Re-thinking how to think...

I would never consider myself a ground breaking thinker...especially when it comes to whitetail deer hunting. However, it wasn't until recently I began to understand why some of my "mistakes" have actually been connected to some of my greatest harvests or close calls I've had to date.

To see how my "mistakes" were actually the perfect move at the perfect time we must first understand the background of hunting and how it affects the mindset of the hunting world.

In all honesty trophy buck hunting is really quite a new craze, one which is slowly changing the overall mindset of hunting as a whole...however the original thinking behind hunting still carries more weight in the mindset of hunters. What is this mindset or way of thinking? Well it's quite simple, you hunt for food and do so in a way you have the smallest chance of failure; hence the idea of hunting always with the wind blowing into your face.

Hunting with the wind in your face is a great thought, because the deer won't smell you...however if a deer is trying to survive and are walking through woods they cannot see over 30 yards through trees; do you think they're very likely to move with the wind or "tail wind"? They may...but deer instinctively are wired by their creator to survive, and that is what will control their movements nearly every second of every day. Yes, bucks will at times lose all reason and go crazy...but even then they don't lose all reason, because after all even blindly following a hot doe is trying to make sure the whitetail deer continue to exist (survive).

So if we're after mature bucks, and they won't by nature move into the wind too terribly much what do we do? We stop thinking like meat hunters and more like hunters who are detectives who eat, sleep and breathe with one objective in mind; putting ourselves in "the right place at the right time" by design due to our intense scouting.

I say intense scouting but some of you if you're anything like me have experienced that "right place at the right time" but wrote it off as a coincidence or as a simple fluke the buck acted and moved the way he did. After meeting Bill Vale, my reasoning and outlook on all of my hunting success has changed...and I've began to realize that some of the "wrong" risks I have taken in my young hunting career that paid off were not mere coincidences.

The knowledge that Bill Vale has on whitetail deer, more importantly pressured big bucks, is absolutely insane! You can tell immediately when entering his trophy room that this man must know more than your average good hunters. Wall to wall and floor to ceiling are trophy caliber bucks that Bill has collected over the years with his "wrong" tactics that at times seem the complete opposite of normal thinking. An example would be hunting with the wind blowing directly at where you expect the deer to come from...obviously not done all the time, but if the situations are right this is easily done and has been done by Bill and even myself a couple times (albeit not by design like Bill).

Last year's buck "Trident" came in quartering
to me from DOWNWIND...something
he was doing instinctively to survive!

I cannot wait for this season to get here and the following ones after that due to the fact my thinking is going through a complete overhaul. The "mistakes" I've made in the past will now be "planned events" based upon my scouting which has gotten more intense.

All I can say is if you haven't got your hands on a copy of Bill's book click here...and once his subscription site is up and running you would be wise to sign up for it also! I also want to stress Bill is giving me nothing in return for bringing up his site, I also don't make any money or benefits from you going there or joining...I am merely sharing

God bless and good luck out there!

Ty