Why Can Some Hunters Find Deer by Feel?

Bill Thompson says some hunters find deer by feel and cannot explain the spot. His friend Johnny Stewart kills two or three big bucks every year. On a scout, Stewart will say a place feels like deer and will not cite a reason. Bill asks what he means, and Stewart says he does not know. It is just the way the place looks.

Bill Thompson hunts from a checklist. He looks for three intersecting trails, doe bedding, and two scrapes, and he waits for the thermals to come up at 830 before he gets into his stand so his scent does not paint the side of the mountain. Stewart only says the spot looks good. Joe Rogan says the split between a system and instinct is a big factor in striking too. Some great strikers can show a system and teach it. Others vary their speed to mess with perceptions, timing, and reads. They know the move because they have done it so many times, and they cannot teach it.

Bill Thompson became pretty good friends with George St. Pierre, bear hunted with him last year, and spent a week with him. Bill did combat in the military for seven or eight years, where training moved from basics to a stab or a break in contact rather than strict jiu-jitsu. He says that even if someone at a much higher level can articulate what to do, he still cannot get there, because he does not have what it takes to bridge the gap.