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Biggest deer hunting weakness?

Work. Its constantly interfering with my hunting schedule! :tearsofjoy:

Seriously though after more than 45 years I've identified more than I really care to admit. The worst thing is I'm very self aware they're deficiencies but I can't seem to be able to consistently correct them. A few in no particular order.

Alertness, I have been known to nap a bit in the tree (I did mention I'm old right ) listening instead of watching. I'm sure some quiet deer slide by me undetected every year. And now with those cell phone things . . . I'm sometimes guilty of killing time on this one hunting forum I frequent when things are slow.:tearsofjoy:

As others have said, my entrances and exits, probably more specifically my exits. I'm honestly just not as careful on my why out as I am on the way in.

Repeating mistakes. I've learned a lot in all these years, if I could only apply it all on every hunt. Honestly though I still find myself making rookie mistakes that I always end up saying to myself "Doh! You know better!". Example: A few years back I had a 10 point and a smaller buck following a doe right toward the tree I was in. I couldn't draw because they were walking straight at me and would have seen the motion. Plan was to let them go by and draw after they walked by. Well long story short, the doe caught a whiff of me just as she passed by the tree and spooked. In the resulting chaos I should have drawn but didn't. Sure enough the buck hesitated for a bit in a perfect shooting location. I would have had time to shoot but I didn't have time to draw and shoot.

Safety Issues. I never wore a harness when hunting from a tree stand . . . had them, just didn't like them. In that regard I'm way better in the saddle. That said, I hunt alone, remote from home for most of the season. If something did happen it could be a couple of days before anyone missed me and even then they would have no idea which direction I might have walked out of camp. I try to leave a log with my intended hunting destination in the camper but I'm not religious about it and I also have a strong tendency to second guess my plans and change it up once I walk out of camp.

On the other hand, there are some things I've been successful at correcting over the years. Probably the biggest is not getting frustrated when things aren't going my way. I used to get absolutely grumpy if I wasn't seeing deer, if there were other hunters in "my area" or if the weather wasn't cooperating. I can honestly say I've put that behind me. I hunt for enjoyment and I'm not letting things I can't control bother me anymore. It spoils the fun.
 
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Mschmeiske said:
My weakness…truthfully, I hate the damn dark. Yeah, I said it haha. I kill deer, but I wonder if I would kill more if I got in earlier or stayed later. As my buddy always tells me “what can get you in the dark, can get you in the light” but it’s still not my favorite time to lurk around. Although I tough it out sometimes, more often than not it hinders me. Oddly enough, I feel completely fine once I’m settled in the tree, just not while my two feet are on the ground. Which of you grown men are a sissy like me? Don’t lie! Haha
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I won’t lie I’m right with you! BUT I consistently push myself and more often than not I walk staring at my feet lol
 
boyne bowhunter said:
Work. Its constantly interfering with my hunting schedule! :tearsofjoy:

Seriously though after more than 45 years I've identified more than I really care to admit. The worst thing is I'm very self aware they're deficiencies but I can't seem to be able to consistently correct them. A few in no particular order.

Alertness, I have been known to nap a bit in the tree (I did mention I'm old right ) listening instead of watching. I'm sure some quiet deer slide by me undetected every year. And now with those cell phone things . . . I'm sometimes guilty of killing time on this one hunting forum I frequent when things are slow.:tearsofjoy:

As others have said, my entrances and exits, probably more specifically my exits. I'm honestly just not as careful on my why out as I am on the way in.

Repeating mistakes. I've learned a lot in all these years, if I could only apply it all on every hunt. Honestly though I still find myself making rookie mistakes that I always end up saying to myself "Doh! You know better!". Example: A few years back I had a 10 point and a smaller buck following a doe right toward the tree I was in. I couldn't draw because they were walking straight at me and would have seen the motion. Plan was to let them go by and draw after they walked by. Well long story short, the doe caught a whiff of me just as she passed by the tree and spooked. In the resulting chaos I should have drawn but didn't. Sure enough the buck hesitated for a bit in a perfect shooting location. I would have had time to shoot but I didn't have time to draw and shoot.

Safety Issues. I never wore a harness when hunting from a tree stand . . . had them, just didn't like them. In that regard I'm way better in the saddle. That said, I hunt alone, remote from home for most of the season. If something did happen it could be a couple of days before anyone missed me and even then they would have no idea which direction I might have walked out of camp. I try to leave a log with my intended hunting destination in the camper but I'm not religious about it and I also have a strong tendency to second guess my plans and change it up once I walk out of camp.

On the other hand, there are some things I've been successful at correcting over the years. Probably the biggest is not getting frustrated when things aren't going my way. I used to get absolutely grumpy if I wasn't seeing deer, if there were other hunters in "my area" or if the weather wasn't cooperating. I can honestly say I've put that behind me. I hunt for enjoyment and I'm not letting things I can't control bother me anymore. It spoils the fun.
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Like my dad (Happy Father’s Day, BTW!) always said…..”this business of making a living is mighty inconvenient”
 
Jimdude said:
The dim light is intentional but not because I don’t want to see danger.
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Are you using a red filter on your light? Once upon a time as a young midwatch deck watchstander, we were taught to use red filters on our penlights - mostly AA mini-Maglites is what the cool kids used - to preserve our night vision. I also don't think they're visible quite as far away as naked white light, but that's to human eyes - I assume a crepuscular herbivore has better night vision and near-IR than we do, so that might not be a factor.
 
boyne bowhunter said:
And now with those cell phone things . . . I'm sometimes guilty of killing time on this one hunting forum I frequent when things are slow.:tearsofjoy:
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I carry two phones - work phone plus my own - but generally avoid using them in the woods. Ringers off (but the tip about replacing your ringer with a turkey gobble is brilliant, I need to do that) and GPS off to preserve batteries. Generally in a waterproof pouch in a cargo pocket or on a neck lanyard. I *do* bring a couple of paperbacks, ideally ones that I've read before. Because I've read them before I don't get too engrossed and lose my peripheral vision/attention. Because they're paperbacks they're quieter and cheaper than hardcovers. Because they're books the batteries will never drain. I do a slow 360-degree bino scan every chapter, double-check the wind, range some trees, etc. If I get antsy and want to move, I'll tell myself to read another chapter, and re-assess then. When it gets too dark to read, it's too dark to hunt, so that's my cue to slow-roll back to the truck.

Honestly I look forward to uninterrupted reading time in November as much as venison. I could start a "deer camp book club".
 
NMSbowhunter said:
I have to say mine would be entry and exit too. I try to make them clean, but it just doesn't always pan out.

Speaking of the dark, I make cleaner entries in grey light than I do going in during the night, but I do feel a lot safe on public ground during firearms season going in well before daylight and leaving well past shooting light.
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During firearm season I also go in an hour before shooting light, but also wear a head lamp, too Many idiots that will shoot at movement. I like to make it back home after the hunt. If I bump a deer as I'm going in its not a big deal because by the time most of the hungover fools start pilling in the woods at first light the deer have forgotten all about me.
 
I guess mine would be that I'm spoiled lol. I got spots in gun season where if i don't tag something by 8am its a bad day unless my buck tag has already been burned. (Happened last year, had 3 shooter bucks by 8 within 40 yds and the does took till 10am to show up). Been bow hunting more the last few so ive been finding some new spots.
 
I'm keeping my analysis to my own causal agents, not things I can't control like work schedules etc. So I think my first is I like to kill deer and so I can get too trigger happy when I see antlers. We can take two bucks here in NY so that can be a help and hindrance as the season progresses.

My second is my visioning/process issues. I always develop a hunt plan in my mind and sometimes I stick to that too much. I need to adjust more and be more nimble minded with my setups and scouting. If the process seems chaotic or not originally how I had it planned out for some reason I'm not as happy with the overall hunt..... unless of course a monster comes in and I harvest it.
 
Mschmeiske said:
My weakness…truthfully, I hate the damn dark. Yeah, I said it haha. I kill deer, but I wonder if I would kill more if I got in earlier or stayed later. As my buddy always tells me “what can get you in the dark, can get you in the light” but it’s still not my favorite time to lurk around. Although I tough it out sometimes, more often than not it hinders me. Oddly enough, I feel completely fine once I’m settled in the tree, just not while my two feet are on the ground. Which of you grown men are a sissy like me? Don’t lie! Haha
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i was uneasy in the dark by myself in the past

what helped me was i was doing field work in the dark with a head lamp with co-workers not near me, and i would sit and turn off my headlamp and try to enjoy the experience

in wv at least, the woods are one of the safest places to be (no grizzlies or mountain lions and no humans usually), so i vibed on that

now, i wear a very powerful headlamp and i also always have a 45 in a chest holster, it doesn't bother me now at all

i'd never go in somewhere relatively new/totally new with a weak headlamp or a red lamp that didn't project....just don't run the light full blast or swing it all around in the trees and such.....i've taken some falls in broad daylight that could have been bad, so i'm not risking it

in one area that is an old strip mine, they dug a round hole several feet across and 4 or 5 feet deep and let brush grow around it, i fell in that hole while scouting and it scared me really bad (the earth swallowed me randomly) and i luckily landed about perfectly...so i don't want any part of that in the dark with all my gear on
 
raisins said:
i was uneasy in the dark by myself in the past

what helped me was i was doing field work in the dark with a head lamp with co-workers not near me, and i would sit and turn off my headlamp and try to enjoy the experience

in wv at least, the woods are one of the safest places to be (no grizzlies or mountain lions and no humans usually), so i vibed on that

now, i wear a very powerful headlamp and i also always have a 45 in a chest holster, it doesn't bother me now at all

i'd never go in somewhere relatively new/totally new with a weak headlamp or a red lamp that didn't project....just don't run the light full blast or swing it all around in the trees and such.....i've taken some falls in broad daylight that could have been bad, so i'm not risking it

in one area that is an old strip mine, they dug a round hole several feet across and 4 or 5 feet deep and let brush grow around it, i fell in that hole while scouting and it scared me really bad (the earth swallowed me randomly) and i luckily landed about perfectly...so i don't want any part of that in the dark with all my gear on
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I think if I could carry I’d feel better. Unfortunately NYS sucks…
 
Allowing fear of failure to handicap exploration, specifically with a bow... For example, preferring to further explore and learn known productive areas during hunting time instead of sacrificing precious (and limited) hunting time to hunt a previously un-hunted (for me personally) area. I'm trying to force myself to make at least few trips during a year to unknown areas to broaden my horizons and hopefully increase my knowledge and experience.

I view most of rifle season as scouting season with the potential for harvest.
 
Wanderlust. Always wanting to see new ground. Don't really enjoy breaking down the details sometimes. Don't hunt private because I don't own land and I'm not playing permission games. Really don't enjoy hunting small pieces where I have to worry about tresspassing boundaries. I tend to hunt where I want to hunt and not necessarily the best place to hunt game-wise. But it's my way and I dig it.
 
KYHunter said:
@Iron_llama what books are on you’re reading list this fall? I’ve been known to do some reading as well
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Traditionally I re-read the WEB Griffen series "The Corps" every year. Right now I'm in the middle of the Song of Fire and Ice (GOT) series by George RR Martin. I'm checking used bookstores for some of Churchill's autobiographies, and kinda hoping I stumble across something by George W "Nessmuk" Sears.
 
My biggest weakness is that I'm an ape who's hardwired to want other apes to like me. So instead of focusing time/effort/money on the activity/skill/gear that has the largest impact on my success, I spend them on the things that I feel will make other hunters think I'm a good hunter.

The more effective I am at killing the elephant in my brain, the more effective I am at killing other critters in real life.


Second biggest weakness is waking up for morning hunts.
 
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