Brian from Ohio asks,
Hi Bill, Glad you've been able to hunt purely for enjoyment again and not have the stress of filming and such (though I miss following along). That had to of been a grind doing it for as long as you did. My main question is has how you hunt changed much since you stopped filming? If so in what ways- like do you hunt as frequently etc? Also were you able to buy a farm or will you be hunting the same/similar lease this year? Hope you have a great season
Bill responds,
Topic: Hunting Without a Cameraman:
I found that it was much easier to remain undetected while hunting last season without a cameraman so I was able to hunt more aggressively. I believe that was a big part of why I killed the buck I did last season.
Brian,
Thanks for the note. I appreciate it. I did enjoy the hunting last season more and I did hunt differently. For one, I didn’t hunt quite as much. I waited until the time was right to start. When filming, we often need some kind of story and some kind of content to go with the weekly episode so you end up going hunting maybe before you otherwise would. That was fine since I always went to spots where I thought I could shoot does during the early season, so that worked out well.
I was able to hunt a bit more aggressively this past season since it is much easier to sneak in and out and remain undetected with just one person than with two. As hard as we tried, hunting with a cameraman is not like hunting with two people, it is more like hunting with three people because the camera has to occupy a space and has motion in the stand. As a result, I felt that deer hunting was much easier (and more relaxing) without the cameraman and camera.
I hunted some spots (like ridges in the evenings) that I might have avoided with the cameraman just because I would not have wanted to blow the deer out of those spots in the afternoons given how good such spots are in the mornings. But, that is how I shot my buck – a bedding ridge in the evening. I am not sure I would have been there had I been filmed. Also, the deer would likely have spotted us in the tree since he was coming straight in. I think it would have been much harder to kill that buck had I been filming that hunt.
I have not bought land yet. I am still looking. The lease is very good and if I should give that up, I have lots of friends in that area so I will never be without a place to hunt even if I never find the right piece to buy. Have a great day and good luck this fall. (8/31/21)
