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Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
#6522049
11/01/16 08:48 PM
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Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 23
Noble Savage
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Light Foot
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Light Foot
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I was in conversation with my dad this morning about the demands of Whitetail deer hunting vs something like Sheep or Elk hunting. Would you say that Whitetail hunting is all around the most challenging type of big game hunting in North America? When you think about all that goes into the Whitetail Deer season (5-months of hunting): - Pre-season Scouting
- Food Plots planting
- Feeders
- Trail Cams
- Stands and Blinds
- Tempraturess(eason that ranges from 90 degrees to 0 degrees)
- Differences in habitat
- Hunting Methods
- Target Size
- Excellent sense of smell and pretty good eyesight
The list can go on. There are other hunts that are physically more challenging for a period of time (a week or so) but overall Whitetails require some serious commitment.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522059
11/01/16 08:59 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,308
Texas Dan
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Pick an animal that Is seldom if ever shot and killed from a comfortable box stand with a cooler of beer nearby.
I created a similar thread some time ago that identified several wild game animals that live in the U.S. and that are difficult to hunt and white tails were not in the mix.
Many of the items in your list have nothing to do with hunting, but more to do with simply waiting to shoot one.
"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522063
11/01/16 09:04 PM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 165
CTR
Woodsman
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Woodsman
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Whitetails in general are not that challenging. An old Whitetail buck on the other hand can be challenging. I think though your definition of challenging isn't the same as mine...
Sheep hunting would kick most everyone not in shapes butts....
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: CTR]
#6522069
11/01/16 09:08 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,308
Texas Dan
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Sheep hunting would kick most everyone not in shapes butts.... I got that impression as well from earlier responses.
"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Texas Dan]
#6522117
11/01/16 09:35 PM
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Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 23
Noble Savage
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Light Foot
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Many of the items in your list have nothing to do with hunting, but more to do with simply waiting to shoot one. Hey Texas Dan, I guess my point is that you're not going to be consistently successful hunting mature Whitetails if you're not spending A LOT of individual time, money, and effort to prepare. Additionally you're dealing with a long season and temp swings from the hottest days of the year in September, to the coldest Jan-Feb. You have to be part biologist, farmer, and engineer, etc... There's just a lot an individual goes up against to be successful. There are a lot of animals that are stealthy (mountain lions), live in extreme conditions (dall sheep), are limited in range and availability (bison) but in a lot of those cases the guides are doing that work around the year to put clients in position. There may be someone on here that is doing a DIY Dall Sheep hunt, I'd like to talk to him/her because that would be incredible.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522229
11/01/16 10:41 PM
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 2,352
copperhead
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Muledeer are more challenging to me.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522288
11/01/16 11:02 PM
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 6,170
Jimbo
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Those spikes that still have faded spots and milk on the chin are hard to hit at 200 yards.
Thursday at 12:45 PM #33 Once i learned that i didn't "NEED" to kill something, and that if i did kill something all the fun stopped and work began, i was a much better hunter.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522321
11/01/16 11:17 PM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,690
bp3
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Agree on mule deer, when they get some age on them after the rut are some smart critters.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Jimbo]
#6522324
11/01/16 11:18 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,919
maximum
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Those spikes that still have faded spots and milk on the chin are hard to hit at 200 yards. yeah, but you know it's worth the trouble when it's on your plate beside those mashed taters and green beans. nuthin like it
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522328
11/01/16 11:20 PM
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 35,905
txshntr
T-Rex Arms
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Obviously "challenging" is going to be subjective, but I agree to an extent. To kill mature whitetail year after year of certain quality is challenging. To kill "A" deer is not, but to kill "the" deer is.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: txshntr]
#6522451
11/02/16 12:16 AM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 22,308
Texas Dan
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Obviously "challenging" is going to be subjective, but I agree to an extent. To kill mature whitetail year after year of certain quality is challenging. To kill "A" deer is not, but to kill "the" deer is.
"Some people will never like you because your spirit irritates their demons."
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522488
11/02/16 12:32 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 10,496
Halfadozen
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Since you said North America I would have to go with sheep, then elk, then bear, then a tie with antelope and whitetail. Caribou would be the least if you find the migration route. Mature buck whitetail is all about timing and set up. Tons of variables involved.
Freedom is a fragile thing ...Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again. -- Ronald Reagan
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522514
11/02/16 12:44 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,856
REALKILLER
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In the end its the challenge you created and the challenge the animal you hunted created. I had a guy that preticipated in canned company hunts and said he quit hunting deer because it was too easy. Ha. Im sure it was. Create a real challenge and go one on one with a wild mature whitetail and then you have your contest.
Recently got a gym membership, strange folks! I like to show up the roid zombies with my full motion curls with the 55lb. bells. Not their cheater short stroked light weights. It's holarious.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6522612
11/02/16 01:26 AM
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 8,047
Stompy
THF Trophy Hunter
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Never hunted Sheep and I bet their tough to hunt. Have hunted Elk a lot and their the most challenging animal I've hunted.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523043
11/02/16 12:35 PM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,605
fouzman
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523053
11/02/16 12:42 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,566
KennyLee
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Many of the items in your list have nothing to do with hunting, but more to do with simply waiting to shoot one. Hey Texas Dan, I guess my point is that you're not going to be consistently successful hunting mature Whitetails if you're not spending A LOT of individual time, money, and effort to prepare. Additionally you're dealing with a long season and temp swings from the hottest days of the year in September, to the coldest Jan-Feb. You have to be part biologist, farmer, and engineer, etc... There's just a lot an individual goes up against to be successful. There are a lot of animals that are stealthy (mountain lions), live in extreme conditions (dall sheep), are limited in range and availability (bison) but in a lot of those cases the guides are doing that work around the year to put clients in position. There may be someone on here that is doing a DIY Dall Sheep hunt, I'd like to talk to him/her because that would be incredible. You could hire a guide to do the same with white tails. I've hunted mule deer and aoudads in the open range without guides and found both more challenging than hunting white tails.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523062
11/02/16 12:47 PM
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Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 14,965
don k
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If you don't do all the things you listed and just go to a property you know nothing about and hunt it can be very challenging.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: don k]
#6523094
11/02/16 12:56 PM
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 29,045
Western
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If you don't do all the things you listed and just go to a property you know nothing about and hunt it can be very challenging. +1,,,,All that list isn't mandatory, or something you have no control over (I.E. weather)
If at first you dont succeed, then skydiving is not for you..
"Don't trust everything you read on the Internet"- Abraham Lincoln Dennis
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523220
11/02/16 01:58 PM
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Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 5,998
Jgraider
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Big mule deer bucks, those 5 1/2 and older, are extremely hard to come by IMO. Whitetails are much easier to pattern.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523332
11/02/16 02:44 PM
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Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 15,743
QuitShootinYoungBucks
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If you outlawed corn tomorrow, 80% of Texas hunters wouldn't have a clue how to hunt a deer. It would get challenging very quickly for them!
https://web.archive.org/web/20170223065011/http:/www.rrdvegas.com/silencer-cleaning.html
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Jgraider]
#6523335
11/02/16 02:45 PM
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Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 60,296
stxranchman
Obie Juan Kenobi
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Obie Juan Kenobi
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Posts: 60,296 |
Big mule deer bucks, those 5 1/2 and older, are extremely hard to come by IMO. Whitetails are much easier to pattern. This ^^^^^^^^
Are idiots multiplying faster than normal people?
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523505
11/02/16 04:37 PM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 1,666
John Humbert
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IMHO, out of the typical north american common big game in free range environments
WhiteTail Mule Deer Elk Sheep (including Aoudad) Bear Moose Caribou Cougar Free Range Exotics (Axis, BlackBuck, Fallow, Sika) in Texas
Whitetail would be the LEAST challenging to hunt - in general. Now if you talk about "big" whitetail, 150" or better, they are certainly rarer to be found, and somewhat more challenging - but if you are in "big deer" country where the numbers are higher, still not that hard.
Now, that being said - there are PARTICULAR deer, here and there - that are EXTREMELY hard to hunt. For example, I have an acquaintance that has a family hunting ranch (pretty nice too), where there is a 150"-160" whitetail that his family has been after for YEARS and still has not been able to connect. I guess he must be close to 10yo now, and they get pics on the game cams fairly regularly - and have seen him in person at odd times when they have not been hunting - but for at least 5 years they have been hunting him without success - and his whole clan is seriously good hunters. They've taken other big deer off their place, but this particular deer - is a ghost.
Last edited by John Humbert; 11/02/16 04:38 PM.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523547
11/02/16 04:55 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 1,856
REALKILLER
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Hunt a 5 yr or older buck in East Texas in the thickets and you wont be so quick to say whitetails are not a challenge. If I go south of Waco. All deer are much easier for me to kill ten fold.
Recently got a gym membership, strange folks! I like to show up the roid zombies with my full motion curls with the 55lb. bells. Not their cheater short stroked light weights. It's holarious.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523755
11/02/16 06:57 PM
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Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 235
lawndart956
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 235 |
Whitetail are easy,take away corn/rifles and it gets way harder. Still not hard for a doe but your chances of scoring a mature buck go way down. That's why I enjoy hunting them the easy way! I'm to busy to deal with all that. Put me up in a stand with some buddies a feeder and a cooler full of cold drinks and I'm in business.
Last edited by lawndart956; 11/02/16 07:10 PM.
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Re: Are Whitetail Deer the most challenging animal to hunt?
[Re: Noble Savage]
#6523756
11/02/16 06:58 PM
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 669
bowbuilder1971
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Hunting turkey up in New England is a lot harder than hunting deer. The turkey up there see a lot of hunting pressure since there is no limit to hunters on public hunting land. Chasing elk in Utah isn't that easy either.
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