The countdown to opening day has started. Soon it will be time for us deer hunters to once again hit the woods in search of a giant buck or meat for the freezer. For me September is a month to observe as my stands have been in place since last spring and my plots have all been planted. About the only thing I can do now is discreetly check my cameras and make sure my gear is ready to go.
I feel strongly that a lot of hunters severely hinder their chances for success before opening day ever arrives. They spend the weeks and days leading up to hunting season in the woods scouting, hanging stands and generally putting the deer they hope to kill on high alert that their home has been invaded. By opening day they have shifted patterns to compensate for the disturbances within their home range.
Experience is ones most valuable tool but it is also a tool that is often not used. If one keeps repeating the same mistakes in any endeavor, their experience is wasted. I have made a lot of mistakes in the pursuit of trophy bucks. In fact I still make mistakes but I try not to continue to make the same ones over and over. A wise man once told me, “knowledge without mileage is worthless”. Basically one can have plenty of knowledge about a subject but without experience (mileage), that knowledge is very limited on how much it can help you.
This season if you continue to do the same things you have always done, hunt the same places in the same ways, you are probably going to get the same thing you have gotten in the past. Are you ready to experience a new level of success? If so, you need to learn from your past failures and not repeat them. Do something different and the result may very well be different also.
I want to close this months blog post with a request. Below is a video link to a speech I recently made. Please listen to the entire speech and as you sit in your stands this fall waiting for that giant buck to walk by, spend some time thinking about the question that I pose at the end of this video. I think you will find it thought-provoking.
Best of luck this season and be safe!
