Here are the best five reasons why unprepared deer hunters still fill their tag. Read them and weep.
Even after reading these over, I'll bet you'll be able to list a few more, but for now sit back and try to understand the egregious reasons why when you and I scout, bushwack, set up, dog the trail, prune, preen, and put our time in to the Nth degree, while the unprepared people we hunt with still get deer.
I'm not talking about your best buddy, brother, or your dad who are the cagey veterans of the deer hunt. No, this is the guy in the group that shows up late, messes up the woods, and then takes off early. He wears jeans, doesn't know a blessed thing about scent control, and hasn't seen that treestand since this time last year.
And sometimes he still gets the buck!
Enclosed herein are the best five reasons that I can think of as to why it happens. We don't have to like it, but what we do have to remember is that all of these have happened to you and I before.
5. Opening Day
I'm generally talking about firearms season here. Early bow can be quite green and buggy in many areas, but when firearms season rolls around the bucks are really chasing, the woods are wide open, and the deer are still pretty dumb. They might walk right up to this guy because they're just curious! Usually it's because they still don't have any fear. Even trophy's can fall to these folks. Argh.
4. The Rut
When it's on, it's really on. Bucks aren't just dogging does, they're battling their brains out over them. They run like they can't stop, and sometimes we find them so pooped out that they can't even move. Rutting bucks can have a five square mile area that they are running constantly and at times they run right by your unprepared buddy... on opening day!
Which leads us to the next reason.
3. Timing
I've seen guys walk into the woods in the middle of the day and score. This is not news to the deer hunting community as the best of the best will hunt the afternoon.
It's just that this guy sits on a bucket in the middle of a thicket and has deer walk right by him. Why? See the previous two reasons, and read on.
2. Location Location Location
It might not look like the greatest spot, but since neither you or I would give up our number one spot , we put him in one of our good, secondary stands that's been successful before. It's usually in a designated traffic area where they travel through: lots of sign—especially tracks—but limited sightings.
Except when you stick this guy up there, leading to the number one reason.
1. Luck
Are we jealous? Damn right we are! The hard thing to remember is that you and I probably set him up there in the first place, meaning all that hard work that we put in scouting the area paid off! It's just that it paid off for somebody else.
Honorable mention to the deer drive. Did you load the gun, gut it, and drag it out for him too?
Are we glad for our friend? Of course, it's just that we chew on nails thinking about how flat-footed they are when it comes getting ready for the season because they don't. Watching them walk out into the woods, harvest a deer, and then act like they knew it was inevitable is like watching them throw a spinnerbait into the tank at Bass Pro and put it on Facebook live.
Which would actually be good because then they might be doing weekends in jail when deer season starts.
The one thing you and I have to keep in mind is that we score every year, and usually multiple times, what with doe permits, bow season, and all. The unprepared deer hunter is just a dog having its day so don't be too jealous of that blind squirrel!
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