In progressive order I'd say, my father taught me a ton in my very early years in the woods. I then grasped onto biologist research in my early teens and read all kinds of research projects. I used to love to read Larry Weishuhnh's stuff when I could get my hands on it. I also followed and still read a ton of BSK's information, I've been reading it at least 20 years or more. The deer then taught me loads, I used to scout religiously in late summer before we even had trail cameras to find bachelor groups and I'd track and watch them for hours as a kid. It taught me a ton and I learned we weren't killing or seeing a lot of the big boys I was following in the summer. Technology then took off with cameras, apps on our phones, ect..; it's a massive advantage now. Once I started targeting 1 or maybe 2 specific deer a year is where I really started to learn rapidly. Some of the things I learned are almost unteachable by a human, the deer has to show it and they are all different. In the last 5-10 years I've been getting extremely good at setting up on the fringe of being busted. It has opened the door to being able to hunt and pressure a deer in his core area right on top of him so I can get in bow range, it is definitely more risky but it has been working out. I have no clock when hunting, I don't need to be in a tree by a specific time, when I go out I hunt the wind from start to finish and that often calls for reroutes or loops I didn't plan on, sometimes I'm in a tree early before daylight and sometimes I'm just standing on the ground looking like an idiot with my finger in the air til way after daylight trying to figure out exactly where I'm going to end up; being mobile is a massive part of my hunting strategy and I take my time. I am never in a rush when I am in the woods.
