Hi and welcome to DEER IQ - where smart hunting begins. I’m Adam Lewis - 20+ year educator, 30+ year deer hunter, untastefully seasoned outdoor writer, and I’m here to help you achieve what we all hope for - to be truly greater deer hunters. This is The Wrapup, where I’m going to attempt to Clarify the hazy stuff, and share what I’ve learned or thought was of exceptional note - like highlight and put in bold or all caps, from these past few series or episodes (6 Barriers greats overcome, and to be in a deer’s head), and give three suggestions to help prod us on our journey to become greater deer hunters.  

As we start I want to challenge you to do a couple things: first, download our free journal to use with this podcast, that’s really going to help. Second, as you use that,  here are the TOP “look fors” or things to look for during this episode: 

1. Should we focus on habituating deer or being ultra sneaky? What are my thoughts and examples on these?
2. What are my 2 goals for this season that I reveal?
3. What is my best tip for aging whitetail bucks that really I think makes it pretty easy.

Ok And now, let’s get to the podcast, and UP your DEER IQ.  

• Remember, where we are challenged in our thinking or presented with something new our brain has to figure out what to do with it - this is the space for new growth if we can allow for this and remove some of those barriers keeping us from doing so. Speaking of barriers to being a greater hunter, here they are again, or at least 6 I think are important to try to eliminate from our first series ( episodes 2-4). They are Ego, physical shape, lack of plans, lack of systems, and education. And I think the biggest cognitive limiter here is ego and refusal to even entertain that we have things yet to learn. Since that’s what this podcast is about, I hope that’s not you. So let’s talk about getting in a deer’s head.
• When I talked to Doug Roberts some raised questions that I thought were legit or could use further explanation. In fact, I was challenged by a few things Doug said, even though I knew them to be true, they seemed to fly in the face of things we are taught. Namely, being super sneaky and stealthy when hunting - which I would agree with most the time. 
• The idea of training deer on private land to habituate them to your presence and activities on the land seems odd to many. Doug specifically mentioned using a 4 wheeler or similar vehicle, or even walking at specific times every day. This would put deer at ease and allow you to eventually hunt them without blowing out of the area since they are used to humans being around on a specific schedule. Some may argue that it seems like cheating, or throwing woodsmen skills out the door - I don’t agree. The reality is that most every time we set foot in the woods we are training deer. It’s impossible not to. So a common sense solution then is coming up with strategies that actually use this to our advantage. This is one thing Doug suggested, not saying you have to, but consider the idea of how you are actually training deer. The caveat is, and he said this - you have to do it very consistently, like every day. So this may or may not work for you, but I think is an interesting idea to consider. Doug has thousands of times more experience with deer than most hunters - I did the math in episode 7 -  so I’m inclined to believe him. And there other reasons to believe him too, experiences of my own and others. Here’s a few to think about:. 
• Example - GREEDY OUTFITTERS. Ok, I don’t think outfitters are greedy, but my point is they are businessmen that have to do what works or their business dies. Not exactly the same as most of us hunters who can just keep hunting and we make money doing something else. The stakes are higher for them. So, why do outfitters many times use vehicles to drop people in stands or pick them up? Because they know that this is less education of deer, and much less intrusive than a person walking through a field to get to a stand. Are they leaning into the idea of habituating deer? Possibly. I do think at the minimum they are doing what works best and most beneficial because they have to - They are just being smart about hunting and treating it like a business - maybe we can learn from that.
• Example 2 - The wily horse farmer. My taxidermist in Ohio told me this story, of an old guy who always shoots big, big bucks, year after year. So much so that his neighbors hate the guy and complain about it. How does he do it? He’s a rancher, he has a horse farm, and he takes his horses on walks through the woods and his property every day. The does all get used to this and pay him and the horse no attention. When its around the rut, he just uses this and switches to hunting and the bucks show up and are easy pickins for this hunter. This may not be your style, but the question is, is yours actually working? Or what percentage of the time? Hmmm, worth looking at this idea of habituating deer maybe. 
• Example 3 - The Neighborhood Buck. I once saw a 150+ inch buck in Ohio bedded behind the neighbors barn while they were playing loud country music. I was literally jamming in the stand to some 90’s classic country for over an hour while he was bedded there, and he finally, of his own accord, got up and wandered just out of range.  Deer routinely live and bed around humans because they feel safe and are naturally habituated to our behaviors around houses and properties where they don’t feel threatened. So should a hunter go far from a house or barn because they have some sort of feeling that that’s where the big guys are, out there somewhere, when in fact this may not be the reality? Let’s set feelings aside and look at facts when hunting deer in the real world - they do hang around humans quite a bit and can indeed be trained in a sense. Whether or not you choose to take advantage of that is up to you, but I will say that even using scents to make mock scrapes, or food plots to habituate deer to a location we can hunt them is training them, so in my mind these fall into the same category - we all pretty much do it or try to do it. A truly savvy woodsmen recognizes this.
• So, here’s my conclusion on this topic of habituating or training deer. I think it works like this - on public land focus on being ultra sneaky because you cannot control so many things, including other hunters. On private, if you can, consider the idea of habituating the deer to you.

• Controversy Alert!  Is a 3.5 yr old a shooter? Well In the 2nd episode with Doug there seems to be this discrepancy and I want to clear that up. It isn’t, but to a casual listener it may seem that way, and it’s probably how I posed the questions. Understand, we had to record that podcast twice due to audio/techinal issues, and Doug being a great guy took the time to do so, but the second one didn’t flow quite as well. We even had some glitches the 2nd time but I made it work. Anyways, I asked about mature bucks, and what he’s learned over 32 years of livin among them, and he said patience.
• Have you ever had a stare down with a buck? I have, and it seems like the older they are the longer and deeper they can stare into your soul. Mature bucks can do this very very well,and it are very hard to out last. He also said therefore,  if you shoot a 3.5 year old buck when it pops out, you may be missing the bigger one as they always seem to lag behind and are more patient, and more patient than most hunters. Add to that  Doug saying that a 3.5 year old’s antlers typically do not grow a huge amount afterward,and sometimes can regress depending on a lot of factors, was kind of an eye opener. This isn’t ever a 100% thing but it did get me thinking about the reality of this and how it might affect my hunting decisions, IF they are based on inches of antler. 
• I also know from experience that a 3.5 yr old buck is  dumber than a 4.5 year old, and it seems significantly. Or should I say less mature.. I see this as a teacher in HS, sophomore to junior year changes kids an awful lot, and it seems this is also true with the development of deer. This observation led to my next question
• My second question was basically looking at what advantage this knowledge could give to a hunter if we put these pieces together. Yeah, they will get a bigger body and more mature, and probably slightly bigger rack at 4-5 years old, but not always. You see there’s a tradeoff in the wild.. The older they are, the more chance They will get beat up, maybe injured, maybe shot, and so on, so I posed this question with the idea, again to make people think about their decisions in their hunting areas. It seems to me that if we were to graph the size of antler potential on the X axis, and the ability to be shot (smartness) on the Y axis,  you’d find that they both meet at that 3.5 year old age. Its the max potential for being shootable and largest rack - most high odds for a hunter. Yes, their antlers may get bigger if you let them go for sure, but there is also the increased probability they won’t make it or regress, and you have to weigh that. I agree they can’t get bigger if you don’t let them go, but this is an interesting fact I think that should be thought about for your goals in hunting in your situation (again, not like a person on TV unless that’s you). Again, be honest here. I’ve had many,  many large mature deer show on cameras that disappear without a trace the next year. What about you?

• When I talked to Nate Acker the Ultimate question came up -  if you could just ask yourself one question it would be this -  Why!? I think it clarifies and teaches us more than anything we can do - regarding why we do this or that as a hunter, and also why the deer did this or that from a past hunt, and also why they may do this or that in the future (as we try to predict future movements and win the chess game of sorts). Here’s an example from a hunt from my past and what I learned that I think is very beneficial and shows the power of this question.
• A few years ago I was hunting public land in Michigan where there was high pressure - of course. Most guys were going back to this woods and swamp area, but I noticed a field and CRP area deer were using up front, but the problem was there were no trees for hanging a stand. The first night I went back to this thick bedding grass area and setup my ghostblind. About an hour before dark I noticed about 400-500 yards across this browned bean field 3 bucks emerged from the CRP. ONe was really nice and I wanted to put an arrow in him. The odd thing I also noticed was that they emerged with the wind to their backs, which is why I was on the opposite side of this field. This seemed odd to me, as I’d been taught that bucks like to enter fields with the wind generally in their face. I guess they hadn’t heard this one. I could have chalked it up to “odd behavior” and just moved on, but I didn’t. I had to know why. As I thought about the setup, I realized that it must have been the safest thing for them to do. But why was that safe? As I thought, it started to make sense. These deer could not see through the thick CRP where they were bedded, but could easily see the entire bean field. So, by visually inspecting the entire field, then stepping out to feed with the wind at their backs, they now were safe on both sides due to being able to smell anything that happened to sneak in behind them in the CRP. They actually HAD to do it this way. I had discovered the why. So, when the wind was exactly the same the next day, I had confidence in exactly what I had to do.. March over with my ghost blind next to the CRP and setup, and indeed they did the same thing and I was able to launch an arrow at this buck, errant as it was. But, the good thing about it is now I have this figured out, and know how bucks will behave in the future in similar situations - really upping my IQ as a hunter. 

BREAK: Hi this is Adam Lewis with DEERIQ.com and this is your High IQ Moment. Do you know the biggest barriers to public land hunting success? Well, a second one that pops out to everyone is other hunters. They are unpredictable, throw monkey wrenches into our plans, add pressure, and just generally get in our way. This is why instead of hunting the deer, you need to try hunting the other hunters. Now, don’t take this the wrong way, we’re not endorsing any harassment or violence. What this means is you need to focus more on discovering what other hunters are doing, and how this is affecting deer movement, and letting this lead you to where you will hunt as a result. Shift this focus from the deer to the hunters, and you will start to find more success. (PAUSE) To see all the barriers standing in your way AND New solutions to beating them, get our FREE Public Land Hunting Guide filled with NEW strategies to beat the crowds and still find success. And, if you are getting something out of this podcast wherever you are watching or listening, please like or rate this and considering sharing with a friend. We need your help to grow the channel and it’s greatly appreciated.  And now, back to the podcast. 

Part 2: Suggestions:

So here are 3 suggestions from these series for us as we attempt to push the limits and become great deer hunters.

1. Practice Aging Bucks. I think this one will really help you be a more decisive hunter, more efficient hunter, and take better class animals. Because whatever your decision about the 3.5 year old buck thing, if you can’t age them this is irrelevant. So it’s a good skill to have, and I think not as hard as people make it out to be. Here’s what I have found to help. First, do a lot of glassing in the summer and trail camera intel gathering. You will find bachelor groups tend to form around age group. As you look at body structure the age classes start to become apparent based on thickness of body and neck, and somewhat on antler size. I think body structure is the easiest way to age deer, and most easily seen in the summer, before they shed and start rubbing trees and chasing does. By late season they are run down, so this gets tougher, so practice looking at and aging deer during the summer to help you get an eye for this. A great resource online to see this is actually artist Ryan Kirby’s whitetail buck chart that shows body structure and anatomy by age. Check it out, and start comparing this to your observations, and pretty soon you’ll fairly easily tell ages of deer on the hoof, especially the 1-3 age range, with mature being 4 or older, which does get tougher but is kind of a mute point in my book. And, if you really want to get precise, track individual bucks by antler characgteristics from a young age and actually see how this all plays out. It’s a great way to see for yourself over years, and multiple deer, if a 3.5 year old is really a shooter to you.

2. Decide Who You Are. Not to get all philosophical but you really need to decide if you’re a trophy hunter, meat hunter, or somewhere in the middle. This will determine your goals for hunting, as well as your allocations of time and resources toward it. I’ll assume for this podcast channel you’re fairly serious and want to learn, so that being the case my biggest suggestion regarding this is viewing deer hunting as a CRAFT and becoming an insatiable learner. The best way to do this is to join a community of like-minded people, like in our private FB group. It’s not like those other brag board groups out there where people just want to be validated or pose as awesome hunters. Also, I would set some goals for this hunting season and make them SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bound). My 2 goals for this season are to shoot a mature buck (3.5 years old or older) in Michigan on public land because I have not the past few years, and also know exactly why I’m hunting each location I am every time out. What are yours? Maybe share in the FB group! 

3.Go Old School. That is a (paper & pen journal) for 1 season & see what happens. We’ve all gotten so high-tech we’ve forgotten the value in the physical-mental connection of writing. Maybe start by reflecting on a couple hunts from last year, and dissecting every angle of them with our “why” question. What does this teach you and how can you apply this to THIS season? Then as season goes,do this for every hunt. I’d be willing to bet a couple things will happen. First, you’ll learn more and become a better hunter quicker, and who doens’t want that, and second I bet you’ll also really remember your hunts much better, the details of them, and they will mean more to you. Also a good thing to memorialize our time in the great outdoors with the animals and people that make them so worth it!  

OUTRO: 

Next episode we will begin a new series in our quest to be a greater hunter, as we begin “to be a master of the land,” - looking at private and public land mastery. Is public land hunting being ruined? We’ll look deep into that rabbit hole. And what about when You’re the King - you own or lease land - most people don’t rule very well. So we’ll see how to best do that.  A lot of good stuff and great expert guests, You won’t want to miss that, I’ll see you then!