, 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:13.160 and Bill Winky providing their insight and information based off 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.680 of one question, one theme. And this is something I 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.119 feel that as hunters, we often like to take in 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.360 all this information. And when you take in a lot 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.040 of information and haven't applied it year after a year, 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:27.920 like some of these guys, it's easy to over complicate things. 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:29.920 And so I wanted to reverse engineer that a little 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.240 bit and get to what are some things that we're 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:35.800 all likely overthinking and how it might be impacting a 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:39.280 variety of different decisions. So simple question this week, what's 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.960 one thing every hunter is simply making way too complicated. 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:45.479 We're going to kick things off with Aaron from the 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:54.320 hunting public. Here we go, all right, Aaron, there's a 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:56.040 lot of hunting information out there, there's a lot of 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.960 different hunting styles. There's just so many different things, and 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:02.040 I feel that some people can just simply get a 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.720 little in the mix of trying too many different things. 0:01:04.760 --> 0:01:07.360 Whether that's good or bad. But to boil it down 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:10.679 what's one thing every hunter is just simply making way 0:01:10.680 --> 0:01:13.520 too complicated. It could be anything. It could be food plots, 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.720 it could be how aggressive to hunt, how not aggressive 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:17.399 to hunt, whatever the case may be. What is one 0:01:17.440 --> 0:01:20.600 thing you think it's just simply getting over complicated. It's 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:22.000 not that hard. 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:31.839 Trail cameras, Okay, the trail cameras and reading the information 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:36.520 off of them. I think I think people spend this 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:39.039 is just I guess this because this is a hot 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.720 take here, Jake like it, But I think I think 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:47.280 the average hunter spends way too much time worrying about them. 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:53.720 They they can help you in certain situations, but more 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.240 often than not, they're they're just giving you a tiny 0:01:56.240 --> 0:01:58.680 snapshot as to what is going on. Even a cell 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:01.400 camera that's you know, place deep in a betting area 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:03.960 or whatever, it's still you can only put the thing 0:02:04.000 --> 0:02:08.560 over so much, you know, and there's so many other 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:10.880 things that are happening in that area. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:14.239 I think people just put if they took. 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:17.560 The amount of time that it takes to get the cameras, 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:20.440 to put batteries in them, to set them up, and 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:24.440 they converted that time into just scouting and trying to 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:27.920 understand how deer use their property, and then how bucks 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:31.160 use their property, and then how mature bucks use their property, 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:36.880 and start thinking about all those things and really cataloging 0:02:36.880 --> 0:02:39.120 that information over time. I think that's going to make 0:02:39.120 --> 0:02:41.920 you way more successful than worrying about just trying to 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:43.880 get a picture of a big buck and going and 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:44.320 hunting it. 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.880 So that's my I do that. 0:02:48.960 --> 0:02:52.880 I've had that issue before personally, especially with the cell cameras, 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:56.560 where I was unsuccessful because I was being too reliant 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:57.280 on the cameras. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:01.359 So how do you for someone that everyone everyone is 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.600 guilty of that at some point, every every single person's 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:07.760 way guilty of this. What is the how do you 0:03:07.800 --> 0:03:09.960 overcome this or how do you give yourself permission to 0:03:10.480 --> 0:03:13.200 trust your instinct more so than trust your show cameras. 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:16.679 For me, personally, it was easy because I was just 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:19.880 I've I've tried it two different seasons where I just 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:22.639 kind of went whole hog into the cell camera thing 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:24.040 and I had a whole pile of them, and I 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:26.760 got pictures of the giant deer and I was trying 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.800 to hunt those specific deer based on the camera pictures. 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:35.680 I was unsuccessful both those years. I messed up like way. 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:36.360 More than usual. 0:03:36.720 --> 0:03:39.440 And then I have went completely to the opposite side 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.280 of the spectrum where I haven't used them at all, 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:49.640 and I've been way more successful just just basing my 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:53.000 decisions off of those instincts you mentioned and what mostly 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:57.840 which is which comes from woodsmanship. So the only time 0:03:57.880 --> 0:04:00.480 when I've when I've really felt like I learned a 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:02.960 lot from cameras is when it was I was using 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:06.160 it to aid in my woodsmanship. So when I set 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.400 them up in a particular area, not to get pictures 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:11.760 solely of just a big buck that I wanted to hunt, 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:13.760 but when I put them in an area so that 0:04:13.840 --> 0:04:16.520 I could use it to learn how the deer use. 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:17.800 That particular spot. 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:22.400 All year, Maybe I run a camera over a crossing, 0:04:22.440 --> 0:04:27.520 a creek crossing for six months, and for two weeks 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:29.680 out of that six months, that creek crossing was really 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.800 hot with action. Then I'm backtracking in there and I'm 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:35.880 trying to understand why those deer were there at that time, 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.440 how I could have hunted it during that time, and 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:42.279 how to capitalize on it in the future. That's been 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:45.279 the best way I've found to use them. I'm not 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:48.160 saying that's how anybody's got to use them. There's a 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:50.360 bunch of different ways to use them. I just think 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.760 that it's very easy to get sucked into the trap 0:04:53.800 --> 0:04:57.760 of just being so reliant on those things, especially with 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:00.560 cell cameras now, where you're just getting notification all the time. 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:01.960 The more of them you have out there, the more 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:06.360 notifications you're getting, and the more uh, the more that's 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:12.080 taking time uh your brain. You're thinking time away from 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.240 what you need to be thinking about, in my opinion, 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.760 which is, you know, what are the upcoming wins? What 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.960 scouting information do I not have that I need to 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:25.720 get in order to be successful, How to correctly set 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:29.240 up in a spot to get a good high odds 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:33.440 chance at a target animal. All those things are just 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:36.560 those are kind of like the fundamentals of you know, 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:40.359 bow hunting white tails, if you will, And the better 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:43.640 that you get at those very very simple fundamentals, the 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:47.520 more opportunities you get over time. It's like a compounding effect. 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:49.880 Whereas if you if your brain gets pulled in these 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:54.760 little different corners and directions chasing pictures, then that. 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.279 Takes you away from that. 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:58.480 That's what That's what my experience has been at least 0:05:58.560 --> 0:05:59.880 I don't know if that answered. 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:03.360 Your question, but no, I think people can inherently overcomplicate 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:05.919 trail cameras as oh i've had pictures. I haven't had pictures. 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.400 Oh it's dead out there and you know, or I'm 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:10.359 sure there's been times where you've hunted and you know, 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.520 you check your phone and you check your phone and 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.360 ultimately you have no pictures of deer, but you saw 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.760 seven different bucks cruising around and you just I mean, 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:20.599 I think that is an easy way to overcomplicate it 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:24.520 and really self hinder yourself. I could see someone listening 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:26.359 now and saying, well, yeah, that sounds great, but what 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:28.760 about when you're hunting a specific deer. What do you 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:30.440 say to that guy? Like I need to know he's 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:31.920 a live or I need to know he's in the area. 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:33.239 What do you say to him? 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:35.800 Or well, if you're having great success doing it, then 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.920 don't listen to me. That's all I got. I mean, 0:06:39.480 --> 0:06:41.520 it's kind of like the Broadhead debate. You know, It's 0:06:41.560 --> 0:06:43.960 like people swear by a rage or they swear by 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:46.160 a magnus or whatever it is they use. Like, dude, 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.680 whatever you're using works, then you don't have to listen 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.799 to what I'm saying. But if you're chasing a specific 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.880 deer and you're having difficulty closing the deal on them 0:06:56.480 --> 0:07:02.480 just using cameras, my most generally my solution is going 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:04.920 to be, well, do you know how deer use your property? 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:09.320 Do you know why there are certain trails where they are? 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.720 Do you know how mature bucks cross dough trails at 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:14.240 the beginning of the rut? 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:14.640 You know? 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.239 Do you know why that scrape is in that creek 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.360 crossing or whatever? Do you I mean, it just kind 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.280 of goes back to that woodsmanship stuff. If you don't 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:29.920 have like good spots that you have confidence in, good 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.120 spots that you can get in and out of that 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:34.720 you understand how the wind behaves, and you understand how 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:35.760 deer moved through those. 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:36.960 If you don't have all. 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:40.160 Those things, then just getting pictures of a buck and 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:44.400 hunting a specific deer doesn't doesn't help you in some ways. 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:46.440 I mean, unless that specific. 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:50.000 Deer is so unique that he never does anything like 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:52.560 the rest of the deer, which is possible. I mean, 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.280 if once they get to be a certain size and age, 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:59.280 you know, they they obviously have personalities and they start 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:02.720 the start acting a little bit different. But I have 0:08:02.920 --> 0:08:07.320 noticed that, you know, regardless of where we go, mature 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:10.760 bucks tend to hang out in similar spots. You know, 0:08:10.840 --> 0:08:13.840 it may not be just like the rest of the deer, 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:17.800 but mature bucks do mature buck things in most of 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:19.160 these areas that we're in. 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:26.080 Describe a spot where they like to hang out in Iowa, Illinois, 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:27.600 northern Missouri, something like that. 0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.320 Basically across the board, they'd like to spend their daylight 0:08:32.360 --> 0:08:35.760 hours in something that has got high stem count. So 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.200 you know, if you had Adam On not long ago, 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:41.960 I'm sure he was talking about betting areas and creating 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.760 habitat and stuff like that, that's where mature bucks want 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:46.280 to spend their time. Like if you just went in 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:49.000 and you did TSI on an acre and a half 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:53.480 of your property in a year one to three years time, 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.520 mature buck's going to be spending time in that area, 0:08:56.640 --> 0:08:59.240 very likely because the habitat has changed. 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:00.800 It's not white open woods. 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:04.800 You know, they like I mean, Bronson and some of 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:06.880 those MSU guys have got quite a bit of data 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:09.560 on this and we see the same exact thing. You know, 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.439 we often talk about mature buck betting areas, but it's 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.840 the same thing. People overcomplicate the betting area thing. It's 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.360 like mature bucks want to be in an area where 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.680 they feel safe and secure. That's the number one thing. 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:27.760 So high stem count you know, they love to travel 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.840 in corridors. So if you're talking about like you you 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:35.640 just mentioned some states kind of farmland type ecosystems, If 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.079 you're talking about that, they love to travel in corridors 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.920 where they have security and escape on both sides. So 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:46.240 I'm thinking in my mind, like northern Missouri. Say there's 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:50.280 a cornfield and a draw running down through the middle 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.160 of it with a creek with some water in a 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:56.320 pond or something. That draw is eighty yards wide, and 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.720 it's got some thick brush in it and multi floor 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:01.800 rows and some hedge trees whatnot. But there's corn planted 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.480 corn all the way around it. Well, where that corn 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:08.920 meets that edge is a corridor. They will travel up 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.480 and down the edge of those corn strips where they 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:15.800 can either escape into the corn or escape into the woods. Now, 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.000 if it's it's totally different. If that's a wheat field 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:22.160 or soybeans you know that are knee high, he doesn't 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.959 have the same amount of security. Then although that may 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:27.040 be the only option that he has to travel, so 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:31.160 he may use it. But I like areas like that. 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:37.240 When you find a good corridor like that, it's it's 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:41.320 almost an instinctual thing. It's like you don't often see 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:43.960 like a beaten trail or anything. But you might see 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:48.120 dotted rubs, you might see the occasional big track or two. 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:50.880 It might be ten yards wide, it might be fifty 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:55.680 yards wide. But it's often makes sense why a buck 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.040 would use that to travel. They do not want to 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.600 be seen when they're going from A to B. So 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:04.480 like I got thirteen eggers here I live on. If 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:07.000 a mature buck is going to come through our property 0:11:08.800 --> 0:11:12.600 during daylight, there is two or three trails at the 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.160 back of the place here that are back in the 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:19.360 timber that that buck can take. And it's not overly thick, 0:11:19.440 --> 0:11:22.720 but it's the thickest place that they have, you know, 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.560 to transition through this property. We see those and young 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:27.640 bucks and stuff in the backyard here all the time. 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:29.760 But if we're going to see a mature buck, he's 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:31.599 going to be on the back ridge. There's two or 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:35.200 three trails that run up through there, and he's never 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:37.800 seen by anybody back there. He can walk up that ridge, 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:39.640 he can look out over our yard, he can see 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:42.320 our house from that ridge, but we cannot see him. 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:44.800 That's a type of an area that they really like 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:45.240 to be in. 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:49.080 I like it so, so don't rely on your cameras. 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:50.880 And then also. 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:53.640 Don't solely rely on your cameras. 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:56.480 You can use them, but don't everyone. I think anyone 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.680 that's ran any amount of cameras has falling into this 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:00.880 trap where they're just you just spend a season chasing 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:02.679 your tail and it's frustrating when you get to the 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:03.280 end of the season. 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:04.679 Oh yeah, yeah. 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.199 If you get pictures of one that's there on a scrape, 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:09.120 you know you should have been there that day. And 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.319 if you were worried about getting a picture of him first, 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:14.280 well then you're you're late. Like you need to be 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.079 hunting it before the camera takes a picture of so 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:19.720 you can shoot him when he walks in front of it. 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:24.040 Yes, absolutely so. I'm sure everyone can track you down, 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:25.760 but if you want to feel free to let people 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:27.480 know where to go. Paul. 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:31.080 Thanks to Hunting Public YouTube, most of the social media's 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:32.760 you can check us out there. 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.400 All right, there, you guys have it. We are going 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.720 to roll right into the next guest, Bill Winkie, and 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.800 get his insight. No nonsense, what are we over complicating? 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.640 So here is Bill Winkie's approach and thought to this question. 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:50.760 All right, Bill, we're back on back forty and I 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:54.280 feel in the world of white tail media content, and 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:56.040 maybe this has been going on for a long time, 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.640 but I feel like ultimately hunters are over complicating, maybe 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:02.600 a little bit too much. And so I want to 0:13:02.640 --> 0:13:05.680 get your opinion on what's one thing every hunter is 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:10.559 simply making too complicated. And the root of this question 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.599 is more of what are the fundamentals and like what 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:15.559 what do you need to focus on? And what can 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:18.520 you potentially forget? But I'll let you, you know, give 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:19.160 your take here. 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:23.040 Well, there's two things I'm gonna throw out. You said 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:28.480 one thing, but people make bows too complicated, you know, 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:30.360 especially if you're a white tail hunter. I mean, gosh, 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.320 you're gonna make a thirty yard shot. I think I 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:38.199 could duct tape a twig onto my riser and hold 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.680 the arrow with my two fingers, you know, in front 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:45.960 of the grip and kill that deer. So nothing against 0:13:46.000 --> 0:13:47.800 all the cool stuff that we carry into the woods. 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:52.839 But don't get so concerned with all the minutia of 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.480 of you know, the products that you're carrying, that you 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:58.400 forget that this is only a twenty five thirty yard 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:02.480 sport forty if you're really good. But deer doesn't stand 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:04.520 still long enough for it to be much longer than 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:06.600 a forty yard sport. I mean, you might be able 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.440 to hit a dime at seventy yards if the dime 0:14:09.520 --> 0:14:12.000 is still there, but what if the dime moves three 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:15.200 feet while the arrows in the air. So anyway, we 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.560 way over complicate the stuff that we carry. But the 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.120 I know what you really want to know is strategy wise. 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:25.360 I think we over complicate the rut. I think we 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:27.360 try to figure out what the buck is going to 0:14:27.440 --> 0:14:31.680 do next when he doesn't know himself. So what we 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:37.320 need to hunt are trends, and you know, what are 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:42.360 the most likely things like playing the odds more. And 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.800 you don't have to know where he beds. You don't 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.240 have to know where he feeds. All you have to 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.840 know is that there's a group of does over here, 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:53.640 and there's a group of does over here, and there's 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:56.080 a funnel in between those two spots, and when the 0:14:56.160 --> 0:14:59.600 rut comes, that buck is going to be looking for doze. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.640 You don't need to know anything else about him. You 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:05.200 just sit in that funnel until he walks through, and 0:15:05.520 --> 0:15:08.360 if you want to push your luck a little bit, 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:11.800 you can hunt right up close to those does because 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:13.800 you know he's going to be there. He's going to 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:15.560 be looking for the dose. He's not going to be 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:20.720 doing whatever he did in October when the rut comes. 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.680 So I think we try too hard to pattern the 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:28.800 bucks that were hunting again when they don't know themselves 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:30.240 what they're going to do next. You don't need a 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.120 trail camera during the rut. You only need to know 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:35.800 what's part of your hunting area. There's a buck that 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.840 you'd like to shoot that's living in because that camera 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.120 you might tell you where he was this morning, but 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:44.160 he's not going to be there this afternoon. I don't 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.320 even want to know that stuff. It just makes the 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:50.280 whole process too complicated. I just need to know where 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.360 I can kill that deer, like where are the spots 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:55.400 where I can kill him? And I need to know 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:59.160 that I'm within his likely range in a spot that 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:02.840 makes sense. Don't need to know anything more about that deer. 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:04.600 Then it's just a matter of putting in the time. 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:09.040 So it's it really is a lot simpler, you know, 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.040 because I've written so many articles about the rut over 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:12.680 the years. It's like, oh, you know this scrape or 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.400 that scrape, and it's like none of that stuff matters, 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:18.640 you know, it doesn't matter how big a certain rub 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.160 is or any of that stuff. It's just finding spots 0:16:22.560 --> 0:16:25.880 where the deer doesn't know that he's being hunted and 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:30.000 putting in your time in areas that makes sense. 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.160 Man, That's not I mean, that's that's not as fun though, 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:38.400 when you when you have this whiteboard of trail camera 0:16:38.480 --> 0:16:41.920 photos and this sparamecter pressure, this mood face, all these 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:43.880 different things that you're saying, just throw it away. 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.480 But that but that'll work during other parts of the season. 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:48.640 It just doesn't work during the rut. 0:16:49.080 --> 0:16:49.440 Okay. 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:52.120 You know, you can pretend and you can say that 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:54.200 you figured it out and that's okay. I mean, there's 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:57.040 nothing wrong with that. It's just you probably didn't. You know, 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:01.120 it's just there. They don't know. You know, if if 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:02.880 they knew what they're going to do next, then we 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.240 could say, okay, I can figure this out. But when 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.919 they don't know themselves, how do we pretend like we 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:09.960 can figure it out? All we can go by is 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.560 you know, general trends and you know typical behavior. 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:16.960 So in a nushell, when it comes to the rut, 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.520 figure out where he can hunt a grade funnel. Park 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:23.919 yourself there, don't get busted by deer and hope for 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:24.399 the best. 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:26.760 Put your time in it. And as long as you're 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:31.119 you're not getting picked off, they're not detecting you. And 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:33.760 you're in an area that makes sense, like near does 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:37.840 or between two dough concentration areas, you're you're probably gonna 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.199 have as good a chance as any any spot. I 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:44.280 mean that that buck, he's probably going to be around 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:47.119 there somewhere, you know. So yeah, he might be with 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.119 the dough one day and you're like, oh dang, you know, 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:52.200 but then the next day you might catch in between 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:55.000 does or you know, like I said, if you want 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:56.360 to push it a little bit and you know where 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:58.800 the dough's bed, you can get right on the downwind 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:00.960 fringe of those dough betting areas and then hope to 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.720 catch you know, maybe a little bit more aggressive you know, 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:07.080 searching action from the bucks versus just that that you know, 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:11.720 large scale, you know, traveling through funnels. But the bucks 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:14.639 are going to be where the doughs are, and sometimes 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:16.960 it's hard to find the dose, to be honest with you, 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:19.480 during the rut because they don't like being her assed, 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:23.040 so they start finding places to hide. So I remember 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:26.560 it was a It was a real eye opener for 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.120 me because Mark Jury was saying and some I don't 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.520 know if it was an article or a TV show 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:36.600 or something that. You know, sometimes the doughs disappear, and 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:38.920 when that happens, it makes buck hunting a lot harder 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:40.600 because if you can't find the dose, you know, how 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:41.560 are you going to find the bucks? 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:46.880 Have you found yourself over complicating something like over complicating 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.040 the rut or over complicating some sort of strategy for 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:51.560 a buck? And now now you look back in hindsight, 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:55.000 like what was I thinking? Was I over complicating that? 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:57.640 Or was I trying to connect us that really didn't connect? 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.920 Or do you have such a straightforward approach where it's 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:03.960 just like fight for another day and try again. 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.840 I think, you know, I have a very analytical mind. 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:11.080 You know, my background is kind of that way too, 0:19:11.200 --> 0:19:15.760 And so so I'm always looking at the odds. I 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:18.440 was trying to play the odds, and so I get 0:19:18.480 --> 0:19:22.920 away from the you know, the trying to pattern a book. 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:25.920 So I haven't really tried that in a long time 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:29.080 because early on it got really frustrated because it didn't work, 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:31.760 you know, during the rut. Yeah, again, I think the 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:33.719 last week of October is a different story. I think 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:35.440 you can pattern box and you can kill them that 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.680 last week of October, but you get into November throughout 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:40.879 most of the whitetails range and you just kind of 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:44.879 throw all that stuff out the window. So, you know, 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:50.040 I would say the only thing I've probably overcomplicated sometimes 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:52.439 maybe I've given the deer too much credit. You know, 0:19:52.520 --> 0:19:56.719 I don't hunt them, maybe quite aggressively enough. But again, 0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:58.879 you know, my situation is different. You know, I'm not 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:02.840 hunting public land. You know, I can, like you said, 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:06.080 I can live to fight another day. So if I'm 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:08.400 an air, I would err on the side of being 0:20:08.480 --> 0:20:12.040 too careful, too conservative, and I know that I've done 0:20:12.040 --> 0:20:14.159 that a few times, you know, where if I'd have 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:16.240 gone after the buck, you know, a little bit harder, 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:18.439 you know, might have had a better chance at him. 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:20.479 But hindsight's I was twenty twenty. You go after him 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:22.359 and then you bump him, and then it's like, well, 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:25.000 now he's not going to be daylight active there anymore. 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:28.080