Who's the best whitetail hunter on Bowhunting Ohio!?

Guys,

I'm new here, but I know Ohio has some of the most passionate bowhunters of any state. I'm working on a story for a national magazine that highlights "everyday bowhunters" (i.e. those with jobs, limited or no access to massive, intensely-managed properties) who still manage to get it done and tag trophies every year. Essentially, what do they do to succeed that other hunters can learn from.

If you could please nominate a couple guys who meet those requirements (whether it's yourself or friend/acquaintance), I'd sincerely appreciate it. You can reply or send me a private message.

Thanks in advance!

Well I think this is going to be a very hard question to answer
Due to the fact, I don't think many folks on open forums really know each other that well
And to be honest, I personally believe that most hunters that manage to kill a BIG buck yr after yr, odds are they are hunting some private lands they either manage or is just super limited hunter access?I say this because I personally find that guys that are really into deer hunting, tend to make the effort to get there own land or find prime spotswhere they have some control over, not having people just walk in and ruin there huntsI know I do in my home state, and many other states I have hunted? Personally, the days of, well, just having the skills to go in cold and come out regularly with a big buck, just ain't out there much TV shows ruined that I think taught folks more or less that to be successful you need private lands and food plots, and to a point, it works great if you do!
And why so few hunting shows take place on public lands, just harder
I honestly feel many folks that hunt public lands or just large forested lands, and kill deer on a regular basis, have more skills, due its to me harder hunting
So who is a better hunter on a web site?? Loaded question with far to many un knowns to pick one to me
Lots of successful hunters, sure, but who's the Best??
I couldn't even make a fair guess
Just my 2 cents

MRBB -- The thread title was more to get everyone's attention :)

And I completely understand that many people who tag trophies year after year have access to private land. Just as many others who have similar access may not be as successful. Why is that? What makes some guys who don't make their living from hunting (i.e. Lakosky's, Drury's, etc.) more successful on a year-in, year-out basis? What are they doing different?

If you know any guys who would meet that description, please let me know!

well to be honest, I personally think that if ianyone has there own lands, and has a good control over them, only reason they won't fill a tag every yr is is there targeting a certian buck, and holding out for that buck, or ones of that size, a TON depends on how many day/hrs they get to hunt, and weather too!
I have hunted in about 15 states, , managed to fill a tag on about every trip, on a decent animal
only used a guide in Canada where it was a law
YET on my private lands here in my home state, I eat tag soup a lot
its not due to I cannot kill a deer, or even a decent one , its mostly due to I hold out for a certian deer, , and sadly most yrs I am holding out for a deer that was killed illegally without me knowing it!
thus hunting a Ghost, which I think happens to a lot of us
OR we find out that certian bucks we target have been killed, and that leaves , in my case most yrs , deer smaller than I want , thus I won't shoot them hoping they can make it till the following yr or yrs?

thus then hoping the rest of the season, that a strange buck will show up to the size limits I hold on myself, that I have never seen or known of before, and thats a LOW odds deal on my lands!
BUT, I still enjoy being out there, but to be honest ,
I hunt many yrs knowing I am not going to fill a tag, due to the bucks are gone that I would shoot on my lands
to me a skilled hunter can go any where and kill a deer, OR???
if they go places they have never been and kill a BIG buck, I think its a 50/50 deal, on luck and skill, to be honest!
I would personally go out on a limb even now with so many trail cam's and QDM and folks knowing there deer better than ever
its a small percentage that kill a targeted buck every yr, unless again they have tons of private lands to keep them from getting killed else where
here is my thinking
I know many many KIDS 8-14 yr olds, now that have killed 150+ deer every yr the past 4-5 yrs in a row, on good private lands
would you call them GREAT hunters?( what could they have learned in the yrs they hunted to make them that?)
or are they lucky to have such both good lands and a mentor?
or is it, that if you can controkl the lands, the kills get easier
I know one Local girl here that has killed back to back 170+ bucks here in PA, , where a 120 class buck it not very common! in most of our state
and half her brothers and family members all kill 140+ bucks every yr!
they are not pro hunters
they just own a LOT of land, and manage it for Big bucks
does that make them better hunters?
I say personally no
it just means to me they have access to more bigger bucks, and have control over more things than the average hunter does, not many people would pass on a 120 inch buck in a place there are few, unless they KNOW they have a lot more bigger ones to hold out for, or most hunters I know I think, think this way!
I will not says its easy to kill bucks on private lands
but coming from learning to hunt on very large public tracts of just forested land, no crops lands or farms anywhere near by, or food plots(they weren't even invented when I started)
, and then hunting in farm lands, and then onto private lands I have Some contorl over, I can tell you without a doubt, the hunting got a TON easier
its extremely rare for me to sit over any of my food plots and not have deer come out, many times its more like 10-20 deer at a time too!
and to be honest I could have my pick of them !
same goes for hunting farm lands where food is more in one area, and cover and such is less
deer can be patterened a LOT easier, than lets say in a forest where they can be any where at any time, and have just a ton more land to live in
once you start to change patterens, you can start to control them to a point
more land you own the more control you can have over things, and so on
so to class a hunter as a GREAT hunter to me is just not possible to pick a number one, unless all things are equal, and that is never possible
I think some are more well rounded than others, and that might mean they learned more skills along the way
and to that, I would consider that hunter a , maybe better hunter
I also think the more yrs a person hunts in MORE places the better the get too, if they learn as they go, not all do1
I can take, and have taken many first time hunters out to places I know produce deer, and got them deer in the first sit 90% of the time
would that make them hunters, or shooters, or a little of both!
which to me brings it back to the place you hunt
I know my lands, and as such(and seen in many Tv show)
if a person is placed in the right spot on lands known well by a person, the skill level needed to make a kill drops( like a good outfitter setting up a TV person in the spot they make there kill)
sure they have to be still, scent ?? free-er, and all that and then make the shot
but what hunting skills did they use?
didn't find the spot, set the stand, read the sign to know here to place the spot, or what winds are normally, and the list goes on
so to try to pick a best hunter off a forum, is never going to happen in my eyes
as you just don't know there history, and what means they have, access to what lands they have and so on!
sorry about the long here, but??

I'd rate a few guys on this forum as fairly top notch hunters. But, mrbb brings up a ton of good points. Many of us target a certain buck or two that we will hunt for the entire season. So many times that deer never gets into shooting range. Land access means a lot as to hunter success also. Shooting ability and keeping calm at the moment of truth play another big part. I think of myself as a fairly decent hunter and I haven't shot an arrow in two seasons. Targeting a particular deer is the biggest factor causing my lack of shooting. Tagging deer on a regular basis, in my mind, doesn't make one a better hunter. There is so much more to it than that.

Its never been a contest to me...To be the best hunter that is. Thats where alot of people lose focus, they get caught up in the game of being better than everyone else. My idea of a great hunter is enjoying what its about. Getting out, researching areas, looking for sheds, setting up stands, spending countless hours in the trees. But also doing things that help the sport of hunting and helping others learn. Not being afraid to let someone less fortunate in the art of smoking deer in your stand for a weekend, so they have better odds. Following the rules! Picking up some Trash on your way back out from your stand......so many things. And then the other things fall into place. Private land or Public land means nothing to me, as long as I am out in the woods and spending that time doing what I Love, I am good with that!

Guys, I think it's simple to say you are looking way too deep into this. He just wants your opinions of who we think on her produces year after year for an article.....

My opinion.....Blackbeard and Split_G2 (even though Split doesn't come on much any more)

Welcome to the site irishiup!!! As you said you're new here so you mostlikely haven't had time to read through many of the old threads to form your own opinion on who's "the best hunter" on this site. So I'll save you some time.....without a doubt the best hunter on this site has to be me hands down. Blackbeard, split2g, seekerbp and hortontotor are all good hunters but when it comes to dropping the really big boys they all expect to me to get the job done......... It's a burden I just have to live with.

stonegod, you get my vote as well then!

I have been told I am the best hunter this side of the Ohio River but it's always from a friend standing on the other side.