Lessons Learned 2022

[Weldabeast]

OK, Its possible an old dog can learn a new trick. I can't speak for other parts of the country but here in Michigan deer seem look up at the tree line before they look into the bushes on the ground (it wasn't always that way but that's a topic for another thread). I have been unequivocally busted several times over the last two years especially in the later season when the tree cover gets sparse. By busted, I mean even though I wasn't moving they obviously picked me in the tree and recognized me as a threat and vacated the area.

This year I started wearing my much lighter colored wool camo as an external layer as opposed to my previous practice of wearing my normal darker mossy oak over it. This year, while I was still noticed, there deer just gave me a passing glance and after a cursory look they passed me off as no threat.

I don't know if its because the lighter color doesn't stand out as much as the darker camo when skylined or if they are now conditioned to the threat of "Dark blobs in trees" since most everyone is using darker camo. Regardless, the lighter base camo definitely made a difference this year.

It's all quick dry warm weather stuff so maybe not for u but the south Florida guys, swamp n stomp, sell a "high pines" camo. It's made to blend u into the sky more than bushes.....there's even a saddle made with it....Might be worth checking if u worried about that kinda stuff...could go over top ur warm weather stuff

 

[sureshotscott]

Messed up a hunt by walking too far. Had a spot scouted, planned to avoid walking it by hiking north side, then f'd it up. Walked the whole trail, realized my mistake, backtracked, then 1.5 hours later watched a good buck sniff my tracks and bolt never giving me a shot.

 

[Slabzilla73]

OK, Its possible an old dog can learn a new trick. I can't speak for other parts of the country but here in Michigan deer seem look up at the tree line before they look into the bushes on the ground (it wasn't always that way but that's a topic for another thread). I have been unequivocally busted several times over the last two years especially in the later season when the tree cover gets sparse. By busted, I mean even though I wasn't moving they obviously picked me in the tree and recognized me as a threat and vacated the area.

This year I started wearing my much lighter colored wool camo as an external layer as opposed to my previous practice of wearing my normal darker mossy oak over it. This year, while I was still noticed, there deer just gave me a passing glance and after a cursory look they passed me off as no threat.

I don't know if its because the lighter color doesn't stand out as much as the darker camo when skylined or if they are now conditioned to the threat of "Dark blobs in trees" since most everyone is using darker camo. Regardless, the lighter base camo definitely made a difference this year.

I swear we've educated these deer in Michigan. I believe its why the big ones go nocturnal so early.

 

[Slabzilla73]

Ive learned to get my ass in the saddle opening week & not wait til pre-rut. Cant wait til next year!

 

[neonomad]

I’ve learned more this year than any other, some of it too specific to be worth sharing, but two things to mention:
(1)I’ve run a lot of cams recently, and seeing that at almost all times, somewhere, there are deer making shooting light movements…. Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan. On the property I hunt it’s so location, conditions, and animal specific, but if you put your time in to get to know a place, yes you can hunt the usual moves like the rut doe bedding, but little weird nontypical patterns are emerging too, so I can’t get stuck in a groove w stands be open minded, and all the sudden the season is many months of very viable options, not just a few weeks of cliched sits… my buddy just watched a big 8 point cross a field this evening (45 degrees F) well before dark, exiting a pine stand that I was going to hunt yesterday, except that the neighbors started exploding preposterous amounts of tannerite. Point is over the past few years I’ve seen good Dec/Jan evening activity at one specific spot at those pines, and doesn’t require 0 degree temps; no podcast or Topo App could teach me this info it’s from observation over years. I wish I could sit that spot tomorrow.
(2) Like others have said, knowing what trees are available for certain locations, and getting a bunch of those prepped pre-season is so freakin critical, just might even be more important than spending the time to shoot palm sized groups at 50 yards… not knowing my tree options hurt me several times this year.

 

[DB4x4]

1. Cell cams are sweet.

2. Configure your cell cams to sync right before you plan to hunt that area.

I pulled into a spot at 6 am this year to hunt a big buck that started showing up during daylight hours. By pure coincidence, my cam synchronized at 6 am and showed me pictures of the buck standing at the scrape I was walking toward. Because of this, I stopped short of where I was planning to setup. Climbed a tree silently in the dark. At 7:30 am, he walked by at 23 yards, and I double lunged the biggest buck of my life.

This message was brought to in part by... My Cruzr S saddle, the one-stick method, the Spypoint Flex, and saddlehunter.com.

 

[Red Beard]

I've learned I have way suckier (less productive) seasons if I sign up for the saddle hunting contest.

 

[Bwhana]

I've learned I have way suckier (less productive) seasons if I sign up for the saddle hunting contest.

And that is exactly why I do not participate!

 

[woodsdog2]

This year I’ve learned:

1. Cell cams are not a panacea BUT they are helpful with staying power especially during the rut when anything can happen. Due to nasty wet weather conditions that were not forecasted, I was ready to leave by 10:30. Around that time my cell cam a mere 80-100 yards to my west went off twice showing two shooters. Knowing they were cruising through gave me the will to continue to sit. My wide 8 came in almost at high noon to a calling sequence. Although I was trying to call in the two bucks on camera, I was happy the buck I shot decided to show up.
2. Buck inventory is important for disciplined hunting. When you are aggressive with getting an inventory of the bucks in your area and you know concretely what’s available, your ability to be patient and not rush into a bad setup increases sightings and opportunities and gives you the ability to pass up lesser deer.
3. Saddle hunting allows you to hunt the same property more without long term pressure impacts by allowing you to change your locations easily. I’ve found that incorporating saddle hunting even into
My private spots with pre sets, ladder stands, shooting houses and the like actually makes those very locations more effective over the long haul if a season.
4. I don’t know for sure who it was from this forum but I believe it was @kyler1945 about this time last year who talked of his experiences going away from rubber Wellington style boots to merino wool base layers and regular hiking and or hunting boots that breath to keep foot chill down. I did not use rubber boots once this season opting for merino wool socks and three different styles of hiking/hunting/mountain hunting boots and my feet didn’t sweat and chill out whatsoever. I also now believe in the utility of the toe warmers you place under your toes on your socks for only the coldest most sedentary of your days afield. Unless you know you will be fording deep creeks or rivers or hunting in swamp and marshland continuously, I’m done with rubber boots.
5. Although I love my vertical bow, I had fun with a standard crossbow this year harvesting a buck with it. Besides a spring gobbler in ‘21 with an HC Mini, I’ve never really hunted with or harvested any big game animal with a crossbow until this year. I can say that a quality mechanical head out of a crossbow creates extreme penetration and in my opinion is the ideal head for crossbow hunters. I’ve never witnessed the extreme blood loss that a wide opening mechanical delivered by something shooting 150lbs plus in draw weight can deliver. And I’m a strong foc, coc bh, heavier arrow advocate for vertical bow hunting tackle.

 

[2Sloe]

Lessons Learned:
#1. Hanging and quartering in the woods and dragging the quarters out on a sled is soooo much better than either dragging or carting him out field dressed. Bonus: Saves that trip to dispose of the carcass.
#2. Ebikes make short work of long walks behind gates on public and let you get away from the crowd. They also spread the hunting pressure out over a wider area so really everyone wins.

Relearned lessons:
#1. If you look at him and ask yourself if he is “big enough”….he’s not. If he’s big enough you will know it without asking yourself that question. Blew my last rutcation tag on an 8 that I thought was bigger and then had to sit around and twiddle my thumbs for a week waiting to go home. Would have been better to be in the woods and eat that last tag.
#2. The last one to tag out wins!

 

[Nosaj]

Bump and dump can work. In the past if I bumped a deer I would consider the spot blown. I bumped deer twice this year and decided to stick it out because I liked the spots. In both cases they were transition spots, one in the afternoon pre-rut where they transitioned to food and one in the morning during the rut near does. The afternoon, pre-rut buck never came back, he just kept going to the food after I bumped him, I was expecting him to transition through there closer to dusk. The morning, rut buck came back 4.5 hrs later looking for the doe

Hunt the sign not the spot was heavily reinforced this year.

 

[jphillips97]

I learned I need to learn how to hunt open pines...I've always avoided because I hate that terrain but this season I saw and talked to others who concur what I saw...the deer are out there. I still got lots to learn

I learned that if an animal is inside of 15yds and im 20ft up (3 moves vs my normal 2 moves) I need to be patient or pay extra close attention to shooting form. I missed a buck real close cause instead of bending at the hip I just dropped my arm ....shave and a haircut he outta there

I learned that the day as a hurricane is on its way out u can expect the deer to be up and moving around....lots of action that day as Ian moved out of our area

Seasons still open so probably learn something else before it's over

As a fellow Floridian, you pine assessment is correct and I also need to learn to hunt them... Another FL issue is with the ack of real topography, deer are not as forced into travel patterns and corridors... heavily used trails can be relaly hard to find...

 

[BTaylor]

I learned cams are mostly not worth my trouble. I hung one on private and one on public. The one on private had the card stolen and the one on public the cam was stolen.

I learned I made some most likely bad decisions in the name of making good decisions. I didnt hunt reasonably good sign early and instead kept hiking and scouting looking for smoking hot sign that never really developed due to a nearly total mast crop failure. What that over 100 miles of scouting in season did do was give me lots of options for hunting a primary browse source because I paid attention to where I was seeing that particular food source. And while the effort this year didnt pay dividends, I was able to mark a ton of potential spots for years to come.

I learned that the head I designed worked well even though the first prototypes were not exactly how I wanted the head. Unfortunately, the mfg I was working with has backed out of completing the project so I am back to square 2 or 3. I have to figure out how to make the needed changes in cad or or find help with that since I have no experience with it. And then find another mfg to run the heads.

I learned a good deal about different hitched and techniques to climb and unclimb trees.

 

[Weldabeast]

As a fellow Floridian, you pine assessment is correct and I also need to learn to hunt them... Another FL issue is with the ack of real topography, deer are not as forced into travel patterns and corridors... heavily used trails can be relaly hard to find...

Let me know whenever u get it figured out....hahahaha

Come on over to lake George end of Feb and hang out

 

[1simplemann]

OK, Its possible an old dog can learn a new trick. I can't speak for other parts of the country but here in Michigan deer seem look up at the tree line before they look into the bushes on the ground (it wasn't always that way but that's a topic for another thread). I have been unequivocally busted several times over the last two years especially in the later season when the tree cover gets sparse. By busted, I mean even though I wasn't moving they obviously picked me in the tree and recognized me as a threat and vacated the area.

This year I started wearing my much lighter colored wool camo as an external layer as opposed to my previous practice of wearing my normal darker mossy oak over it. This year, while I was still noticed, the deer just gave me a passing glance and after a cursory look they passed me off as no threat.

I don't know if its because the lighter color doesn't stand out as much as the darker camo when skylined or if they are now conditioned to the threat of "Dark blobs in trees" since most everyone is using darker camo. Regardless, the lighter base camo definitely made a difference this year.

I routinely wear snow camo when there isn't any snow on the ground. especially when the leaves come off. Works great. One time I even had a hunter follow my tracks to my tree twice. Both times, he didn't see me in the tree.

 

[woodsdog2]

I routinely wear snow camo when there isn't any snow on the ground. especially when the leaves come off. Works great. One time I even had a hunter follow my tracks to my tree twice. Both times, he didn't see me in the tree.

I meant to comment on this is well and I believe I have mentioned this on this forum in the past. I know it sounds strange and weird but if you're hunting at height, wear some kind of light colored snow camo or similar like predator camo the deer do not see you, especially in the late season or when most of the leaves are off the trees. I do believe the deer have now been conditioned to pick out dark forms at height as well. The predator gray camo, ASAT, I also used a SKRE very dominant white patterned camo hoody this season too even in early season and the deer didn't pick me out like they happen to sometimes.

 

[thedutchtouch]

I've learned a lot of lessons this year. The most recent one was that lake levels change. I've got a camera that used to be on a path right next to the lake. Now it's on the lake and I'm not sure when I'll be able to get to it without a muddy cold slog. Whoops.

at this point I think I may just leave it there for giggles. There's deer around, any sika deer experts available to help me track if I hunt here? I'm used to hunting on land lol. (Kidding, I've got some spots uphill to go to...)

 

[Tylerhorner33]

Bump and dump can work. In the past if I bumped a deer I would consider the spot blown. I bumped deer twice this year and decided to stick it out because I liked the spots. In both cases they were transition spots, one in the afternoon pre-rut where they transitioned to food and one in the morning during the rut near does. The afternoon, pre-rut buck never came back, he just kept going to the food after I bumped him, I was expecting him to transition through there closer to dusk. The morning, rut buck came back 4.5 hrs later looking for the doe

Hunt the sign not the spot was heavily reinforced this year.

My doe this year was similar. Hunting over a creek crossing, my wind switched and bumped a group of doe behind me. It was already around 9 so I figured I was done and as I was packing up one of the doe circled back try to figure out what I was I think. Luckily I still had my bow in hand

 

[Tylerhorner33]

L

at this point I think I may just leave it there for giggles. There's deer around, any sika deer experts available to help me track if I hunt here? I'm used to hunting on land lol. (Kidding, I've got some spots uphill to go to...)
View attachment 79209View attachment 79210View attachment 79211

just get some waders and your good I’d say

 

[cville_bowhunter]

1. listening to podcasts (ear scouting) is not that helpful and can even be unhelpful.
I listened to probably hundreds of hours of hunting podcasts this year and came to the realization that if you listen long enough, you will hear a lot of conflicting advice or "hot" tips. Listening to podcasts is a great way to feel like you are preparing for hunting season without actually doing anything.

2. Cameras are helpful, but only when used for inventory purposes.
I ran cell cameras from January to January and found zero correlation to when a deer would show up in a certain location. Admittedly, this might be due to where I am hunting (foothills of the blue ridge mountains) and could be different elsewhere. I have fallen out of love with the idea that cameras are effective for patterning movement in my area. They are great for seeing what is around, though.

3. Pre-season scouting is good, in-season "scouting" is great.
This year I scouted more in pre-season than I ever have, and I was surprised at how unhelpful it felt when the season started. It was definitely helpful to have some general areas to focus in on during the season, but I realized I was passing up where I was actually seeing deer for where I had seen historic sign over the prior weeks and months. No kidding, right? It really is a simple idea, but I let my pre-season scouting data have way too much sway over real-time sightings. Perfect example was when I kept bumping does in this 5 acre circle going to and coming from spots I was hunting deeper into the property. I decided to set up in this area just to see what would happen and killed a doe 20 minutes after sunrise. Never again will I walk through deer to hunt deer. I put in-season scouting in quotes because I didn't do any dedicated scouting, I just made decisions based on in-season observations.

4. Deer are forgiving when it's dark.
Multiple times this year I ran into deer in the dark with my headlamp and they did not spook. I was not particularly quiet or anything, but I think the fact that they couldn't see anything but my headlamp engaged their curiosity more than fear. If it had been light out, they would have been long gone and I would have blown everything out of the woods. These experiences made it easier for me to get up when that alarm clock goes off really early.

5. Calling makes me feel better, not the deer.
Just like with listening to podcasts, I realized that calling makes me feel like I'm doing something productive when I am actually not. I got rid of my grunt call pre-season because I was calling like a mad man last year and wanted to force myself to not do the same thing again. I ended up getting a new grunt call toward the end of archery season, but the break I had from using one made me much more disciplined about sitting there quietly. I grunted once to try and turn a buck around, and it didn't work. Shot my buck (a different one) later that afternoon just being totally quiet.

6. Saddle hunting is a game changer.
This was my first season in the saddle, and I simply loved it. I hunted 25 or so days this year, and every single sit was in the saddle. That said, I would shy away from the term "mobile" hunting, as it is not as mobile as I thought it would be. Instead, I'd call saddle hunting "versatile." Getting set-up is kind of tedious, but your options for setting up are far greater than any other tree climbing system.