Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide
Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, presented by first Light,
Speaker 1: creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind.
Speaker 1: First Light, Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host
Speaker 1: Tony Peterson.
Speaker 2: Hey, everyone, welcome to the Wire to Hunt Foundation's podcast,
Speaker 2: which has brought to you by first Light. I'm your host,
Speaker 2: Tony Peterson, and today I'm going to be talking about
Speaker 2: gun hunting for white tails, but maybe kind of doing
Speaker 2: it in a way that will set yourself apart from
Speaker 2: a lot of your competition throughout much of the country.
Speaker 2: Right now, the archery season is giving way to gun season. Now,
Speaker 2: that might be bad news for a lot of you
Speaker 2: hardcore you know, rider die bow hunters, but it also
Speaker 2: might be a hell of a relief for many of you.
Speaker 2: Gun hunting is just a different beast and it comes
Speaker 2: with a different set of rules, at least that's what
Speaker 2: many of us think. I kind of think the rules
Speaker 2: stay the same, but the game is just a little different.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: I know that's confusing as hell, So you just have
Speaker 2: to let me get there, which is what I'm going
Speaker 2: to do right now. There's a quote that I love
Speaker 2: that is pretty hard to attribute to any one individual
Speaker 2: because so many people have said it and written it
Speaker 2: over the years, so I actually don't know who came
Speaker 2: up with it first. But it goes like this tradition
Speaker 2: is just peer pressure from dead people. A lot of
Speaker 2: traditions are harmless and just help us feel more socially connected.
Speaker 2: Here in the good old USA, or just a little
Speaker 2: bit north of here, in the land of hockey and
Speaker 2: maple syrup. Most of our traditions are pretty laid back
Speaker 2: and not really all that shocking little thing. It's like saying,
Speaker 2: you know, how are you instead of what we mean,
Speaker 2: which is hey, bro. That's one. Smiling as strangers is another.
Speaker 2: Try that in some countries and you might get kicked
Speaker 2: right in the old sock puppet. Try that with a
Speaker 2: wrong monkey or other primate and you might see that
Speaker 2: old sock puppet get removed from your body and tossed
Speaker 2: into the trees. Traditions you might not know about include
Speaker 2: drinking coffee on the go. There are a lot of
Speaker 2: cultures where coffee is a communal thing and not just
Speaker 2: a baseline drug we use every day. So do murder
Speaker 2: someone for I don't know, weirdly smiling at us Mark
Speaker 2: Kenyan style. We also have a weird tradition of requesting
Speaker 2: changes to the menu at restaurants, or I guess you know,
Speaker 2: changes to a certain type of dish at a restaurant.
Speaker 2: As someone who cooked his way through college, this one
Speaker 2: drives me bah nanas, especially when my mother in law
Speaker 2: does it every single time she goes out to eat.
Speaker 2: During the process of explaining how she wants something totally
Speaker 2: changed in a dish that doesn't make sense, I can
Speaker 2: see the servers just die a little inside, and I
Speaker 2: feel for the lime cook who has to make something
Speaker 2: totally different after having made it exactly one way five
Speaker 2: thousand times. Other than sort of ruining a restaurant worker's day,
Speaker 2: most of those traditions are pretty harmless. Head to the
Speaker 2: other parts of the world and you'll see that this
Speaker 2: isn't always the case. In parts of Indonesia, there are
Speaker 2: tribes where women are expected to show their grief by
Speaker 2: chopping off part of their finger. This is done to
Speaker 2: satisfy ancestral ghosts and can result in older ladies missing
Speaker 2: a lot of the parts of their fingers that most
Speaker 2: of us wouldn't want to lose involuntarily, let alone voluntarily.
Speaker 2: Although that's the thing about tradition, it's often not that voluntary.
Speaker 2: Take the vegetarian festival in Thailand, for example. This culture
Speaker 2: abstains from eating meat in October in an attempt to
Speaker 2: invite good fortune into their lives. To further appeal to
Speaker 2: the gods that they'd like some seriously good luck, many
Speaker 2: of these people penetrate their own bodies withs needles and knives,
Speaker 2: then they walk around town. Google this. If you're not squeamish,
Speaker 2: then google foot binding in China and bullet ant gloves
Speaker 2: for some particularly unlucky tribes people of the Amazon. I
Speaker 2: guess I shouldn't say that. They probably feel more gratitude
Speaker 2: for their lives than a lot of US Western folks,
Speaker 2: and they are testing themselves in a way that probably
Speaker 2: feels pretty satisfying to get through. So I guess who knows.
Speaker 2: What I do know is that we view tradition through
Speaker 2: many lenses, and we often don't realize how much it
Speaker 2: has an influence over our lives. When it comes to hunting,
Speaker 2: there's no more evidence of this than on a typical
Speaker 2: opening weekend a gun season, when you're heading to the
Speaker 2: cabin to meet up with your relatives. If you could
Speaker 2: see a time lap shot of the typical gun hunting
Speaker 2: party that has a the traditional cabin somewhere, you could
Speaker 2: probably relay opening weekend every year over opening weekend from
Speaker 2: every other year, and I bet it would look very
Speaker 2: similar at least the start of the whole thing. Would
Speaker 2: You'd probably see the same orange clad hunters walking the
Speaker 2: same trails to the same stands. You'd see the same
Speaker 2: four wheelers and side by sides puttering along the same routes.
Speaker 2: You'd probably see the reverse of that moment at about
Speaker 2: the same time every day, maybe a few hours into
Speaker 2: the morning, maybe sometime at midday. Then you might see
Speaker 2: a whole bunch of orange clad hunters set up the
Speaker 2: same deer drive in the same spots year after year.
Speaker 2: By afternoon, you're likely to see the same movement that
Speaker 2: you saw in the morning, lather, rinse, repeat. I bet
Speaker 2: if you could survey a random group from the up
Speaker 2: of Michigan, and a random group from Pennsylvania, and then
Speaker 2: a random group from North Carolina and wherever, year after year,
Speaker 2: you'd probably hear about the same relative amount of success
Speaker 2: at any given opening weekend. There's a consistency to the
Speaker 2: success side of things because there is a consistency to
Speaker 2: the effort. One hot dough can change that, of course,
Speaker 2: but so can twenty degree weather versus seventy degree weather.
Speaker 2: But these things have a way of finding a path
Speaker 2: of least resistance, so to speak, and the results, well,
Speaker 2: they're typical. We don't really think about how much of
Speaker 2: a tradition it is for grandpa to go to a
Speaker 2: certain stand, for the young hunters to always be the
Speaker 2: drivers and the deer draggers. We don't think too hard
Speaker 2: on the fact that even though we might complain about
Speaker 2: not killing much or not really even seeing much, we've
Speaker 2: also locked ourselves into a pattern of behavior that produces
Speaker 2: expected results. It's weird, but you know, absolutely ensconced in
Speaker 2: the human condition. It's gene deep to embrace tradition, and
Speaker 2: it happens across all cultures. But it doesn't have to happen.
Speaker 2: We mostly choose it. We mostly lean into it, at least,
Speaker 2: you know, most of us. For the traditional gun hunting party,
Speaker 2: not doing what you always do might be viewed as
Speaker 2: greedy or an attempt to flip over the old apple cart,
Speaker 2: so to speak. You might not hunt the way you
Speaker 2: want because your uncles seem real resistant to change, and
Speaker 2: you don't want to get loads of shit tossed your
Speaker 2: way for changing their natural order. But this is just
Speaker 2: deer hunting. Deer camp peer pressure is prevalent, but it's
Speaker 2: not that big of a deal. It's also kind of dumb.
Speaker 2: Doing the same thing year after year after year is
Speaker 2: a great way to not have a very successful hunt
Speaker 2: year after year after year. You're playing a game with
Speaker 2: animals that do have a memory, and they do have
Speaker 2: some pretty typical reactions to typical hunter movements. We often
Speaker 2: make it so easy for them to avoid us. This
Speaker 2: is especially true if you just blissfully ignore the difference
Speaker 2: in conditions from year to year and day to day
Speaker 2: and instead just go always sit that one ladder stand
Speaker 2: you like which has a nice view. I think a
Speaker 2: lot of hunters over in the land of cheese and
Speaker 2: thinly veiled functional alcoholism where I hunt are going to
Speaker 2: be in for a rude awakening this year. A lot
Speaker 2: of those die hard Packers fans are going to go
Speaker 2: out to their guns stands for the first time all
Speaker 2: year and realize that their shooting lanes are gone, and
Speaker 2: that the old logging road they used to walk to
Speaker 2: get to their stand is now nearly fully blocked by
Speaker 2: down trees. Add in the further reality that a CWD
Speaker 2: positive deer in a nearby game farm has baiting on
Speaker 2: the no fly list and their hunt is about to change.
Speaker 2: But will they change with it. I don't know. They
Speaker 2: probably should. It would be inconceivable for most of us
Speaker 2: bow hunters to not obsess over the wind direction and
Speaker 2: the weather conditions before we go sit for a lot
Speaker 2: of gun hunting, it's not even really considered. Now. I'm
Speaker 2: generalizing here, of course, but if you have one stand
Speaker 2: you always sit, then it's highly likely you'll sit there
Speaker 2: whether there's an east wind or a west wind, or
Speaker 2: whether it's freezing cold or sweltering hot. So here's the thing.
Speaker 2: You don't need to hold court with all of your
Speaker 2: fellow rifle hunting buddies the night before the opener and
Speaker 2: tell them you're calling a camp wide audible and that
Speaker 2: everything is going to change. You can do little things
Speaker 2: to be different, and you should take shot opportunities. For example,
Speaker 2: if you're going to rifle or shotgun hunt or muzzlod
Speaker 2: or hunt, I guess what are your lanes like, what's
Speaker 2: the average shot distance? A lot of people look at
Speaker 2: gun hunting in their effective range so much differently than
Speaker 2: bow hunters. Most bow hunters tend to practice at some
Speaker 2: distance and then they peel off a certain percentage of
Speaker 2: that distance. In respect to the reality of shooting wild
Speaker 2: deer and wild situations. Gun hunters often don't do that.
Speaker 2: They shoot their rifles or whatever at certain distances and
Speaker 2: then kind of figure they can push it by fifty
Speaker 2: or one hundred yards by holding a little high That's
Speaker 2: great for good shooters, but often not so great for
Speaker 2: people who don't shoot a whole lot, which is probably
Speaker 2: most of the whitetail hunters. And it's a different thing
Speaker 2: sitting on a bench punching paper at three hundred yards
Speaker 2: than it is to try to shoot a live buck
Speaker 2: as he walks along a clear cut three football fields away.
Speaker 2: It's hard not to put a little lead in the
Speaker 2: air when you can, but sometimes it's best to understand
Speaker 2: what your real effective range is. This is one of
Speaker 2: the reasons that when I gun hunt, whether it's a
Speaker 2: general season or a muzzleloader hunt, I'm often in places
Speaker 2: that don't allow for a long shot because I know
Speaker 2: I'm only an okay shot with a gun. I'm really
Speaker 2: only an okay shot with a bow, too, which is
Speaker 2: why I'm a super huge fan of twenty yard broadside shots,
Speaker 2: and I work pretty hard to try to set those
Speaker 2: up with guns. You know that distance is mostly too close,
Speaker 2: but it also doesn't take me too long to get
Speaker 2: into a little bit too far a territory. Either, know
Speaker 2: this about yourself and understand what it means for your
Speaker 2: stand or blind setup. Think about your shots, and if
Speaker 2: you're thinking about how far you should really shoot, consider
Speaker 2: something else house your rest. One of the things I've
Speaker 2: learned here at meat Eater, where we are overrun by
Speaker 2: Western rifle hunters who probably would hold a bow upside
Speaker 2: down if you handed them one, is that they don't
Speaker 2: shoot without a good rest. When they have a chance
Speaker 2: to shoot, their focus goes on getting a good range
Speaker 2: and establishing a rest, a really good rest. Quickly, you
Speaker 2: might think, well, hell, Peterson, I have that covered since
Speaker 2: I hunt out of a ladder stand with a shooting rail,
Speaker 2: And I'd say, well, hell, random listener, how tall are you?
Speaker 2: How comfortable is your shot off that shooting rail? It
Speaker 2: might be a different deal for someone who is five
Speaker 2: to three versus someone who is six ' five. Now
Speaker 2: I don't hunt out a ladder stands much, but I've
Speaker 2: noticed that shooting rails are perfect for some shot angles
Speaker 2: and kind of a struggle for others. Can you get
Speaker 2: a better rest? Can you maybe wrap the rail on
Speaker 2: something soft and malleable. Can you use some hockey tape
Speaker 2: or a bungee cord and a fix a bipod to
Speaker 2: your stand? Maybe set it up for the highest odd
Speaker 2: shot anyway, Now, what if a deer comes behind you?
Speaker 2: This is a little thing that makes a big difference,
Speaker 2: and it's something that most of your competition isn't doing.
Speaker 2: Take it a step further though. A typical bow hunter
Speaker 2: who watches deer do something, but those deer don't get
Speaker 2: into range will do one thing, try to call the
Speaker 2: deer in. A good bow hunter will usually just move
Speaker 2: closer to the action and kill one. A gun hunter
Speaker 2: who watches deer goes through the cedars but never offer
Speaker 2: a shot is very likely to follow a typical bow
Speaker 2: hunter's plan and turn that can call over a few
Speaker 2: hundred times or grunt to his heart's content. He might
Speaker 2: also try to slip a shot through the brush, But
Speaker 2: what would be a better bet you know it move.
Speaker 2: This is something that the general gun hunting crowd does
Speaker 2: not seem to grasp very well. Sure they'll move, but
Speaker 2: they'll move with the confidence of someone who can make
Speaker 2: an offhand shot at two hundred yards. You know they can't,
Speaker 2: and neither can you. Probably the ability to close the
Speaker 2: distance and leave behind your traditional stand is huge. You
Speaker 2: can probably still stay in the zone of your stand
Speaker 2: or your spot so you don't piss off the rest
Speaker 2: of the people and your party. But it might be
Speaker 2: a move of you know, fifty yards that changes everything.
Speaker 2: You might have to set up on the ground. That's great,
Speaker 2: grab a tripod do that. The distances that gun hunting
Speaker 2: allows for make it ideal for a little chess move
Speaker 2: where you put your back to a tree somewhere without
Speaker 2: too much of a risk of getting busted before you
Speaker 2: get a shot. If you have the means to go
Speaker 2: mobile with a stand or a saddle, that's usually better.
Speaker 2: This is something very very few gun hunters do, although
Speaker 2: it's getting more popular again. All you're doing is breaking
Speaker 2: tradition just a little bit, and another way to break
Speaker 2: the tradition that might be the best way to kill
Speaker 2: deer during a general gun season. Is something I've talked
Speaker 2: about a lot. Just hunt more, hunt longer hours, take
Speaker 2: a couple of vacation days to stick around camp on
Speaker 2: Monday and Tuesday, when most hunters make a mass exodus
Speaker 2: out of the woods and head back to their daily lives.
Speaker 2: The reality is that most hunters don't want to sit
Speaker 2: that long. They put in a couple hours in the
Speaker 2: morning and a couple in the afternoon. Those windows get
Speaker 2: even shorter as the season goes on and the hangovers
Speaker 2: kick in and the action dries up and the futility
Speaker 2: of it all starts to settle across the land. That's
Speaker 2: an opportunity for you to do the opposite. Spend all
Speaker 2: day out there. I know I've talked about this a lot,
Speaker 2: but you just want to be there when others aren't.
Speaker 2: If you go to your same old ladderstand with the
Speaker 2: plan to get back by eleven to watch the game
Speaker 2: and eat some chili, that's great, but that's the move
Speaker 2: for almost everyone, and the deer know that, or they
Speaker 2: figure it out real quickly. A better bet is to
Speaker 2: stick it out and even though you won't see tons
Speaker 2: of deer. You might see the one you want, and
Speaker 2: he might either just be moving through because of the
Speaker 2: lull and hunter presence, or he might be sneaking out
Speaker 2: through the side door as the neighbors set up for
Speaker 2: another midday drive through the betting cover. There are other
Speaker 2: ways to break tradition too. Depending on how much seniority
Speaker 2: you have, you might be able to suggest some slight
Speaker 2: variations and the deer drives. Instead of parking exactly where
Speaker 2: you always park and sending one hunter to cover the
Speaker 2: waterway and two to post up at the end of
Speaker 2: the woods, take a look at the satellite imagery of
Speaker 2: your ground. Think about how often the drive has worked,
Speaker 2: or how often someone has watched a deer squored out
Speaker 2: in a random spot which is probably not as random
Speaker 2: as it seems. Maybe it's a matter of talking to
Speaker 2: everyone about slowing way way down and trying to be quiet,
Speaker 2: or maybe it's a matter of putting someone in a
Speaker 2: spot to watch a new area as long as it's safe.
Speaker 2: Breaking the mold a little on deer drives can be
Speaker 2: a wildly educational experience. Here's the thing. Not to toot
Speaker 2: my own horn a little too much. But I'm kind
Speaker 2: of a contrarian at heart. I don't like doing things
Speaker 2: just because you're supposed to. I also don't like hunting
Speaker 2: when I feel like I'm just crossing my fingers and
Speaker 2: praying to the deer gods for a pity buck. I
Speaker 2: think most of us lean into this a little too much.
Speaker 2: You know, it's easier to follow tradition and do the
Speaker 2: same thing over and over. It's even easier when there's
Speaker 2: an element of peer pressure involved. So here's the deal.
Speaker 2: If you planned a gun hunt this season, ask yourself
Speaker 2: why you're doing what you're doing, are you sitting where
Speaker 2: you are? And if there's a chance to shake things up,
Speaker 2: at least consider it. Maybe not on day one, but
Speaker 2: by day two or three. Ask yourself what the results
Speaker 2: are of your effort and the efforts of anyone else
Speaker 2: you may be hunting with. Are they not so great?
Speaker 2: Would it be possible to suggest a few new things?
Speaker 2: If not, that's okay, watch your own bobber and try
Speaker 2: to make the best adjustments you can to the situation
Speaker 2: you're in. It often doesn't take much to go from
Speaker 2: finger crossing kind of hunt to someone who is actually
Speaker 2: in the game. That feeling usually feeds further adjustments and
Speaker 2: not only makes it more likely you'll fill your tag,
Speaker 2: but it makes the whole thing a hell of a
Speaker 2: lot more enjoyable. And when you enjoy it, more kill
Speaker 2: more deer. Trust me on that. So stay safe out there,
Speaker 2: shoot straight, change things up a little bit if you're
Speaker 2: not happy with how it's going, and come back next
Speaker 2: week because I'm going to talk about a concept in
Speaker 2: engineering that also applies to deer hunting, one that can
Speaker 2: really help you eliminate some of the things that can
Speaker 2: totally derail a hunt. That's it for this week. I'm
Speaker 2: Tony Peterson. This has been the Wire to Hunt Foundations podcast.
Speaker 2: If you want any more hunting content, and I mean podcast,
Speaker 2: I mean videos, I mean articles, head on over to
Speaker 2: the meeteater dot com and you'll see all that stuff.
Speaker 2: You can also check out our store which has a
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Speaker 2: Eater Trivia, you know, the game where conservation wins every time.
Speaker 2: Pretty cool product out there, and now something to take
Speaker 2: to dear camp. Maybe just try out with the family
Speaker 2: or whatever, and know that when you buy that, they're
Speaker 2: gonna peel off a little chunk and give that to conservation,
Speaker 2: so you're doing something good getting a great product for
Speaker 2: yourself at them meeteater dot com. Thanks again for everything.