Jerry Simmons and Dr. Robert Sheppard Tell Why Bowhunting the Old Way and the New Way – Both Produce Deer
Day 2: Jerry Simmons Tells Us the Importance of Learning the Land You Hunt to Successfully Bowhunt Deer
Editor’s Note: If I had to pick two bowhunters and bet on them to take bucks anywhere in two days of hunting, I’d select Jerry Simmons of Jasper, Alabama, and Dr. Robert Sheppard of Tuscaloosa, Ala., for their consistency. During one deer season in one 38-day stretch, Simmons bagged 36 deer, in a time of more-liberal deer seasons. Sheppard regularly takes all the deer he wants to clean and eat or give away every season. Here’s a look at these two men’s styles of hunting to aid us in learning how to take more deer this season.
Jerry Simmons’ simple strategy means he tries to learn every inch of the woods where he hunts with his longbow. “If I’m hunting 1,000 acres, I’ve got too much land to hunt. I’ll break those 1,000 acres down into 1-acre tracts. Then I attempt to learn everything I can about each acre of that 1,000 acres every day I hunt. I believe that often bowhunters try to hunt too much land and can’t learn enough about the land to determine where a deer will be.”
Once Simmons thoroughly works an acre of land and learns all he can about that one acre, then he’ll study the adjacent acres. He spends much of his time scouting and actually very-little time hunting. For instance, on a three-day hunt, Simmons may scout the entire first day for a place to hunt. On the morning of the second day, if he takes a deer, he’ll immediately take that deer back to camp. Then instead of resting like most hunters do, Simmons will return to the woods and start scouting for the next spot he wants to hunt.
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