Animal Movements

[PhissingPhil]

On the back of the Little Green Book the lake is shown without the water to indicate the terrain the fish see. Similarly the terrain that we & other animals see is the above water terrain without regards to the fluid it is immersed in, the air. Of course it is more difficult for us to see the underwater terrain and that is what Buck has taught us to look for & understand.

If you'll forgive me for straying from fishing for a moment, I'd like to mention an above water parallel of animal movements to fish movements. Bear with me, if you will. We are taught that fish move on paths they know & understand. It's quite obvious people do the same as evidenced by our sidewalks, roads, even hiking trails, etc.

Since another of my passions is hunting deer (on the ground at extremely close range), we come to know that these creatures also move on terrain they know, understand, & often along paths. Surprisingly many even very experienced deer hunters can't see the terrain for the woods. I took a guy to one of my very best spots and many years researched locations and in only 1/2 day he returned to tell me that, "There aren't any deer back there!" What he didn't know and what it had taken me years to figure out was that the end of that ridge led to and from the ridges on the other side of a major valley. It was the very best crossing point of a stream within quite some distance. The deer, when MOVING from one side to the other went right through there. Ah, so you can see the connection. Since he didn't want to hunt there, two weeks later I took a very large deer there that made his eyes bulge when he saw it. Then I couldn't keep him out of that spot.

But the terrain can change and we should be aware of that for fishing too. A few years later beavers damned the stream down the valley from the aforementioned crossing. The crossing "spot" was changed into a shallow lake. That crossing from ridge to ridge in the valley was no longer used. The ridges still have deer, but they aren't funneled through the location where they used to cross. The hunting spot is not nearly as good as it had been. It was the terrain and associated details that had made this a great spot. It can be hard for people to understand even the terrain we can see. No wonder it is so much harder for us to understand the underwater terrain we can't easily see.

Please pardon my diversion....

[Steve Craig]

Phil,
I know i have posted this before, but from 1996 to 2008, I ran a Guiding business called Arizona Predator Hunts. I guided Predator callers only. Got published in a couple National Magazines, and became quite famous for calling Mountain Lions. Have done and still do seminars for the various Predator calling clubs/Trapping clubs out here.
Anyway, one of the main reasons I was so successful, was because I understood how lions, bobcats, coyotes, bears, and fox used "structure, breaks, and breaklines" in their movements across the terrain. Why do they do it?
Because their prey uses the same features. Mule Deer, Elk, sheep, etc all use those great ridges, cuts, washes, creeks and rivers.
I was successful because of Buck Perry's teaching. All I had to do was be at the "right place", at the "right time", and calling using the "right tools", in the "right manner".

It was a great business and I retired from it at the top of my game. My Paint Contracting business was also growing and i had to make a decision on which way to go.
I had turned a great hobby into a daily grind, and ruined it for myself, so it was easy to shut it down. I made alot of friends around the country, and had a wonderful time with it. All the credit goes to Buck. I just adapted what he taught to the land animals.
Today, I have 2 companies, (Painting and Construction) and many employees to take care of. They really cut into my fishing time.

[PhissingPhil]

I wondered whether anyone here would get the parallel connection or would care anyway. When you give it a little thought it becomes clear that all animals use the terrain in one way or another to guide their movements. What is remarkable is that Buck Perry saw this also applied to fish because for almost everyone the underwater terrain is invisible. Until Buck "saw" that underwater terrain nobody was paying it much attention. I'm still not that good at "seeing" it, but do use what I am able to "see" in my fishing.