Latest / Wired To Hunt Podcast / Ep. 325: Late Season Strategies and Big Woods Bucks with Brett Joy

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Ep. 325: Late Season Strategies and Big Woods Bucks with Brett Joy · Wired To Hunt Podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your home for
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: deer hunting news, stories and strategies, and now your host,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Mark Kenyon. Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast. I'm
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: your host, Mark Kenyan. This is episode number three and
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: today we're chatting late season deer hunting with Brett Joy
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: and we're talking big Woods bucks and how to kill
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: a buck in December. All right, welcome to the Wired
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Hunt podcast, brought to you by on X. Today. As
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I just mentioned, we are focused on late season deer hunting.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I've got a great guest for you today. This is
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: Brett Joy. He's been on the show a couple of
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: times on ret Fresh Radio and several years of Go
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: came on to talk to us about his unique approach
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: to hunting bucks in the Northeast. He hunts in New
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Hampshire and some other areas in the region, but has
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: also traveled across the Midwest and West chasing white tails
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: all over the place. So he's got a very diverse
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: um set of experiences to pull from and he gets
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: the job done. He's killed a lot of really nice
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: mature bucks, but he just recently killed an absolute unbelievable
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: buck in December in the mountains of New Hampshire, deep
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: deep snow, brutal conditions, and he got it done. I
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: wanted to see what we could learn from this experience,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: what we could learn from that story that might help
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: all of us with our own hunts here in the
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: late season. So we're gonna break down that story in detail,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: and then along the way, I'm going to kind of
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: pick at him to try to learn some bigger, higher
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: picture lessons. We're gonna talk through ideas that can help
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: you on public land. We're gonna talk through ideas that
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: can help you find deer in bigwood situations. But we'll
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: also look at different concepts and ideas that will apply
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: to you know, agg Land, how you might be able
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: to have success in the late season. You know, in
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: the Midwest or the South. There's somewhere else too. So
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: we cover a lot on the tactical side. And then also,
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: and I found this particularly interesting, we spent some time
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: talking about the mental side of hunting in the late season. Right,
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: you've been hunting for months, possibly at this point, maybe
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: haven't failed a tag yet. Things are getting a little
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: bit glum. You're struggling. One am I ever going to
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: kill anything? This year. Am I gonna have an empty
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: freezer this year? That can wear you down, that can
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: leave you filling a little bit rough. So we talked
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: about how to deal with that, how to push on
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: through those long cold hunts and uh and make it
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: through the end of the season. So that is what
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: we discussed today. It's a lot of fun. I enjoyed
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Brett's conversation and his story and his experience, and I
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: think you will too. Al Right back with me now
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: for his second appearance on the regular wire Hunt podcast
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: and now multiple times on radio, We've got Brett Joy.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining me again. Brett, Well, thanks for
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: having me Arc. I'm I'm glad you had me back. Well,
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: you keep on putting big deer on the ground and
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: it keeps on catching my attentions. So you're doing something right. Uh.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: I got to tell you congratulations on this recent deer.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it. So it actually been a little bit
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: since since I'm connected with a big one up and
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: after some you know, shout pretty good deer in the past,
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and I'm kind of getting really picky and trying to
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: hunt the oldest deer I can find. And when you
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: do that and you're one after one to know, particularly animals,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: sometimes doesn't happen for every year, and it's all you
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: can get a lot of tags, and that's kind of
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: deal with this one. It's been I think since two
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: sixteen song since I shot a buck, so three years coming. Well.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: I can certainly relate to that whole transition to getting
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: really picky and how that can lead you not feeling tags,
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: because the last few years I've had I've had some
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: situations like that, like this year, I've been after one
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: deer in Michigan and because of it, I've passed on
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: more really nice Michigan Bucks than I ever have. And
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: I keep on bouncing back and forth with am I crazy?
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  Speaker 1: Am I stupid? Or is this is this worth it? Um? Yeah,
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: you know, I think a lot of that comes from
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: just the hunting. I guess community. UM, I'm kind of
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: the same way. And if you're okay with eating a tag,
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  Speaker 1: which I think probably both of us are at this point,
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  Speaker 1: you know, there's nothing wrong with it, and there's nothing
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  Speaker 1: wrong with not wanting you at tag as well as
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: people are different places and get different things out of it,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: and for some guys, they just start off to particular animal.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: They don't they don't care if they eat at tag
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  Speaker 1: and you know, they're just doing what they're doing. And
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  Speaker 1: that's the the I think, the unique, some beautiful thing
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  Speaker 1: about what we know is everybody takes something different out
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: of it and it's in it for a different reason.
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  Speaker 1: And we should all, you know, encourage each other when
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: we decided to shoot the first year we see or
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: you know, we go three years waiting on you know,
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: eight year old bucks. So yeah, very true. You gotta
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  Speaker 1: hunt your own hunt. That's what I've been telling myself,
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  Speaker 1: and not worrying about what other people think or what
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: other people's expectations are or anything like that. If it
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: makes you happy and it's legal, do it. Absolutely. I
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: couldn't agree more. I'm hoping that I'm gonna get some
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: of this. I don't know what you'd call it, like
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: a little bit of your good luck rubbing off on
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: me because you've been after one deer for a while
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  Speaker 1: and you got him finally. I've been after one deer
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: for a while and I haven't got him yet. So
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  Speaker 1: if there's anything you can pass along, or if you
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: can send the lucky pixie dust or something through the air,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: waves to help me do the same thing. I would
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  Speaker 1: appreciate that very much. Well, it's funny you said that
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  Speaker 1: because the week ago looking from the luck you had
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: last year, because I haven't had much go right now
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: three season until Saturday. So, um, you know, I just
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  Speaker 1: that's so it is. You know, I can you can
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: have for a hot streak and go into care and
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: it seems like you can't not shoot a big deer,
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: and then it seems like you can't do anything right
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  Speaker 1: even though you're doing all the things you usually do
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  Speaker 1: and and you know, being disciplined and persistent, and just
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  Speaker 1: sometimes it happens and some time it doesn't. H I
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: think if it happened and it was predictable every time,
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: then it would be as it's a fun or at
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: least it's challenging, and it wouldn't have the same a
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: word at least. So yeah, you wouldn't appreciate as much. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: absolutely not. So so okay, we should just get into
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: this story of this year's long journey. Um, But I
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: want to I want to ask you to bear with
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: me because I want to. I want to hear your story.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: But I also think we can use this story as
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: it's almost a template to talk about how to kill
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: a good buck in December too, because you just killed
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  Speaker 1: an incredible deer in New Hampshire in a relatively unique
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: situation compared to a lot of people. Um, and you
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: did it in December. So I want to hear the story.
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: I want to hear from the very beginning, from years ago,
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: how this progressed, and then throughout though I'll probably poke
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: and prode you to then take a step back and
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: talk about, Okay, how would you approach this kind of
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: late season hunt if you were in Ohio, or how
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: would you approach if you were somewhere else? Or what
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: what other things do we think about during December? How
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: would we scout in December? And we'll kind of we'll
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  Speaker 1: bounce back and forth between your specific story and high
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: level advice so that someone can listen to this and
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: and get some great lay season helped to. Um. Are
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: you game for that idea and that plan? Sure? It
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: sounds like a plan? Cool? All right? Well, then take
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: me back in time into New Hampshire. Where was this
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  Speaker 1: four years ago? Maybe when the story started? How how
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: does the story start? So so as I've gotten I
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: guess deeper into I guess you could come a hunting
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: through um and hunting more. I've I've begun to appreciate
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  Speaker 1: the challenge um of hunting in the Northeast and particularly
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: in Hampshire. When I was younger, I was kind of
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: bummed out about it and I used to get really
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: frustrated and don't get around kilts a nice box. But
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: man need stuff to work so hard for him, and
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: so I will to the bid last a lot and
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: that's you know, a good success, and U fell in
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: love with that. But then I just really, as I
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: got older, started to appreciate these older animals. They were
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: just so so challenging to kill. So I've kind of,
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  Speaker 1: I guess you could say, reshifted my focus back to
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: you know, my homestate in Hampshire and in some of
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: these older deer that are just such a challenge, and
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  Speaker 1: I really now enjoy that, I think more than anything. Um.
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  Speaker 1: People are thinking I'm crazy because a lot of the
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: you know, guys that are after big deer and this
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: area will travel out of state to hunt. Um. Not
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: not that they don't hunt locally, they do, but you know,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: they take their replication days and at to Illinois or
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Ohio or Ahio or wherever, and I was kind of
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: took the opposite approaches the last few years, and and
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: with that, I've also tried to find some new areas
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  Speaker 1: to hunt and kind of stretch my legs a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: We have pretty much endless opportunity for for hunting around
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  Speaker 1: here as far as you know acreage in areas. Most
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: of the land is open to public hunting for the
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: most part. So UM kind of all started with me
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  Speaker 1: wanting to get away from other hunters a little more
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: than I have been. And I do live in a
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: pretty rural area with moderate hunting pressure. But I really
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: like the feeling of being alone in the woods and
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: knowing there's no one within a mile of me, Like
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: I really enjoyed that, UM, and being able to pursue
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: a pick your animal with, you know, uninterrupted or or
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: getting messed up by anybody else. And I don't like
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: sitting in a stand listening to a leaf blower or
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: kids or dogs barking, or highways. So so that's been
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: kind of my focus. A few years back, I just
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: said I'm gonna kind of look for some some bigger
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: areas of woods public land, and uh, you know, some
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: mountain of stuff. I love the mountains, and we do
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: have a fair amount of mountains, not like you know
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: Colorado or Rocky mountains, but we give have some some
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: pretty good bumps out here in the So Yeah, I
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: started to do that, started to scout some new areas
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: and and I found a few areas that looked really good.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: And um started running some cameras and uh, I found
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: one particular. I was getting pictures of some good some
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: good deer and this deer was one of them. Um,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: can hit pause? I don't know, I want to hit
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: pause a little bit. And we talked about this years
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: ago when you were on the podcast for the first time,
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: but just for people that haven't heard, can you just
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: elaborate a little bit more on how you try to
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: pick a spot like this and then and you know,
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: how you're thinking about running those cameras to help you
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: identify where a hot spot might be, because when you're
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: talking big swath of public land and this is big
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: wood's habitat mostly right, Um, it's kind of intimidating for
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: a lot of people to try to break that down
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: and pick an area to focus on. So how what
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: did your process look like? Yeah, it's extremely intimidating. Actually, um,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: you're just going to dive into it. But I think
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: I've kind of refined that process over the years. And
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: where I'm not now is I look for First, I
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: try to get away from any population center. And this
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: is not everything that I tell you is nothing that
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: hasn't been said before by other guys. But UM, I
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: really try to get away from cities or bigger towns
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: because there's gonna be more hunters than those areas, and
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: you know, the the land adjacent to those particular population
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: centers are gonna get more precious. So I look for
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: a reason of human density. UM. Once I find that,
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: then I'm looking for big tracks September um that are
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: relatively unaccessible, UM unless you're willing to, you know, take
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: a boat or a canoe in a mile or walk
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: over mountains or you know, it's just something of that nature.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: So I really like to be I say, minimal a
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: mile from a road. UM. I prefer to be like
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: two soup plus miles and um one and I like
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: to get home. So I mean a lot of this.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: I could say base level or most towns around here
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: between I'd say, like, you know, five hundred and a
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: thousand feet. I like to be up you know, undred
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: two thousand feet in elevation. And once you get in
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: that deep um away from a population center, and then
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: you get up high, you start to lose a lot
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: of the hunting pressure and the company, which is what
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: I like. UM. Once I have narrowed those particularly was gone,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: and you may narrow that down, but you're still looking
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: at five thousand acres UM. I'm looking for really free
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: things and looking for any sort of early succession growth.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: Is the high stemp count um. Those areas have been
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: selectively cut or logged um or clear cut even uh.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: Then I'm looking for swamps. Swamps always seem to have
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: maturity running around him UM. And then the last thing
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: looking for is like topography like pinch points um. And
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: so during the summer, I'm gonna look for really that
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: really succession growth, so cuts, clear cuts, selective cuts, whatever
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: is gonna you know, have hot quality forms for these bucks.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: Over the summer, I'll run cameras there and hopefully getting
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: a pretty good idea if there's anything in the area.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: And then you know, I start to transition those cameras
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: to scrapes and you know, swamp, edges and stuff like that.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: And then really, um, where I think you can really
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: figure out what's fun on the area is during the
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: rut um And then I'm gonna run cameras on pinch
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: points and that's a lot of time based on topography
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: or at that may be created by a clear pot,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: mature timber, mature swamp, or vice versa, any areas that
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: are gonna you know, concentrate gear activity anymore. I really
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: like to almost run the cameras a whole year in
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: advance of when I've planned to hunt a d or
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: or an area, and I think you learned so much
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: and you really leave the information you you know about
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: the year before in your next year's pursuit of a
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: particular animal. So that's kind of how I've been doing it. Okay,
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: So that's your game plane when you're heading into an
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: area like this. This is two thousand fifteen when this story,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: yeah yeah, fifteen is when I started scouting this particular
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: area heavy um ran a couple of cameras, but nothing crazy.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: I actually traveled a lot out of state that year,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: so I can spend a ton of time in the well, yeah,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: in the woods in New Hampshire. I don't think that particularly.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: I had like think like four four states, so I
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: didn't spent a time of time, but I had the
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: idea that I was going to streat this areas in
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: thousand and sixteen. So yeah, the first year, I got
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: a picture of this deer, and there's a couple of
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: others within two thousand and sixteen, Okay, so take me
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: from there. So yeah, I got basically there was a
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: few good deer in this particular area. Um. Of course,
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: when I I want to stress for people that aren't
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: familiar with the type of stuff I'm hunting, I'm not
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: talking like a hundred acre farm. I'm talking a mountain
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: range that incomes is maybe uh you know, ten to
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: twenty tho acres and several miles. So I may have
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: a picture of a deer here and then him three
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: miles away, but that's kind of the same area. So
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: it's it's kind of blows your mind to see how
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: much these deer moves. So anyway, in this bigger area,
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: I was getting pictures with a few good bucks. Um
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: and this year is one of them where there's two
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: bucks that were looked a lot older, and we're frankly
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: bigger um that year. So I kinda I didn't front
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: that deer. I don't know that it would have shrunt
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: up if I got the opportunity, and may have. UM,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: I wasn't sure. I thought maybe he was a four
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: year UM. But I didn't really target him, but I
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: ran cameras and did learn a fair amount about him.
• 15:05
  Speaker 1: That particularly ended up really hunting another buck and ended
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: up killing him. Um. And so that year it was
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: just kind of a learning year. Um. He was on
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: my radar, but not right at the top, but just
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: was aware of his presence and knew that maybe if
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: he got older would be a lot a lot better,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: dear and just warmature and the one maybe one that
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: I wanted to really target. Keep it going. Then from there,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: so you kill this other buck? Um? How did the progress?
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: So I killed this dear? Um? No, it was a
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: great buck. Um. I mean that buck was a five
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: year old buck. And uh, he was in a little
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: different area than where this near was hanging out. But
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: their range is definitely overlapped to some degree. UM. So
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: you know, that year goes great. I started to learn
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: more about this area and realize that there's a couple
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: other good bucks I'm interested in in there and um
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: the next year, UM, this deer was really I'd say
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: it was pretty difficult two pinned down. I had maybe
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: some pictures of in August randomly, and then a few
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: in October. UM, but this deer just seemed like he
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: was all over the place. He had a big range,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: and he need like to travel, so I never could
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: get an idea of exactly what he was doing. I
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: definitely would have shot him if heeling the opportunity. In
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen, UM, I think he was I'd say
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: five or made me six that year um uh so,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: but I just I was after another year that was
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: definitely older. Um. And that year so was I after
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: move more over there and cameras are looking Yeah. But
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: I just felt like I had a better shot this older,
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: older deer um, and he was more consistent. So I
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: hud him mostly um until finally in late November UM
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: hunting partner rosster Burgs and I mostly it was just
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: like you actually, uh, we ran a camera in this
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: big trail that came off his mountain headed down into
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: this bottom to it like about a thousand acres of
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: swampy area more or less kind of bottom land, and um,
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: we noticed a trail several times which was kind of
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: an area we wouldn't expect a big buck to move
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: in daylight. And uh, but we it was actually Ross's
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: idea to throw our camera up on that trail, and
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: we threw it up and would check up here out
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: likely through the season. But we're going to hunt one
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: day and we're gonna go up the mountain and we
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: checked it and we had the big deer. I was
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: after Old Years Africa and this buck in daylight crossing
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: basically an old blogging road. Um, kind of going back
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: and forth, back you know, up top to the high
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: ground and back down to the bottom. And that was
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: kind of a really key piece of information that I realized, Okay,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: this these deer in this particular and particular this buck
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: is vulnerable in you know, on this particular area during November.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: So um, that kind of really and I hadn't had
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: a daylight tookture of this gear ever until I don't think, no,
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: not ever until that particular time period, and it was
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: you know, he was moving in midday and stuff. So
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: it's like, okay, this is good. You know, I have
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: a shot at this buck, So I don't have the
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: rest of November that year in two thousand seventeen as
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: long as after the other one I was after. Um,
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: I didn't see or kill either of them. I think
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: I was learned that information a little bit late to
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: capitalize on it. So I really tried to plan to
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: use that information last year in two deer and so
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: and so start to interrupt, But you it sounds like,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: based off what I'm hearing and something that I've personally
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: seen a lot, that these deer will often have similar
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: tendencies year after year, and that they'll use a certain
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: area in a generally similar way this year as they
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: will next year. They're doing something for a reason, and
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: then you can capitalize on that if you've got that
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: intel from previous years. Right, Absolutely, that's really what I tried.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: I mean, you know, if if you're trying to I mean,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: I don't get me wrong. I do run cameras and
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: try to react to what I get on cameras. But
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: when you're untying areas that are relatively inaccessible, you can't
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: just run in quick and check a couple of cameras.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: You know, it might take how the day or all
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: day to do so, so a lot of the times
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: you can't really rap quick enough um in the big
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: woods to camera and tel to actually capitalize on that movement.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: So you have to kind of bank it and then
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: plan for it the next year. So exactly exactly what
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: you're saying. And you know, it's not it's not like
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be there that day, you know,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: the next year, but you can at least you have
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: a good game plan and you have you know, it
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: may be the fact that here may be the case
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: that he's doing that again. So this was a case
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: for that year. So um yeah, continued continued with that
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: and then uh really last year, um because I was
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: starting to really notice him and and he was kind
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: of like real at the top of my list, I
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: started to maybe shift them a little more cameras into
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: the areas where I got pictures of him. I started
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: getting a little more frequently, got him in velvet a
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: lot more. Um. I got him, uh September October, so
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: I had a pretty much strength layer. I figured out
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: basically core area of this buck at this point. Um,
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: So I was feeling like I had a pretty good
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: shot in November, but him and Also that other older
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: deer was still there again last year. So they were
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: like my top two bucks, and I don't know which
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: one really was the top one, but they were both there.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: And I was fortunate up to really you know, big
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: mature deer to hunt in the mountains. So a ton
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: of those deer last year, and um, I just I
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: sat in that particular area where I knew it didn't
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: moved in November, and uh, I think I put like
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: fifty five hours in one tree waiting on the deer
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: and we've got a bunch of early snow in November
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: and it prevented me from getting into that area. Um,
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: it was a situation where I had to walk you know,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: um a couple of miles and twelve feet of snow
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: and you know, fifteen degree weather and then sit for
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: eleven hours. It just wasn't. Um. Yeah, it's just it's
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: not practical. Um, when you're staked the sweat and it's
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: you know your way back in there, it's it's almost
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: a safety issue. I don't I mean, it's I don't
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: want to sound dramatic, but you know you can get
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: in a situation where you tired, you drenched in your
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: hours out from getting out of the woods, so it
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: just wasn't it was in a great situation. And actually
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: that the older near actually walked by my stand on
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: that trail the day the day that I couldn't get
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: in to hunt him because of the snow, So that
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: was that was a bummer. And I actually think that
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: you're died last winter, so because he wasn't around this year, um,
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: so that was kind of unfortunate. And then um, a
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: little bit later in the right I did get pictures
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: of this year that that I ended up killing uh
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: in that area as well. But like I said, it
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: was just a situation and really couldn't get into hunt
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: this area after. I'd say I think it was probably
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: November like twentieth or nine twentieth something like that was
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: the day. So um, I've found that in this and
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: a lot of the big woods still later in New
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: England particular, later November is really good and it seems
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: that's when the biggest deer are moving in daylight, um,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: the most frequently covering the most ground, and you're seeing
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: them still in very late November. They're still kind of
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: doing ruddy kind of things. You're still seeing them. Absolutely, yeah, absolutely,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: I actually think that, I well, I do have some
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: data back it up, but my belief is that are
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: peep reading isn't until around November nineteen, so it's gonna
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: push kind of shift everything back a week compared to
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: maybe the Midwest or so about a week, maybe less
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: a week, but it's later. And I think that because
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: of just the way that um the population dynamic is
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: here in the habitat and how vast and big it is,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: that UM, these dear continue to look because it's not
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: like they can check every you know, dough group in
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: a in a in the coreer home range and maybe
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: a morning or a day. They make multiple day loops
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: and take them a week to check you know, the
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: whole mountain range or the whole swamp bottom or whatever.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: It's very big. So I think that they continue to
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: check these dough groups in a December UM, so it
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: kind of draws the run out a lot longer, I think.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: And it's just a theory, but I mean, there's not
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: It's tough to say for sure, because we don't really
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: have any radio call our stuff on these bucks and
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: there just aren't many of them at Deer densities aren't high,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: so it's you know, it's just my opinion and my theory,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: I guess we could say. But yeah, I definitely see
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: uh running activity well into November, okay, and and so
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: November twenty hits and you're snowed out and that basically
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: ended your hunt for those deer then at that point, yeah, yeah,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: that's pretty much what happened. I did get in, um
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: and did some tracking because you know, you can track
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: and you're still moving and trying to sit still. Um.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: And I did learn a little bit more about the area.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: That's one of the things that I like to do.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: I'm not a a huge tracker, although we'll get to
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: a little that's a big part of the story. UM.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: But UM, I do think it's extremely valuable tool to
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: learn about deer, especially if you can identify it that
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: you know, you're following the buck that you want to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: punt or one of the bucks you want to hunt.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: You can learn in a day what might take to
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: two years to learn to trial. Cameras are observation, so
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: it's whenever you have the tracking snow um. I think
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: for the most part, you take the opportunity to follow it. Um. Yeah.
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: And not only that, it's a great opportunity actually kill
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: that deer if you can get you know, the circumstances
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: roots for you. So so I guess I'll wait until
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: we get to the next uh the next year to
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: to learn how you use that then yep. So so
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: this year, um, both as far as I knew, both
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: those the year I thought made it through the winner again,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: um the buck guy. The original buck I was after,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: I think would have been nine or ten this year.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: In this buck, I think it's seven or eight. So
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: they were like growing at the top. Um. The older
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: one didn't show up at all. Um, and so after
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: pretty much in September, I figured he died. Over the winter.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: We had a situation last year, right, no man's crop. Um.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: We had like I said, early early snow, deep snow
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: and extremely cold temperatures. So I really think a lot
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: of the bucks went into last winter in really rough shape.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: And I think it took a toll on a bunch
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: when I think bunch died um, and I actually think
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: it affected there a health even into this year. But um,
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: so anyway, I believe that buck died, So really now
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: just end up killing is kind of at the top
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: of my list, and He's kind of the only one
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: in the area that I'm really interesting in killing. There's
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: a hartly good deer, but nothing like nothing of this magnitude.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: And you know, it's seven eight year old bucks um
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: in a really special deer for for the Hampshire. So
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: we didn't really get many pictures of him early at all,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: which kind of worried me. UM. But then he started
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: showing up. I think we ended up checking a camera
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: that we had left like for a long time, so
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: we actually had him in velvet, but we didn't know
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: about it until even he October. We ended up checking
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: this camera, so he was around UM. But then he
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: seemed to to be around more than years prior UM
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: and he was right in like the ear. I was
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: hoped he would be you know that that's set up
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: good for a November hunt and waiting for him to
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: you know, cruise that particular trail again. UM. And I
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: really just didn't even bother hunting him until November, just
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: because I knew in years past he was so sporadic
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: all over the place and you know, no daylight. Really,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: I don't think I got a daylight picture that buck
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Hard one, and so I think maybe I got Oh man,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna say I got like three or four ever
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: of that buck. Um yeah, in four years. So when
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: you're all uh mid mid November at early December. So
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: and that was the time for him it was gonna happen.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: And I didn't think it was worth it even going
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: in there and trying to haut that deer in kiln.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: So it basically took November through or so off, um
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: tunt that deer. And my plan was just to sit
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: on that that trail or that that funnel opened, whatever
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: you wanna call it. Basically, the topography push these deer
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: off this mountain, this mountainous area into this bottom this
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: particular spot. Can you better describe just what that topography
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: feature was that just kind of that scene a little
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: bit more so it's it's because it's not I wanna
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: it's it's it's actually a little bit difficult to describe because, um,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: it's not what you'd really think, Like I haven't if
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: I were to look at a map, I wouldn't look
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: at that that area and think, oh, that's a major
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: pinch pointer funnel. I wouldn't it just kind of, um,
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: I think the quickest way between point a point be.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Really it's basically like a point on I guess a
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: mountain where the and the deer I know that. So
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: basically I think it really is driven groups, and in
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: particular dog groups that you know, live high up in
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: the mountains and that's their range, and there's particularly dough
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: groups down on the bottom. It doesn't seem like it's
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: a whole lot in between for the most part um,
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: So I think that basically it's the quickest point between
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: A and B. So I don't even know that i'd
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: call it a topography thing. Maybe that trail is there
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: because it's kind of dumps off the mountain right there.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: It's kind of a point um that leads I guess
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: directly to where they want to go. So this wasn't
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: in it. This is why I told you, like, I
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: didn't really pay much attention to the spot until we
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: ended up throwing a camera up there and getting these pictures.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: Then I kind of opened my eyes and it started
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: to make a little bit of sense. But I couldn't
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: look at a topo map or an aero photo and
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: say that's gonna be a good spot. It wasn't like that.
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: It was something that you know, we had to learn
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: through you know, two or three years of experience and
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: running cameras to identify this particular area. And it's like
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: I said, when you're sitting there, you're like, this is
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: kind of it doesn't feel like offer it's going to happen.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: It was, it was, but we had you know, trail
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: camera dad at the backup that it was so um
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: So this year I took that time off. I got
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: to that that spot on you know, in the dark
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: on November sixte. I pulled the card out of the
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: camera that I had there, and he had been there
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: a few times in that crossing already in earlier November
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: in uh, you know, after dark. But that was good,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: that's what he'd done in the past. And then like
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: you know, I get him in daylight mid till late November.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: So that was what I was banking on. So I
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: kind of the stand, got ready and popped the card
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: and my reader and he had been there, walked right
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: by that stand at twenty yards uh the day before
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: at noon. So yeah, the opportunities that there are few
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: and far between. You might get an opportunity like that
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: every year or two. So I'll hear. I am at
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: the beginning of my vacation, thinking I missed the opportunity already.
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: That's it's you know, that was it. That's what I
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: was banking on. And he did it a day early,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: and I miscalculated the dates because it was a little
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: later in the month or even at the early December.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: So I was, you know, really bumped kind of like,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: you know, I don't know. I guess I'm gonna hope
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: he does it again. So I hunted him for I
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: had to actually had a um, I got in the family,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: so I couldn't hunt one of the days. But I
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: hunted I think seventy seven hours dark to dark, so
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: seven eleven hour days, and that one of two stands
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: up hanging on the wim, but basically hunting the same
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: trail in the same spot, and uh did not see him.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: Um I passed I think three other bucks, one nice,
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: you know, four year old that just really wasn't what
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: I was looking for. And I made a three year
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: old I think a year and a half, so seventy seven.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: That's a pretty good indication for people that are trying
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: to get a feel for how it is to hunt
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: in the big Woods. Is he is sitting the stand
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: for seventy seven straight hours during the best days of
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: the year, and he made see three bucks. Would would
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: you say that is your kind of go to method
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: for hunting a big wood situation like this, Like you
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: find the right spot, and when you find that right spot,
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: it's just a matter of hunting it over and over
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: and over and over again because you're just waiting for
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: that one or two deer to come through, and they
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: might only come through once in a week or every
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: two weeks. So you're not worried about over pressuring. No,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: and and so I guess there is some consideration to
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: take about over pressure. But the the thing you have to
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: realize is in this particular area, it's not like I
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: have dose or a little bucks hanging around around me
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: all day. If I'm going to see a deer, it's
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: going to be a cruising buck for the most part.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: So if I bomb a year and a half or
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: he gets me and he's cruising, well I don't really
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: care because he's not gonna The buck I'm hunting could
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: be three miles away. So if he blows and takes off,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: so what I mean, Yeah, maybe age kidd him for
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: a future years, but it really is not affecting the
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: fact that that buck is going to come by. He
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: knows that he needs to go for a to B
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: and when he's in this area, that's what he's gonna use.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: So I mean I to be running the chainsaw or
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: shooting a fireworks in that stand location. Um, But that deer,
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: like I said, he's on a different mountain, So how
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: does he know that? You know that area has been pressured. Obviously,
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: I try to leave as little soon as I can
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: hunt the wind and all that stuff. But I'm not
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: really worried about that. I think that was something I
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: had to get over because I, you know, used to
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: hunting some a little bit smaller stuff and in the Midwest,
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: and I'm really worried about managing pressure. But you know,
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: in the big woods, you like I said, you may
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: see three deer, and neither none of those deer got
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: me that I saw. Um, So really you can kind
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: of hunt the same area over and over again. I mean,
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: I would definitely pay attent and at tensions to access.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: How are you getting in? You want to minimize the pressure,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: But it's not something it's like, oh if I'm burning
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: the spot out, It's just doesn't really happen like that,
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: just because you have such a low deer density and
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: that deer do have recovering miles and miles and miles,
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: so it's a little bit different situation. That's interesting. Yeah,
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: that is the main tactic. I think it's really if
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: you're not hunting them on the ground, which is kind
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: of what you know, a really good way to hunt
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: them in the big woods or tracking. I think that's
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the way to do it is is putting your time
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: in that area. If you're bouncing around, there's a pretty
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: good chance you're gonna miss him. Um. And when he
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: comes by, because like I said, it might happen once
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: a year that was gonna walk by there in daylight.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: So wow, Okay, so you put in your year seventy
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: seven hours on stand, you saw three good bucks, but
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: not the one you're after. All right. So then the
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: last day, I just I wasn't feeling it. Um. We
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: had sat until about noon, um, and I kind of
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: noticed that a lot of the activity was usually morning
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: to like one o'clock, and then the afternoons were kind
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: of slow. Um. And I just it was the last
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: day and I was like, I hadn't checked any cameras
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: and any scouting up in this tree for more or
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: less h d eight days and I'm like, I gotta
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: do something, I gotta figure something out. I just don't
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: want to sit here anymore. It's the last day, and
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: I kind of was like, well, if it didn't happen
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: by now, it's probably not gonna happen in the next
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: four hours. So I decided to get own and just
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: do a little scouting, check two cameras, UM and hopefully
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: that there was give me some information to hunt him
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: even later in the right or early December UM. So
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: I actually checked the camera that was about a hundred
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: yards when I was sitting, and he had walked by
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: that camera again on the sixteenth to two pm, and
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know how I didn't see him. He was
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: like within a hundred yards of me. It looked like
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: his direction to travel, like camera would have loved him
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: by me, or at least I didn't see him. So
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: here I am like, I'm definitely it's over. Like I
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: had two opportunities, Danda, and I'm figured out it was
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: gonna be right here during this team frame and it
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: just didn't happen. So I thought it was pretty much done. Um,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: I was pretty kind of bummed and like, man so
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: close again. Um. So after that, I know that typically
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: it's pretty tough, um because all the bucks are still
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: like you know, doing rut based activities or not. I
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: do call it in zombie mode. Zombie for me, there
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: are just like marching around all hours of the day,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: you know, through open areas, like with no regard to
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: much of anything. Um. But that kind of seems to
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: ender right around Thanksgiving, you know, of November. So it's
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: actually a little tougher. It's it's definitely doable, and there's
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: still some daylight activity, but it's more focused. I think
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: around first Sea in the morning and in last light,
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: and you know, around food sources, betting in is that
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: type of thing not on these big funnels. So um,
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: I knew my chances went down significantly. UM So they figured,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: you know, well this I had to go back to work.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: Um the next weekend. You know, we were actually filming
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: this this whole season for a project. UM actually didn't
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: have anybody to film, so I couldn't hunt really the
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: Thanksgiving time frame, which I was kind of bumped about
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: to end up checking a couple of cameras um, and
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: I found that he had seemed to have moved into
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: this lower land area that um we actually got him
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: over the summer, and and it made a lot of
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: sense because there was some good grows down there. Um,
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: it was not as harsh of conditions as like, you know,
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: a thousand and fift feet above that area, so let's know,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: a little bit warmer. Um, there's kind of like a
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: river that coast through there as well, so a little
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: more favor of the late season area, I guess you
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: could say. And so I kind of was a really
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: interesting piece of information. I was like, well, maybe he's
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: in here. That would make a lot of sense. Um.
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: And so I kind of just said, well, I'm gonna plan.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna assume he is in here, and I'm gonna
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: make a plan a hunter in here. So um. And
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: that was in day like two, which was really encouraging.
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: So it's not just one of these things where he
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: was out moving, you know at night or whatever chasing does.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: And and uh just happened to get a picture of him.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: He was actually just kind of taking his time. So
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: that was really encouraging. Um. Then the next day we've
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: got about two feet of snow. And this is like
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: November twenty nine. There's something like that twenty third somewhere
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: in that back yep yep um. And I think we
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: got the snow. And I don't know what it was.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: It must have been I guess it was a week
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: or so ago. Um, And so I didn't know what
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: that would do. I didn't know if, uh, it would
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: kind of lock him into a particular area because he
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: didn't want to go far. Um. He's already been running
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: for you know, at least six four to five weeks.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: So I figured maybe he's in survival mode. He wants
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: to get with some doves and a favorable area for
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: you know, winter conditions and hang out there. I didn't
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: know what to extuct, but I hope that he was
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: in that area um and would stick pretty tight so
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: that we you know, last week I was thinking about,
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: you know, just running through everything in my head was
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: just star gonna be you know, how can I kill him?
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: Which you know this is I was so close and
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: like kind of disappointed, but like still like okay, I
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: gotta stay at stay after him and kind of us
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: any anything that I can to track him down. And
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: so um, snow came. It was cold, it was you know,
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: pretty pretty harsh conditions, and so I kind of made
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: a plan that well, hey, you know, I have this
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: fresh snow, and I could only have you know, weekends
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: now because of back to work. Um. And I said,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna do whatever I can to kill
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: this buck. So I made a plan to basically sleep
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: in on Saturday morning, which is I think the seventh. Uh,
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: I say, sleep and just not get up to you know,
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: three o'clock to get way back in there. I got
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: a I got a snow machine or snow able to
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: get into this there, um get me a lot closer
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: because it was but one of the been another situation
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: where I have to walk to the three miles to
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: get there. So that was huge getting that. Buddy let
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: me borrow that, so I was able to get that
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: figured out, get in there, um into least in the
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: in the vicinity of this year. Um. And then the
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: plan was to go and check these cameras. I guess
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: I forgot to mention I had put out a few
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: more cameras that day where and I got his picture,
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: trying to you know, get an idea of okay, well,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: at least here, so let's you know, put the camera
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: to make the camera don steal a litt high in
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: the seria to try to pick him up again. So, um,
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: the plan was is to go in there like kind
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: of after first light. Ah a value you wait the
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: sign we saw going in, Uh do your tracks see
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: if the deer are actually they were hanging out of
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: this area. Um, check some cameras, um, and kind of
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: make a plan. We were gonna probably sit there us
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: of the day if the deer. But but we had
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: gotten two inches of fresh snow on top of that.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't know how much it was. It
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: was somewhere between fifteen inches and two feet of what
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: we got. It very based on the elevation whatnot. But um,
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: when we got that two inches, I was like, well,
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: now tracking is in play because um, we have fresh
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: snow and and this is gun season now too, right, Yeah,
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: this is the second to last day of our rifle season,
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: so rifle season, and it's Sunday the eight, So it
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: was kind of like, you know what, I'm not saying,
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: it's impossible to kill a buck with a bow in
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: the big woods, but it gets definitely, you know, way
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: more challenging without aout rifle. Um So, anyway, I I
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: we snuck into this area. I was seeing really good
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: a lot of track acts and a lot of sign
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: going in there. Um so I was encouraging. And basically
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: we got to one of the first cameras and I
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: see a you know, fresh track in front of it
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: and check the camera and I'm going to the pictures
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: and there's like bobcats and coyotes and like nothing on
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: this camera at all the whole week. But I know
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: this deer walked in front of so I'm waiting to
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: get to this picture. And he had walked by that
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: camera at five thirty that morning, so I have I
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: I have confirmation that it's him, he's in there, and
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: I have his fresh track. So it was a pretty
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: easy decision that I was gonna be tracking that day
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: and not sitting in a stand. Like I said, I
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: don't do it often, only when it was situational location.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: That's a no brainer. Um So I made you know,
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh, we're going after him. That's you know,
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: it's late in the season, we have snow. It's a
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: it's a golden opportunity. And if it doesn't happen today,
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: um am, I not happening. And he was only on
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: that camera that morning, he was on any other cameras
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: that I had in that area. So interesting, and that
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean that he wasn't there, because it's hard to
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: in the big woods to to get him every time
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: he comes through. But it wasn't something where like, oh man,
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: this is a smoking spot, he's he's hanging out and
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: we gotta sit here. Um. So it was it was
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: kind of like a no brain attract this buck. So
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: I took up the track and uh, I mean, we
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: can get into the details of that if you'd like,
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: or yes, I want, I want the details on how
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: you go about tracking a deer like that in the snow,
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: because it's one of those things that I've always been
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: treated by. I have never tried to do. I've never
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: had a big enough area um and picked up a
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: big track in the same time to be able to
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: pull it off. So walk me through your mindset, walking
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: through what you were looking for. You know, when you
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: were going fast, when you're slowing down, what was the
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: what was the plan? So I'll start by saying this,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: I am not a very experienced tracker. I'd say that,
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: you know, I have probably more experience than maybe you,
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: because you haven't time tracked here in the past. I wrong.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: I grew up in you know, this area, so we
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: have snow early and you know, lots of lots of
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: grounded chase on. But it's not something that I I
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: count on because you don't always have tracking snow. So
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: it's not like I'm banging on snow and if we
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: don't get it, then I'm you know, out of luck.
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: So but I've used it, you know, when I'm appropriate,
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: and this is one of those times. And you know,
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: if you want to talk about like the tactics and
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: the intricate sees of tracking, you know, you talked to
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: the Anoyans are held Blood and one of those guys.
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: Obviously those are the experts on it. But I've you know,
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: I know enough to be dangerous that I guess you
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: could say, um, so I guess my my, Well, the
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: funny thing is, is right next to that camera, about
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: fifteen yards away, he'd actually bet it down right after
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: your walk by that camera. And yeah, and so I
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: found it fresh bed and I actually thought we bumped
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: him out of it when we got there because he
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: was running, and I'm like, man, I'm like, how can
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: we have known? I mean, I just kind of like
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: I was kind of bunned because I'm like, man, we
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: could have stake up on but like, how do you
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: lading right next to your camera? How do you know?
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: You know? You just don't know. So I was kind
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: of like, man, dude, we did I just miss and
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: no the role to kill this buck. Like, I'm like,
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: what we have his track, It's like, you know, eight
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: thirty in the morning by this at this point we
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: have all day. Let's just give it our best shot.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: And usually ideal and snow the sthing like you know,
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: four to six inches of fresh stuff where you can
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: really make out defined tracks. Um, it's not I guess,
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: uh pindering your ability to cover ground because we had
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: so much snow that it actually was it was a
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: challenge to even get around into the form. We're at
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: the point where it was like considering snowshoes, So it
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: was it was a challenge. And when you get that
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: much snow, you really can't see for the most part
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: the track you're following. You can't identify it. It's really
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: tough to make it out. It just looks like, you know,
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: I don't know, like you were just a ski pole
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: and two feet of powder and pull it out. There's
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: nothing behind. You're like, what am I looking at here?
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: So they started to look at you know, the with
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: the stride lengths um the behavior of the deer, that
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: type of thing. Um, So I knew this buck was running.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: And but then I started to see other deer tracks,
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: and I thought to himself, man, and he chase off
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: a small buck? Is he chasing does stuff? I wasn't sure.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: We followed him probably a mile, not really knowing if
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: he was way ahead of us, if he was you know,
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: we were right behind him, if he was chasing those,
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: if I bumped him, trying to figure it out. It's
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: just tough and that you know that deep snow to
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: really know what's going on. And finally, after I mean
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know, must have been an hour and a half,
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: an hour and about a mile track. Um, we just
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: I just decided this duck bucks chasing does and there's
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: no way that we bumped him and continued to bump him.
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: He's chasing dose, which was kind of crazy to me
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: because it's probably ten degrees. It's December seventh. He's been
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: running for six weeks and there's two ft of snow, Like,
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: it doesn't seem like a a smart move. I guess
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: to running that hard to me and in those conditions
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: for over tier buck, Like when this guy's get around
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: themself at death, he keeps this stuff, I'm thinking. So anyway,
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: we it was and we have a hell of a
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: time to tell me that he was still in this group.
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: I think you're stationed about three does or you know, uh,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: mature dough into funds. Tough to tell. Um. We followed
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: him for a while and in the DOS final really
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: had slowed down and went up on this kind of
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: the spine on a ridge, and I figured, okay, then
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: they might be here. We need to really slow down.
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: Um for the most part, we're going at a moderate pace,
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: I'd say, just because I wasn't sure, if you know,
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: it's like, do we need to stop and let this
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: dear calm down because you jumped him and go back
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: about his normal activities, or do we need to make
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: up distance because this bucks running dogs and these two
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: moles one stuff. We're trying to make that determination. And
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: so they slowed down, so we slowed down, but they
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: didn't slow down for like a very long period time.
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: It's a short distance, but anyway, unfortunately one was really
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: bad for our approach on this ridge, and um, we
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: definitely wind bumped them. We got to the top of
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: the ridge, we saw what they had stopped and browsed. Um,
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: and then there was running tracks going off like the
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: back of the ridge and off this like drop off
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: and down again into another different like bottom area. And
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: so we took some time and kind of like used
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: that you know more I guess relaxed track now the
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: sprinting track, to see what's going on. And we figured, okay,
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: there's probably like two or three doughs. And then like
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: we saw where he had kind of stopped with him
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: but just maybe forty fifty yards away and was browsing
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: and he saw it. We saw time marks in the snow.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: So I'm like, okay, we're still on him. It's not
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: a different buck because he was the only buck I
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: was gonna shoot it. So it would be real bummer
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: if we tracked the buck all over the country for
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: the whole day and block up and it's you know,
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: some two year olds like oh man, especially since we
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: didn't make up the track, and he didn't really have
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: a giant hoof print either that would you know you
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: looked at and said, man, that's a giant deer. It
• 46:46
  Speaker 1: was like, I think that's a pretty good track, but
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: you know, tough to say. So we followed him and
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: he ran with the dudes for media a mile and
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: then he finally split off from them, and then that
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: kind of was encouraging, and I think we may have
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: pushed him a couple more times in that period. It's
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: tough to say, but we basically got to a spot
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: where like, okay, he is definitely separated from the doze
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: and now he's starting to head back up into the
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: high ground, up you know, into the mountains a little more,
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: and I just figured, okay, this is a good time
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: to stop. Um, let him cool down. You know. I
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: think that he lost us and kind of go up
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: high and start to do his thing. And I think
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: that one of these bucks like to bet up high
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: there every day and come down and look for dose. Well,
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: of course look for dose up high as well, but
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: they'll come down with for doz in the bottom I think,
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: uh at night, and they'll be in the bottom at
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: night and then kind of make their way back up
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: to bed, you know, at some point in the morning.
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: So he's more sense and I was like, okay, this
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: is excrazing. So we gave him about I don't know,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: thirty or forty minutes, and it was extremely difficult to
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: sit there and wait because I knew we had his
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: track and it was right there, and I knew, you know,
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: we couldn't wait that long because this is about noon,
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: maybe twelve thirty, and we don't have that much more
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: light left. Um, I know midday when you talking about
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: you have the whole rest of the afternoon, but we
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: still might have to track this buck four miles so
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: so it's really not that much time. And it was
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: We're starting to get cold because we're drenched and sweat
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: from running this tier through you know, two ft of snow.
• 48:09
  Speaker 1: So anyway, he started to climb, he slowed down. It
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: was really encoveragy. He got into some older or I
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: guess not as fresh dough tracks, probably made the night
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: before during that two inches of snow, and so um,
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: he wasn't running them. He was just kind of following them,
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: I saying, trying to figure out what they were going,
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: and actually we lost this track because I figured that
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: we needed to slow down and just keep our eyes above.
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: And we're just kind of keeping our eyes on the
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: twoear tracks and we're following, you know, three or four sets, scanning, scanning, scanning.
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: We finally got to a point where we're looking at
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: the trucks, were you know, following or like this track's
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: not here, this is these aren't super fresh, and so
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: that was like, oh man, what happened? Did we lose
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: more time? Like? Do we lose them? So I ended
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: up backtracking probably three yards and found he had split
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: off and he actually headed up again, even higher, and
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: so we hug it up after him. You got to
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: an area that was like mature soft woods, iconifers, spruce
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: and hemlock, and it looked like a likelier for him
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: to bed, but his track didn't indicate that he was
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: about to bed. So a lot of times before these
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: bucks will bed, they'll mill around. They're not you know,
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: going from A to B on a straight line. They're
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: slow down, they're browsing um, and they're taking their time.
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: But this buck just seemed to be going. So I
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: kind of was like, I don't know if he's about
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: the day or he isn't. I wasn't sure, but we
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: snuck up anyway, and we got to really this little
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: plateau on the side of the mountain, and shure enough,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: there's just a super fresh bed um with a bunch
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: of signs around it and his track in it. And
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh man, we must have bumped him. Like
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: you know, I'm disappointed again, like how didn't we see him?
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I really didn't have any idea how the
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: day it was gonna end. Um, And I look up
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: out of the bed and there's another you know, it's
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: start to claim again and I see running racks, and like, yeah,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: we bumped him up, Like it's you know, it's two
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: o'clock now to fifteen, we have like two hours of
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: light left. Gets you know dart pretty early and on
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: the east coast, so I know that's might be it,
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: but we'll continue after him. Well, we only went about
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: twenty more yards and I realized you must have just
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: bounded up that I'm banking to get up up at
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: quicker that will steep section because he started working again
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: and we could see his working backs for another thirty
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: or four guys. I was like, no, we didn't bump him,
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: like he he's got to be right here. He just
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: probably decided to position beds based on the wind or
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: maybe browns around a little bit, whatever it was, and
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: he was heading up to like kind of a rich point,
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: I guess on the mountains, basically rich boat. So at
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: that point I was really feeling like he's right here,
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: Like I just I think we have a really good shot.
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: So we really took our time. We climbed maybe another
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: hundred yards extremely slowly. We got to the top. His
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: tracks kind of went out to this point kind of
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: to my right, so it's scanning that direction, and then
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, basic to our left, he kind
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: of made loop. He was just standing there, um about
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: seven yards out uh, kind of the hemlocks, and we
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: had not very long to shoot. So I basically pulled
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: up bombs shot and I kind of recal and my
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: rifle kind of got me off and I couldn't see
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: and I just kind of disappeared, and I saw like
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: the flash of down there the ten yards the right
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: when we were standing, and I kind of tried to
• 51:23
  Speaker 1: clear the trees to see you maybe another shot, but
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: I couldn't see much of anything, and then I saw
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: kind of like anybody that's watched a deer tip over
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: has seen it. It's kind of like a slow like
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: you know, almost like a windmill action and like falling time.
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: And of course it's through hemlocks. And I don't know
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: if I'm of course doubting everything that I do think
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: in worst case, but I'm like, I think he just
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: went down. So anyway, UM, pretty exciting, And still didn't
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: know exactly. I mean, sure it's him, right, but we
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: I didn't have time to like identify that actually was
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: that buck. You see a little bit of antler in
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: a big body, any like it's going to be him.
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: So you know, I wasn't sure if you went down either.
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: So you know, we're sneaking up and there's a lot
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: of big boulders in this area. Glacial depositive boulders are
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: like you know, car to house size, so it's really
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: neat up in that area. UM. I kind of came
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: around one of them and I looked at about forty
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: yards and I just see, you know, his right side
• 52:18
  Speaker 1: sticking up out of the snow. Um, and there was
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: no doubts him. So I was pretty emotional moment for me.
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: Actually it was just a lot of you know, years
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: of all that coming together. Um. And really it's the
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: first mature buck that I've ever killed tracking. It's the
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: first mature buck I've killing the Hampshire in December, especially
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: the first mature buck kill the rifle as well. So
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: it's kind of a really cool moment and maybe my
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: oldest buck depending on how old he ends up being,
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: and I think maybe my biggest buck as well as
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: as far as anilers go. So really a wild day
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: and and awesome I think you know experience. Um, and
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: it just was really need a lot and lots of depth,
• 53:00
  Speaker 1: I guess to the to the story. So if you
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: had to drill down to why this worked out, if
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: you had to point to our I think it is
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: because of A and B that really led to me
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: killing this deer. Um what would those things be? I've
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: got like two two thoughts in my mind of what
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: I think might have been the high level keys of success.
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: But in your mind, what do you think? So I
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: think obviously, I think, you know, obviously tracked this deering
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: killing tracking. Without tracking, snow I would have killed him
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: on that day, I don't think. But I think that
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: the reason I was able to find his track and
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: identify it with him. This is because of historical data
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: and running cameras and getting to know kind of what
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: he does over the years. So it was a huge
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: team because, like I said, I was after that buck
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: in that buck only, So if I had seen his
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: track without that picture, maybe I would have followed it.
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: I don't think I would have followed it, for I
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: think it ended up being four miles and five and off. Um.
• 54:01
  Speaker 1: I think we probably would have given up, especially since
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: it was a challenging track because you know how many
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: times he was running with those and the deep snow. Um.
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: I'm almost certain I would have given up to the the honesty,
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: because I just I wouldn't know I was having my
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: cofference level wouldn't have been that I kind of would
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: have been going to take a waste that time here
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: recognizing we're absolutely exhausted from climbing mountains and two and
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: tending green weather. So think that's a huge cage just
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: being familiar with his patterns different times of the year,
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: running cameras and getting that track, and then the next
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: thing is obviously just get getting a golden opportunity and
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: like capitalizing on it like recognizing that this is this
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: is a gift here having his track being able to
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: able to identify him and um having fresh tracking snow.
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: So really that's kind of the two things. I think
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: that the biggest the opportunity recognizing it, getting that right
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: condition and then you know, the knowledge and I guess
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: back work and that you know, allowed me to get
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: that picture to Yeah. Well, and I think that's so
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: your your scenario is pretty unique compared to maybe what
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: a lot of other guys or girls are dealing with,
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: and that you're up in the mountains, you were in
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: the big woods, big public land, or whatever it was
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: that you know, it might be unique compared to what
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: I'm dealing with here in southern Michigan. But the basic
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: concepts of what you did, we're kind of right in
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: line with what you know I might recommend someone do
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: here on you know, in Michigan, which would be in
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: the late season in December. You want to gather intel
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: or use intel from previous years to know the general
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: region you should be looking, and then be hyper focused
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: on what you can learn until the conditions are Intel
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: tell you now is the right time to strike. And
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: so for you, it was you were gathering intel over years,
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: you folk hyper focused on the smaller area. You went
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: in there with that fresh snow because that seemed to
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: be a good opportunity, and then when you saw the
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: track of the picture, you said, oh, now is the
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: strike right now? We have to go for it and
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: lo and behold it panned out. Um. Now that being
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: the case in that unique situation, what else goes through
• 56:09
  Speaker 1: your mind when you're hunting December nine, December nine, or
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: you know, late season in a different kind of scenario,
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: because I know you have hunted all across the country, Um,
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: what are some other things you're thinking about if you
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: were trying to kill a late season bucks somewhere else
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: that wasn't in the mountains or wasn't on this huge
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: scale of land. I think that, I mean, this is
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: nothing like once again that everybody doesn't probably right on
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: its times, but I think really late season there's i'd
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: say three factors, well four if you will. I guess
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: the fourth one is not I guess a little bit
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: different than a different category in the first three. But
• 56:47
  Speaker 1: I think one is a pressure. You know, area that
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: hasn't a pressure, So you want to find areas that
• 56:53
  Speaker 1: there hasn't been a lot of gun pressure, UM or
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: maybe sanctuaries, there's no hunting whatever, Where do you feel
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: comfortable still moving in daylight? Um, you want to find
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: uh food, even if even late in the rut. I
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: think food is a big deal. Uh. If it's not
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: for the bucks that are that are you know looking
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: for does late rut, it's a big deal for the
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: dose because when it's coming UM, I guess the last
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: one would be dose and some of the late late
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: does coming in. I've had seen actually surprisingly good second
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: rut and maybe even late first right activity into December
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: across the country, not just in the Northeast. So if
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: you didn't find areas low pressures, a lot of dough,
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: a lot of dose, and you know of high quality
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: food source, you're gonna be I'd say that's your best bet,
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: better than any other. Um then yeah, But even with
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: those things, late season't can be really challenging and it
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: can't be discouraging as well. UM, And I haven't had
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: a ton of success late season. I think unless you
• 57:53
  Speaker 1: get have a really big you know, food source with
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: you know, almost no pressure the whole year, and you
• 57:58
  Speaker 1: get some really dramatic weather conditions. It's it's tough, but
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: those are the things I look for. And then the
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: last thing, of course is whether that would be I
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: guess you felt. The fourth factors is you want to
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: watch the weather. They're more severe, the better um whatever
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: is pushing these deer to eat um. And that's actually
• 58:16
  Speaker 1: one of the things that surprised me about this book
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: is the weather was pretty severe. I mean we're talking
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: single age its teens two ft of snow November or
• 58:25
  Speaker 1: December seventh, after this bucks and running for six weeks,
• 58:27
  Speaker 1: and he's still chasing those like a maniac. And it's
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: to me that was like, I don't know that this
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: buck would in the front himself to death, like he
• 58:35
  Speaker 1: was skin and bones. When I walked up on him,
• 58:38
  Speaker 1: he was like nothing left of him. So I don't
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: know that he maybe wouldn't have made that transition to food,
• 58:43
  Speaker 1: you know, in the next week, or I don't know,
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: maybe there's a lotdough that day or a fun that
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: came in. It's stuf to say, you know, I don't
• 58:48
  Speaker 1: know what the circumstance was, but um, so yeah, those
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: are those are really what I look for. How consistently
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: doesn't matter where I am. Yeah, how consistently do you
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: see that second run? Is that a thing you count
• 58:59
  Speaker 1: on every year or is it a little more touch
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: and go. It's what I would I kind of approaches
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: that look for all the other factors and then maybe
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: that's a little a little wild card sprinkled in that
• 59:12
  Speaker 1: might get a buck. Do you haven't seen in daylight moving? Um? So,
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: like I wouldn't bank on it. I don't hunt it
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: like to run h like a late season hunts and
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: then hope that maybe that faun or that late dough
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: brings a pile of bucks. And I actually had that
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: happen in Ohio a couple of years back. I was
• 59:30
  Speaker 1: just hunting a food source and seeing a lot of
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: deer and then all of a sudden, it was like
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: all hell broke loose, and you know, there's like three
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: mature bucks that came in on um I think I
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: don't actually don't know because it happened so fast, and
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: I still was a fun It was mid December, But
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: you know, that's just kind of the wild card that
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: can also stack yours in the favor. And that's actually
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: kind of why I like bid December for late season hunting,
• 59:52
  Speaker 1: because you have that stacked in your favor as well.
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: You know, early December could be good or late December January,
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: but I feel like that you know, right round December fifteen,
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: Speci in the Midwest can be a really good time.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: You have kind of all those factors in your favor.
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: It's like probably maybe one of my other than maybe
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: like opening week and the peak of the right It's
• 1:00:09
  Speaker 1: probably my third favorite period to hunt. Now, what are
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: the tricks with hunting that time of year? Like you said,
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: food is really important, but sometimes picking the right food
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: or the right place on the food, um, can be
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: the detail that makes the difference between you know, seeing
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: a buck and shooting the buck or you know seeing
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: it at all. Um. What are some of the top
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: food sources you would key in on in the late
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: season or secondarily, my question would be how do you
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: pick the right food source? Maybe they're in an area
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: where there's multiple food sources around. How do you go
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: about trying to fine tune you know, the right place
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: to be on December fifteenth when there's multiple options. Yeah,
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: it's it's that's a tricky one because I think that
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: is so dependent on your particular area and what you've
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: got going on. UM. Sometimes you know it's beans, it's corn.
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: Sometimes I've seen clover, Like right now, I have a
• 1:01:07
  Speaker 1: property that I manage in New Hampshire and I have
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: standing beans and corn. You know we have snow and
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 1: cold in there on clover. I don't know why digging
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: through the snow to get clover that's where the activities are.
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't have I wouldn't have ever predicted that. UM.
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: And if you don't have any of that type of thing,
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: which most of other doesn't UM, and you're in maybe
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: some of the lower elevations white and red uh oaks,
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: that's a really safe bet. Sellfis and stuff. UM A
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: lot of areas that I'm not When you get higher
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 1: on the mountains, the I guess that oaks aren't as prevalent,
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: so you're looking for brows, UM and even stuff like
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 1: I Actually it's I kind of mentioned those boulders that
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 1: are in this area. They grow a lot of ferns
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 1: and moss on them, and I've seen a lot of
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: that activity late in this season on that even like
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: eating moss and ferns off the side of the boulders
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: like that needs to be a bit of a drawing card.
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: But I would say that you know, regardless of what
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: the actual food sources, what you need to do is
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: figure out in your area at that time what's going on.
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: So I think really being using all your clues. Um,
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: if you can glass or see anything, uh, do that,
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 1: like get out and watch see what the majority of
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: the activity is at before you know, make a plan
• 1:02:25
  Speaker 1: of hunt. If you can't glass, which is most you
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: know in New England the big woods. Uh, if you
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: get snowlook for tracks and snuggle that's you know, you
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 1: can learn so much by doing that. Run cameras see
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: you know what the highest density of deer is the same.
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: Other thing that I think is interesting for late seasons,
• 1:02:41
  Speaker 1: I don't seem to get regular pictures of bucks. Seems
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: like I get I just don't think they're moving as much.
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: Maybe um and when they do move it's more A
• 1:02:50
  Speaker 1: to B and they may just don't people walking by
• 1:02:53
  Speaker 1: the camera. But it seems like I'll get like just
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: the frequency that deer on the cameras drops soft, dramatical
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: relate season. But I still think he's still in that area.
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: So I don't know. I've thought about that a lot
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: and not sure exactly why it is. But um, so
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't be discounaging. I like to be isn't there
• 1:03:09
  Speaker 1: all the time? You still might be in there, just
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: maybe not moving as much and walking around checking scrape,
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: curious about everything. So I rather been hunted for a
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 1: while and and both are trying to avoid hunters and
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: probably conserve energy as a winter approaches too, So that
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: that makes a lot of sense. Um. You brought up
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: a good point though about not getting discouraged once you
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 1: get into December or you know in states where you
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: can hunt in January two. You've been going at it
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: for a long time, and if you're still out there,
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: it might be because you haven't filed a tag yet. Uh,
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: there's gonna be some mental mental uh burnout probably going on.
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: How do you or how would you recommend folks just
• 1:03:48
  Speaker 1: kind of push through that or how how have you
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: ever tried to? I mean, I gotta believe even in
• 1:03:52
  Speaker 1: your situation, you had this huge rug push and then
• 1:03:55
  Speaker 1: it gets to you know, it's almost mid December and
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: you still haven't killed him, and you were probably feeling
• 1:03:59
  Speaker 1: some of that too. Yeah, I know what I mean
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: for sure. I was talking to my buddies, you know,
• 1:04:03
  Speaker 1: the only year about this year, and you know, after
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 1: the route, they're like, you're gonna get him, and I'm
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: just like, man, probably not. I I mean, I'm gonna try,
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: but like my chances aren't great. I was like, honestly,
• 1:04:14
  Speaker 1: like he's probably either gonna make another year hopefully or
• 1:04:18
  Speaker 1: or maybe that's winners like deal. But uh yeah, it's
• 1:04:21
  Speaker 1: super discharging and it's I mean, for the most part,
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 1: your chances maybe as those has been all a year.
• 1:04:28
  Speaker 1: So yeah, you just have to But what what can
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: you control. You can't control that you're in that situation.
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: So stay positive, just do everything you can, be persistent
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: and hope that you know something goes your way. That's
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: all you can do. It's deer hunting, and you know,
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 1: if it doesn't go your way, then it doesn't. I
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 1: can It's something in the world. It's always next year,
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: and I think most of us aren't doing this because
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: they're we're gonna start if we get death over the winter,
• 1:04:52
  Speaker 1: if we don't get a deer, you know. So I
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: mean it's sometimes it's that's just that's the name of
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: the game. I guess. Sometimes you you don't fill that
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 1: tag and that's okay, it doesn't. I mean I haven't
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 1: that filled in the last two years, and I've put
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: a bunch of time, and so I mean, it's it's
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 1: just the way it is. And I think if you
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: stay positive and take that out look that hey, I'll
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 1: just just I don't get them this year. I'll just
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: pick right up on him next year and and use
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 1: what I learned this year and to get after him.
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 1: But uh, you know, you get to realize all that
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: takes is one dramatic weather event to get that deer
• 1:05:26
  Speaker 1: to move in daylight and he walks out when you
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 1: haven't seen him all year, or you know, you haven't
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 1: had a chance in the while year and there he was,
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: he's dead, or or like you said, one fund that
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: comes in and he comes flying out a offer rage
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 1: and out of nowhere, and you just killed the buck
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: after all year and five minutes before you're like, yeah,
• 1:05:42
  Speaker 1: there's like no shot. I'm telling this year, you know,
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: you're feeling down in yourself, So I would just keep
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: that in mind. I mean, there's not really much you
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: can do, so I just say you you think about it,
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: have a solid plan, Uh, stay positive, and that's all
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 1: you can do it just be kind of proud and
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: satisfied that you'll fuck a good fight and they would know.
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 1: So that's that's just that's hunting. You know, it doesn't
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: always go your way. Sometimes we get this, uh, this
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: idea in our heads or this image from what we see,
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: uh you know in some of the really good places
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: that guys are hunting. Uh that you know, it's just
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 1: everybody kills a big block every year, and it's just
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: not the case. It's not the reality for most people,
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: even the guys that put out a ton of times.
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: So I mean, and really, I don't think it should
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: be about that. Um, it should be about the journey.
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: And I was talking to my buddy when right tracking,
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 1: and I said, hey, I'm not It's not to be
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 1: the end of the end of the world if we
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: don't fill this year today, Like I hope, I hope
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: that if we don't that he makes another year and
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: I get to the story continues, and I really am
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: fascinated by, you know, the journey or the story and
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: the production of the year over the years and learning
• 1:06:49
  Speaker 1: about him. I think that you know, if aout a
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 1: four year story in his deer, I mean, it's a
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: big deer, but without a four year story, he wouldn't
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: mean you know, anywhere close to it means doing now,
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: So you know, that's that's kind of how it is.
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: And that's how I took the last to year is
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: because I would know after you know him and another
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: one it just didn't happen. So I was like, well,
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: next year. I can't wait for next year, So I
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: would just stay optimistic and look through the future and
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: if it happens, it happens. YEA enjoying that journey. That's
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: That's one of the things when it when it gets
• 1:07:21
  Speaker 1: to the late season, for me, I always have this
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: light shift in mindset um And maybe this isn't good
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 1: when I when I describe what I'm like before, but
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: when I'm in November, I'm usually a little bit stressed
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 1: out because there's all this expectation, like this is what
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: it's supposed to happen, this is the best chance all year,
• 1:07:40
  Speaker 1: this is the super Bowl, the stakes are highest, your
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: opportunities is now, and if it doesn't happen now, it
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: might not happen again at all. So I tend to
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 1: find myself really excited but also stressed a little bit
• 1:07:51
  Speaker 1: during that time period, which is just kind of my nature. Um,
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: once I get into December, though, I've had to have
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 1: like a mental switch where I shift, I'm okay, now
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: it might not happen, right, I mean, things are getting
• 1:08:04
  Speaker 1: harder and harder. More and more of these deer have
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: been killed during gun season. My opportunities are less. Um,
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: that doesn't mean they can't, it can't still come together.
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: But I have this little shift where I go from
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: stressing because I have to get it done too. Now
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: you know it might not happen, but that's okay. And
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: and looking back on this season, and so when I'm
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: on these late season hunts, I've come to really enjoy
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 1: this time of year because it's all gravy. Now now
• 1:08:31
  Speaker 1: I've kind of all right, you've had a season, You've
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: you've had all these great times. It's cool encounters, Um,
• 1:08:36
  Speaker 1: you've learned new things. Just enjoy it, Just milk it
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: for what it is, because the season is gonna be
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 1: done here in a matter of days or weeks, and
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: you're gonna wish that it was hunting season again. So
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 1: I tend to find myself doing a better job of
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: looking up at the sky and the sun setting or
• 1:08:52
  Speaker 1: paying attention to the little fall and running around and
• 1:08:55
  Speaker 1: just enjoying that and and yeah, I'm still gonna have
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 1: a smart plan. Yeah I'm still gonna be trying to
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: get that dear um. But like you said, whether it
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 1: happens or not, life's still pretty darn good. Absolutely, I
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: couldn't agree with Moris, you know what you just said there.
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 1: I think late season a great time for reflection and
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: just appreciating the journey you have. Why do you kill
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: a deer or not? Like if you I mean ay day,
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: like I said, it does it for a different reason.
• 1:09:22
  Speaker 1: But if you're out there just because you want to
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: kill an animal and launch a tag, like I don't know,
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: that's fine, but you may want to take a step
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: back and think about why you're doing it. I mean,
• 1:09:33
  Speaker 1: I really just love spending time outside pursuing. Then was thinking,
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: you know, I liked his journey. That's that's what I like.
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: And at the end of the year you can look
• 1:09:41
  Speaker 1: back and like, man, look at the scene and that
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 1: maybe they didn't kill this buck. Look when I learned,
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: look at the encounters I had, Like that was fun.
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 1: I got to spend time outdoors, I got to do
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: what I love and you know, hey, I learned this
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: this year, and I'm gonna work hard in the off
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 1: season and put this into play and next year I
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: think that's gonna put me over the top. And you know,
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: you know, put put the odds in my favor and
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: then you and you have that anticipation starts to build
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: again and you know, just do it all over again.
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: So I think that's what I like the best about
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 1: about this whole whole gig And hope if you kill it,
• 1:10:11
  Speaker 1: they're awesome. But I mean there's also the thing I
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: killed this buck, and I'm he's not there anymore. Though
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 1: next year, I don't get to look forward to what's
• 1:10:18
  Speaker 1: he gonna be, what's he gonna look like doing so
• 1:10:22
  Speaker 1: not there anymore, and that's kind of a letdown too,
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: So it's kind of a double edged short. I mean,
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 1: sometimes I'm not upset that thes deer get away and
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: they make it another year, you know. So I don't
• 1:10:33
  Speaker 1: know if if you're getting stressed, like just trying to
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: make it, take that perspective mindset and think about that
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: way and it may help you enjoy your time more
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 1: and enjoy the process and journey. Yeah, that's what it's
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 1: all about right there. Gotta gotta make sure to never
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: get so serious or ever gets so worked up about
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: it that it takes the joy out of it. Um So, man, well,
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: this is fun and it's encouraging to hear your story
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 1: because you know, there's probably a lot of other people
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: myself included, uh, still trying not to tag and to
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: hear how you pulled it off after years and years
• 1:11:04
  Speaker 1: of following Steer around and it all came together. I
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 1: think that can give us all a little bit of
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 1: hope that maybe the stars can align for us to
• 1:11:12
  Speaker 1: So thank you for sharing that, Brett, and sharing the
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: process that you went through and and uh and what
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: led to this success. It was really interesting and holy smokes,
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: if if you guys haven't seen this deer that Brett
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: got a shot at, you gotta check it out over
• 1:11:27
  Speaker 1: on Instagram or where where Brett should folks go if
• 1:11:30
  Speaker 1: they want to see what you're up to now or
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: the different projects you've got coming in the future. Is
• 1:11:34
  Speaker 1: there any place you want to direct people towards right now?
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: They just go to my Instagram. They can still you know,
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: see that and then whatever products that I got coming out,
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 1: I guess these things were working on. It should be
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 1: coming out to start this or this coming summer um,
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: including the story of this buck. But my Instagram just
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 1: Brett July twenty two, So pres T T j O
• 1:11:54
  Speaker 1: iping out there and I don't post like crazy, but
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 1: to do puss stas really keep people up there and
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: what I'm what I'm up to perfect alright, well I will.
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: I'll make sure to share that with folks and man,
• 1:12:08
  Speaker 1: thank you for taking the time to share all this
• 1:12:10
  Speaker 1: with us. I really appreciate it. Thanks, And I said,
• 1:12:13
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of season left for a lot of
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: guys and STI out there. Fingers cross all a good
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: story for you soon, Brett, I hope so good luck,
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: thank you, and that he is going to do it
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 1: another episode in the books. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this one.
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: I hope it gave you just a little bit more
• 1:12:29
  Speaker 1: hope for those late season hunts. Keep after good things
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: can still happen. I will hopefully have news for you
• 1:12:36
  Speaker 1: soon with my own late season hunts. I will tell
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 1: you though, is late season hunting starts wrapping up. Reading
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 1: season begins for me. I'm out there grabbing some new books.
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: I love a good book by the fire, and it's
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: cold outside, and I'd be remiss if I didn't remind
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: you that that Wild Country, my new book, is out there.
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: It's for sale on Amazon or wherever else you want
• 1:12:56
  Speaker 1: to find books, and it would mean the world to
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: me if you pick up a cop Thanks in advance
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: and until next week, thank you for listening, and stay
• 1:13:06
  Speaker 1: wired to hunt. M