Dedication And Persistence

I’ve had the unique privilege of being able to spend time and talk with many of the most successful trophy whitetail hunters in North America. If my time around these individuals has taught me one thing, it’s that they all approach the sport with the same basic philosophy. Where mature bucks are concerned, there’s no such thing as putting in too many hours.

As I wrote in my second book, “Proven Whitetail Tactics”, without question my best allies for consistently taking big bucks over the years have been absolute dedication and a persistent attitude. I seriously doubt there are very many serious trophy whitetail hunters out there who would disagree with this assessment.

Though it certainly has been going on longer, during the past 10 years especially deer hunters have been the victims of information overload on how to become consistently successful at scoring on mature whitetails. While it doesn’t hurt to have a wealth of book-learned and in-the-field knowledge, it’s my opinion that dedication and persistence are the best weapons in any deer hunter’s arsenal.

Far too many deer hunters are under the mistaken impression that merely having access to trophy rich property is a guarantee that their success rate on huge racked whitetails is a given. Take it from someone who once harbored that same impression, while it certainly does increase your odds for success, simply hunting areas that are inhabited by big bucks by no means guarantees you’ll eventually put your tag on one.

Actually, I firmly believe that if there’s ever a time when a hunter really needs to adopt a dedicated and persistent attitude, this is it! What many wanna-be trophy hunters don’t yet realize is that being a true trophy hunter entails far more than just making the claim. Put simply, it’s easy to talk the talk. But it takes a rare breed indeed to also be able to walk the walk.

I’m convinced that it’s much easier for hunters to maintain a dedicated and persistent attitude during the off season than during the open season. Why do I feel this way? Because serious trophy hunters, especially those who have just recently taken the step up, have a tendency to put way more pressure on themselves once the season opens. This is especially true for those individuals that don’t get a lot of time to hunt. I know, because I’ve been there.

I was a seasonal construction worker for nearly 20 years. Yet even with very little free time, I managed to be very successful during those years. It was all about the exhausting work ethic I applied during the off-season. I took time during the winter and spring to thoroughly scout and study my big woods hunting areas. Eventually, I learned a very important lesson. There was far more unproductive than productive country out there.

Now I realize this sounds quite basic, but without doubt the single most important key to consistently taking bragging size bucks is to spend your available free time hunting in areas that such creatures spend the majority of their time in. The second biggest key is to adopt a dedicated and persistent approach. The rest of the pieces should almost naturally fall into place after that.

Hey remember, hunt hard, but ALWAYS hunt safe!