1
00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:05,120
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 --> 00:00:18,600
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
00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,160
Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast,

7
00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,080
Speaker 2: which is brought to you by first Light. I'm your host,

8
00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:28,000
Speaker 2: Tony Peterson, and today's episode is all about how to

9
00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:30,400
Speaker 2: change your future as a deer hunter and ensure that

10
00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:35,599
Speaker 2: you'll have a successful season. We all know that we

11
00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,280
Speaker 2: love those get rich quick hunting products, we love the rut,

12
00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,800
Speaker 2: We'll love anything that'll give us an advantage because deer

13
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,760
Speaker 2: hunting is hard, it's not impossible, and we're all just

14
00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,440
Speaker 2: kind of chasing rabbits with antlers around, hoping we get

15
00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:49,160
Speaker 2: lucky in fill a tag.

16
00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:50,519
Speaker 3: Well, not everyone.

17
00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,159
Speaker 2: There are a lot of people out there who kind

18
00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:55,120
Speaker 2: of manifest their own deer destiny and it's no accident

19
00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,080
Speaker 2: that they succeed when most hunters fail.

20
00:00:57,720 --> 00:00:59,640
Speaker 3: That's kind of like a power.

21
00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,480
Speaker 2: That's in us all, at least to some extent, and

22
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:10,039
Speaker 2: it's what I'm going to talk about right now. A

23
00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,479
Speaker 2: few weeks ago, the stars aligned and myself and three

24
00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:16,440
Speaker 2: buddies made a guy's trip happen. While one of them

25
00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:18,319
Speaker 2: had to leave early in the trip to go attend

26
00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:20,640
Speaker 2: a bachelor party, another had to show up late because

27
00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,399
Speaker 2: he has a lot of work to do. So it

28
00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,600
Speaker 2: actually shook out really well because at any given point

29
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:28,520
Speaker 2: of that trip, I only had two other people in

30
00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,520
Speaker 2: my boat. When you're tossing top waters with a bunch

31
00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,800
Speaker 2: of treble hooks on them for smallmouth or fake kermits

32
00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:37,959
Speaker 2: for large mouth, three dudes in one boat is more

33
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,480
Speaker 2: than enough. We had originally tried to make a Florida

34
00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:44,759
Speaker 2: fishing trip happen last winter, But anyone who has kids

35
00:01:44,760 --> 00:01:46,679
Speaker 2: and friends and jobs in life and all that other

36
00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:50,320
Speaker 2: stuff understands that at some point you just lose any

37
00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:52,480
Speaker 2: easy chance to get together with your buddies and do

38
00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,320
Speaker 2: something cool for four or five days. It's pretty wild.

39
00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,920
Speaker 2: And I know you young fellas listening to this won't

40
00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,760
Speaker 2: believe it'll happen to you, but it will any hooters.

41
00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,320
Speaker 2: We timed our trip well, and the smallies were just

42
00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:07,400
Speaker 2: coming up to spawn and the large mouth were just

43
00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,440
Speaker 2: wrapping up a wave of spawning. So depending on the wind,

44
00:02:10,480 --> 00:02:13,040
Speaker 2: whether and how busy the lakes were. We fished for

45
00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,360
Speaker 2: smallies on the rocks or large mouths in the weeds.

46
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,080
Speaker 2: The large mouth were already guarding fry and hanging around

47
00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:21,400
Speaker 2: the bluegill beds that looked like craters on the moon,

48
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,640
Speaker 2: although they're just a bit too uniform in size. The

49
00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:29,920
Speaker 2: small mouth were just on shallow, hungry males up making

50
00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,840
Speaker 2: beds or forming little wolf packs to chase minnows, while

51
00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,240
Speaker 2: the big females were holding tight to boulders and docks.

52
00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,960
Speaker 2: It was easy fishing and changed by the day. Finding

53
00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,600
Speaker 2: some fish anywhere that seemed fishy wasn't terribly difficult, but

54
00:02:44,639 --> 00:02:46,560
Speaker 2: we were on the hunt for big ones, and so

55
00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,560
Speaker 2: we catered our strategy to them. It was a blast,

56
00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,080
Speaker 2: and I didn't think much of our success until I

57
00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:53,960
Speaker 2: showed some pictures to a woman at the gym who

58
00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:58,200
Speaker 2: asked me often why she doesn't and her family doesn't

59
00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,480
Speaker 2: catch bigger fish at their lake Kevin. Now, when she

60
00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:04,360
Speaker 2: saw the bass we caught, she said, you're so lucky

61
00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,480
Speaker 2: at fishing. We never get that lucky boy. Have I

62
00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,200
Speaker 2: heard that a time or two in my life, and

63
00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:15,840
Speaker 2: it's representative of a common outdoor mindset, those who succeed

64
00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,680
Speaker 2: are lucky, those who don't aren't. This is a comforting

65
00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:22,600
Speaker 2: thought for a lot of folks because it means that

66
00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,080
Speaker 2: at some point the fates will break their way and

67
00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,680
Speaker 2: it'll be their turn to be lucky. But that totally

68
00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,560
Speaker 2: discounts the reality of nature of predators and their prey,

69
00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,680
Speaker 2: and the truth that the outdoors can definitely deliver you

70
00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,200
Speaker 2: some good fortune, but it mostly won't until you give

71
00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,000
Speaker 2: it what is necessary to be. You know where you

72
00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:43,760
Speaker 2: need to be when you need to be there. When

73
00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,000
Speaker 2: it comes to catching a five pound large mouth on

74
00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,600
Speaker 2: a bright pick frog and the lily pads and emerging

75
00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,000
Speaker 2: wild rice, it's mostly a matter of making a lot

76
00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:55,400
Speaker 2: of long casts in areas where they should be when

77
00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,720
Speaker 2: they are looking up to eat. If it's pretty cold

78
00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:00,640
Speaker 2: or pretty windy and you look around and you and

79
00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,320
Speaker 2: see a whole bunch of dragonflies cruising around, you might

80
00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:04,680
Speaker 2: not get too many blow ups.

81
00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:06,320
Speaker 3: The fish could be there.

82
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:08,720
Speaker 2: The fish could be there, but they might not be

83
00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,280
Speaker 2: eating kermits a whole lot. You might have the right

84
00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,080
Speaker 2: location but your timing is off. Or you might go

85
00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,880
Speaker 2: out and fish that sweet spawning bay with the beaver

86
00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,120
Speaker 2: dams and the floating bogs and only catch a few

87
00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,040
Speaker 2: northerns even though the sun's shining, it's dead calm, and

88
00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:27,480
Speaker 2: the dragonflies are just buzzing all over. So now you've

89
00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:31,240
Speaker 2: got the right timing in the wrong spot. Now think

90
00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,880
Speaker 2: about this with white tails. Scratch that, Think about this

91
00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,120
Speaker 2: with a really good buck, the kind of buck we

92
00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:40,720
Speaker 2: all want to shoot, who represents a class of deer

93
00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:42,680
Speaker 2: that is rare enough in our neck of the woods

94
00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,839
Speaker 2: to be a trophy. Not only do you need to

95
00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:47,840
Speaker 2: be in the right spot at the right time, you

96
00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:50,520
Speaker 2: also need that to happen on one of the moments

97
00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:52,160
Speaker 2: when he puts himself in a position to be in

98
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,560
Speaker 2: the wrong place at the wrong time. I know that's

99
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:56,280
Speaker 2: kind of saying the same thing, but kind of not.

100
00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,240
Speaker 2: On any given day that you can hunt, he probably

101
00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,479
Speaker 2: won't do that, And if he does, he has a

102
00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:07,480
Speaker 2: pretty good chance of winding you, or spotting you up

103
00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,159
Speaker 2: in your tree, or just taking a trail you didn't expect.

104
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:12,440
Speaker 2: So instead of walking by at twenty yards, he passes

105
00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:14,840
Speaker 2: by at forty five, and then you try to grind

106
00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:16,919
Speaker 2: him in and he doesn't have the best reaction, or

107
00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,760
Speaker 2: you miss or whatever. When you acknowledge how hard this

108
00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,520
Speaker 2: shit is, it's easy to want to believe that it's

109
00:05:23,560 --> 00:05:27,800
Speaker 2: all just luck. For most of us, that's a comfortable

110
00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:30,359
Speaker 2: blanket to wrap ourselves in because it removes most of

111
00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,760
Speaker 2: our personal agency and protects our egos. I like that,

112
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:36,880
Speaker 2: and I bet you do too. I honestly think this

113
00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:38,839
Speaker 2: is one of the reasons there's been such a harsh

114
00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:41,960
Speaker 2: reaction to non residents in the last ten years. Has

115
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,800
Speaker 2: crowding increased in some areas, for sure, no question. But

116
00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,279
Speaker 2: we've also been shown that some folks can show up

117
00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,520
Speaker 2: in our backyards and kill big deer and we can't

118
00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,680
Speaker 2: do it, and that doesn't sit well with a lot

119
00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,360
Speaker 2: of us. So there must be a reason. And this

120
00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:02,640
Speaker 2: social contagent thing creeps in and we decide that no

121
00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:05,440
Speaker 2: one can do it because there are too many people trying.

122
00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:07,560
Speaker 2: So the best bet is to kick some people out

123
00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,840
Speaker 2: who are powerless. That's far more comfortable for a lot

124
00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:12,720
Speaker 2: of us than admitting we aren't very good at this

125
00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:15,800
Speaker 2: thing that we love, especially when we know that some

126
00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,359
Speaker 2: people can go to where we hunt and kill the

127
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,040
Speaker 2: big deer that we can't. That sucks, but it happens

128
00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:24,960
Speaker 2: to all of us. But we do have agency over ourselves,

129
00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:27,719
Speaker 2: and we have the means to make a good hunt

130
00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:31,839
Speaker 2: happen instead of singing back and crossing your fingers, you know,

131
00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:33,480
Speaker 2: and thinking maybe this'll be our year.

132
00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:34,520
Speaker 3: Now.

133
00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:36,560
Speaker 2: I know I sound like a judge prick here, but

134
00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:38,799
Speaker 2: let me tell you something. I can have a pity

135
00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:41,680
Speaker 2: party with the best of them. I mean, try being

136
00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,640
Speaker 2: friends with Andy may all fall. You get pictures from

137
00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,799
Speaker 2: him of giant deer from someplace public, and there's always

138
00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,640
Speaker 2: like a quick text with it that's like, well, I

139
00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,000
Speaker 2: only had three days to haunt two states that I've

140
00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,159
Speaker 2: never been to, so I killed these two one sixties

141
00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:00,159
Speaker 2: quickly and went home. It's honestly kind of disgusting. I

142
00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,520
Speaker 2: also know, from spending time with him and a hell

143
00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,200
Speaker 2: of a lot more really good hunters, that it's not

144
00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:07,040
Speaker 2: just luck to put those deer in.

145
00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:08,480
Speaker 3: Front of Andy and these other guys.

146
00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:11,000
Speaker 2: He knows what it takes to make something good happen,

147
00:07:11,240 --> 00:07:24,920
Speaker 2: and he does that no matter where he's hunting. At home,

148
00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,680
Speaker 2: that means tons of scouting, boots on the ground, scouting,

149
00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:32,520
Speaker 2: not just trail camera work, but getting out there to

150
00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,880
Speaker 2: learn about deer and the places they call home is

151
00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,920
Speaker 2: what he's doing on the road. It's tons of digital scouting,

152
00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,240
Speaker 2: which is immediately ground truth whenever he gets to where

153
00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,400
Speaker 2: he's going. It's a near constant quest for up to

154
00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,520
Speaker 2: the minute intel. Now pay attention to that, because this

155
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,360
Speaker 2: is a mindset thing, and it's something I personally struggle

156
00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:58,120
Speaker 2: with every season. In fact, I think my biggest weakness

157
00:07:58,240 --> 00:07:59,560
Speaker 2: as a white tail hunter is this.

158
00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:03,480
Speaker 3: I like to hunt off of memories. A lot of

159
00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:03,800
Speaker 3: us do.

160
00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,280
Speaker 2: We had a good encounter last season around Halloween in

161
00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,120
Speaker 2: this spot, so we go back there this year. It

162
00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,920
Speaker 2: might work, but it probably won't because something major will

163
00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:19,480
Speaker 2: have changed. Crop rotations, hunting pressure, wind direction, general weather,

164
00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:21,680
Speaker 2: hard mass, soft mass, a pack of coyote, you're setting

165
00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:25,600
Speaker 2: up shops somewhere new, you name it. The variables are endless.

166
00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,880
Speaker 2: You might get a repeat, but you should try to

167
00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,760
Speaker 2: figure out how likely that is. I think about it

168
00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,640
Speaker 2: this way. When I have some good encounter, public or private,

169
00:08:35,960 --> 00:08:38,600
Speaker 2: and I'm inclined to go try to repeat that pattern

170
00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,880
Speaker 2: the following season, I try to remind myself of what

171
00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:45,400
Speaker 2: went into having that good encounter in the first place.

172
00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,720
Speaker 2: If it was a public land hunt, it's almost a

173
00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:54,840
Speaker 2: guarantee that some sighting or some mid day scouting session

174
00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,800
Speaker 2: put me in a spot that was just humming with potential,

175
00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,360
Speaker 2: which means that I did some level of work to

176
00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:04,800
Speaker 2: make it happen. When I hunt on memories, I'm mostly

177
00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:07,920
Speaker 2: counting on the scouting or sightings of some other season

178
00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,160
Speaker 2: to make something happen now. And when it comes to

179
00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:16,360
Speaker 2: pressure deer anyway, old data is generally not very good.

180
00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,600
Speaker 2: This is where things get tricky because we can easily

181
00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,280
Speaker 2: fool ourselves when we are running the mind game of

182
00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,880
Speaker 2: where to hunt, and when we think, well, I haven't

183
00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,240
Speaker 2: been in the woods in two weeks, so this spot

184
00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,079
Speaker 2: should be primed for deer activity because the pressure has

185
00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:32,880
Speaker 2: been super low.

186
00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:34,600
Speaker 3: But what does that mean?

187
00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,679
Speaker 2: What if you only hunt forty acres, so you mitigated

188
00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,080
Speaker 2: some of the pressure on a piece of ground that's

189
00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,360
Speaker 2: four hundred yards by four hundred yards. That's great, But

190
00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:48,640
Speaker 2: what about the rest of that deer's home range around

191
00:09:48,720 --> 00:09:51,640
Speaker 2: where you hunt. Where I'm going with this is that

192
00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,440
Speaker 2: we often talk ourselves into a plan because it's easy

193
00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,960
Speaker 2: and not necessarily the best way to achieve our goals.

194
00:09:58,640 --> 00:10:00,760
Speaker 2: I see this at the gym a lot, with people

195
00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,359
Speaker 2: who month after month walk on the treadmill and play solitaire.

196
00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,040
Speaker 3: Look, that's great, but I know.

197
00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:08,960
Speaker 2: A couple of them well because they are my neighbors,

198
00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,559
Speaker 2: and they often complain about not getting fitter, not getting skinnier,

199
00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,480
Speaker 2: even though they go to the gym quite a bit.

200
00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:16,720
Speaker 2: But if you don't get your heart rate up and

201
00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:19,400
Speaker 2: really get moving, you're not going to get the results

202
00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,760
Speaker 2: you want. It's one of those simple but not simple things.

203
00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:25,880
Speaker 2: You could literally move into the gym and eat like

204
00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,079
Speaker 2: shit and not really exercise a whole lot and never

205
00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,319
Speaker 2: see results in spite of literally living in a gym.

206
00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,680
Speaker 2: It's not the time there that matters, it's how you

207
00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,120
Speaker 2: use that time. And the same rules apply to the

208
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,560
Speaker 2: White Tail Woods in season and odd of season. If

209
00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:44,680
Speaker 2: you go out and glass from the same spot over

210
00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:46,440
Speaker 2: and over because it's where you have the best chance

211
00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,000
Speaker 2: to see a bachelor group, that's great, but over time

212
00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,680
Speaker 2: it can tip from being a net benefit to being

213
00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,679
Speaker 2: net neutral or if they are onto your game or

214
00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,319
Speaker 2: the conditions change, a net negative alone doesn't mean anything,

215
00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:02,640
Speaker 2: and to figure out how to do it in a

216
00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,559
Speaker 2: way that will inform your choices for the season and

217
00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,600
Speaker 2: not potentially hurt your chances. And then you use that

218
00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:12,160
Speaker 2: information to set yourself up to be where the deer

219
00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,720
Speaker 2: should be early in the season, which is when the

220
00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,800
Speaker 2: summer glassing juice is easiest to squeeze out of your hunts.

221
00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:20,800
Speaker 2: Of course, most of us aren't glassing a whole lot

222
00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,240
Speaker 2: now that trail cameras are pretty cheap and easy to use,

223
00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:27,640
Speaker 2: which is maybe the biggest component of us wishing for

224
00:11:27,679 --> 00:11:30,200
Speaker 2: a good hunt instead of actively trying to make one happen.

225
00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,400
Speaker 2: When we get pictures of that one forty who lives

226
00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,000
Speaker 2: in the section that our land is in, it tells

227
00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,000
Speaker 2: us many things, some of which are true and some

228
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,800
Speaker 2: of which are lies. For starters, we know he's in there,

229
00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,559
Speaker 2: in the area somewhere. That's huge, It's true, it's important.

230
00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,840
Speaker 2: There's something about knowing you're around a deer you'd really

231
00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,200
Speaker 2: like to shoot that just helps sharpen the blade, so

232
00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,280
Speaker 2: to speak. You're less likely to be sloppy, more likely

233
00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:58,400
Speaker 2: to go in early and sit as long as possible,

234
00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,960
Speaker 2: more likely to try to be quieter and pay attention more.

235
00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:07,560
Speaker 2: All good stuff, really, But that picture or pictures, even

236
00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:09,839
Speaker 2: if you know he shows up every week or every

237
00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,600
Speaker 2: couple of weeks, they also lie to us, or they

238
00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:16,360
Speaker 2: allow us to lie to ourselves. We tend to use

239
00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:18,240
Speaker 2: the images to fill in a whole lot of blanks

240
00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:20,560
Speaker 2: and decide that he'll show up on the retisan and

241
00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,040
Speaker 2: he's no longer nocturnal, or we think that we can

242
00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:25,480
Speaker 2: rattle him in during late October when the mornings are

243
00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:27,680
Speaker 2: cold and the whole thing is about to snap like

244
00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,720
Speaker 2: a top rubber band. Yet we don't know anything about

245
00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:35,199
Speaker 2: that deer really, like those small moths coming out of

246
00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,280
Speaker 2: their wintering holes, spawning on a big boulder and two

247
00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,520
Speaker 2: feet of water, then backing out to stage and recover

248
00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:43,920
Speaker 2: in five or six feet of water where there's cabbage

249
00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:46,520
Speaker 2: starting to grow and the minnows are thick, and then

250
00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,319
Speaker 2: eventually moving to the mid lake rock piles and points

251
00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,360
Speaker 2: and sand drops for the summertime. Bulk up deer have

252
00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:57,840
Speaker 2: a purpose to their daily movements, their weekly movements, and

253
00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,920
Speaker 2: whether you know they're going to give you a chance

254
00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:02,640
Speaker 2: or not, all of that's tied in there.

255
00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:03,280
Speaker 3: Now.

256
00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,760
Speaker 2: That buck that you got the pictures of, he has

257
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:09,040
Speaker 2: multiple bedding sites he uses. He's feeding on all kinds

258
00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:11,320
Speaker 2: of different brows and masts and crops and whatever he

259
00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:13,920
Speaker 2: has access to. He has trails, he likes to take

260
00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:16,360
Speaker 2: when the wind is out of the southwest, and trails

261
00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,160
Speaker 2: he'll only take when it comes from the north. He

262
00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,080
Speaker 2: knows all of the deer in his neighborhood, and he

263
00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:23,560
Speaker 2: knows a hell of a lot about when you come

264
00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,320
Speaker 2: into the woods and when you leave. He can learn

265
00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:30,000
Speaker 2: about you after you leave, and most likely does when

266
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,720
Speaker 2: he walks past your camera. He's giving you a single

267
00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:36,400
Speaker 2: data point, and it might be very valuable. Probably is,

268
00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,680
Speaker 2: but it's not enough to build a real plan on.

269
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,160
Speaker 2: You need to see him if you can, even in

270
00:13:42,240 --> 00:13:45,480
Speaker 2: June or July. That's a start, But also finding his

271
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:48,200
Speaker 2: tracks or getting a picture of him in two different

272
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,400
Speaker 2: locations in a week, or finding an area with huge

273
00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,960
Speaker 2: rubs absolutely shredded in mid October. Then you start to

274
00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,360
Speaker 2: understand his routine and the routine of big Bucks in

275
00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:01,640
Speaker 2: your area. You start to be able to predict where

276
00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:04,480
Speaker 2: he might actually show up and win at least have

277
00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,319
Speaker 2: a pretty educated guess. And when you can do that,

278
00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,760
Speaker 2: you stop wishing, at least to some extent, and you

279
00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:14,160
Speaker 2: start manifesting your own destiny. Now I realize I'm dumbing

280
00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,280
Speaker 2: this way down, but I'm also not dear are creatures

281
00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:19,840
Speaker 2: of habit just like us, and they leave evidence of

282
00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:24,080
Speaker 2: their presence, just like us. Their job is to avoid us.

283
00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,120
Speaker 2: Our job is to find them. They're generally better at

284
00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,480
Speaker 2: their job than we are at ours, but we can

285
00:14:29,520 --> 00:14:33,520
Speaker 2: get better at ours. We never will, though, if we

286
00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,440
Speaker 2: take a mostly passive approach to figuring out their day

287
00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,960
Speaker 2: to day activities. This is something that can be accomplished

288
00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:42,200
Speaker 2: in multiple ways, but there's one that works for me

289
00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,880
Speaker 2: pretty well. When I go into the woods, I try

290
00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:46,440
Speaker 2: to get myself to pay attention.

291
00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:47,119
Speaker 3: And be curious.

292
00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,120
Speaker 2: I'm heading to Wisconsin to hang some cameras this weekend,

293
00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:52,080
Speaker 2: and I know it'll be a buggy and thick and

294
00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:54,640
Speaker 2: generally gross mess out there, but I also know it

295
00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,360
Speaker 2: has rained a lot lately, so finding big tracks is

296
00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,600
Speaker 2: a real possibility. Instead of just marching in to hang

297
00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,120
Speaker 2: cameras on trees that I've hung cameras on before and

298
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,480
Speaker 2: then getting out, I'm going to force myself to pay

299
00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:08,960
Speaker 2: attention to the trails and the tracks and the beds

300
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,560
Speaker 2: and anything else that can help me sort of put

301
00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,480
Speaker 2: the whole thing together over there. To me, that's literally

302
00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,840
Speaker 2: the difference between walking slowly on the treadmill for forty

303
00:15:18,840 --> 00:15:21,800
Speaker 2: five minutes or running for forty five minutes. You could

304
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:24,280
Speaker 2: do either with the same amount of time, but one

305
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,840
Speaker 2: is definitely more beneficial. So I guess my question to you,

306
00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,800
Speaker 2: find folks is how are you going to stop wishing

307
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:32,480
Speaker 2: for a good hunt this season and try to make

308
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,920
Speaker 2: one happen? Do you have anything planned in the next

309
00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:36,800
Speaker 2: couple of weeks that will put you on the right

310
00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:40,240
Speaker 2: path forward? What's your scouting plan for this summer? Do

311
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:42,960
Speaker 2: you have a plan? How about your stand hanging plan?

312
00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,120
Speaker 2: Do you feel it's too early to care about that

313
00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:47,200
Speaker 2: stuff because the hit list isn't even close to being

314
00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,040
Speaker 2: ready yet. Are you going to wait till August and

315
00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:51,920
Speaker 2: then go put up your usual sets for the year

316
00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,960
Speaker 2: while you haunt on memories? If so, ask yourself this,

317
00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:57,400
Speaker 2: how well has that worked for me in the past.

318
00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:00,960
Speaker 2: If it's worked pretty well, great, You know what isn't

319
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,800
Speaker 2: broke doesn't need much fixing. But what if it didn't work?

320
00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,520
Speaker 2: How will you take agency over your deer hunting success

321
00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:07,800
Speaker 2: this fall by doing something?

322
00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:08,120
Speaker 3: Now?

323
00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:10,720
Speaker 2: I know this kind of sucks to hear because hunting

324
00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,480
Speaker 2: is supposed to be fun and not tons of work.

325
00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,960
Speaker 2: But fun comes in many forms. It's pretty satisfying to

326
00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:17,920
Speaker 2: glass up a good one right now, even if the

327
00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,160
Speaker 2: mosquitoes are bonkers and there are a lot of fish

328
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,040
Speaker 2: to be caught. It's pretty satisfying to hang a few

329
00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,520
Speaker 2: cameras earlier than you need to, and to start getting

330
00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:27,720
Speaker 2: pictures of some bucks doing their thing in different spots,

331
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:29,720
Speaker 2: which means that you'll be able to slip in some

332
00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,040
Speaker 2: rainy summer day to hang a set or three in

333
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:33,160
Speaker 2: those new locations.

334
00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:34,600
Speaker 3: It's pretty fun to get.

335
00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,880
Speaker 2: Active with this stuff so that you're really learning about

336
00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:38,920
Speaker 2: the deer and what they do, because that can tamp

337
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:42,240
Speaker 2: down the season long second guessing and give you confidence

338
00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:43,040
Speaker 2: in your decisions.

339
00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,680
Speaker 3: Don't look at it like work. Look at it like.

340
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,760
Speaker 2: It's just a necessary part of the process that will

341
00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,440
Speaker 2: literally set you apart from most of the competition, because

342
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,240
Speaker 2: you know what, most of those big bucks out there

343
00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:55,880
Speaker 2: are counting on you to hunt like everyone else, and

344
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,960
Speaker 2: when you don't, you start to run into them more frequently,

345
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:00,800
Speaker 2: and that is when you can really level up as

346
00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:02,960
Speaker 2: a white tail hunter, which is what we all want.

347
00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:05,919
Speaker 2: So do that and come back next week, because I'm

348
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,679
Speaker 2: going to talk about summer scouting mistakes that most folks

349
00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,719
Speaker 2: make and how to avoid them. That's it for this episode.

350
00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:14,840
Speaker 2: I'm Tony Peterson and this has been the Wire to

351
00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,840
Speaker 2: Hunt Foundation's podcast, which is brought to you by First Light.

352
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,360
Speaker 2: As always, thank you so much for your support for listening,

353
00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:24,760
Speaker 2: for reading the articles, for watching the shows, everything. We

354
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,879
Speaker 2: truly appreciate it. Here at meat Eater. If you want

355
00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,080
Speaker 2: more hunting content, you know where to go. We put

356
00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,600
Speaker 2: up new articles, we put up new shows, we put

357
00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,600
Speaker 2: up new podcasts, just tons of new content every single

358
00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:40,960
Speaker 2: day over at the meeedeater dot com.

359
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:41,720
Speaker 3: Go check it out