Fun with Charts: a decade and a bit of stalking in Data - because you're all geeks ;)

[Jennifer]

Having thought about this some more, and having shot 2 more this morning at 275 and 320, both of which ran, I also think this: I think I shift my point of aim at longer range. At short range, where I can be absolutely certain about exactly where I’m going to hit, I will try for more surgical shots - hilar, base of neck etc (head shots are excluded from this data set). At longer range, I shift to more conventional ‘tuck behind the elbow, half way up’ shot. This is more forgiving of errors in placement, but also leads to more runners.

And we can’t ignore the fact that error increases at range anyway!

Ah I see, that does make a lot of sense. It might be interesting to eliminate the shot placement variable and shoot everything at all ranges with the conventional placement and see what that does to the probability.

 

[baguio]

Good evidence to show your partner that she doesn't let you go stalking anywhere near often enough. With the deer epidemic that we currently have in this country, every stalker should be out at least once a week! It will save you money at the butchers/supermarket so more money for days out. Everyone a winner!

 

[Pine Marten]

Good evidence to show your partner that she doesn't let you go stalking anywhere near often enough. With the deer epidemic that we currently have in this country, every stalker should be out at least once a week! It will save you money at the butchers/supermarket so more money for days out. Everyone a winner!

One thing I won't do is gather and present any data on the economics of it all as it absolutely doesn't make any sense. Especially given the petrol involved.

It's not really a question of being "allowed" out. It's more balancing it with other obligations, chiefly to do with small people. Also there's an aftermath to a successful stalk that takes up a lot of time and the kitchen for a couple of days. Can't abuse that, it's quite invasive.

Now that said, I plan at least two more outings by the summer as stalking has all been a bit thin of late.

 

[willie_gunn]

OK.

I'll bite.

Here's my graph...

View attachment 297533





You are welcome.

I can't quite tell - is that graph based solely on historical data or might it also include a forecast?

 

[Pine Marten]

Impressive collection and presentation of data, I feel as if I should either clap or employ you good people to do my taxes. Very nice work Indeed .

I'm getting a bit carried away and tried to do it for small game too but it's messier by nature. And I don't have records of misses (not enough space in the diary!), wounded, etc.

 

[Pine Marten]

I'm going to stop after this, I promise. But @baguio's comment was based on incomplete data. Because you see, I don't just stalk deer, I shoot small game too, and that has changed over time. And NOW we have a couple of charts that tell a story, finally.

Chart 8: Small game hunting trips.



Key findings and context:

1. I was really rubbish at wildfowling. The failure rate was almost 100%. I don't have records going back far enough but there are four or five years before this with a success rate of nothing whatsoever. But I WAS not bad at roughshooting in the woods on my own. Or in other words, stalking. Now domestically, leaving all the time in the middle of the night on literal wild goose chases with absolutely nothing at all to show for it but a load of mud and an inability to function the next day, plus an empty wallet, just wasn't tenable. So I dropped the wildfowling, thereby losing access to the woods. But the club had lost the lease on the best one anyway.
2. As a result, small game mostly dropped off the radar for the next 6 seasons as I transitioned into deerstalking. With the notable exception of the fabulous yearly invitation to the syndicate I was later lucky enough to join (in orange), courtesy of @unicorn71 .

So that's the other half of the picture @baguio didn't have.

Chart 9: The Full Picture



Actually, Mrs PM "lets" me out at a steady sort of rate and has done for years, especially as YPM and his sister joined us over this period. It's about as much as I can comfortably manage, the ROI is now much better, and the balance has shifted back to small game in the last couple of seasons. But I'm not finished yet.

 

[Eric the Red]

I keep everything via an app, including time out, weather etc and geolocation, with photos. I can then look at a map and do a similar slice and dice in Excel..... Easy to get very carried away..... now trying to automate data grab wherever possible.

 

[SikaHunter]

I keep everything via an app, including time out, weather etc and geolocation, with photos. I can then look at a map and do a similar slice and dice in Excel..... Easy to get very carried away..... now trying to automate data grab wherever possible.

What app do you use. ??

 

[Tim.243]

I'm going to stop after this, I promise. But @baguio's comment was based on incomplete data. Because you see, I don't just stalk deer, I shoot small game too, and that has changed over time. And NOW we have a couple of charts that tell a story, finally.

Chart 8: Small game hunting trips.

View attachment 297590

Key findings and context:

1. I was really rubbish at wildfowling. The failure rate was almost 100%. I don't have records going back far enough but there are four or five years before this with a success rate of nothing whatsoever. But I WAS not bad at roughshooting in the woods on my own. Or in other words, stalking. Now domestically, leaving all the time in the middle of the night on literal wild goose chases with absolutely nothing at all to show for it but a load of mud and an inability to function the next day, plus an empty wallet, just wasn't tenable. So I dropped the wildfowling, thereby losing access to the woods. But the club had lost the lease on the best one anyway.
2. As a result, small game mostly dropped off the radar for the next 6 seasons as I transitioned into deerstalking. With the notable exception of the fabulous yearly invitation to the syndicate I was later lucky enough to join (in orange), courtesy of @unicorn71 .

So that's the other half of the picture @baguio didn't have.

Chart 9: The Full Picture

View attachment 297595

Actually, Mrs PM "lets" me out at a steady sort of rate and has done for years, especially as YPM and his sister joined us over this period. It's about as much as I can comfortably manage, the ROI is now much better, and the balance has shifted back to small game in the last couple of seasons. But I'm not finished yet.

7 hrs. divide 318 picked by 2 = not bad

 

[Eric the Red]

What app do you use. ??

Something I have knocked together

 

[SikaHunter]

Hello everyone!

Last week, I realised that the CWD I’d shot was in fact the 20th deer I’d stalked. Well, technically one of those deer was a wild boar, but it’s the stalking that counts. Then someone asked about the sex ratio of deer that people had shot. So I checked, and before I knew it I’d tripped over a spreadsheet and fallen through a nerdhole. It occurred to me that this is exactly the sort of thing that is likely to get the pixels flowing on here, and so I give you My Decade-and-a-Bit of Stalking For The Pot in Seven Charts.

Important Note: this is a based on a weak dataset where the universe is 49 stalking outings, representative only of the 49 stalking outings I’ve been on. I’ve also tried to represent what numbers I have honestly to avoid trouble with @Mungo. No cross-referencing of such a small number of data points can have any statistical significance. It’s just for fun and discussion. Don’t shout at me please.

Chart 1: Summary of all outings. N=49.

View attachment 297394

Key findings:
1. I have been successful on 41% of occasions with wildly varying distribution.
2. Frequency of stalking has been affected hugely by babies and pandemics, not always negatively.
3. I don’t actually stalk much.

Chart 2: Summary of species stalked. N=20

View attachment 297395

Key findings:
1. I shoot little deer that fit in my domestic freezer.
2. Fallow bucks are an imaginary animal like unicorns.

Chart 3: Accuracy of my shooting in the field. N=22

View attachment 297404

Key Findings:
1. I’ve improved. Of the two misses, the first was the first deer I shot at. The liver shot was the first deer I shot. The gut shot was the first and only boar I’ve shot. Not that I’m proud of these.
2. My rifles are plenty accurate enough.

Chart 4: Effect of my shooting in the field. N=22

View attachment 297405

1. No lost animals. That at least is happy result. Only one serious follow-up needed on that boar. Not an experience I’d care to repeat.
2. It’s not that hard to kill deer cleanly and quickly. Even the runners here only made it a few metres.

Chart 5: Use of venison. N=20

View attachment 297406

1. I’ve eaten 87.5% of the animals I’ve shot. I’m happy with that too.
2. I don’t like shooting things I won’t eat. It leaves a feeling of incompleteness.

Two more to follow but that should set keyboards wagging hopefully.

I do something very similar for a syndicate and find it invaluable to inform a cull plan for the area. I also link it all to a Google map in Google Drive (my maps) and plot ever animal shot in different colours by year (layers). You can also upload photos etc along with the location. . Just and idea in case you were wondering what to do in the off season.