Does shooting deer make you a better hunter?

[fasteddie]

1 hour ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

but sitting all season and not shooting deer make you......well,,,,,,a bird watcher...lol. just kidding

More like a squirrel watcher .............

[dbHunterNY]

12 minutes ago, fasteddie said:

More like a squirrel watcher .............

i think it's staying on topic but i've been meaning to brush up on my recurve skills by still hunting for squirrels.  i think it'd provide a ton of opportunity once you let the woods settle problem is it's cold enough out to kill some interest.

[wolc123]

5 hours ago, dbHunterNY said:

i think it's staying on topic but i've been meaning to brush up on my recurve skills by still hunting for squirrels.  i think it'd provide a ton of opportunity once you let the woods settle problem is it's cold enough out to kill some interest.

I am going to get after the squirrels with my crossbow now that deer season has ended.  I have not had any trouble with it on deer (2 for 2, both very clean kills at 59 yards and 20 yards), but there is always room for improvement.   If I could hit a 1" kill zone consistently on squirrels, then hitting the 10" kill zone on a deer would be like taking candy from a baby.   

To the OP, I would recommend building your confidence with your bow that way.  If you miss a squirrel, no big deal.   If you try to build your confidence by being less selective with your shots on deer, it will most likely backfire on you, and you will end up hitting some outside the vitals and not recovering them.   It is a lot easier to hit a deer outside of the vitals than in, just as it is a lot easier to miss them clean than hit them at all.  A fair number of "experienced" bow-hunters have posted on here about wounded and lost deer and even "clean misses" this year.  Do you really want to join that crowd?   

After you kill a few squirrels with your bow, you will probably reach a point where you can pick out the hair you want to hit on a deer and kill them clean almost every time.  Squirrels are also tastey and abundant.          

[Doc]

20 hours ago, pt0217 said:

I have been very selective when bow hunting. Am I hurting myself by not shooting more deer?

First of all, I think it is important to separate "hunting skills" from "killing skills" if you are going to try to define what it takes to become a better hunter. One involves woods-lore, knowledge of prey, ability to reason and analyze, and a whole bunch of personal disciplines. The other involves marksmanship and weapons skills. We can develop proficiencies in one or the other or both, but the "better hunter" is not necessarily the one with the most pounds of venison, or the one with some large artificially established scoring system of antler measurements designed for competitive scoring among hunters. To me, I am a "better hunter" if I can consistently use an ever increasing base of knowledge to overcome all the natural instincts and senses of my prey. What I decide to do after that success gets more into "better results" as determined by myself.

Personally when I am trying to assess my hunting success, I try to keep it reduced to a competition between myself and the animal. I have no real interest in competition between me and other people. So when I talk about being a "better hunter", it all involves only the interaction between myself and the prey animal and how those abilities improve over the years. Scores and point counts and such are not a part of my determination of hunting ability and whether or not I am progressing or becoming a better hunter. Each actual hunting experience determines that whether a shot is taken or not. 

 

 

 

 

[Mike127]

I definitely think that shooting deer makes you a better hunter. Its experience in the execution of the final phase of the hunt. If you try to exclusively hunt trophy/mature deer its for sure not the hardest phase of the hunt, but it is a critical one. I definitely try to take at least 1 or 2 doe a year just to stay sharp.

[steve863]

16 hours ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

but sitting all season and not shooting deer make you......well,,,,,,a bird watcher...lol. just kidding

Absolutely agree, and I'm NOT kidding.  I hear guys saying that they COULD of shot deer if they wanted to but decided not to for one reason or another.  I can't understand that kind of philosophy.  In many cases these hunters are full of it and probably not telling you the whole story of how they couldn't get the job done.  Until you've put at least a dozen or two deer on the ground, you are far from an experienced hunter in my opinion.  No, it's not all about killing but until you've proven that you can put deer on the ground you are not going to get many hunters who have put deer on the ground buying your tales about passing up deer because they were too small, it was a rainy day, you forgot your drag rope, etc., etc.  Until it's hanging from the meat pole we ain't going to be believing your tall tales!!  Sorry.
 

 

Edited December 22, 2016 by steve863

[Five Seasons]

3 hours ago, Doc said:

First of all, I think it is important to separate "hunting skills" from "killing skills" if you are going to try to define what it takes to become a better hunter. One involves woods-lore, knowledge of prey, ability to reason and analyze, and a whole bunch of personal disciplines. The other involves marksmanship and weapons skills. We can develop proficiencies in one or the other or both, but the "better hunter" is not necessarily the one with the most pounds of venison, or the one with some large artificially established scoring system of antler measurements designed for competitive scoring among hunters. To me, I am a "better hunter" if I can consistently use an ever increasing base of knowledge to overcome all the natural instincts and senses of my prey. What I decide to do after that success gets more into "better results" as determined by myself.

Personally when I am trying to assess my hunting success, I try to keep it reduced to a competition between myself and the animal. I have no real interest in competition between me and other people. So when I talk about being a "better hunter", it all involves only the interaction between myself and the prey animal and how those abilities improve over the years. Scores and point counts and such are not a part of my determination of hunting ability and whether or not I am progressing or becoming a better hunter. Each actual hunting experience determines that whether a shot is taken or not. 

 

 

 

 

I didn't realize what it really took to hunt deer till I moved 16 hours south to a foreign woods with a different type of deer. I no longer had the stands that were hung by dad and uncles in the perfect spot on nice private land. I no longer understood the patterns and the food sources.

I was able to take everything I had learned about hunting and started from scratch on highly pressured public land. The doe I took first that year is still probably my most prized take. I took a nice 9 later in the season that I turned into a euro, but that doe meant more. I meant I could do this whole "deer hunting" thing from scratch by myself using the knowledge I had gained over the years.

We all know guys that consistently shoot nice deer and there is no knocking of their ability to close the loop when the opportunity arises, but if you really want to test yourself, go hunt some public land.

[nyantler]

Success has a lot to do with where you hunt and how you hunt... the term "good hunter" is very subjective and has a different meaning to different people. For example the guy who sits in a stand all day and kills deer would have a tough time doing that in the middle of the Adirondacks... just as the Adirondack tracker might have a hard time being successful from a treestand and neither is necessarily a "good hunter"... they may just be luckier than the next guy. A good hunter in my view is someone that hunts for the right reasons, cares about conservation, knows and follows the hunting regulations and safety procedures, and most of all is enjoys all his hunting experiences... Although there are many skilled hunters that are successful, some fall short of being what I consider a good hunter.

[Uncle Nicky]

I don't know about a better hunter, but probably a more experienced hunter. I have always said "Bow hunting is heart-breaking", because so many things can and Do go wrong. It's good to get a taste of the good, the bad, and the ugly as soon as possible, mostly the ugly, so that you know what to do and how to react when things go wrong (bad shot, lost blood trail, shooting from a tree as opposed to shooting at a range, etc., etc.)

[pt0217]

I am really enjoying and thankful for everyone's opinion. So many different perspectives. All good. Many I am using and have learned in my time. I love DB's idea of drawing on every deer I could shoot even if I decide not to shoot. I think that will totally help me focus.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

11 minutes ago, pt0217 said:

I am really enjoying and thankful for everyone's opinion. So many different perspectives. All good. Many I am using and have learned in my time. I love DB's idea of drawing on every deer I could shoot even if I decide not to shoot. I think that will totally help me focus.

how many deer have you actually shot? and recovered?

[pt0217]

how many deer have you actually shot? and recovered?

Sounds like a loaded question.
9
5 bucks
4 does

[moog5050]

9 minutes ago, pt0217 said:

Sounds like a loaded question.
9
5 bucks
4 does

This is old hat to you.  Prepare and be confident that when the time comes, you will seal the deal.  Good luck come next season!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

2 hours ago, pt0217 said:

Sounds like a loaded question.
9
5 bucks
4 does

Not at all. I agree with Moog. Do t sweat it. You've shot enough. If you said 1 or 2 I would have said to start shooting some. Do what makes you happy and don't get caught in "keeping up with the Jonses "

Edited December 22, 2016 by Culvercreek hunt club

[pt0217]

Not at all. I agree with Moog. Do t sweat it. You've shot enough. If you said 1 or 2 I would have said to start shooting some. Do what makes you happy and don't get caught in "keeping up with the Jonses "

Appreciate it! Its funny it's my nature to analyze the $hit out of things. Hunting is no different.

[NYBowhunter]

25 minutes ago, pt0217 said:

Appreciate it! Its funny it's my nature to analyze the $hit out of things. Hunting is no different.

Keep it simple and understand deer behavior. I cant tell you how many times when i speak with hunters about  deer behavior that they correlate deer behavior similar  to that of a humans thought process and emotions, completely wrong.

[Elmo]

A hunter who is limited to a property that only contains 2 deer and he/she successfully takes one them versus a hunter who has a property that holds 50 deer and he/she manages two or three deer.  Which one is the better hunter?  This is not a competition because for it to be a true competition, the playing fields has to be even and in hunting, it is never even.  You're measured only against yourself.  Not against anyone else.

I've sat in a blind facing a feeder in Texas and watched half a dozen deer feed there for like 1/2 an hour.  At any point, if I wanted to pay the trophy fee, I could have shot any one of them but I also wouldn't have felt as if I was a better hunter if I did pull the trigger.

[phade]

The term better hunter has two meanings and it deals with context. One is in comparison to others and the other is dealing with you alone.

Determining a better hunter based on comparison is worthless because it ultimately is determined by what is on the wall. It always ends up there.

That is worthless for many reasons but property time and money are the great mitigators. They make hunters appear better than they are when they're in ideal scenarios, me included.

Referencing you - I commend you for thinking about it that way. Do what you believe will make you a better hunter if that is what engages you and drives you.

As much as I would like to say I am automatic when it comes to killing, karma has a way of letting me know otherwise.


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[Buckmaster7600]

I let a lot of bucks go but I have also never eaten tag soup. If I haven't gotten a nice one by the last week I will kill what ever gives me an opportunity. I love hunting but I still enjoy shooting deer.


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[stubby68]

Maybe this has already been said. I wouldn't  say shooting deer makes you a better hunter maybe just gives you experience. Experience seeing and watching deer is on on level but shooting them jumplay it up a level. Get a few under your belt and you will see what I'm trying to say.

[coonhunter]

All I can say is practice enough to know you are going to hit what you aim at. Myself, and others on here literally shoot thousands of arrows a year from slam dunk shots, out to ranges in the 50-70 yard area. Now that doesn't mean I am going to shoot deer out that far, but it sure does make a 30-40 yard shot easy. I have missed one deer in the last 20+ years, and I have shot a bunch of them. I weaned myself on practice in the yard, shooting leagues and with friends, and stacking up the does and young bucks. Like the thread starter, I had a few piss poor shots along the way, but always ended up finishing the deal. 

Now, sometimes I will go 2-3 years without shooting a buck because I hold out for the three and up big boys. It doesn't bother me one bit. I just shoot a doe with my archery tag near the end of the season, or in the late season. I get my enjoyment from helping others learn to archery hunt and finding their initial successes and failures. 

After all this rambling, I guess all I can say is do what you enjoy. Don't compare yourself to other hunters unless you really feel you are lacking in some areas and it bothers you. Don't be afraid to ask for some help from others that hunt, and never be afraid to learn. I am almost 50 and I am never all that surprised when another hunter points out something that i was overlooking or just plain ignoring.