1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:05,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide 2 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:10,360 Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, and now your 3 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: host Tony Peterson. Hey, everyone, welcome to the Wire to 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,160 Speaker 1: Hunt Foundations podcast, which is brought to you by First Light. 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tony Peterson, and today I plan to 6 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 1: break down how we can figure out our personal impact 7 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: on the deer and how to mitigate the negative effects 8 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: of the pressure that we put on them. Now, I 9 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: know this might seem like kind of a weird offseason topic, 10 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: but it's not. It's actually kind of a play on 11 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: last week's show about learning the land. Right now, we 12 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: have a free window of time at least till the 13 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: ticks come out, where we can learn a bunch about 14 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,360 Speaker 1: our local white tails. No matter how many we spook 15 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: or how many miles we walk on our hunting grounds, 16 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: the passage of time will erase any negative effects associated 17 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 1: with it. And it's just a really good thing that 18 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: truly understand how to cut down on the amount of 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: negative juju we bring to the woods that those pesky 20 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: bucks and does might just pick up on. When your 21 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: job involves talking for hundreds of hours and then thousands 22 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: of people listen to your ramblings, you find out all 23 00:01:31,040 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: kinds of interesting things. Honestly, the same goes for writing 24 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: articles or creating videos posting on social media. What you 25 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:41,680 Speaker 1: learn is that most people don't care that much one 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: way or the other what you say or do, as 27 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: long as it fits roughly into the role they believe 28 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: you fill. If you don't stray too far out of 29 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 1: your lane, they pretty much let it slide and don't 30 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: get a red ass about it. You also find a 31 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: smaller subset of the audience that is just your ride 32 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: or die crowd. They decide, for whatever reason, that you're 33 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: a pretty swell guy, and they'll defend that to the 34 00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 1: bitter end. Obviously, having a few of those people on 35 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: your side is pretty nice. But there's another subset. Those 36 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: are the folks who seem to be looking to get offended. 37 00:02:15,160 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: They suck and I wish they would go do something 38 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: challenging in their lives every day, so they had learned 39 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: that the reason they seek drama is because they aren't 40 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: getting what they need out of life. We see examples 41 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: of these folks all the time, but I think there 42 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: are a much smaller segment of society than it seems 43 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: they just happen to be real vocal and really into 44 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: getting attention. They are the folks who will try to 45 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: get you to self censor or worse. A lot of 46 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: this behavior seems to come from main character syndrome that 47 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: seems to make them real sensitive, and they take things personal, 48 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: even if the things they are mad about couldn't possibly 49 00:02:51,880 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: be personal, because well, the person they are mad at 50 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: doesn't know them or care about them. One of the 51 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: first times I really encountered this was when I wrote 52 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: the white Tail column for Outdoor News, now my weekly column. 53 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: At one point I wrote about a Wisconsin buck I shot, 54 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,360 Speaker 1: like I don't know seven or eight years ago. All 55 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 1: that buck came in and I hit him in the 56 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,080 Speaker 1: shoulder on opening night, and when he ran away, it 57 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,080 Speaker 1: looked like the penetration was good enough, even if my 58 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,720 Speaker 1: shot placement wasn't so great. Now, with a forecast in 59 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,040 Speaker 1: the low thirties overnight, I left him for the morning, 60 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: not wanting to risk pushing him if I was dealing 61 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: with a one long hit or something else that wasn't 62 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 1: going to be immediately fatal. So when a buddy and 63 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: I returned at first light, we ended up finding a 64 00:03:35,440 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: pretty sparse blood trail, but it was good enough that 65 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: we eventually found that buck after I think dont an 66 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: hour and a half two hours. He was nice and 67 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: cool and dead and ready to be field dressed and 68 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: wrestled back to the truck. Now, so I wrote about that, dear, 69 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: because I had to write about deer every week. And 70 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: the week after that column published, they ran a letter 71 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,119 Speaker 1: to the editor about how irresponsible I was to leave 72 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: a buck overnight. The letter writer made it clear there 73 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: was never a good reason to leave a deer in 74 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:08,040 Speaker 1: the woods overnight, and he also not so subtly made 75 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: it known that the meat could not have possibly been 76 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: worth saving. Honestly, it was bizarre. So I sent my 77 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 1: editor an email and I said, uh, what's up with 78 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 1: this dude? And he called me up and he said, 79 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: the guy who sent that letter in sends a letter 80 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: in every week, literally fifty two times a year. That 81 00:04:31,080 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: seems that this old farmer from northwestern Minnesota goes through 82 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:37,039 Speaker 1: that paper when he gets it until he finds something 83 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: to be offended about, and then he fires off a 84 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: nastygram or an old fashioned letter. I'm sure someone with 85 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: a degree in psychology could weigh in on that with 86 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 1: some interesting insights with regard to that fellow. Now here's 87 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: the thing. In my position, I can get mad at 88 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,359 Speaker 1: that dude, which I usually do, or I could let 89 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,919 Speaker 1: it go. I can self answer to not have to 90 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: deal with people like him. I can do a lot 91 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: of things. But the truth is, it wouldn't matter if 92 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 1: I cleaned up my act and try to make any 93 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: one individual happy. There would be someone else who was 94 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: just ready to try to cancel me or force my 95 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: speech in a certain way. Because that's the nature of 96 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: this whole thing. Now, why do I tell you this 97 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: Because so many of the things we do impact others 98 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:27,320 Speaker 1: in ways we probably can't imagine. If you think this 99 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: isn't true, go work customer service or retail for a 100 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,159 Speaker 1: day or two. Maybe try out being a waiter or 101 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 1: a waitress for a week, Go do a right along 102 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: with a local police officer. Maybe talk to a nurse 103 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: or an E M T about their work. My point 104 00:05:43,240 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: is we make decisions every day that we think might 105 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: benefit us or make us feel a little superior, and 106 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: we often don't see how far those ripples spread in 107 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: the old pond of life. We might not see who 108 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,120 Speaker 1: is affected by them, and we might not care, but 109 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: I think we should just like it's not the waitress's 110 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: fault you don't like your burger, or maybe she has 111 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 1: twice as many tables to handle on a given night 112 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: because they're stoner coal worker called in sick again. It's 113 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 1: also a reality that when we go into the woods, 114 00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 1: we make a lot of decisions for ourselves. We think 115 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: they'll benefit us or make us feel better because they'll 116 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: hopefully get us closer to putting an arrow through the 117 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,960 Speaker 1: lungs of a buck. But those same decisions, when we 118 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,040 Speaker 1: often think are pretty benign, can be working against us 119 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: in ways we can't really imagine, and we'll probably never 120 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 1: fully understand. Those are the worst, I bet, because they 121 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,560 Speaker 1: are the ones that your target buck is paying attention 122 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: to and might be the ones that make him decide 123 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 1: he's had enough a daylight movement for a couple of weeks, 124 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: or that even though he'd rather take a specific trail 125 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 1: through the woods to get to his betting area, he's 126 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: going to travel a different one that leads through a 127 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: much thicker habitat and around the stand that you've sat 128 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:02,720 Speaker 1: three times in a row. You see, we often think 129 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: about how other hunters or coyotes or whatever affect the 130 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: deer movement. We give I think a little too much 131 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: weight to those things sometimes because it's easier than acknowledging 132 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: that we are the ones putting the deer down. We 133 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: are the ones burning our spots or leaving a cent 134 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: trail through an area a hunter hasn't set foot in 135 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: for a month. What we do impacts the deer we 136 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:31,200 Speaker 1: are hunting, maybe more than anything else, and at least 137 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: a lot of different situations. I believe that to be true. 138 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: I learned this early on in my dear hunting career, 139 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: although I probably didn't really understand it fully until I 140 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: had been at this stuff for a long time. When 141 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,960 Speaker 1: I was just starting out, it seemed like the guys 142 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: my dad and I hunted with, and hell, my dad 143 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: either killed bucks right away in the season or often 144 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,280 Speaker 1: not at all. I bet you can guess why, but 145 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: if not, I'll tell you. Those scrapper bucks they mostly 146 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: shot around the mid September opener here in Minnesota hadn't 147 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: been messed with four nine months. I know that's a letdown, 148 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:15,120 Speaker 1: but it's true. The reality was that back then we 149 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: didn't have trail cameras we didn't have food plots. We 150 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:20,960 Speaker 1: had our feet and our eyeballs, and we saw deer 151 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: in fields at last light, or we looked at tracks 152 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: on the trails and we set stands for those deer. 153 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: We did this in midsummer and then just got the 154 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: hell out of the woods. In the first couple of 155 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:35,560 Speaker 1: times we hunted, or those guys hunted anyway, someone would 156 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: occasionally shoot a buck that just hadn't had time to 157 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:42,360 Speaker 1: catch up to the program. That was it. After opening weekend, 158 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: all bets were off and things got a lot harder. 159 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 1: You can see this on a much larger scale when 160 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: you look at the breakdown of when deer are shot 161 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: during a general gun season. The bulk of them will 162 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: die on opening day or opening weekend, and then the 163 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: harvest numbers fall right off the old cliff. Now it's 164 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,280 Speaker 1: not as simple as the deer going holy crappy Oli. 165 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 1: There are thousands of predators in the woods right now. 166 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 1: It's also a matter of hunter effort, with a majority 167 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,160 Speaker 1: of hunter spending opening weekend in the woods and then 168 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,599 Speaker 1: not hunting again. So I guess if you're gonna have 169 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,079 Speaker 1: five hunters in the woods one day versus a hundred 170 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: thousand the next day, five hundreds gonna kill more deer 171 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: A fe've hunted guns season after the opener. You know 172 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: that even though the woods are much more empty of 173 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: hunters on I don't know, Wednesday than they were on Saturday, 174 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:35,480 Speaker 1: the deer movement can be real disappointing. That's grand scale 175 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: stuff and pretty easy to understand. But what about your 176 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 1: own hunting on your own spots. Remember in the intro 177 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: to this podcast where I mentioned the window we have 178 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: right now to scout without negative hunting repercussions. So true 179 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,640 Speaker 1: time is your friend, because it works to convince the 180 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 1: deer they're safer by the day. Your presence, whether observed 181 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:02,360 Speaker 1: directly or felt strongly after you're gone, kind of resets 182 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:05,840 Speaker 1: the old clock. Enough presence and you create the dear 183 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: version of the kind of lunatic who writes a nasty 184 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: letter to a newspaper every week about something that really 185 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,240 Speaker 1: doesn't matter at all. You don't want your whole audience 186 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 1: full of those guys, if you get my drift. So 187 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 1: why does it matter now? Because it pays to think 188 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: about how you'll impact the deer when you do hunt 189 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: them in like seven or eight months. It pays to 190 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: understand the weight of the decisions you make around pressure 191 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: and your presence, and how you'll mitigate the whole thing 192 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: to keep the deer from being overly sensitive to your presence. 193 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:40,559 Speaker 1: This is not as easy as it sounds. You know why. 194 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: There are several reasons. The first is that we look 195 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,880 Speaker 1: at white tails like they just aren't going anywhere. They 196 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 1: do have relatively small home ranges, and we often get 197 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,760 Speaker 1: lulled into too much false confidence that the bucks aren't 198 00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: going to leave our ground. If we spook them in 199 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: late September, they'll still be around a chase dose during 200 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,520 Speaker 1: the rut. That may be true, But why I spook 201 00:11:03,559 --> 00:11:05,960 Speaker 1: them at all? If you don't have to or think 202 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 1: about it a different way. Most of the places you 203 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:12,760 Speaker 1: and I hunt probably don't encompass a deer's whole home range. 204 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: Maybe you're hunting forty acres and too much sloppy presents 205 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,560 Speaker 1: on it will push the deer to the neighbor's ground. 206 00:11:19,160 --> 00:11:22,280 Speaker 1: After all, the deer lived there too. I don't know. 207 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 1: If you had one room in your house that was 208 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,199 Speaker 1: infested with scorpions or black mambas, you'd probably spend more 209 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,679 Speaker 1: time in a room that wasn't infected with scorpions, and 210 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: black Mamba's right. The danger of believing the bucks really 211 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: aren't going anywhere because of their genetic hardwearing that tells 212 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: them six or seven acres is plenty is that we 213 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 1: often don't think of how much ground that actually is. 214 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: What's worse is that these rules only apply when the 215 00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: sun is shining, but our trail cameras work at night, 216 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,079 Speaker 1: when all bets are off. So the buck that might 217 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:57,920 Speaker 1: be as good as gone because he's onto you in 218 00:11:57,960 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: the daylight could eat easily walk by your camera at 219 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:05,360 Speaker 1: midnight and make you think that he's still in play. 220 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: This is kind of a white tail specific thing. It 221 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: would probably really be driven home if you were lucky 222 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: enough to hunt out west for big meal deer with 223 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,120 Speaker 1: an absolute killer like Randy Armer or Nate Simmons over 224 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:21,560 Speaker 1: at Western Hunter. Those guys find a big deer and 225 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: their whole goal is to not let them know they're 226 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: being hunted, because those mountain bucks that are so visible 227 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: in a specific basin now will bust the hell on 228 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:32,080 Speaker 1: out of there when they figure out that they're being 229 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: stalked or even watched. Sometimes could badass hunters like those 230 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: guys find them again three basins over sure, but they 231 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 1: don't want to have to try because it's not a 232 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: guarantee and the whole thing is going to get a 233 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:48,559 Speaker 1: lot harder than next go round. So where does all 234 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 1: this rambling intersect with you, a white tail hunter and 235 00:12:51,679 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: the offseason conditions we are facing now? Because it's never 236 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:57,559 Speaker 1: too early to figure out how you'll go about your 237 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,120 Speaker 1: year as a white tail hunter with a keen I 238 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: towards your impact on the deer. I think about it 239 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: all in reference to timing. Right now, I can blow 240 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,280 Speaker 1: mll the deer out of there all I want and 241 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: it won't affect me in September. What can I learn 242 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: about the land, which is what last week's episode was 243 00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:22,960 Speaker 1: all about. It's just damn near like a positive. Anything 244 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: I learned is good. The downsides are so low they 245 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: might not even really register. That's why so many of 246 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: the best deer hunters spent so much time winter scouting. 247 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: I know you've heard me say that a lot, but 248 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:37,719 Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep saying it. You know you might, but 249 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,679 Speaker 1: what if you only hunt a small property and it 250 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:44,559 Speaker 1: doesn't really require a bunch of winter scouting? Okay, how 251 00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: many stand sites do you have? How many access points? 252 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:50,840 Speaker 1: How do they allow you to play potential conditions throughout 253 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: the various months of the hunting season, and how can 254 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: you lay out your options to keep your impact as 255 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,199 Speaker 1: light as possible. Can you go out and trim a 256 00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 1: few entrance trail now? Okay? Do that The trails you 257 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,199 Speaker 1: cut now will grow in some during the summer, but 258 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: to give you a real advantage for going in and 259 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: out undetected, and they won't have any effect right now. 260 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: If you go in, it's free time. It's a free hit, 261 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: free play or whatever. That's a good start. Or do 262 00:14:16,920 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: you have a favorite stand site that starts out really 263 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: good but fizzles out after a few hunts? Is there 264 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: a better way to get there? Or is it your 265 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: favorite because it's easy to get to and hunt and 266 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: you don't really give yourself too many other options. Should 267 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 1: you be looking at other parts of your property that 268 00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: might be better suited for a few ground blinds? What 269 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: kind of an ambush plan can you put together? Now? 270 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: While you've got tons of time. Now, even if you 271 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: don't hang stands, you had to put out some blinds. 272 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: You can start to decide where you'll do it and 273 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: maybe trim some shooting lanes or whatever. Right now, maybe 274 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: you can stack up some dead falls on the edge 275 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 1: of a meadow so that in August you can slip 276 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: in and really brush in the ground line. This is 277 00:14:57,440 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: like at certain times when the yellow penalty flag goes 278 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: fly in an NFL game and the quarterback knows he 279 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 1: essentially has a free play to work with, so he 280 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,640 Speaker 1: takes a shot deep. As you're thinking about this and 281 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: how you can cut down on your felt presence in 282 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: September by doing stuff, now, think about your trail camera 283 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,240 Speaker 1: strategy too. Can you buy some lithium batteries to keep 284 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: your cameras running for months while you stay the hell 285 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:24,640 Speaker 1: out of the woods. Remember, your presence in the woods 286 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: is a negative no matter what, even if it's just 287 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: a seemingly innocuous little camera check. Three weeks before the 288 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 1: season opens, do you have an idea where you might 289 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: sit around the opener? But also, three weeks into the season, 290 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: how about a little rut funnel that you can leave alone. 291 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,440 Speaker 1: Now you might be thinking, sure, but there are other 292 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: people hunting my ground, and who knows what those idiots 293 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: will do? No one, probably not even those idiots. Really no. 294 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: But you can't control them, so you just have to 295 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: decide on how to set yourself up for success. And 296 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: a big part of that he's understanding how to lessen 297 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:03,440 Speaker 1: your impact and play the timing game. This all goes 298 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: back to what I talked about last week about learning 299 00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: the land and learning the habitat and how dear use 300 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,400 Speaker 1: specific parts of the terrain and when they should use it. 301 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: I mean, think about this in terms of the lead 302 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:20,000 Speaker 1: up to the season. You just have this amazing window there, 303 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:23,120 Speaker 1: but throughout the season, when you hunt and where you 304 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: hunt should also be filtered through how much of an 305 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: impact you've had on the deer recently and how much 306 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:33,080 Speaker 1: you'll impact them with each hunt. If you have set 307 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: ups for various winds and have worked on some access 308 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: in the off season, you're probably already ahead of the competition. 309 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,040 Speaker 1: This allows you to keep the deer from getting overly 310 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: sensitive to your presence and allows you to create a 311 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: situation where, even on smallish properties you know you're gonna 312 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: have some options, they'll tend to hunt a little bigger. 313 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:53,600 Speaker 1: If you really think it through now, all of this 314 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 1: might seem so far off and not really that urgent 315 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: right now, but now is when you should start war 316 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: working on that plan. This is like the corner stone 317 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,120 Speaker 1: of winter scouting. You get a freebee and you get 318 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: to do this work now that's going to pay off. 319 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: Every little bite of work you take now can add 320 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: up to a pretty damn satisfying meal come deer season, 321 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: and if you actively try to keep the deer from 322 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,119 Speaker 1: knowing you're after them to the best of your abilities, 323 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,119 Speaker 1: the dessert will be something sweet and delicious and hopefully 324 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:27,520 Speaker 1: worthy of a gripping grin. So think about the land, 325 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:29,919 Speaker 1: think about how the deer use it, Think about your 326 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:35,280 Speaker 1: individual spot, and then think about timing. Plan for the 327 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:39,360 Speaker 1: best options to rest spots, to mitigate your felt presence, 328 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 1: and to keep the deer moving during daylight hours in 329 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: areas where you can have close encounters. Start that right 330 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: now and keep it going all summer long, and you 331 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: have the recipe for one hell of a good season. 332 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:54,360 Speaker 1: And tune in next week when I plan to talk 333 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,200 Speaker 1: about how to get creative in finding new places to hunt, 334 00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,239 Speaker 1: because it's never a add thing to be trying to 335 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: suss out some places they are going to give you permission, 336 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: or maybe some new public land or whatever that's it 337 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: for this week, my friends, I'm Tony Peterson has been 338 00:18:11,760 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 1: the Wire to Hunt Foundations podcast, which is brought to 339 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:16,479 Speaker 1: you by First Light. As I always thank you so 340 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: much for listening and for supporting us here at meat Eater, 341 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:22,480 Speaker 1: we really appreciate it. If you want more white tail content, 342 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:24,959 Speaker 1: head on over to our wire to Hunt YouTube channel 343 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,679 Speaker 1: or to the meat eater dot com slash wired and 344 00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: you'll get everything you need to be the baddest ask 345 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: deer hunter you could possibly imagine. Maybe