1 00:00:01,240 --> 00:00:05,080 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 --> 00:00:18,680 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 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 2: Hey everyone, welcome to the Wire to Hunt Foundation's podcast, 7 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,480 Speaker 2: which is brought to you by first Light. I'm your host, 8 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 2: Tony Peterson. In today's episode is all about how to 9 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 2: approach the rut with a plan and then to see 10 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 2: that plan through. Well, if you've been bitching about hot 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 2: weather or rainy, foggy, stupid weather, or no daytime movement 12 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,520 Speaker 2: or whatever, you know, when it comes to the deer, 13 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 2: you can stop now. At least much of the country 14 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 2: is writ smack dab in the best damn time of 15 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 2: the year to be a white tail hunter, and that 16 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 2: means a lot of folks are going to have amazing 17 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 2: hunts this week, but. 18 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 3: A lot of folks won't. 19 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 2: You don't want to be in that ladder category, and 20 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 2: to help you avoid it, I'm going to talk about 21 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 2: developing a rut hunting plan and actually it through. So 22 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 2: buckle up, because it's time to get serious about the 23 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 2: best time of the year to be a deer hunter. 24 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 2: Here in Minnesota, we have a thing called m EA, 25 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 2: which stands for Minnesota Educator Academy, and every year in 26 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 2: October they hold a conference with teachers, and since they 27 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 2: are all tied up all day, the kids get a 28 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 2: nice little. 29 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:23,240 Speaker 3: Break of a couple days off of school. 30 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 2: I figured that was the perfect opportunity to take one 31 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 2: of my daughters back to that stupid wasteland with no 32 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 2: deer that is northern Wisconsin and try to get her 33 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,319 Speaker 2: to arrow anything. I didn't have a great plan, but 34 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:36,119 Speaker 2: I had a sort of plan, given that the wind 35 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 2: was going to be out of the south for two 36 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 2: days and then out of the north for our remaining 37 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 2: two days. Well, we saw grouse, squirrels, a hell of 38 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 2: a lot of songbirds, and we never saw a single deer, 39 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 2: not in seven sits, which, if you think about it, 40 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 2: sucks a whole lot. I realized about halfway through that 41 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 2: I was bumping up against a couple of things. The 42 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 2: first was that my daughter is certainly capable of hunting 43 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 2: long hours and being patient, but she can't hunt out 44 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 2: of a tree stand with a crossbow. At least a 45 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 2: stand that isn't a ladder stand, and I'm just not 46 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 2: much of a ladder stand guy, although I guess I 47 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 2: probably should be now that my daughters could hunt them. 48 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 2: That was mistake number one. Anyway, I should have put 49 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 2: up some ladder stands. Second, because the crossbow she uses 50 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 2: is heavy, like they generally are, she needs a solid rest, 51 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 2: which comes in the form of a heavy bog pot. 52 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 2: That's a limiting factor for many reasons, but it is 53 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 2: what it is until they are strong enough and confident 54 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 2: enough to shoot a vertical bow. 55 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 3: Anyway. 56 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 2: Now, we hunted private land, and we hunted public We 57 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 2: hunted alfalfa, we hunted acorns, we hunted the limited amount 58 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 2: of scrapes we found, We hunted pinch points. And what 59 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 2: we saw was that whatever decision I made was clearly 60 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,799 Speaker 2: the wrong one. It was frustrating, but it also reminded 61 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 2: me of how my dad and I used to hunt. Now, 62 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 2: instead of trying to input as many variables as possible 63 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 2: into the old brain algorithm and then make a decision 64 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 2: based on that plus fresh sign, I said, well, the 65 00:02:57,320 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 2: wind is from the north, so I have these four options. 66 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 2: I thought her extremely low standards in the reality that 67 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:05,919 Speaker 2: we'd spend probably twenty eight hours or so in those 68 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 2: seven sits out actually hunting that it would just be 69 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 2: a matter of time, but it wasn't, and the highlight 70 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 2: of the whole trip was taking the pop out for 71 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 2: some midday ducks and then woodcock and grouse. A few 72 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 2: wood ducks can make up for some shitty deer hunting, 73 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,639 Speaker 2: but didn't quite smooth the whole thing. Over the last 74 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 2: night of the trip, my daughter and I sat watching 75 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 2: a beautiful small alfalfa field on a piece of private 76 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,440 Speaker 2: and listened to wolves howl in the distance, which was 77 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:31,080 Speaker 2: a good reminder that it might not just be my 78 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 2: poor decision making that had the deer on edge or 79 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 2: totally gone. I recently heard someone on a podcast say 80 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 2: something like, when it comes to business, hope is not 81 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,440 Speaker 2: a strategy, and I was running off of hope out there. 82 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 2: That last part of that statement stuck with me, and 83 00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 2: it rattled around my smooth brain on the drive home 84 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 2: from our ill fated hunt, because it just kind of 85 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 2: perfectly summed up a lot of life and definitely summed 86 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 2: up deer hunting at that time and right now during 87 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 2: the rut. This is the thing, though, there's like no 88 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 2: better time during the season to have that warm and 89 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 2: fuzzy feeling that this is just going to be our 90 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:10,880 Speaker 2: sit or this is just going to be our week, 91 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,480 Speaker 2: because after all, when all the bucks in the neighborhood 92 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 2: are on the move, the odds of one of them 93 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 2: walking by at twenty yards will never be higher than 94 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 2: right now. That's the good news. But the bad news 95 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 2: is that the rut doesn't erase a lot of the 96 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 2: things that we think it does. Let me give you 97 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 2: an example here. During late September, my daughters and I 98 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 2: sat over in Wisconsin and saw a big old dough 99 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 2: multiple times one day. She was a frequent flyer on 100 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 2: my cameras in that spot, and she had no fawns, 101 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 2: so I figured her days were definitely numbered, and boy 102 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 2: did she flirt with death. 103 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 3: But she beat us, and. 104 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,080 Speaker 2: Eventually she got close enough to our blind where she 105 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:48,800 Speaker 2: could be down wind and figure it out. 106 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 3: Now. 107 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 2: When I heard her spook, I wondered how long it 108 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 2: would take for her to get back to normal. Well, 109 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 2: as of the last week of October, I never had 110 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,320 Speaker 2: another daylight pick of her, but I had plenty of 111 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:02,839 Speaker 2: nighttime picks. We never saw her again either, and we 112 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 2: hunted specifically for that deer a few times. That dough 113 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 2: an old, no bullshit kind of dough. She's still around, 114 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:12,679 Speaker 2: but I can promise you the odds of her running 115 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 2: by that blind in daylight at some point or way 116 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 2: less than they would have been if we didn't spook 117 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,039 Speaker 2: her there. She knows where we like to hide, and 118 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 2: she's not the kind of deer to take those chances. 119 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 2: Does that sound like I'm putting too much mental horsepower 120 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 2: in between her ears? Maybe, but I don't think so. 121 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 2: Does that mean a buck won't go by that blind? 122 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 2: Absolutely not. But I also think that dough in particular, 123 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 2: even if she was getting chased like crazy, would be 124 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:39,239 Speaker 2: more likely to head off somewhere else where she feels 125 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,280 Speaker 2: a little safer. I think it's often that simple, and 126 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 2: that stuff doesn't work in our favor. Now I can 127 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 2: somewhat confidently say that because I can keep tabs on 128 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 2: individual deer in that place where there just aren't very 129 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 2: many deer. But you might think, well, I always have 130 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,119 Speaker 2: lots of does and fawns around my old favorite stand 131 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,280 Speaker 2: site or my favorite box blind, and that's great off. 132 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:03,280 Speaker 2: And do those dos go by and range? Are they 133 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,440 Speaker 2: onto you at all. What if, for some reason, you 134 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:07,960 Speaker 2: go out for a couple of days of your rut 135 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:10,360 Speaker 2: cation and they don't come by, at least they don't 136 00:06:10,440 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 2: drag a buck by you. I remember Randy Nuberg telling 137 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:16,280 Speaker 2: me one time about once in a lifetime tags or 138 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 2: at least super premium, you know, tags that you might 139 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 2: never draw, and if you do, you got real lucky. 140 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 3: He said. 141 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 2: People draw them and they think the hunt is going 142 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,480 Speaker 2: to be easy, but you still have to put in 143 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 2: the effort commensurate to the tag and the animal. This 144 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 2: is where people get the rut wrong. A lot of times, 145 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 2: we like it for a lot of reasons, but the 146 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:36,119 Speaker 2: main one we don't talk about is that the rut 147 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 2: is an excuse to be kind of lazy. And I'm 148 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 2: just going to say this and take the heat if 149 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 2: I have to. Lazy saves more bucks than anything else. 150 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 2: My dad just recently texted me that he put up 151 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:50,559 Speaker 2: a blind on a farm in southeastern Minnesota for deer, 152 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 2: where you know there's a lot of deer in general. 153 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 2: But he went in there and sat a couple of times, 154 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 2: and that blind wasn't giving him good vibes. He knew 155 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 2: he needed to move it, and he was almost willing 156 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 2: to do that, but then he said he would just 157 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 2: open up a different window on the blind where there 158 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 2: are more trails on that side than the spot he'd 159 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 2: originally faced that. Now I had many thoughts there, none 160 00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 2: of which I shared with him because he won't follow 161 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 2: my advice anyway, But I'll share them with you. That 162 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 2: decision was based purely on not wanting to do the 163 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 2: work to find new deer and set up something different. 164 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 2: Worse yet, I'm sure he believes his reasoning. 165 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 3: Now. 166 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 2: I don't want to pick on Papa too hard, because 167 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 2: we all do shit like that. It's in our nature 168 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 2: to figure out ways to shortcut every process and to 169 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 2: try to put in as little effort as possible for 170 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,040 Speaker 2: the highest reward. If the deer have taught me anything, 171 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,240 Speaker 2: it's that if you don't have an unbelievable spot to hunt, 172 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 2: you aren't going to get away with little effort. They're 173 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 2: too good at not getting killed for that kind of approach. 174 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 2: So I guess this leads me to the point where 175 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 2: I have to tell you how to make a plan. 176 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you what I do, and then 177 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:54,679 Speaker 2: tell you why that's wrong, and then go in circles 178 00:07:54,680 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 2: for a while until I wrap this thing up. The 179 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 2: weather forecast is your friend, first and foremost. Wind direction 180 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:13,840 Speaker 2: is what I care about the most because it will 181 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 2: tell me an awful lot about what I can and 182 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 2: can't do on any given day. So if I have, 183 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 2: let's say five days to hunt the rut, I want 184 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 2: to pull up the forecast for each day and make 185 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 2: no to the predicted wind direction. Now, I know that 186 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 2: this isn't an exact science, but it's a hell of 187 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 2: a lot more reliable than it used to be. So 188 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 2: start there where you can reasonably expect whatever wind directions 189 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 2: are predicted. Then you have to use that infotocross reference 190 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 2: it with the best weather conditions you have, because that's 191 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,200 Speaker 2: when you want to hunt your best stuff. So let's 192 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:44,839 Speaker 2: say you have one pinch point you scout of the 193 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 2: spring and you believe with your heart that it's going 194 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,520 Speaker 2: to be on fire during the rut. Now you need 195 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 2: a west or a north wind for it, and that 196 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,160 Speaker 2: isn't going to come until day three of your five 197 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,959 Speaker 2: day hunt. Do you talk yourself into sitting there because 198 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 2: you think it's your best spot, or do you stay 199 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 2: out and hunt backups to until the weather gets right, 200 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 2: especially if the weather is going to get cold and 201 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 2: maybe a little rainy and oh so special for the rut. 202 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 2: Here's what probably half of the hunters will do. They'll say, well, 203 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 2: it's a southwest wind, but it won't be blowing very hard, 204 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 2: and I think I can get away with it, so 205 00:09:15,200 --> 00:09:18,600 Speaker 2: they'll hunt that pinch anyway. This is especially true if 206 00:09:18,679 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 2: they have a camera there, which they will, and that 207 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 2: camera will show them some daylight movement with big ones. 208 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 2: That siren song is loud, it's beautiful, and it'll talk 209 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,280 Speaker 2: you into crashing your ship right into the rocks. My friends, 210 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 2: I feel like at least half of the time I haunt, 211 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,840 Speaker 2: especially during the rut, I find myself sitting somewhere that's 212 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:40,800 Speaker 2: good enough, but not where I really want to beat. 213 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:43,480 Speaker 2: But if you can't cheat the wind in any meaningful 214 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 2: way when you're bowhunting, you just have to live by this. 215 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 2: You need backups that you believe in. Let's say you 216 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,640 Speaker 2: decide I'm not going to that sweet pinch point till 217 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 2: the wind and the weather break my way. But you 218 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 2: also don't want to sandbag the first couple days of 219 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 2: your rut hunt. Where can you put in some time 220 00:09:58,040 --> 00:09:59,679 Speaker 2: and not mess up the deer that should be going 221 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 2: through that pinch. That's what you need to answer. So again, 222 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 2: take into account to wind in the conditions. Maybe it's 223 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:07,959 Speaker 2: going to be ten or fifteen degrees warmer than it 224 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 2: should be during the rut. So on that first day 225 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:12,520 Speaker 2: you know you're going to have the wind out of 226 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 2: the south. Probably do you have water to hunt or 227 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 2: a funnel that allows you to sit over it where 228 00:10:18,200 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 2: maybe they might pass through on their way to the 229 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,079 Speaker 2: drinking fountain somewhere. What if you think your water spot 230 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 2: is just a nursery of little bucks and you don't 231 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 2: want to waste your time there. Again, probably because what 232 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 2: your cameras show. I look at this different and I 233 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:33,400 Speaker 2: try to ignore my trail camera data when it comes 234 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 2: to the rut. If I am where I believe the 235 00:10:36,280 --> 00:10:40,760 Speaker 2: general deer population might want to go, I'm not without confidence, 236 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 2: even if I haven't had tons of pictures of one 237 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 2: to fifties in that spot. Plus, it's better than blowing 238 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,199 Speaker 2: out your best stuff by a long shot. Now, maybe 239 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:51,439 Speaker 2: that's not it, and maybe the south wind will allow 240 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 2: for a hanging hunt in an area that usually has 241 00:10:53,600 --> 00:10:56,480 Speaker 2: a whole bunch of bucks sign anything is better than 242 00:10:56,480 --> 00:10:58,959 Speaker 2: settling for good enough. And the more you lay out 243 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 2: your plan and your brain before you start hunting, the 244 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,640 Speaker 2: more you can see it through until at least the 245 00:11:04,679 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 2: deer show you something different. This is where things get squirrely. 246 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 2: The best plans just generally meet our deer realities, and 247 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 2: if we force them too hard, when the bucks show 248 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 2: us something else, we lose again. You want that rough 249 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,960 Speaker 2: plan in place, that day by day plan, so you 250 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 2: can follow through something with confidence. But if at any 251 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 2: point the deer really show you something but where they 252 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 2: want to be, you know, somewhere else, then you've got 253 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 2: to factor that in. But here's where it gets a 254 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 2: little worse. The way deer usually show us that is 255 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,840 Speaker 2: through trail cameras. Look, that's good intel and might talk 256 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 2: you into calling an audible, But in person rut observations 257 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 2: are much more valuable. If you see a buck doing 258 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,319 Speaker 2: something anything, pay attention. I don't care if it's a 259 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 2: spiker at two hundred injury. If you see two bucks 260 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,440 Speaker 2: do something, you have an answer to an important question. 261 00:11:56,559 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 2: Where should I be sitting right now? Uh? 262 00:11:58,760 --> 00:11:59,240 Speaker 3: Right there? 263 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,520 Speaker 2: So develop a good plan and then toss it into 264 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 2: the garbage. The minute the deer show you anything outside 265 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 2: of that plan, right, kind of, without the original plan 266 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 2: in place, you're going to probably settle without taking into 267 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 2: account what the deer actually show you. You won't be 268 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 2: taking full advantage of the rut. Instead, you'll be far 269 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,559 Speaker 2: more likely to sit in a place you want to 270 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 2: hunt and try to call or decoy one in. Look, 271 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 2: this is supposed to be fun if that's how you 272 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 2: want to play it, so go ahead. 273 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 3: That's okay. 274 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 2: But if you generally don't kill big ones in November 275 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,479 Speaker 2: and you want to and that's your go to strategy, 276 00:12:36,200 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 2: maybe hope alone isn't going to cut it. But you're 277 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 2: not done with your plan yet. I didn't know this 278 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 2: until I actually did it. But do you know why 279 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 2: alcoholics and addicts often tell their friends and family that 280 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 2: they are quitting for good. It's called a social contract, 281 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 2: and it's weirdly helpful because we don't want to look 282 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,360 Speaker 2: like failures, so we try to see our promises through. 283 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:58,920 Speaker 2: We do this with ourselves as well in the deer world. 284 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 2: Where I found this to be the most helpful is 285 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 2: that I don't just decide on where I'm most likely 286 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:05,280 Speaker 2: to sit on any given day of the rut, but 287 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,720 Speaker 2: I also make a pact with myself to sit either 288 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 2: until a certain time and then move or just sit 289 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 2: all day. It's not like I couldn't break that pack 290 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:16,200 Speaker 2: you know in my head and go in for some 291 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:18,560 Speaker 2: pancakes at ten in the morning, but for some reason 292 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 2: I usually don't anymore. It's kind of like when you 293 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 2: work out a lot, you say tonight, I'm gonna go 294 00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 2: run the seven miles instead of just lacing up your 295 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 2: old on clouds and heading out for a run without 296 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 2: any distance or route in mind. Because the minute you 297 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:33,720 Speaker 2: do that, you give yourself an out, because your brain 298 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,840 Speaker 2: will decide that three miles is good enough. When it 299 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 2: comes to killing a buck during the rut, you can't 300 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 2: do better than putting in as much time as possible. 301 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 2: In high confidence locations, it's the way to kill deer. 302 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 2: And if you don't hold yourself accountable to sit until 303 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 2: noon or to go dark to dark, the second guessing 304 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 2: can talk you into heading out for a midday nap. 305 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 2: Not only does that take you out of the game 306 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:57,760 Speaker 2: because you can't shoot them. When you're dreaming, you know 307 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 2: that Margot Robbie is your new coworker, or I guess 308 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:03,520 Speaker 2: in Mark's case, a new butterfly species was just discovered 309 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:06,720 Speaker 2: in southern Michigan. But also it puts more disturbance in 310 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 2: the woods just by your comings and going. This is 311 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:12,679 Speaker 2: also the way that most of your competition's going to hunt. 312 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 2: And if you tend to hunt pressure ground and you 313 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,079 Speaker 2: do not sit during the midday hours during the rut, 314 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 2: you're just missing out. I promise you that pressure deer 315 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 2: are tuned into us in major ways, and that timeframe 316 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 2: when most hunters can't hack it because they don't believe, 317 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 2: you know, in any real midday deer movement and they 318 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 2: don't have a plan, is some of the most important 319 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 2: time you can spend in the woods. But it takes 320 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 2: a strategy, takes a plan. It takes a willingness to 321 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 2: look at every opportunity you have to be out there 322 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 2: and decide how to play it against the predicted wind 323 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 2: and weather and all of the variables that you might 324 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 2: bump into. As the bucks get a little silly with 325 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 2: lust and they start to cover some serious ground, you know, 326 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 2: pair that with a willingness to go mobile or accept 327 00:14:53,760 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 2: that what you thought was going to happen didn't and 328 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 2: that you're going to have to let the deer decide 329 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 2: what to do if their movements are just persuasive enough. 330 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 2: And now you have the framework for a successful rut hunt. 331 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 2: The last piece of that puzzle is just putting in 332 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,320 Speaker 2: the time, which, when you do and have a few 333 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 2: years show you that it was the right call, gets 334 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 2: a hell of a lot easier to do over time. 335 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 2: So remember this when it comes to rut hunting. Hope 336 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 2: is not a strategy. It's just a nice little boost 337 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 2: that will help you stick out a well thought out plant. 338 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 2: So get out there and get your buck and come 339 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 2: back next week because I'm going to talk about certain 340 00:15:28,600 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 2: situations during the rut where I will dig into my 341 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,600 Speaker 2: bag of get rich quick products and really try to 342 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 2: make something happen. 343 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 3: That's it for this week. I'm Tony Peterson. 344 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 2: This has been the Wirre to Hunt Foundation's episode, which 345 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 2: is brought to you by First Light. As always, thank 346 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 2: you so much for listening for all your support. I 347 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 2: know you're spending a lot of time in tree stands 348 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 2: right now, but you might also be driving somewhere to 349 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,600 Speaker 2: go do an over the road trip. You might kill 350 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 2: a buck and want to know I don't know how 351 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 2: to do a ural amount with it, or maybe cook 352 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 2: it up. 353 00:15:57,080 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 3: So it's super tasty. 354 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 2: Whatever, you can probably find the answers to a lot 355 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:03,360 Speaker 2: of your questions, and I know you can find a 356 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 2: hell of a lot of entertainment at the medeater dot com, 357 00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 2: where we drop new content every single day. 358 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 3: Go check it out.