Fred Bear said that "Next year's hunt begins the minute this season's hunt ends."
Many of you are wrapping up your seasons, and if your like me, your already looking forward to next years hunting season. This was my first year archery hunting again in 20 years, and first year getting elevation for my hunts. I learned a ton this year, spent 100s of hours in the back yard shooting my bow, and practicing with equipment and watching different Youtube videos. I learned about my bow first then deer movement patterns, how deer see, what they eat, sounds they make, etc. I tried to learn something every hunt, even if it was an unsuccessful evening. I've been rifle hunting the last several years, but that always seemed more like waiting for a scared deer to happen to run by as you sit off a trail.
About mid summer I started scouting woods and taking drives with the wife to look at deer. This got me looking at the woods and seeing how thick they could be while stuff was still growing, and I knew that archery would be open while stuff was still green, as opposed to the white ground for rifle. I realized that to give me an advantage I needed elevation, but heights aren't my thing. I picked up an old steel climber from a guy on FB, and that got me in trees. It felt good and strong, but was so heavy and noisy. Found saddle hunting and took off from there, now I can climb and feel comfortable in my saddle gear at height.
This allowed me to take my first archery deer, on my first year archery hunting. Its been a real education this year, and I feel like my knowledge of hunting and countless hours of research and practice has paid off. I will continue my education in hunting, but I think I will continue to learn movement of deer and where to look for them into the next season.
What lessons did you learn this year that you plan to carry into the next season, or what do you want to do differently next season?
Many of you are wrapping up your seasons, and if your like me, your already looking forward to next years hunting season. This was my first year archery hunting again in 20 years, and first year getting elevation for my hunts. I learned a ton this year, spent 100s of hours in the back yard shooting my bow, and practicing with equipment and watching different Youtube videos. I learned about my bow first then deer movement patterns, how deer see, what they eat, sounds they make, etc. I tried to learn something every hunt, even if it was an unsuccessful evening. I've been rifle hunting the last several years, but that always seemed more like waiting for a scared deer to happen to run by as you sit off a trail.
About mid summer I started scouting woods and taking drives with the wife to look at deer. This got me looking at the woods and seeing how thick they could be while stuff was still growing, and I knew that archery would be open while stuff was still green, as opposed to the white ground for rifle. I realized that to give me an advantage I needed elevation, but heights aren't my thing. I picked up an old steel climber from a guy on FB, and that got me in trees. It felt good and strong, but was so heavy and noisy. Found saddle hunting and took off from there, now I can climb and feel comfortable in my saddle gear at height.
This allowed me to take my first archery deer, on my first year archery hunting. Its been a real education this year, and I feel like my knowledge of hunting and countless hours of research and practice has paid off. I will continue my education in hunting, but I think I will continue to learn movement of deer and where to look for them into the next season.
What lessons did you learn this year that you plan to carry into the next season, or what do you want to do differently next season?
