Big bucks and skill

[RiverRat1]

Seems like we're in a new age these days.

If all TBHers had a ton of money and all the time they wanted to hunt on tons of great land what percent of us would kill a huge buck?

Just been thinking and wondering how much skill has come out of the equation over the last 3 decades.

I'd think hunting East Texas would still take skill and patience.

Just seems like with high tech bows, blinds etc it's more about where you get to hunt followed by how much time you can hunt.. Skill comes last. I guess you have to be able to shoot your bow straight though.

[TTU TX Hunter]

You know as they say, it’s better to be lucky than good sometimes.

[tbgascorer]

You have to hunt where they are. And contrary to popular belief, they aren't everywhere.

[Passthrough]

You have to hunt where they are. And contrary to popular belief, they aren't everywhere.

Yup.....and I see some of the same people consistently produce on a yearly basis. So there is something they do right!

[texan16]

You have to hunt where they are. And contrary to popular belief, they aren't everywhere.

This is by far the most important thing. You can kill them if they arent there. If you are fortunate enough to hunt property that holds big deer, then the knowledge, skill, work, time and talent come in to play to put together a game plan that will work.

[BrandonA]

Define big?

[Lungbustr]

Whats typical these days is to put out a bunch of bait sites and monitor them through surveillance equipment.

When you pattern a target animal coming to eat you wait there repeatedly until you kill it.

It takes great skill.

The only thing it takes a great deal of is money. Or still a bunch of money but slightly less money and a whole bunch of time also.

You have to have access to the right property no matter what and that alone is very expensive plus all the feed, surveillance equipment and stands.

Pretty sad what deer hunting has turned into.

[diamond10x]

For a lot of TX and other states with minimal public it comes down to hunting on the right property. With what RR said about seems like skill has diminished over the last 30 years, I have witnessed that myself hunting out of state several times a year. Running into other hunters that are from out of state as well, they seem to struggle, as they are used to sitting in blind/tree stand/over bait and have quite a bit of a learning curve.

I think its more of a societal symptom of relying on technology instead of building woodsmanship/outdoorsmanship skills.

[Smart]

Define big?

Why does there have to be a definition of big? For folks to toot their horn? Big can mean a lot of different things in different parts of the state and country. Mature is probably a better term to use since big is such a vague variable...

[lovemylegacy]

Define big?

Big needs to be replaced with mature

[BrandonA]

Why does there have to be a definition of big? For folks to toot their horn? Big can mean a lot of different things in different parts of the state and country. Mature is probably a better term to use since big is such a vague variable...

I agree...What is big in the eyes of one maybe a pissant in the eyes of another. Mature is a much better parameter

[Throwin Darts]

You have to hunt where the "big" deer are. And places where the big deer are usually are not cheap. I think you still have to have skill though. On places where I've hunted, the same guys always kill the better bucks and the same guys are always kicking dirt around the campfire complaining that they didn't get the big one.

[Zjesse22]

Money gets you big deer. while time, patience, feeding the right stuff and and just putting in the work with scouting and cleaning up your hunting area let’s you get that mature trophy deer in the 130/140” range than to pay for a 180” deer

[RR 314]

I am not a skilled hunter these days. I hunt from comfortable blinds (well, mostly sit next to my kids who hunt) over feeders. That being said, two of the biggest deer I have killed were flat out luck when I was a much more active hunter. Sometimes, especially during the rut, you get lucky when doing things that don't make tactical sense.

[flywise]

I would