Becoming Better hunters- a survey of prioritization

[Rich M]

It all depends on what you are hunting.

Climb mtns, need to be in shape.
WT deer in thick cover, need to scout a lot and understand how they do stuff.
Etc.

 

[Wellsdw]

I’ll have to say I laughed at most of these. As seemed seemed to skirt around the most obvious in my opinion, but probably the hardest to improve. “Woodsmanship”
Or bush craft some call it. Overall improvement things like getting the most out of your camouflage, (no not buying the newest qucci camo), stalking, interpreting changing weather, moving through terrain, so on and so. Boots on the ground weapon proficiency also very important. These things have made this difference between eating and starving for food 1000s of years. The others essentially have only rapidly evolved in the last few decades but are useless with out woodsmanship.

 

[Wrench]

I'll take a slower guy who's never set foot in my area and an average shot but has mental toughness and the attitude of planned success over a stud who checks all the boxes but wants to go home when it doesn't play out like a BRO vid.

I'm just some guy on the internet who's quit jobs to hunt and takes the whole month of September off annually.

 

[stan_wa]

I’ll have to say I laughed at most of these. As seemed seemed to skirt around the most obvious in my opinion, but probably the hardest to improve. “Woodsmanship”
Or bush craft some call it. Overall improvement things like getting the most out of your camouflage, (no not buying the newest qucci camo), stalking, interpreting changing weather, moving through terrain, so on and so. Boots on the ground weapon proficiency also very important. These things have made this difference between eating and starving for food 1000s of years. The others essentially have only rapidly evolved in the last few decades but are useless with out woodsmanship.

the question in the post was which of these off season activates are most important. are you saying that "developing general wordsmanship" should have been an option? In my mind in an attempt to develop a small list that covered all the main topics, i was thinking that boots on the ground scouting is like "practice hunting" and would be the method to develop wordsmanship. But i appreciate you comment so I'm going to update the original post such that developing woodsman ship would be under the boots on the ground category.

 

[Wellsdw]

Yes I can see ground scouting could be seen as woodsmanship, however I believe there is much more too it. I only say this because you can drop someone in the middle of a valley full of animals, the best bow, gear, and top fitness, and completely blow it. Same valley a guy in flannel shirt, beer belly, 20 year old bow walk out with a dead animal. I’ve absolutely been on both ends ironically I was the second example first, then the other guy. Geared out, long range shooter, that could draw the e-scouted map in my head and completely $hit the bed on my hunt because I forgot the basics of woodsmanship my dad taught me.

 

[lhbackcountry]

you are missing a few options.

1. Bait pile ( preferably within 20 yards of bathroom window)
2. Self guided missiles ( takes out the human error )
3. Hacking other folks ONX ( duh )

 

[stan_wa]

Yes I can see ground scouting could be seen as woodsmanship, however I believe there is much more too it. I only say this because you can drop someone in the middle of a valley full of animals, the best bow, gear, and top fitness, and completely blow it. Same valley a guy in flannel shirt, beer belly, 20 year old bow walk out with a dead animal. I’ve absolutely been on both ends ironically I was the second example first, then the other guy. Geared out, long range shooter, that could draw the e-scouted map in my head and completely $hit the bed on my hunt because I forgot the basics of woodsmanship my dad taught me.

i would like to be the best of both those guys haha, how to you think one might develop the woodsman ship in the off season, Is it practice, knowledge or something else

 

[Rich M]

The woodsmanship comment is splitting hairs. Not intending any slights w comment. Yes it is important and it is combined w everything else.

It could be called experience in the woods and making the right decision for the situation.

 

[Dos Perros]

I'm surprised physical fitness was prioritized so highly.

 

[stan_wa]

I'm surprised physical fitness was prioritized so highly.

me too, I think people tend to prioritize what there bad at, for me personal fitness has never held me back, I might help in that i don't get fatigued and keep better forcus because im not "so wore out" but this is coming from some one who trains a decent amount year around.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Fitness
Shooting
Desktop scouting

The reason I listed fitness as number 1 is because I can get in the gym an hour a day, the other stuff is as my time allows. I go to the gym 5 days a week.
Plus good fitness helps me in my not hunting parts of life and will keep my hunting longer as I get older.

I have enough gear to last me the rest of my life. Boots on ground scouting is important but because I 25-30hr drive from some of my hunts I can usually only spend a few days before the opener.

 

[KurtR]

Never said what kind of hunting but waterfowl is what im mainly after. So scouting, scouting and then dog training are my top 3.

 

[ORJoe]

I'm surprised physical fitness was prioritized so highly.

"Are there elk hiding in the trees down in that canyon?"
-"Doesn't matter because I'm not in good enough shape to climb out of that canyon alive even if we don't get anything"

 

[AKDoc]

I was with the majority on two of my choices...physical training/fitness and weapon proficiency.

However, I was with the minority and prioritized education over boots on the ground. My rationale is that boots on the ground can be done wisely or very foolishly. Thus, simply racking up scouting and boots on the ground hours can lead to development of bad and ineffective spotting/hunting habits...just like firearm practice can be done very poorly and bad habits developed in the process. It's not how much you practiced, it's making sure you're doing good practice, resulting in higher proficiency and skill.

 

[ianpadron]

Really great topic dude.

I voted fitness, weapon proficiency, and boots on the ground scouting. No one can convince me otherwise.

I spend about 50 days a year with a pack on hunting in the mountains of MT, ID, and WA. Closer to 80 if you count scouting.

Dudes who can rip 3 mph pace under load regardless of terrain for multiple days with no fall-off, shoot out to 600 yards without thinking twice, and know where to focus their efforts tend to kill a lot more critters than those who come up short in any of those arenas.

When I started backcountry hunting I had the fitness dialed and spent a lot of time checking out new country, but didn't practice shooting my rifle or extended time in one basin learning escape routes, preferred feeding areas etc. Once I added rounds down range from real life positions and had hunted a spot multiple times things clicked big time.

 

[stan_wa]

"Are there elk hiding in the trees down in that canyon?"
-"Doesn't matter because I'm not in good enough shape to climb out of that canyon alive even if we don't get anything"

never herd a buggle i didn't want to chase cause i was unwilling to pack out. granted I'm probably not the smartest cause i shot and elk that took me and my partner 3 days to pack out, and i developed some mild
plantar fasciitis as a result.
Often when hunting with the group they say imma keep going you can go chase that one and down the canyon i go.

Fitness
Shooting
Desktop scouting

The reason I listed fitness as number 1 is because I can get in the gym an hour a day, the other stuff is as my time allows. I go to the gym 5 days a week.
Plus good fitness helps me in my not hunting parts of life and will keep my hunting longer as I get older.

I have enough gear to last me the rest of my life. Boots on ground scouting is important but because I 25-30hr drive from some of my hunts I can usually only spend a few days before the opener.

i put fitness low but if i look in the mirror it get the most hours per year by at least 10X over any other category so i guess im lying to my self haha.

 

[MallardSX2]

Weapons.
Fitness.
Boots on ground.

 

[Dos Perros]

"Are there elk hiding in the trees down in that canyon?"
-"Doesn't matter because I'm not in good enough shape to climb out of that canyon alive even if we don't get anything"

I've done it both ways. I don't think being physically fit has increased my lethality, or at least not being fit hasn't degraded it. Know the country, know the animals, take advantage of the opportunity when you get one.

 

[SDHNTR]

I take lots of people hunting every year from kids and newbs to skilled woodsmen and tactical operators. I rank it like this:

1. Physical fitness. You have to be able to get there physically before anything else happens.

2. Woodsmanship/knowledge of animal behavior.

3. Ability to get on target and execute a quick and lethal shot.

4. True shooting prowess or supreme accuracy potential.

5. Gear. And sometimes gear can be counterproductive.


My brother is a very non-technical person. Anything that requires complex analysis or in-depth thought is a non-starter for him. He gets on by grit alone. He doesn’t know or care what a miliradian is. He’s in good shape, knows how to glass, knows his quarry’s habits, knows when to move and when not to, and just plain kills shit with his .270 and 3x9 duplex.

Honestly we spend so much time here geeking out on 10 shot sub moa groups, FFP vs SFP, Mils vs moa, high vs low mag, stock ergonomics, reticle preferences, and all kinds of nuanced details that in reality, in the field, matter little. Or rarely matter. The dude who can find the animal, get within range of the animal (whatever that may mean), and quickly kill it when a fleeting opportunity presents itself is the most lethal.

In fact, the dude who’s tacticool with all the latest and greatest gadgets and concepts is usually the one who fouls it up! I took a buddy who is a sheriffs SWAT team sniper out a while back. A shot presented itself at around 260 yards. Mr. tacticool could barely get his 26 inch barrel rifle unstrapped from his backpack, fold the bipod out, and plop down on a slope. Farted around with body position for far too long, finally found the thing in the scope at the last second, and then asked me for “corrections”. I’m like, WTF dork, corrections? What the hell are you talking about? Put the crosshairs on the damn thing and kill it! it walked away. My 10-year-old could’ve had it killed and half packed out already. Tactical guys often make terrible hunters.

 

[robby denning]

cool poll!

Your top 3 ratings in order : Scouting, Fitness, Macroplanning
Rough Number of lifetime Days in the Field: 1500
Main State You Hunt and Brief Explanation: Idaho, live here

once I voted and saw the results avg, I felt bad for not putting weapon proficiency Might need to swap that out with Macroplanning

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