For us that are uneducated who the hell are you talking about?

 

Well, I use his name in the post, please read entire post

Those who can answer my post would know which Tony I am sure.

 

His background includes trapping for a living. Also, farming produce for a living. As I understand it he has always worked for himself and does what he loves. If you really think about it, trapping and farming put your feet to the ground big time. Your ability to observe nature at its most basic level while manipulating it to your advantage are some of the things you master if you want to be successful. Combine that type of knowledge and experience;apply them to your life's passion (hunting deer) throw in a personality that is willing to try things and you just might have some profound observations and ideas? He is just a normal guy with some profound observations.

I personally think you should give him a call talk to him directly. It's the right thing to do... as you will get many interpretations of the man and his abilities.

 

OK my bad. Sorry I asked

 

Thank you Sidekick. Perfect response.

Did you hire him? If so, give me an idea of how you felt after he left. Did you have clear direction and a plan that is realistic?

 

Very funny.
Yes he doesn't have to prove himself and no, anyone that hired him has not been disappointed.

One of the great values of Michigan Sportsman's Forums is the legacy of Tony Lapratt and the discussions he has generated.

The off season begins.

 

Here we go again, another Tony thread. I hope the bashers stay clear.

No reason to sell him to you. It is your choice whether you attend one of his boot camps or hire him or his partner Chris to come to your property.

I have attended the boot camp, have talked to Tony and Chris on several occassions since then, and put my name on the list to have him come out and do a property tour with me. Hopefully he will be able to make that work in 2010 as I am now working on funneling the deer, and I am sure that he will be able to help me with that.

You said you have done the research, and those that have worked with Tony do not have anything bad to say about him and what knowledge he brings to his students, then I am not sure anyone can say anymore than that.

His teachings are not about one thing, they are about everything as it relates to your property and methods for taking big bucks. Tony thinks like a deer, and therefore he is wealth of knowledge on them. Some of the stuff will work on your property, some won't, but I can assure you that he will change much of your thinking and tactics.

 

Koz Bow, I am new to this site. I have gone through some past posts regarding him. Obviously no one has to "Sell'' him to me. For those who don't want to take this ride, there's so many other threads to partake.

I pretty much already got the answer I was looking for. See how fast and painless that was. And you didn't even have to make the effort to respond.

I'll take my answer from SideKick and continue looking through past posts to learn as much as I can before forking over hundreds of dollars.

Thanks again Sidekick. I appreciate the snapshot you provided.

 

I attended boot camp.

I was very satisfied. He changed the way I think about deer and hunting deer. This has allowed me to accelerate my learning curve and apply habitat manipulation more efficiently. It doesn't mean that you can't be successful on your own. Many many are very successful on their own. For me, I felt it would be fun, I might learn something or meet some like minded people.... He delivered.

I am actively applying the things that I have learned. I have had very good results.

I am a self taught hunter and habitat hobbyist (25+ years). I have only recently aggressively sought out knowledge and information on the subjects. Not really sure why it took me so long to get serious about these things. Going to boot camp is only part of my strategy to educate myself on these subjects.

 

I've been bowhunting for 28 years and have learned a whole lot just spending a lot of time in the woods throughout the years. But anytime it's possible to pick someone else's brain whether I'm paying for it or not I say hell yes. Nobody knows it all, it's whitetail hunting, but any advantage I can have, I'm willing to learn.

 

Koz Bow, I am new to this site. For those who don't want to take this ride, there's so many other threads to partake.

I pretty much already got the answer I was looking for. See how fast and painless that was. And you didn't even have to make the effort to respond.

You are correct, you are new to this site!! Wow, what a way to start out!

 

I have never meet the man. The loyalty of those who have, those who have gone to boot camp and the fact that they will not divolge any of the things they learned from him tells me that he is a man of character.
I also think the guys who refuse to reveal what he as asked them not to are as well.
As far as what he knows it does not suprise me to learn that he is a trapper. No one knows wildlife like a trapper.

 

Anyone can if they have a tremendous passion and the correct deductive reasoning with fact gathering figure things out and push the envelope. Look at some of the biggest medical breakthoughs in history...they are people desperate for a cure for a disease for themsleves or a close friend or family member. Tony loves deer, deer hunting..everything about them and has learned from reading, experimenting, talking to people, observation ect... and has educated himself extensively. By just reading a few plant identification web sites I have expanded my knowledge extensively and can now identify plants and now I know why deer like a specific area instead of just saying "deer seem to like it over there from time to time". Of course it does not make me a plant expert, but I'm much better than what I used to be. Heck, right now I am doing some independant eletrical testing on ignition systems for 2 stroke motors and I have been giving an Engineer at a major manufactuer information that he has never heard before just because I have a DOE...not deer but a design of experiment that I am following and it is giving me some info that nobody else has. Heck, with the internet most people with a thirst and desire on a specific topic can become at least moderately educated in a short period of time.

 

I've attended his boot camp and have had him out to our place. You want to know why Tony is different...he's not educated like a wildlife biologist. I'm not saying he's dumb, because he know a heck of a lot about different topics. But it's like this, Tony learned through observation and manipulation, not from a book. That's real world experience to me. And get this, he's had plent of time and experience to do it because he's never worked Oct-Dec his entire life. He literally just hunts the last quarter of the year and works on different things. No wildlife biologist spends or has spent that much time in the woods.

I like wioldlife biologist for different reasons and some scientific data, but when it comes to habitat manipulation, I want something that works.

His boot camp is not about how to make you a better hunter, although it will, it is about making your land better. That's what people on this forum don't understand. The bashers rant about paying money to get helpful hunting tips, but it's not that at all. He hardly talks about that. When you go to his boot camp 95% of his time is talking about you could do this here, or this would work here, or check this out and how the deer are responding.

It's all about thinking outside the box...and that's exactly what Tony gets property owner (who just happen to be deer hunters) to understand.

 

You are correct, you are new to this site!! Wow, what a way to start out!

Hey Koz. We can learn alot from this guy. People from the Detroit area are some of the smartest people on the planet.

Fyi Hot Spot. Koz happens to be one of the most respected members on this site.

In the future if you start a thread you may want to give people a chance to answer your questions. Or next time nobody will answer them.

 

The title of your thread speaks volumes. It appears that your entire premise is that to be a pioneer in deer management, one must be a wildlife biologist. With all due respect, this is nonsense (trust me, I'm a biologist by schooling.....).

There's an old saying: experience is the best teacher.

There's another old saying: those who can't do...teach.

Connect the dots. :idea:

 

experience is the best teacher

That's it in a nutshell right there...

I think it's alright to be skeptical but in a respectful manner. I have never met Tony but I know that he shares my passion for the outdoors and whitetails.

When one has that passion then you begin to pour yourself into studying and observing wildlife and the habitat they live in...no college can every take the place of observing wildlife on a daily basis over a lifetime.

People ask the same thing about me..."who the heck are you and what do you know about anything" and what I offer is free...

I teach people how to build bedding areas and better habitat via my ongoing informational threads, but for some a hands on person to person meeting is well worth whatever the price may be.

I know this much...I have corresponded with thousands of landowners over the years and so far I have never talked to one that regretted spending time with Tony....

 

Remember, just because one is a wildlife Biologist, doesn't make one a hunter! I hunted land in the UP that bordered land owned and hunted by a very famous Deer Biologist, I mean this guy spent his entire career with the MDNR living with deer, doing research, and writing books and articles. So, naturaly I couldn't believe it when I learned he hunted out of a shack overlooking a bait pile!:bloos:

I have been to Tony's Bootcamp and will say this, I have never met a smarter man, relative to deer habits and how to capitalize on those habits.

 

I will take a stab at several qualities that Tony has used to achieve his success--in order of importance.

1. Intelligence. Look in his eyes, you see awareness and intentness and intelligence. He knows what is going on around him at all times. He figures stuff out.

2. Observational skills. After attending his boot camp the first time, I wrote my thoughts about it here on the forum. I have been a scientist for decades and I personally know some of the greatest scientists in the world. I rank Tony among them--really. My Ph.D. thesis advisor told me that the number one skill successful scientists have is they are adept observers of the world. That is what Tony does so well.

3. Perserverence. I strongly recommend, if you want to understand how Tony got to where he is, that you read a book by Malcolm Gladwell called "Outliers." In it, Gladwell discusses highly successful people, like the Beatles and Bill Gates. What he discovered was an underlying principle. Most of these people spent over 10,000 hours practicing their art in obscurity. I'll do the math for you. That is about 5 years of effort developing the skill. For Bill Gates it was 10,00 hours of writing code as a teenager because he had free access to a University computer, before the days of desktops. For the Beatles, it was years of playing joints in mainland Europe. Tony had his 10,000 hours in trapping critters, which taught him the basis for his obsession with scent control, long before he ever got obsessed with whitetails. He got his 10,000 hours in growing vegetables professionally in his spare time:lol:. Then he got his 10,000 hours in with whitetails before he even thought about teaching a class. These hours were spent alone in the woods, swamps, and fields, trying to figure out what makes this prey species tick--how it perceives the world, how it reacts to it. Think about it. How many hunters in MI or any other state have spent 10,000 hours doing nothing but observing white-tailed deer? Now, after all those 10,000 hour stints, he has personally put in his 10,000 hours managing hundreds of deer hunting properties. The average hunter spends about 40 hours a year in the woods "studying whitetails." It would take the average hunter about 250 years to get in their 10,000 hours of "on the job" training:lol:.

4. Teaching skills. Tony is among the top 3 teachers I have ever known. And that is saying something, since I went through high school (12 years), a B.S. in biology (4 years) , an M.A. in developmental biology (2 years), and a Ph.D. in biochemistry (4 years) as well as postdoctoral work in developmental biology (2 years), giving me a chance to evaluate countless teachers over a 24 year period. All Tony would be is another accomplished hunter if he were not also one of the most mesmerizing teachers that walk our state and our planet. Tony counts Mitch Rompola as one of the best hunters he knows. Mitch had his 10,000 hours in long ago, hell, he has 10,000 hours in just counting pre-season scouting. But the knowledge is not accessible to the rest of us because Mitch doesn't seem to be able to teach it. Tony can, which is essential to his success.

There are other factors but these top the list for me.

 

Remember, just because one is a wildlife Biologist, doesn't make one a hunter! I hunted land in the UP that bordered land owned and hunted by a very famous Deer Biologist, I mean this guy spent his entire career with the MDNR living with deer, doing research, and writing books and articles. So, naturaly I couldn't believe it when I learned he hunted out of a shack overlooking a bait pile!:bloos:

I have been to Tony's Bootcamp and will say this, I have never met a smarter man, relative to deer habits and how to capitalize on those habits.

Most wildlife biologists with a B.S. or M.S. degree come out of college with nothing but the most basic underpinnings required to eventually become an expert, if they work with a burning passion. They will become experts only after years of real on the job training. In other words, they will learn by doing just like everyone else. The degree is just a ticket that gives you a basic understanding of the language of the art, but does not teach the art itself--that requires 10,000 hours of on the job effort.

When I graduated with my Ph.D. in biochemistry, I was a scientist in name only. I am now considered an expert in a couple of areas, but only because I got my 10,000 hours in doing it, not because I have a degree or title. Anybody can do it, all you have to do is work hard (obsessively) for 10 or 20 years:lol:

 

I think it's alright to be skeptical but in a respectful manner.

I agree. Healthy, respectful skepticism is smart.

Skepticism with attitude is just........douchebaggery. :16suspect

 

I think Hot Spot is just one of these guys trying to start an argument. I'd just ignore him.

 

I will take a stab at several qualities that Tony has used to achieve his success--in order of importance.

1. Intelligence. Look in his eyes, you see awareness and intentness and intelligence. He knows what is going on around him at all times. He figures stuff out.

2. Observational skills. After attending his boot camp the first time, I wrote my thoughts about it here on the forum. I have been a scientist for decades and I personally know some of the greatest scientists in the world. I rank Tony among them--really. My Ph.D. thesis advisor told me that the number one skill successful scientists have is they are adept observers of the world. That is what Tony does so well.

3. Perserverence. I strongly recommend, if you want to understand how Tony got to where he is, that you read a book by Malcolm Gladwell called "Outliers." In it, Gladwell discusses highly successful people, like the Beatles and Bill Gates. What he discovered was an underlying principle. Most of these people spent over 10,000 hours practicing their art in obscurity. I'll do the math for you. That is about 5 years of effort developing the skill. For Bill Gates it was 10,00 hours of writing code as a teenager because he had free access to a University computer, before the days of desktops. For the Beatles, it was years of playing joints in mainland Europe. Tony had his 10,000 hours in trapping critters, which taught him the basis for his obsession with scent control, long before he ever got obsessed with whitetails. He got his 10,000 hours in growing vegetables professionally in his spare time:lol:. Then he got his 10,000 hours in with whitetails before he even thought about teaching a class. These hours were spent alone in the woods, swamps, and fields, trying to figure out what makes this prey species tick--how it perceives the world, how it reacts to it. Think about it. How many hunters in MI or any other state have spent 10,000 hours doing nothing but observing white-tailed deer? Now, after all those 10,000 hour stints, he has personally put in his 10,000 hours managing hundreds of deer hunting properties. The average hunter spends about 40 hours a year in the woods "studying whitetails." It would take the average hunter about 250 years to get in their 10,000 hours of "on the job" training:lol:.

4. Teaching skills. Tony is among the top 3 teachers I have ever known. And that is saying something, since I went through high school (12 years), a B.S. in biology (4 years) , an M.A. in developmental biology (2 years), and a Ph.D. in biochemistry (4 years) as well as postdoctoral work in developmental biology (2 years), giving me a chance to evaluate countless teachers over a 24 year period. All Tony would be is another accomplished hunter if he were not also one of the most mesmerizing teachers that walk our state and our planet. Tony counts Mitch Rompola as one of the best hunters he knows. Mitch had his 10,000 hours in long ago, hell, he has 10,000 hours in just counting pre-season scouting. But the knowledge is not accessible to the rest of us because Mitch doesn't seem to be able to teach it. Tony can, which is essential to his success.

There are other factors but these top the list for me.

Thanks for posting that Jim,

I was about to ask you for a link to your for your link to point number 2 above but I found it in a search. Nice words.
http://michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=220722&highlight=boot+camp&page=7

I've mentioned it before I am also a big fan of point number 3. Malcolm Gladwell's books are great reads. I took a lot away from his Outliers and Blink books.

 

I agree. Healthy, respectful skepticism is smart.

Skepticism with attitude is just........douchebaggery. :16suspect

I think Hot Spot is just one of these guys trying to start an argument. I'd just ignore him.

I didn't get that at all from his post. I'm sure that other people(including myself) have often wondered about the 'resume' that best explains why Tony is who he is. I not only believe it was a good question but one that I believe Bioactive answered quite well. Thanks Bio for a well thought out post.

 

I will take a stab at several qualities that Tony has used to achieve his success--in order of importance.

1. Intelligence. Look in his eyes, you see awareness and intentness and intelligence. He knows what is going on around him at all times. He figures stuff out.

2. Observational skills. After attending his boot camp the first time, I wrote my thoughts about it here on the forum. I have been a scientist for decades and I personally know some of the greatest scientists in the world. I rank Tony among them--really. My Ph.D. thesis advisor told me that the number one skill successful scientists have is they are adept observers of the world. That is what Tony does so well.

3. Perserverence. I strongly recommend, if you want to understand how Tony got to where he is, that you read a book by Malcolm Gladwell called "Outliers." In it, Gladwell discusses highly successful people, like the Beatles and Bill Gates. What he discovered was an underlying principle. Most of these people spent over 10,000 hours practicing their art in obscurity. I'll do the math for you. That is about 5 years of effort developing the skill. For Bill Gates it was 10,00 hours of writing code as a teenager because he had free access to a University computer, before the days of desktops. For the Beatles, it was years of playing joints in mainland Europe. Tony had his 10,000 hours in trapping critters, which taught him the basis for his obsession with scent control, long before he ever got obsessed with whitetails. He got his 10,000 hours in growing vegetables professionally in his spare time:lol:. Then he got his 10,000 hours in with whitetails before he even thought about teaching a class. These hours were spent alone in the woods, swamps, and fields, trying to figure out what makes this prey species tick--how it perceives the world, how it reacts to it. Think about it. How many hunters in MI or any other state have spent 10,000 hours doing nothing but observing white-tailed deer? Now, after all those 10,000 hour stints, he has personally put in his 10,000 hours managing hundreds of deer hunting properties. The average hunter spends about 40 hours a year in the woods "studying whitetails." It would take the average hunter about 250 years to get in their 10,000 hours of "on the job" training:lol:.

4. Teaching skills. Tony is among the top 3 teachers I have ever known. And that is saying something, since I went through high school (12 years), a B.S. in biology (4 years) , an M.A. in developmental biology (2 years), and a Ph.D. in biochemistry (4 years) as well as postdoctoral work in developmental biology (2 years), giving me a chance to evaluate countless teachers over a 24 year period. All Tony would be is another accomplished hunter if he were not also one of the most mesmerizing teachers that walk our state and our planet. Tony counts Mitch Rompola as one of the best hunters he knows. Mitch had his 10,000 hours in long ago, hell, he has 10,000 hours in just counting pre-season scouting. But the knowledge is not accessible to the rest of us because Mitch doesn't seem to be able to teach it. Tony can, which is essential to his success.

There are other factors but these top the list for me.

I too have known both of these men for over 20 years. I met them at the sport shows when I was promoting Scent-lok in it's beginning. Tony a young man at this time was just starting out in his business although
he had farmed his whole life. Mitch was doing lectures at the shows. Tony was eager to learn about anything to do with whitetails and Mitch knew about whitetails in fact I think he lived with them 24/7. Tony and Mitch both knew that the whitetail's greatest sense was their nose. My point here was that it was their intense persistence and Knowlege of the whitetail that drove them to spend countless hours scouting and learning about them. Mitch ran into his own problems, retreated from the scene and is hardly to be heard of ,but Tony carried on his quest to know everything he could about whitetails and their habits. Tony is a very,very influent teacher and knows his whitetails. He has my highest respect and many others throughout the whitetail show circuit.