Patience is something we have all heard at least a time or two while out hunting with Dad, Grandpa, or an Uncle. It is something very hard to learn when you are so young, but there is that time when it just clicks and you know that you have to be patient. I want to discuss the different types of patience involved with hunting that I have experienced and hopefully at least one person who reads this can learn from it, and it may save you in the future.
Hunting Patience
We all know how to improve your chance of seeing your target animal, whether your target is a buck, or a doe, you have to be hunting to get it done. Some people choose to hunt the most mature animal on their farm, and they are the most mature animal because often times they are the smartest. Smart animals do not just come strolling by every time you hunt. Long sits, long hunts, long seasons over time will help build your hunting patience. Long sits on stand are how we are afforded many of the opportunities we have been given. Patience to sit in that stand long after we should have gotten down can pay off. This is the most common type of patience in our world.
After The Shot
This is by far the HARDEST and the one type that I see needing to be remembered. Unless we see or hear the animal crash, we usually are giving these animals 6 hour minimums to expire. That is because we have been burned in the past because we failed to deploy patience. Shooting an animal is why we are all out hunting, and its a very good reason to be excited and want to make the recovery quick. Just think of how long you have waited to hunt. Could be the previous 8, 9, 10 MONTHS. The hours you took to prep your property, stand, equipment. The hours packing in or out of your favorite public spot. The hours you have been hunting, sitting in a tree or blind, and some people can not wait to recover a sub par hit animal and risk bumping it out of their life forever. I have seen scenarios where the animal needed just a couple more hours, and it got bumped, then the hunter was not granted permission to go onto the next property. Mere hours is a blink of an eye compared to the 9 months you waited to climb a tree again. Something to remember the next time you do not hear or see the animal go down. Once you bump a giant, you learn real quick to give them more than enough time.
As many times that we are overly concerned with recovering an animal, it is when we shoot a buck. People often ask “Well what if the coyotes get to it?” At that point, we have shot what we would consider a trophy, and are going to mount it. We would absolutely 100% love to be able to get many meals from our trophy, and use the hide from the same animal on our mount. It is just in this scenario that we are now trying to get our hands on that rack. If you were to bump the deer and then not able to recover, you wouldn’t get either. It is the brutal honest truth.
Taxidermy
So you were lucky enough to hunt, see an animal you wanted and everything after the shot fell in your favor. Now you have made the recovery and decide that you would like to have your animal mounted. Taxidermists have a very hard job that is tedious, time consuming, and often times under appreciated. We understand that you are in a hurry to get your trophy home to show off and look at more times that you would like to admit. What happens when you get it home? It sits on your wall or mantle forever. After that first impression of seeing it and looking it over the most excitement is over. We alway tell our taxidermist to put us on the back burner. We know that if we give him as much time as he needs, nothing on the mount will be rushed, and the work will be of what is expected if not better. Often turnaround times are 6-12 months. Think about all the time and effort that went into your animal, the planning, food plots, stand prep, the seat time. Think about how long that animal will be with you in your house. A year is not too long to ask for to ensure good work. Your taxidermist will thank you.
This week blog is brought to you by ECW Hunting Calls duck line-up
