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Are you Active or Passive?

The link is to a short with Roger Raglin on being an active or passive hunter. I would say I am more passive than active. How about you?

I would say I’m more active. I love to tinker with calls and scents. Most have worked, but for younger deer. Still haven’t tricked a mature buck…

OK , I'll say it . Who would listen to anything Roger Raglan says .

Jiminey Christmas today was a good day.

I’m more passive.

I use to be a very active, hunter. I played all kinds of games, used every trick I either learned or thought about. However, those were days, I believe, it worked, because of little to no pressure...........................

In a high pressure area, I am very passive. slip in and slip out,,,, carry only what is really needed, and be as noiseless as I possibly can.................. I have alot of patience and enjoy the quiet....................................

Ruger we definitely agree on that one,

More on the passive most of the time., But I do enjoy tinkering with scrapes, calls and rattling occasionally.

Active! And if you're passive, it's likely the mindset that you'll screw the pooch by doing more than you can. I'm of the mindset that each mature deer in the woods might offer you a single opportunity where one single interaction suggests you'll never meet again, especially if it is eyes on you, at a certain stand site. Why not instead, take full opportunity of that interaction and place the odds in your favor? I understand there are hunters that allow stuff to transpire, but I don't feel (personally) that this is the optimum solution to success. Of course the village idiot will claim otherwise, and suggest the hunt is nothing if it isn't his way, or hard, but let's be realistic. The joker is not a bow hunter and he's here to stir the pot, so let's look beyond that dolt. I'm going to have my call in my shirt pocket. It is not typical of what other people consider a call, because it is used differently, and sounds like a deer. I rattle. I decoy. I trim trails. I manipulate deer by bending trails. You can certainly sit on the ground guessing what's there, and make a decision when the opportunity arises, or you can gain intel. Yes, I use cellular cameras. Why? So I know what animal I'm hunting. If it is an adult 110 inch buck, and he's mature, then I may shoot him if the opportunity presents itself. If there's nothing that suits me, then perhaps a doe or two? If it's a mature deer that is in fact illusive, then maybe he's the one I'm after? Overall, im not very often just sitting in a tree playing willie-nillie. I'm confident that you can make things what they are, versus things being what they are. Not only active, but I'd declare intrusive. Side note, I will sit in a tree waiting on a deer that might just come past me, but I've likely gained the Intel already, knowing he might pass, and that intel is gained by being active versus passive.

It totally depends on what I am hunting, and where.

May the odds forever be in your favor. Unbelievable.

Some are farmers, some are hunter’s

I was active around 15 ... what a gal.

As I've gotten older, I find myself passing more often. I think they are called walking farts???

If I ever hunt an enclosure I'll be sure to call Roger and get some pointers.... :>) Until then, when hunting free range pressured deer, (mature) less is better in my experience....

I always have a call with me but I'm reluctant to use it. As soon as I use it I figure the deer have entered the alert mode. Alert deer and me normally doesn't end well for me.

More & more passive every year . In fact I even quit grunting & rattling unless I physically see the Deer . To randomly rattle can harm your chances at the mature Deer your after . Many of them go downwind to smell & figure out who's fighting & is it " Bob " the Buck that kicked his ass last week

Two Feathers, I agree , I would go out for a morning & rattle . Might see a deer or 2 all morning. Now I take 2 hunters with me . 1 sits 100 yards downwind, the other 200 yards downwind. I bring the Heavy horns & rattle like crazy . It's amazing how many Deer the " shooters " see that I do not .

Ad far as Raglin go's . I watched 1 of his DVDs. He was hunting a small hi fenced property . Pretending to hunt mature Bucks in a big forest by stalking them in noisy Oak leaves with his bow. He's a joke. I broke the DVD to make sure a young hunter wouldn't see it .

" I broke the DVD",,,,, now thats funny

Man, if there was ever anything I'm more confident in, it is my call. It has to be subtle. It has to be at the tone a deer speaks at. I have been with turkey hunters, duck hunters, and deer hunters, and I often wince at the pain I feel when I hear a cringe-worthy note come from someone's call. If there was ever one thing I could suggest to someone, it is listening to what deer sound like, and duplicating that. The wind that goes through the call comes from the diaphragm of your chest, not blowing a kazoo, and it is exhaling through the reed that has been shaved or thinned down with sandpaper thinner than what the manufacturer put together. The reverberation that most of these calls sound like will indeed spook most deer. Too loud, and too much like an oink. I don't blow through the barrel of the call, but instead, I breath across the board of the call with just my exhalation deep from my diaphragm . I literally never hesitate to interact with a deer, even an adult by "talking" to him. You must be quiet though, and trust me, they hear way better than we do. Two feathers, I blow the call, and I figure more often than not, they go into the curious mode, and I'd agree with you. Alert is not what I'm after. Similar to rattling in a tree. Deer seem to have the distinct ability to pinpoint that sound, and come in looking up. Try climbing down to do your sequence and perhaps step away from your tree a bit. Add a decoy, and you can get away with murder up in your tree, because that deer is glued onto that decoy in the field. It takes confidence in your approach, but I find the aggressive approach to show the greatest results. All said, I'm normally targeting pre rut deer who are just now getting on their feet in daylight hours. They do seem the most eager to interact.

I'm a fan of Roger Raglin. At one time I had every DVD he put out. I especially enjoy his hunts when he was younger. The link includes a lot of his bow kills including his younger days. Plus he does it with a cameraman with him. I like his bow hunting videos more than his gun hunting videos. Gun or bow he is a good shot.

Pete-pec that ability of the deer to pinpoint sound and walk right to it is pretty amazing. My doe decoy went up in flames. I have another doe decoy that straps on my bow. I don't like it because I've only ended up with head on shots on an alert deer.

Sure

I'm getting more passive the older I get. But, get more active when I get into those sweet rut alley spots. I've been doing a lot of ground sits till I find those spots, sneak in and around and sit and see what happens. If it is good I start looking for trees to sit. If not good I try a different spot. Unfortunately, the deer numbers on public land are so low now that those spots are hard to come by.

Getting too old to cut the mustard but never too old to lick the lid.

I'm usually passive when I should have been active and active when I should have been passive.

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