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 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: host Tony Peterson. Hey everyone, welcome to the Wire to 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: Hunt Foundations podcast, which is brought to you by First Light. 5 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:21,800 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tony Peterson, and today's episode is all 6 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:37,159 Speaker 1: about taking buck inventory in the early summer. Before I 7 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: get started on this one, I'm going to just apologize 8 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: in advance. I have COVID right now and my brain 9 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: is a little mushy. Well maybe foggy is a better word. Anyway, 10 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: I'm going to struggle through this one a little bit, 11 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: and if I say something down, you gotta forgive me. 12 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: I'm sorry. With that out of the way, my friends, 13 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: While we are a little early here for really nailing 14 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:00,959 Speaker 1: down the inventory of bucks on your hunting rounds, it's 15 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: worth thinking about maybe making a little plan and taking inventory. 16 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: Seems pretty simple, and it can be, but it's also 17 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 1: something that kind of gets misrepresented. Is only valuable to 18 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: private landowners who are managing deer, or for folks who 19 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: only hunt after they've established a hit list and decided 20 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: what bucks are shooters of which ones aren't. There's a 21 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: lot more to this stage or there can be anyway, 22 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,080 Speaker 1: and this is a strategy that can be valuable to 23 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: anyone who dear hunts. So in this episode, that's what 24 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: I'm gonna make the case for. I'm gonna break this 25 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 1: inventory thing down way beyond what we usually see when 26 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:38,279 Speaker 1: it comes to getting pictures of bucks in the summer 27 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: not I don't want to brag, but I was taking 28 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:54,640 Speaker 1: dear inventory before it became the cool thing to do. 29 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:58,320 Speaker 1: I'm joking, of course, because even before it had a 30 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: label white till hunters were out. He's trying to figure 31 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: out who was living where they could hunt, and the 32 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:06,280 Speaker 1: bigger the deer, the more we focused on them. We just, 33 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: you know, at least for the first several decades of 34 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: modern deer hunting, never had tools like trail cameras, and 35 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: they really are the lynchpin to this whole thing, but 36 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: they are also limited in their ability to help us. 37 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: Does that sound super clear and concise, like it came 38 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: right from the mouth of a professional writer? Guy? Sorry, 39 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,359 Speaker 1: I know it's not. So let's start with the very 40 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: basics before we move on to the nuances of summer inventory. 41 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:35,079 Speaker 1: Buck inventory, you know, or summer inventory or whatever. It's 42 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: a simple act of trying to tally up who lives 43 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: where you can hunt them, and just to see how 44 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: many of them there are. For hunters and deer dense states, 45 00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 1: this might just include top end bucks as well as 46 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: some of the up and comers who are off limits. 47 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: For others living in lower deer density areas or just 48 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 1: hunting tougher ground, it might just be an attempt to 49 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: figure out how many deer of all shapes and sizes 50 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: are around. This helps informed decisions on whether to fill 51 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: antlerless tags or not, and whether to hold out for 52 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,640 Speaker 1: a certain sized buck or just let one fly. Whenever 53 00:03:08,639 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 1: you get antlers up close. Inventory is useful for the 54 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: hunter who has been on the same farm since Carter 55 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: lost the Oval office to Reagan, or for the hunter 56 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 1: who is just starting to mess around on a new 57 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,960 Speaker 1: piece of ground. It's valuable to the private land hunter, 58 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: and it's valuable to the public land hunter, although as 59 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,840 Speaker 1: you can probably guess, this is tied to a pile 60 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,239 Speaker 1: of local and situational variables. Now, with that out of 61 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: the way, I want to start with an easy spot. 62 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: The easiest spot probably to take inventory private land in 63 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,240 Speaker 1: a state with no restrictions on feeding or minerals. If 64 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 1: you're lucky enough to have a spot like that in 65 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: a state that hasn't put the damper on how you 66 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: can concentrate, dear, your task is pretty easy. Just go 67 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: buy yourself a salt block or a mineral block and 68 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 1: then head on into the woods, put it on the 69 00:03:56,640 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: ground about eight ft from a tree, and then put 70 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: your camera on a tree. Done and done, Easy peasy. 71 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: Now all you have to do is let that sucker 72 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: soak until I don't know August. Then you go in 73 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,360 Speaker 1: count up the monster velvet box you've got on camera, 74 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: you know, making sure to divide them into neat piles 75 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: of deer you'd kill and deer you wouldn't. And that's 76 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: about it. You've got your inventory. As you can imagine. 77 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 1: Doing that doesn't give you much insight on how to 78 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,160 Speaker 1: hunt those deer or anything else, but it does establish 79 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 1: a baseline for the season. That's better than nothing. But 80 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: what if you can't run mineral sites or salt blocks 81 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 1: or dump a pile of apples out every week, Well, 82 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: then you have to think about the deer a little more. 83 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: And I think that's a good thing. This issue with 84 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 1: chronic wasting disease in white tails is not going to 85 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: go away likely ever, so rules against concentrating deer with 86 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: attractants are probably here to stay as well. You can 87 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: think of that what you will, but it is the 88 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: law of the land in many, many places. And it's 89 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: also worth noting that some states outlaw all types of attractants, 90 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,520 Speaker 1: while others have specifics in place and what kind of 91 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: attractans can be used and when they can be used. 92 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: This means you might be able to have a salt 93 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: block out until the day before the bow opener, but 94 00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: then it has to be removed. In some states there 95 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 1: can't be any evidence even in the soil of that 96 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,280 Speaker 1: salt block or mineral station. This has gotten more than 97 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: a few people in trouble over the years, especially when 98 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: they shoot a monster buck and the jealousy thing comes 99 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: out and people call them in for a suspected violation 100 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:29,039 Speaker 1: of violation they might not even have known they committed. 101 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,960 Speaker 1: You also have some states where mineral blocks are just fine, 102 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: but anything that can be construed as bait isn't. To 103 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 1: put another way, if an attractant has some type of 104 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: food in it, you can't use it. There are a 105 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,680 Speaker 1: lot of attractives on the markets with names like I 106 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: don't know, a super big buck mineral magnet or giant 107 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 1: toad buck cocaine that promises your deer will be hooked 108 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: on it and party like it's in Miami. What you 109 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: need to be aware of with those products is that 110 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:00,320 Speaker 1: they often have some food component or ingredient in them, 111 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,119 Speaker 1: even if they really aren't advertised that way. A little 112 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: bit of corn mixed in, or some kind of ground 113 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: up apples or whatever food sources in there, and now 114 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: you're on the wrong side of the law when you 115 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: thought it was just maybe some kind of a mineral thing. 116 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: Pay attention to your local laws scratch. Pay attention to 117 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: your current local laws because this stuff is always changing. 118 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: And make sure you don't do something silly like buying 119 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: a product that is totally illegal and then putting it 120 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 1: out there and advertising it to the world when you 121 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:31,480 Speaker 1: start posting your summer images on the Graham. Now, before 122 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: I move on from this, I just want to say 123 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:36,839 Speaker 1: one more thing about it. Even if your local sporting 124 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,279 Speaker 1: goods store sells something that doesn't mean it's legal to 125 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: use in your state, I can go to my local 126 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: Cabella's right before the gun season opens in Minnesota, and 127 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: see palettes of corn, bags of corn. I can see 128 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:53,480 Speaker 1: automatic deer feeders, I can see all kinds of products 129 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,679 Speaker 1: that are totally illegal to use while hunting in my state. 130 00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: That's a cautionary tale on this stuff. And better yet, 131 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 1: I'll say that you don't need any of those products 132 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: to take inventory. In fact, I think it's more valuable 133 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: to gather your intel a more old fashioned way, So 134 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:14,240 Speaker 1: you might you might want to think about inventory differently. 135 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: Instead of contriving a situation to concentrate deer in a 136 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: three foot circle, you have to take stock in what 137 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 1: your ground offers and to decide where are the best 138 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: places to put your cameras to capture the images of 139 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: all the deer that live there. This does a couple 140 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 1: of things for you. First off, attracting the local deer 141 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: to one spot and taking pictures of them tells you 142 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: very little. It does tell you who is around, which 143 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 1: seems like the only goal. And it does tell you, 144 00:07:42,760 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: I guess what direction they approached the mineral site from. 145 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,239 Speaker 1: That's maybe a little bit valuable, but beyond that doesn't 146 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: really do you much. That's as basic of inventory as 147 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 1: you're gonna get and that might be enough for some folks. 148 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,520 Speaker 1: That might be okay. But if you can't or don't 149 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: want to use some kind of attractive then you're in 150 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: a different spot. You've got to think about how you 151 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: can strategically capture images of as many deer as possible 152 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: while building up your hit list in a more natural way. 153 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: Obvious spots for this include field edges and food plots, 154 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 1: but you can also dive a little deeper and post 155 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: a camera up over a pond or other water source, 156 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: or maybe focus on a fence crossing or some other 157 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,520 Speaker 1: high traffic area you find. I really like this style 158 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: of taking inventory for two reasons. The first is that 159 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: while it's not as easy as just using some kind 160 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:36,240 Speaker 1: of attractant to concentrate deer, it will still show you 161 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,360 Speaker 1: a complete roster of the deer on your property. The 162 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,199 Speaker 1: second is that it combines actual scouting with taking inventory. 163 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: That's important. While it's nice to know that there are 164 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,240 Speaker 1: three bucks using your ground that would all score between 165 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: say fifty inches, it's better to know that, plus know 166 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: that the biggest buck loves to water a certain stock tank, 167 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:00,839 Speaker 1: and that the two other decent you're always seem to 168 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: travel together, and they really like to use one certain 169 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: trail that leads out to the neighbor's bean field. In 170 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: this way, there's a very thin membrane that divides deer 171 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: inventory from good old summer scouting. But there's more. Let's 172 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,079 Speaker 1: say you're a public land hunter and would never ever 173 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: ever name a deer in your life. You just like 174 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:24,040 Speaker 1: to hunt, and you make your judgment call on who 175 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: gets shot by who walks down the trail and get 176 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 1: your heart pounding. Now, if that's you and you don't 177 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: listen to too much pop country, we could probably be 178 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: best friends or pretty good friends anyway. Now, all potential 179 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: friendships aside, there might be another reason to take inventory. 180 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: You know, first off, it's just fun to know who's around. 181 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: Even if you think the bucks you get on camera 182 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: will be pushed out long before you have a chance 183 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: to shoot them, it never hurts the old motivation any 184 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: to know there are some big bucks around in your neighborhood. 185 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: You might also want to just know what caliber a 186 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: buck is mostly of ailable or how many deer are 187 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: using the woods in total, or at least as much 188 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: of that as you can know. So let's say you 189 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: live in a not so great trophy state, and you 190 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:13,320 Speaker 1: just want to have a rough idea what your odds 191 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:16,160 Speaker 1: are of shooting a certain kind of buck, and your 192 00:10:16,200 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: summer inventory, whether on a salt liquor on natural movement, 193 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,439 Speaker 1: shows you that the entire crop of bucks all appear 194 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:25,839 Speaker 1: to be under three and a half years old. This 195 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,240 Speaker 1: is really not uncommon, and it is telling. It tells 196 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: you that holding out for a hundred and seventy inch 197 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:36,160 Speaker 1: is pretty stupid, and in fact that holding out for 198 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 1: maybe a d five inch or might be almost equally 199 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:42,960 Speaker 1: as stupid. It might show you that a ninety seven 200 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: inch two year old is a real, actual trophy in 201 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: your region. That's good knowledge to have. And besides the bucks, 202 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: a comprehensive look at all the deer or most of 203 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:56,680 Speaker 1: the deer in your woods will tell you you know 204 00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: if you should shoot five does all this season or 205 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,079 Speaker 1: just let every mamma walk talk. Now, a lot of 206 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,920 Speaker 1: hunters default to the state biologists or wildlife biologists or 207 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: whoever is deciding on tag allocations, but I don't. Of course, 208 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: you can't just overshoot the available tags, because that's poaching 209 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:16,839 Speaker 1: and not good. But there are situations where the recommendation 210 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 1: might be for everyone to get three antlerless tags, or 211 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:21,959 Speaker 1: some county being a lot at a certain amount of 212 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,239 Speaker 1: dough tags, which seems like way too much from your perspective. 213 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: Maybe you just feel like, after a month or two 214 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: of inventory that it would be best for the herd 215 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:33,720 Speaker 1: if you laid off the does, Or maybe you see 216 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: so many deer on camera that you green light yourself 217 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: to fill your freezer this fall and fill every antlerless 218 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:41,720 Speaker 1: tag they'll sell you. I realized this is a weird tangent, 219 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: but in some ways, we all own some level of 220 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: responsibility with the deer we hunt. Besides the obvious, we 221 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: know our woods and we know our critters that live 222 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: in them better most of the time than somebody who's 223 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: never been there could know. Somebody who might be using 224 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: population models to predict how many deer living there, and 225 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:07,320 Speaker 1: they've never set foot in the county that you hunt in. Now, 226 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:11,160 Speaker 1: even if you think it possibly really can't matter one 227 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,040 Speaker 1: way or the other whether you personally shoot one or 228 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,079 Speaker 1: ten deer this season, it's still up to us to 229 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: police ourselves. To some extent. We are as the stewards 230 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,360 Speaker 1: of this resource, and I think we should be in 231 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 1: tune to it. At the very least. Inventory helps us 232 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,959 Speaker 1: with that. Sorry, enough of that tangent, because I want 233 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,760 Speaker 1: to talk about something else with some inventory. The fact 234 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:36,559 Speaker 1: that it's often great a bullshit. Well, not exactly, that's 235 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: too harsh. But I've interviewed quite a few dear biologists 236 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: in my life who have done extensive research on summer 237 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 1: ranges and home ranges and everything related to where deer live, 238 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,320 Speaker 1: and all of them have said at one point or 239 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: another that some bucks are homebodies and some bucks just aren't. 240 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: Some deer and we really still don't know the reason 241 00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: for this have a bring in summer range and then 242 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,480 Speaker 1: a fall and winter range. Those ranges might be miles apart. 243 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:08,559 Speaker 1: And while not every deer lives this way, the ones 244 00:13:08,640 --> 00:13:11,960 Speaker 1: that do seem to be pretty reliable in their migrations. 245 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: This doesn't seem to be tied to available food or 246 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: summer cover or anything like we can definitively put our 247 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:22,319 Speaker 1: fingers on yet. But I refuse to believe it isn't 248 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,360 Speaker 1: some evolutionary path that took hold in certain deer and 249 00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: not others. That means it is, or more likely was 250 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,520 Speaker 1: beneficial to the deer somehow. Now it might be or 251 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: it might not be. We don't know, and it really 252 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 1: doesn't matter. That's all just kind of purely academic, and 253 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 1: it's kind of fun to think about. But the reality 254 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:42,680 Speaker 1: is we just need to acknowledge that that exists, and 255 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: those traits vary from buck to buck, summer homebodies, some aren't. 256 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: And what we do know is that you might run 257 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: a camera on a corn pile all summer long and 258 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,320 Speaker 1: have every buck named, and suddenly, right around the bow opener, 259 00:13:55,600 --> 00:14:00,080 Speaker 1: two of your hit listeners are just gone poof, And 260 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:01,840 Speaker 1: you think maybe they got hit by a car, or 261 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: maybe the neighbor poach them, or maybe aliens sucked them 262 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: up to the mother ship to try venison for their 263 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,640 Speaker 1: first time. It doesn't matter where they went, because they 264 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 1: are gonzo, and that is that now they're gone from you. 265 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: But somewhere down the road, some other hunter will be 266 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: the beneficiary of a few new bucks that just showed 267 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: up out of nowhere. He's probably sitting there thinking, what 268 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: the hell where did these bucks come from? Now that 269 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: sucks if you're the one who loses the bucks, but 270 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: it's pretty awesome if you're the one who gains a 271 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: couple of good bucks. And even if you're on the 272 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 1: losing end of this deal, the good news is that 273 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: you might pick up a few fresh recruits from somewhere else. 274 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: And if not, oh well, they are just dear. And 275 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: on that note, I want to talk about one last 276 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: thing with summer inventory. Don't get married to it, or 277 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,040 Speaker 1: more specifically, don't fall in love with the bucks that 278 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: you see and get images of all summer long. Some 279 00:14:54,040 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: of them will undoubtedly be around for you in the fall, 280 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:00,280 Speaker 1: and some of them will undoubtedly be gone, so deer 281 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: might live on your place. Others might pass through from 282 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: time to time. The buck that you have the most 283 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: pictures of, who you know is going to bet on 284 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: a certain knob and always enters the soybeans from a 285 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,120 Speaker 1: specific trail. The buck who is I don't know all 286 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: of or thirty inches bigger than anything you've ever shot before, 287 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: and he's oh so predictable in his patterns. That buck 288 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: might just disappear, or we might get shot by your 289 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: neighbor opening morning, who has the deer hunting skills of 290 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: a throw pillow and probably drank six bush lattes before 291 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: climbing into a widowmaker wooden tree stand he built with 292 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: his grandpa seventy three years ago. Hunting works like that. 293 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:37,680 Speaker 1: The point here is that even though you thought that 294 00:15:37,720 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: buck was yours, he wasn't. He never was. They aren't 295 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,840 Speaker 1: until we wrap our tags around their antlers, and that's 296 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:48,760 Speaker 1: how this stuff goes. So inventory is cool. Can be 297 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 1: really fun to take stock in the local white tails 298 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: and get involved in a little census taking. It can 299 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: prove to be a useful tool for overall decision making 300 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: throughout the season, and even help you become a better 301 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: hunter when you're doing it. It can do a lot 302 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: of things for you, regardless of the type of land 303 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:06,440 Speaker 1: you hunt or the type of hunter you are. But 304 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: I also can lead to some of the nastiness that 305 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:10,840 Speaker 1: just rears its ugly head up and deer hunting quite 306 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: often because it's never easier to expose yourself to trophy 307 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: bucks than through summer trail camera usage, and that trophy 308 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: over everything else. Mentality, hatred for other hunters or neighboring 309 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: landowners and all that stuff. Honestly can just lead to 310 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: a weird hatred of the deer. Well, I don't know. 311 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: Hatred is probably too strong of a word, but it 312 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: can lead to a lot of frustration, a lot of 313 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: frustration actually, which tends to show up when the bucks 314 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: we count on decide they're going to ghost us faster 315 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 1: than a crazy tinder hookup. That's life part of deer 316 00:16:40,960 --> 00:16:44,760 Speaker 1: hunting the bucks, you know, no matter how familiar we 317 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: get with them, they'll almost always give us the slip. 318 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: They'll almost always tease us with their presence and improve 319 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: to us that they are better at surviving than we 320 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: are at killing them. But that's also what keeps us 321 00:16:56,680 --> 00:16:59,400 Speaker 1: coming back, and if you can learn to live with it, 322 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,160 Speaker 1: keeps us developing a love for them. And this weird 323 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:04,439 Speaker 1: game we play where we try to run sharp sticks 324 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: through their ribs. It's a wild thing we do here. 325 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,800 Speaker 1: This obsession of ours and taking inventory can be this 326 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:13,840 Speaker 1: a creative, enjoyable aspect, as long as we don't let 327 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,720 Speaker 1: it add too much fuel to the crazy antler fire 328 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:23,159 Speaker 1: that that is so prone to burning out of control anyway, 329 00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: So take that for what it's worth and come back 330 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,639 Speaker 1: next week. The next episode is going to be a 331 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 1: morale booster, a self confidence booster, a plea to get 332 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:34,040 Speaker 1: you to understand how good of a deer hunter you 333 00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:36,439 Speaker 1: are and how good of a deer hunter you could become. 334 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 1: Because really, after a year of droning on and on 335 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: and on, which is a line I stole from a 336 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,000 Speaker 1: wonderful song called black Dogs and Bubbles, I'm going to 337 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:47,199 Speaker 1: tell you how freaking awesome you are at this and 338 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: why that matters. I'm gonna lay it all out because 339 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: that's what I want to talk about next week, and 340 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: I want to get into more of that stuff as 341 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: we enter into the year two of this foundation's podcast, 342 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: so I hope you stick around with me. That's it 343 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,200 Speaker 1: for this week, my white tail obsessed friends. I'm Tony 344 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:05,880 Speaker 1: Peterson and this has been the Wire to Hunt Foundations podcast, 345 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: which is brought to you by First Light. As I always, 346 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: thank you so much for listening, for your support, and 347 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,920 Speaker 1: if you want to get some more white tail content, 348 00:18:14,320 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: you can head on over to them eat eater dot com, 349 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 1: slash Wired to read all kinds of articles by Mark myself, 350 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: Beaumartonic Andy May a whole bunch of white tail killers. 351 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: Or you can visit our wire to Hunt YouTube channel 352 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:31,399 Speaker 1: to see the weekly how to videos that we drop 353 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: covering a whole wide range of how to white tail science, 354 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,199 Speaker 1: you name it, strategy whatever. Head on over there, check 355 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:40,520 Speaker 1: them up.