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 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: First Light, Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson. 6 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 2: Hey, everyone, welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundation's podcast, 7 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:24,960 Speaker 2: which is brought to you by first Light. I'm your host, 8 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 2: Tony Peterson, and today is all about weather, white tails, 9 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 2: and how we often think about them wrong. I know 10 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 2: this might seem like a weird time of year for 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 2: this type of podcast, but it's not, or at least 12 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 2: I don't think it is. White tails and thoughts about 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,840 Speaker 2: weather go hand in hand, but we often use whether 14 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 2: as a reason to either hunt or not. I don't 15 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:48,360 Speaker 2: think it's that simple, though. I think it goes a 16 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 2: little deeper than that. And the truth is that if 17 00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 2: you want to kill big whitetails, you need to understand 18 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 2: not only what specific weather might do to the deer, 19 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 2: but what they do to us is hunters, which might 20 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 2: be the most important part. A couple of weeks ago, 21 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 2: I spent a lot of time looking at the ten 22 00:01:05,520 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 2: day forecast for two reasons The first one was that 23 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 2: if I could find a window of time to bring 24 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 2: my daughter to Wisconsin for a few days, I was 25 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,039 Speaker 2: going to try to scrounge up a late season four 26 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 2: key for her. The second was that I was headed 27 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 2: into the Superior National Forest in northern Minnesota to hunt 28 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 2: grouse for a few days by sled dog, where my 29 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 2: home base would be a tent. Now, for my listeners 30 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 2: who don't know what northern Minnesota is like in the December, 31 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 2: I'll give you a quick rundown just in case you 32 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 2: get invited to go camping there this time of year. 33 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 2: Don't just kidding. If you like sled dogs, which I 34 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 2: now do since I'm an official musher kind of, and 35 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,360 Speaker 2: you like being very far away from nearly all of 36 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 2: the people, which I do since I'm old enough and 37 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 2: jaded enough on life now to know really really like 38 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 2: not having to do with people. The tax you'll pay 39 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 2: is that you might wake up, you know, for multiple 40 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 2: days in a row, in the middle of the night, 41 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 2: with a small black lab in your sleeping bag and 42 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 2: ice on just about everything in your tent, including hearts 43 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 2: of your body. Plus if it's super cold, the grouse 44 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 2: hunting will be absolutely terrible, So don't do it or 45 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,399 Speaker 2: do I don't care, But that hunt and the fact 46 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,799 Speaker 2: that we got snowed out of Wisconsin's Forky Mission reminded 47 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 2: me something about white tails. The weather's just omnipresent. It's 48 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,880 Speaker 2: kind of like when people talk about going on a diet, 49 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 2: but your diet is really just what you eat all 50 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 2: the time. It's with you every day, and it shapes 51 00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 2: an awful lot about your life, including all your shape. 52 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 2: I don't know what the actual number is, but I 53 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 2: feel like the weather messes up my hunting plans at 54 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 2: least fifty percent of the time. Sometimes it feels a 55 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 2: lot higher than that. And it's not because I live 56 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 2: in Canada South, which feels really really stupid this time 57 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 2: of year, because everywhere you go people bitch about the weather. 58 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 2: You know, it's unpredictable and generally shitty, probably because the 59 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 2: places with truly beautiful, consistent weather are full of people 60 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 2: who can afford to live there and who do not 61 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 2: generally spend a lot of time trying to shoot sharp 62 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,720 Speaker 2: sticks through Bambi's dad. Let me give you a good 63 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 2: exam from my fall on this very topic. The week 64 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 2: before I left for North Dakota to try to find 65 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,800 Speaker 2: some good bucks on public land. The area I hunt 66 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 2: got hit with a bonker's rainstorm. Now this is a 67 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 2: place where you can find genuine although pretty small cactus 68 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 2: growing in the same spots the meal deer and sharp 69 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 2: tails hangout, and where my buddy Eric once sat on 70 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 2: one a cactus I mean, not amelia or a sharpie. 71 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,320 Speaker 2: The river out there, which I usually crossed daily when 72 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 2: I'm hunting there, went from a foot and a half 73 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 2: to five feet, which is a hell of a spring surge, 74 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 2: let alone a mid October surge. I followed the river 75 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 2: flow data out there by the day, and while it 76 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 2: came back down to the three foot range, it was 77 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 2: a no go for the deer to cross, except for 78 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 2: one good buck that forwarded that river and showed me 79 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 2: everything I needed to know about how I was not 80 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,040 Speaker 2: going to cross it. If a critter with four legs 81 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 2: can barely make it, a critter with two in the 82 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 2: dark is going for a swim. The entire plan I 83 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 2: had built around that hunt chained twenty four hour period 84 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:05,440 Speaker 2: of freakish weather the week before, which leads me to 85 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 2: the point I really want to make with this podcast, 86 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 2: which is this. The messaging you've been fed about weather 87 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 2: is to just wait out very specific conditions and then 88 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 2: go hunting. That messaging comes from people who have made 89 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 2: millions off of hunters and who have hunting that you 90 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,279 Speaker 2: couldn't even dream of. There is no net loss for 91 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 2: them to not go hunting, and the easiest way for 92 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 2: them to kill big bucks and properties that literally no 93 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 2: one else will hunt is to wait for the seasonal 94 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:35,920 Speaker 2: timing to meet up with a cold front, which all 95 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,560 Speaker 2: of the a sudden just coalesces into one big deer 96 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 2: movement festival for them. That like the idea that everyone 97 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,600 Speaker 2: can just age deer by looking at them as if 98 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 2: deer all have the same body structure and shape, has 99 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,360 Speaker 2: maybe been the most damaging thing to the general deer 100 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 2: hunting population. 101 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 3: And here's why. 102 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,679 Speaker 2: Because that cold front won't negate the fact that you've 103 00:04:55,839 --> 00:04:59,480 Speaker 2: overhunted your spot, or won't allow you to hunt a 104 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,799 Speaker 2: question win just because the deer should be moving given 105 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:03,160 Speaker 2: the weather. 106 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 3: It doesn't work that way. 107 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 2: The people who feed us that message can walk in 108 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,000 Speaker 2: on carefully groomed access trails to sit airtight box blinds 109 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,040 Speaker 2: or stands with perfect winds, and they have enough options 110 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 2: where they don't need to burn anything out. Do you 111 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 2: have that, Because if you don't, learning to hunt with 112 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,720 Speaker 2: the weather you're given is a huge advantage. Think about 113 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 2: it this way, who are the people you really look 114 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:29,919 Speaker 2: up to who kill good deer on public land? For 115 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 2: this conversation, forget about people who kill big ones on 116 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 2: private and instead just think about some of the public 117 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 2: land killers. Now filter them down a little further and 118 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:41,919 Speaker 2: forget about the people who are public land killers but 119 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 2: generally only in their home state. Take someone who usually 120 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,240 Speaker 2: gets it done on the road on public land, you know, 121 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 2: the kind of land, as the locals will often say, 122 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 2: it can't be done on the Andy Mays of the world, 123 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 2: the zach Fahrenbau's of the world. Those kind of guys. 124 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 2: Do you think they've become successful at this stuff by 125 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 2: city out hunting until the right cold front hit and 126 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 2: then going in spoiler alert, They didn't. They have gone 127 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 2: on many, many trips, often short ones, to parts unknown 128 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 2: and not only had to figure out the deer and 129 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,599 Speaker 2: the whole hunting pressure thing, but work with whatever weather 130 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,600 Speaker 2: they were handed at the time. Now, if you do 131 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 2: that enough, you start to realize that what you consider 132 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,600 Speaker 2: bad deer weather is just weather, and the deer are 133 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 2: still out there doing their thing, and your job is 134 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 2: to figure out how to make that work for you. 135 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 2: It's simple and principle, but very hard for most hunters 136 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 2: to even attempt. And here's why. We don't like to 137 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:40,479 Speaker 2: be miserable, and we don't like to hunt when we 138 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 2: have low confidence. 139 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:43,400 Speaker 3: Trust me, I get it. 140 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 2: I just spent several nights in a tent twenty five 141 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 2: miles from the Canadian border, where I found far more 142 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 2: wolf tracks than grouse tracks. Being uncomfortable sucks, and I 143 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 2: think that factors into our hunting decisions more than what 144 00:06:56,760 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 2: we actually believe the deer will be doing. I'll give 145 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,240 Speaker 2: you an easy one here. I've talked about this a lot. 146 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,600 Speaker 2: People don't like deer hunting when it's hot out early season, 147 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 2: mid season, during the rut, whenever. The general consensus is 148 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 2: that the deer won't be moving, but that's dumb. It's 149 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 2: also commonly stated that the meat is far more likely 150 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 2: to spoil if you hunt when it's hot, but that's 151 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 2: dumb too. Take good shots, give it your best recovery efforts. 152 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,600 Speaker 2: You'll be just fine. But what's really happening is that 153 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 2: people don't want to hunt when it's hot, so they 154 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 2: find reasons not to. 155 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 3: That's fine, you do, you boo. 156 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 2: But if you want to kill more and bigger deer, 157 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:35,400 Speaker 2: you might want to figure out how to hunt during 158 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,000 Speaker 2: whether that you are certain to get every single season. 159 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 2: I killed a decent eight pointer in my home state 160 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 2: of Minnesota this year. They came into a pond here 161 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 2: in the suburbs when it was eighty seven degrees in September. 162 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 2: Now was it comfortable, No, But I knew for a 163 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 2: fact that deer were going to come to that stand 164 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 2: to get a drink, and I was pretty sure a 165 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,240 Speaker 2: decent buck would do it. And he did, and he 166 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,640 Speaker 2: gave me a twenty two yard shot. And it really 167 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 2: was that simple. Most of my hot weather hunts are 168 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 2: far more productive than my rough hunts because they. 169 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 3: Are so predictable. 170 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,080 Speaker 2: Plus a lot of hunters won't go when they perceive 171 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 2: it to be too hot, which gives me another advantage 172 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:19,440 Speaker 2: over the deer movement, because they're going to move more 173 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 2: when there's fewer people out there. It's simple, and I 174 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,320 Speaker 2: know I've used that example many times. You don't hear 175 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 2: this as much as you used to, but here's another one. 176 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:29,760 Speaker 2: From time to time I'll hear someone say that it's 177 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 2: too windy to hunt because the deer won't be moving. 178 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 2: We've seen a lot of deer research that refutes that, 179 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 2: and it's also just common sense for an animal that 180 00:08:38,640 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 2: lives off of its nose the world around them, feeding 181 00:08:41,640 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 2: them lots of data from a safe distance will override 182 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 2: the negatives of not being able to hear as well 183 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 2: or the visual aspect of it of things moving all 184 00:08:49,960 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 2: the time in the woods from the wind. Now, wind 185 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 2: also happens to walk in lockstep with fronts, which sure 186 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 2: seem to get the deer moving. Now, A lot of 187 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 2: folks will hunt pre or post frontal conditions, and we 188 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 2: all know why it cou'd be great. But when weather 189 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:17,520 Speaker 2: moves through, it often moves through for a day or two. 190 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 2: What if you're on that Andy May style trip to 191 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 2: somewhere for a long weekend and your timing sucks and 192 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 2: you catch it right in the middle of a front 193 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,280 Speaker 2: blowing through. Do you sit it out or try to 194 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 2: figure out where the deer should be going when the 195 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 2: whole thing is blowing through. I honestly think the biggest 196 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 2: thing that my public land hunts taught me is that 197 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 2: if you have a chance to hunt, you should go 198 00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 2: because a lot of times when the deer aren't supposed 199 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 2: to be moving, they are moving and they are killable. 200 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 2: And if you go enough when you're not supposed to, 201 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 2: you start to figure out what motivates them to move. 202 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,120 Speaker 2: The hot weather water connection is the Kindergarten version of 203 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 2: this because it makes total sense. Frontal weather is a 204 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 2: little bit trickier to figure out, but there will be 205 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,760 Speaker 2: general movement even when things are going from bonkers weather 206 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:10,120 Speaker 2: to super calm weather. You also get precipitation with those fronts, 207 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:12,199 Speaker 2: and I have yet to meet a really good deer 208 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:14,320 Speaker 2: hunter who doesn't perk up a little when it's supposed 209 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 2: to rain. Some my absolute favorite conditions from the season 210 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 2: opener until the rut dies down involve light rain. Always now, 211 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 2: heavy downpour type of rain is a different story, but 212 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 2: steady or light rain is just a gift that keeps 213 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 2: on giving. And if you do get that downpour, it 214 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 2: usually doesn't last super long. And when that thing slows 215 00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:38,040 Speaker 2: down a little bit, lightens up a little bit, you 216 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 2: better get your ass than that stand. We know this stuff, 217 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:43,719 Speaker 2: and in some conditions people are far more likely to 218 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,280 Speaker 2: hunt than in others. But I guess my whole point 219 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 2: of this is that the best way to learn about 220 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 2: what the deer actually do, not what we want them 221 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 2: to do, because enough people have repeated certain things, is 222 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 2: to go out there and get some proof. You might think, 223 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 2: can I just do that, you know, while being super 224 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,560 Speaker 2: analytical about my trail camera data, I'd say probably not. 225 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 2: Trail cameras are great, but going out and trying to 226 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 2: solve for specific conditions and then seeing what you see 227 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 2: is a whole different thing. Think about it this way. 228 00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:17,240 Speaker 2: How often have you hunted and observed something deer wise 229 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,000 Speaker 2: that you just didn't expect, something that caught you off guard. 230 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 2: This happens to me all the time, and I've learned 231 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 2: to listen to what the deer tell me instead of 232 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:27,160 Speaker 2: listening to the voice in my head that seems to 233 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 2: know everything but actually doesn't. Think about jumping a buck 234 00:11:31,559 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 2: walking out in the morning after you've tried to shoot 235 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 2: a dough in early October, or think about that deer 236 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,080 Speaker 2: that crossed the road in front of you if you 237 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 2: drove out after an evening hunt that just seemed to 238 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 2: emerge from a little patch of cover that just doesn't 239 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 2: make sense to you. The deer show us a lot, 240 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 2: and if you're out there when most folks think it's 241 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,520 Speaker 2: not worth it, what the deer show you will make 242 00:11:50,559 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 2: you a far better hunter than the rest of the 243 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:56,320 Speaker 2: folks who know better than to hunt them. I had 244 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 2: an encounter like ten years ago here in the Cities 245 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 2: and a little property during early October, with a really 246 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,959 Speaker 2: good buck, like one thirties, and where he came from, 247 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:08,719 Speaker 2: how he skirted my stand, and just the fact that 248 00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:11,600 Speaker 2: he was the biggest deer I ever saw in several 249 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 2: years of hunting that property all season long taught me 250 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 2: a lot. I think about that buck every single year, 251 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 2: multiple times, but especially when it's early October and my 252 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,920 Speaker 2: hopes aren't all that high. One of the many reasons 253 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 2: we like the ruts so much is because we don't 254 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,839 Speaker 2: have to think about things too hard. We don't really 255 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 2: have to fret over the weather and how the deer 256 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 2: will or won't move, even though we definitely pay attention 257 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 2: to the weather during November. But we like simple. We 258 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 2: want most of the riddle to be solved for us 259 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 2: by that insane breeding desire, so we don't have to 260 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 2: work around a bunch of other bs, But the whole 261 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 2: season is dominated by weather and what that brings to 262 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 2: the woods in the form of wind and precipitation and 263 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 2: temperature and barometric pressure. It all affects deer, but the 264 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 2: deer don't have a choice. They live in it and 265 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 2: they have to do their thing. And quite honestly, I 266 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 2: don't think movement in general is impacted by a lot 267 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 2: of the weather as much as we are now. Maybe 268 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 2: you believe me, or maybe you think, wait a minute. 269 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 2: The folks telling me to hunt when the conditions are 270 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 2: perfect consistently tag one eighties and this rando moron doesn't, 271 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 2: So maybe they are right. Maybe they are, But I 272 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,439 Speaker 2: can tell you a couple things. Those one hundred and 273 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 2: eighty inch buck killers wouldn't kill those bucks where you 274 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 2: hunt running that same program. There is a huge difference 275 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 2: between doing what you have to in order to kill 276 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 2: giants in a really good spot versus trying to get 277 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 2: better at deer hunting in general when you don't have 278 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,200 Speaker 2: access to the best white tail ground in the country 279 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 2: for you and I, the level up game happens by 280 00:13:45,240 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 2: doing things differently from most people and then trying to 281 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 2: really learn from the deer if the ten day forecast 282 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 2: isn't appealing to you because of whatever weather reason, so 283 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 2: you mostly sit it out. What you'll learn is that 284 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 2: you didn't kill anything because you didn't. Now, maybe your 285 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 2: cameras will be slower then or maybe not, but that 286 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 2: doesn't matter. It's a self fulfilling prophecy and it helps 287 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 2: a lot of us sleep at night. But I look 288 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 2: at this just like the value in hunting egg country 289 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:14,920 Speaker 2: in the Midwest and then heading down south for a 290 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 2: big wood swamp hunt, or I don't know, spending your 291 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 2: time sitting over a feeder in the Southeast and then 292 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,120 Speaker 2: making a long ass drive to hunt western white tails 293 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 2: where you can't bait and there aren't very many trees 294 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 2: and everything is a thousand times more visible than back home. 295 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 2: You suddenly have to solve for all kinds of new problems, 296 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:33,800 Speaker 2: and that is the key to becoming a better deer hunter. 297 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:36,720 Speaker 2: The main strategy we see these days is to create 298 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 2: a spot that is so appealing to the deer that 299 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,560 Speaker 2: they will go there eventually, and then hunt that spot 300 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 2: when things get right. Look, it's a great way to 301 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:46,440 Speaker 2: kill big deer. But if you don't have that or 302 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 2: you don't want that. A good strategy is to challenge 303 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 2: your worldview on white tails that you know, the deer 304 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 2: that you do have access to, and then do some 305 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 2: things differently. The cameraman I had on that ill fated 306 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 2: North Country grouse hunt is fellow named Dylan Lenz, who 307 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 2: I've interviewed on the Wire to Hunt podcast and he's 308 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 2: filmed a lot of whitetail hunts with me, and he's 309 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 2: a really, really good deer hunter. We were talking in 310 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 2: the tent one night about our early years as deer hunters, 311 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,000 Speaker 2: and he simply said, I don't know. It's like you 312 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 2: go out and you make mistake after a mistake, and 313 00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 2: you keep trying new things until something clicks and you 314 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 2: get a little better at making decisions, and then you 315 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 2: do it again and again. Simple, but he's right. The 316 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 2: more we try, the more we color outside the lines, 317 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 2: the more we learn to find the deer where they 318 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 2: want to be and then go there to hopefully shoot one. 319 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 2: That development doesn't happen when we wait for the best weather, 320 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 2: because even the best weather won't override so many factors 321 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,400 Speaker 2: that influence deer movement, not the least of which is 322 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 2: hunting pressure. I think a good way to view this 323 00:15:48,880 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 2: or for all of us, is, you know, just to 324 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 2: challenge ourselves, especially since not everyone has the means or 325 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 2: time or willingness to travel to new whiteail spots, is 326 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 2: to look at hunting like my black lab looks at 327 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 2: If I say, Sadie, do you want to go hunt 328 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 2: some roosters? She isn't like, hmm, but wait, isn't it 329 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,040 Speaker 2: too hot or too windy for pheasant hunting? 330 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 3: She's like, you have no idea? How good of an idea? 331 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 3: That is? 332 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 2: Rain, snow, forty mile per hour, winds, hot, cold, whatever 333 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 2: She's going every time. And honestly, I think that little 334 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 2: lab pup is onto something because I know the more 335 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 2: I hunt deer in weather that I really don't want 336 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 2: to hunt them in, the more deer I see and kill, 337 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 2: and that makes me want to hunt more regardless of 338 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 2: the forecast. It might be too late in the season 339 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 2: for this to matter too much to most of us now, 340 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,080 Speaker 2: but you should think about it for next year, the 341 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 2: next ten years. 342 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 3: At least. 343 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 2: The worst it'll happen is that you'll get to hunt more, 344 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 2: and even if you don't kill any more big bucks 345 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 2: right away, you'll still well get to hunt more, and 346 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:51,640 Speaker 2: I promise you you're going to learn a thing or 347 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 2: two about the deer that will help you eventually. That's 348 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:57,680 Speaker 2: it for this week. I'm Tony Peterson and this has 349 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 2: been the Wire to Hunt Foundation's podcast. As always, thank 350 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 2: you so much for all your support. I can't tell 351 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,520 Speaker 2: you what it means to us. Just trust me on this. 352 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,400 Speaker 2: We love you, guys, We appreciate it. If you need 353 00:17:07,480 --> 00:17:09,920 Speaker 2: some more white tail content, maybe if you just need 354 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 2: a podcast to listen to when you're driving somewhere for 355 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 2: the holidays, want to watch some films since it gets 356 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,919 Speaker 2: dark at five o'clock at night and that really sucks. 357 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 2: We drop new content on the medeater dot com every 358 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 2: single day, so you want to watch people hunting all over, 359 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:27,160 Speaker 2: listen to some good stuff, maybe read some articles, maybe 360 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 2: find a recipe on the site to cook up something 361 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:30,480 Speaker 2: for Christmas dinner. 362 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 3: Whatever We've got you covered. 363 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:38,680 Speaker 2: Go check it out at the medeater dot com