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Deer hunting myths, good luck/bad luck?

10K views 15 replies 15 participants last post by  Bears Butt  
#1 ·
Just curious about what everyone has been told over the years since your first hunts about hunting myths or things that are good luck or bad luck to do in deer/elk camp or during the season?
 
#2 ·
I dont know what brings good luck or bad. Most times I feel like I have no good luck at all!
It seems like every year someone I am with gets some outrageuosly great opportunity and they either dont shoot or they miss. :? I on the other hand I have to work REALLY hard for every little morsel of opportunity and even then it usually just barely goes my way!! So if anyone has any really good tricks for getting good luck please share, I could use a little!! :)
 
#3 ·
I have a great uncle that was pretty lucky. Or at least he made the group lucky. If the party wasn't seeing deer, this particular uncle would be asked to take a leak. As the many stories went within minutes a bunch of bucks would show up and get shot. The stories gets better every year.
 
#5 ·
Im going to divulge my secret.....
This is my secret hunting shirt. You can tell by the blood stains on it that it has led me to many successful hunts. However, I have found it in the garbagecan twice now so I am beginning to think that someone in the household is not a fan of it. It works I swear....
Image
 
#6 ·
You make your own luck... I place little or no value at all in being "lucky". Luck to me is what happens when preparedness and opportunity collide...

Deer wisdom can be summed up in one word. Patients.

My grandpa told me once when I was very young, dumb, and inpatient that I would kill a lot more deer if I would quit wearin out my boots and put some wear and tear on the bottom of my britches. He was right. When I learned how to sit still I started killing a lot more deer.
 
#7 ·
TEX-O-BOB said:
You make your own luck... I place little or no value at all in being "lucky". Luck to me is what happens when preparedness and opportunity collide...

Deer wisdom can be summed up in one word. Patients.

My grandpa told me once when I was very young, dumb, and inpatient that I would kill a lot more deer if I would quit wearin out my boots and put some wear and tear on the bottom of my britches. He was right. When I learned how to sit still I started killing a lot more deer.
+1! but ive kinda found once ive worn out my boots to get to a spot, then i need to wear out the seat of my pants.

i do believe in luck tho. otherwise none of those road hunters would kill big deer every year when they decide to roll out of bed at 10 a.m. ;)
 
#11 ·
I used to hunt with a gentleman who was convinced that during deer season the deer all got together in some secret place and had a big BBQ and party until the hunt was over. So every year he would hang rubber chickens, whiskey bottles, beer bottles and bottles of BBQ sauce in the trees around and in our camp. This was to fool the deer into thinking our camp was that years gathering spot. I don’t remember any deer hanging around
 
#12 ·
Anybody who thinks there's no luck involved in big game hunting might want to check his ego. That isn't to say that magical thinking works, but only that a substantial part of the hunt is beyond the hunter's control.

Back in the day, the local Relief Society ladies sold homemade pies in the mouth of the canyon. Failure to stop and buy a couple pies was wicked bad hoo-joo. I never believed it, but I always bought several...just to be on the safe side. So did everybody else. Of course, the fact that these gals would sit down in the middle of the road to force you to stop might have had a little to do with that. :lol:

I know a couple hunters who believe that it's bad luck to still have last year's venison in the freezer when the hunt starts.

And there's a bunch of well-known traditions that aren't necessarily about luck, but there has to be some kind of motivation that keeps them alive:

Eating the raw liver or heart. (CWD has pretty much ended that one.)
Smearing blood on the face.
Cutting off the shirttails.
Shooting your hat after a kill.
Etc.
 
#13 ·
I think there is luck involved with a lot of hunting. Unless you've got the money to pay an outfitter an extreme amount of money for game.

That said, there are things we can do to improve our luck. Scouting, trail cams, etc can all help at least know if and what is in the areas we like to hunt. But then again, the deer and their routines change as the year goes on.

I've always felt you just have to be in the right place at the right time. Whether thats luck or not, is up to the hunter. For example, last year on the muzzy hunt, I sat in my spot on opening morning for hours only to see two does. Over the next couple of days, I saw only does, and no bucks. This after scouting every place I hunted seeing multiple bucks. Then in a last ditch effort on the last morning I would hunt, jumped a decent buck out of his bed at 25 feet in an area I'd not scouted or really hunted in the same area. So yeah, luck does play a role.
 
#15 ·
A few of my favorites:

Tasting deer poop can tell you precisely how long ago the deer was there, the sex of the deer, and what direction it is headed.

Passing gas as loud as you can will attract bucks getting close to the rut. Sounds like a buck snort. Beware though there is a technique to it and trying too hard will cause you some problems that will force you back to camp.

Never eat garlic on a deer hunt. They are nocturnal for the most part like vampires don't you know.

And of course having a mullet will make you a much better deer hunter. Don't believe me? Just ask a guy with a mullet.
 
#16 ·
A good hunter always has a small medicine bag hanging from his neck. Inside the bag is a quarter with this years date on it, a tooth from the last buck killed (last years of course) and a mini tootsie roll.

In the morning before you venture off hunting, you look skyward and say...This is my day!

It only fails if you forget some part of it.