New year, new me.

[Nutterbuster]

I'm not much of a New Year's Resolution guy, but I do evaluate every season and lay plans for improving my next one. The past couple of years I've focused on perfecting my saddle system, understanding terrain, and improving access/familiarity with the best local public lands.

This coming year, I've decided to focus on three things:

Boat Access - My canoe and kayak have allowed me to really expand my hunting grounds. After buying a house on the river, it didnt take long for a 14ft jonboat with a 15hp motor to move in with me. I haven't used it this season, since I'm frankly not comfortable with navigating a very cold and very flooded river in an unfamiliar vessel.

Over the summer, I plan on getting comfortable with it, and exploring some locations that are way beyond feasible paddling distance. I'm really excited about the ability to get to places that are less pressured. Which leads me to...


More Preset Trees - my carbon fiber bolts rock for mobile hunting. But it cant be denied that preset trees give you an advantage in the stealth department, and they make hunting easy. With our generous season, burnout is a real thing. The idea of replacing paddling/hiking and drilling a tree with motoring down the river to a pre-drilled tree is very exciting. Anybody have recommendations for the cheapest way to do presets?


Scent Control - Right or wrong, I'm going to try it in earnest. Guess I'm a "pee on the electric fence myself" kinda guy. I've always felt that the oppressively hot southern weather made scent control efforts futile. But by utilizing an outboard motor, pre setting trees, and limiting my deer hunts to cooler weather, I think I might can make it work.


I'm excited to see what the rut brings in the next couple of weeks, and looking forward to post-season scouting already. Anybody else already planning the 2019-2020 season?

 

[Islandshooter]

I'm not much of a New Year's Resolution guy, but I do evaluate every season and lay plans for improving my next one. The past couple of years I've focused on perfecting my saddle system, understanding terrain, and improving access/familiarity with the best local public lands.

This coming year, I've decided to focus on three things:

Boat Access - My canoe and kayak have allowed me to really expand my hunting grounds. After buying a house on the river, it didnt take long for a 14ft jonboat with a 15hp motor to move in with me. I haven't used it this season, since I'm frankly not comfortable with navigating a very cold and very flooded river in an unfamiliar vessel.

Over the summer, I plan on getting comfortable with it, and exploring some locations that are way beyond feasible paddling distance. I'm really excited about the ability to get to places that are less pressured. Which leads me to...


More Preset Trees - my carbon fiber bolts rock for mobile hunting. But it cant be denied that preset trees give you an advantage in the stealth department, and they make hunting easy. With our generous season, burnout is a real thing. The idea of replacing paddling/hiking and drilling a tree with motoring down the river to a pre-drilled tree is very exciting. Anybody have recommendations for the cheapest way to do presets?


Scent Control - Right or wrong, I'm going to try it in earnest. Guess I'm a "pee on the electric fence myself" kinda guy. I've always felt that the oppressively hot southern weather made scent control efforts futile. But by utilizing an outboard motor, pre setting trees, and limiting my deer hunts to cooler weather, I think I might can make it work.


I'm excited to see what the rut brings in the next couple of weeks, and looking forward to post-season scouting already. Anybody else already planning the 2019-2020 season?

Maybe...if the gear arrives in time. If not, there's still the Assault with the rock harness

 

[Gamover06]

Absolutely. Wait times made my saddle hunting 2018 season a fat zero so 2019 will be the year. So far I have new tether and linesman ropes, ordered Amsteel to make daisy chains for my Helium's, Kestrel in the mail (super jacked), scooter platform in the mail (platform build coming). I just built a house so in April I will be putting in a 4x4 target with a 10x10 backstop and will be able to get out to 60 yards. Lots of changes coming in 2019 and couldn't be more excited.

 

[denots]

Well I for one am excited to see how the scent control goes for you. You are a southern Hunter as well as I, and it has not worked for me. I would think you'll smell like gas fumes from that outboard motor going into the woods if nothing else. But if there's a guy that I feel like would be honest on this forum about whether he's getting busted or not it's you, so I look forward to hearing your take on the whole scent control situation.

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[Gamover06]

For scent control: drive in with non hunting clothes on, use wipes and spray to wipe down before you change clothes, once clothes are changed re spray down and then use a cover scent if legal. For your hunting clothes I wash twice and dry once with scent control soaps and dryer wipes. Before I head out I hit them with ozone for 5 min and head out. My ozone container is air tight so 5 min is all I need. Since I have started this I have only been busted once or twice over the last 3 years.


Your other option would be to smoke your clothes. I have not done it but I know there is a large population that swears by it. Might be your best option with using a boat: drive in with non hunting clothes on, use wipes and spray to wipe down before you change clothes, once clothes are changed no need to spray down.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Well I for one am excited to see how the scent control goes for you. You are a southern Hunter as well as I, and it has not worked for me. I would think you'll smell like gas fumes from that outboard motor going into the woods if nothing else. But if there's a guy that I feel like would be honest on this forum about whether he's getting busted or not it's you, so I look forward to hearing your take on the whole scent control situation.

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I definitely won't smell like gasoline, since it's a propane motor! Maybe they'll think I'm BBQing? Might have to wear some white socks with my camo crocs to further lull them into security...

Seriously though, I'm curious to see how it goes. I have John Eberhart's scent control document, and plan on following his lead pretty closely. I admit that I have always been a huge skeptic. But I'm getting to the point where I feel like I've got the basics down pat, and am ready to start messing with "less important" things.

Honestly, there are two or three unnamed members who I respect as killers that have convinced me to be open-minded. I have no idea what to expect. I do assume that it cant possibly HURT my odds, and I've got my routine streamlined to the point where I don't think the necessary regimen will be unmanageable.

I anticipate it taking several seasons before I form a strong opinion. It's a pretty substantial change for me.

 

[Scoutman]

You can get bolts on Ebay cheap. I have built up enough to pre set almost 10 trees. Scent control is relative to your area, lots of options for sure. 25 years ago, I framed houses every day in Myrtle Beach, SC. We knocked off at 3, would be in a tree by 4:30 in lightweight coveralls, work clothes in truck. Shot deer, bears,etc under my tree for years. Open minded is a great way to get outside your comfort zone. Congrats on river house! Always been a dream of mine, one day hopefully. Weather in Bama is usually pretty good, except Jan -Feb a few days, so us southern boys dont have to dress like the Michelin man very much. We are blessed in that regard along with long seasons, generous limits.

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[Slingpredator06]

Ill admit Ive been busted on scent more than a few times. You cant always control or predict which way a deer is gonna approach. For that reason I practice scent control regularly. With that being said though, I live and hunt in NC so I feel your pain on the hot weather hunting especially during archery season. Doesn't matter if I hunt in hot or cold weather I follow the same scent control routine except when its hot I reapply scent killer every once in a while in the saddle. I think scent lok clothing is a scam and I wont buy it. I just wash clothes in scent free detergent/ baking soda and they go right into the scent box and my boots never see the inside of the house or the garage, I wear rubber shoes/boots, and spray down. Regarding your boat, I don't know how far your going but maybe a trolling motor?

 

[bigjoe]

I would tell you, if you cannot use scent lok in the early; which I get, and I only live in Virginia and most years early season is in the 80’s. Try using a cover scent to mask. ie smoke, Fox urine etc.

 

[EricS]

@Nutterbuster it is as hot here in South Georgia as anywhere with exception to Texas and parts of Florida. I planned on not hunting in scentlok the early season this year but decided to just hunt closer to the road from preset trees. Your riverboat adventures would work just as well. Just keep your early season presets close. If you hunt down river and cut your motor a few hundred yards out and drift into where you dock you should be good. I worry about someone messing with my boat more than anything when I leave it. I use bolts on private where I can but you have to wait until close to hunting season to drill and leave them in. I may have to give screw in steps another chance.

 

[Nutterbuster]

Lots of awesome suggestions. I'm honestly not too concerned with my final approach, or scent contamination from the boat. I do have a trolling motor, but animals are fairly accustomed to boat traffic in my experience. Crappie and trotline fishers mostly. I think keeping hunting clothes in a sealed tote and dressing in the boat should be fairly simple. If I'm not using the boat, I'll do the same at the truck.

As hard as I know it's going to be, I'm going to probably try to pass on the early deer season to float-shoot pigs from the bank. A friend of mine has gotten smarter in his old age and exclusively hunts December and January in Mississippi. He hunts less and kills more deer.

I'm thinking that I'll preset most of my known deer-killing locations, and try to add a few to the list. I'm thinking 20 trees is a stretch goal, and I'll settle for 10. I know I'll break protocol and "run-n-gun" some days (because fun!) but I'm going to try and hunt more strategically.

Basically, I feel like on my go-to tracts of land (which are now literally out my back door), I have enough good spots to last me a season, and I'd like to maximize the potential of those locations. It's taken several years to get to that point, and I still have lots of scouting that I can do, but I think it's time to start transitioning.

 

[mattsteg]

Cheapest presets seem like they would be predrilled trees for bolts, and bring your bolts with you. cost: free. maybe some tacks to mark holes. Next cheapest probably prepped trees with e.g. paracord for SRT?

 

[Vtbow]

I have a few:
-More presets. Couldn't agree more
-1 bow- I'm going to get a new bow setup this winter then go through all my setups and stick with 1 for the majority of the summer
-clean out, Ive accumulated a lot of gear in last year figuring this saddle thing out, and I have some surplus
-not be afraid to ground hunt a little, I got so into the saddle thing I didn't ground hunt at all t h is year, and probably missed some opportunities

 

[bigjoe]

I definitely won't smell like gasoline, since it's a propane motor! Maybe they'll think I'm BBQing? Might have to wear some white socks with my camo crocs to further lull them into security...

Seriously though, I'm curious to see how it goes. I have John Eberhart's scent control document, and plan on following his lead pretty closely. I admit that I have always been a huge skeptic. But I'm getting to the point where I feel like I've got the basics down pat, and am ready to start messing with "less important" things.

Honestly, there are two or three unnamed members who I respect as killers that have convinced me to be open-minded. I have no idea what to expect. I do assume that it cant possibly HURT my odds, and I've got my routine streamlined to the point where I don't think the necessary regimen will be unmanageable.

I anticipate it taking several seasons before I form a strong opinion. It's a pretty substantial change for me.

I would tell you scent control, playing the wind etc. has always been around. Anything you can get the upper hand at times. My Dad taught my brothers and I these techniques before scent lok and others started talking about scent control. Some people will be nay sayers. But anything you can do to help control the scent or mask it will help.

Now if I could get my 12 year old to take a shower more than twice a week I may have a fighting chance on him seeing a deer. Lol. My daughter who is 21 has finally caught on and she is seeing deer has had her chances this year.

Everything John and Dan teach and preach is really not all that new about scent control. It is part of the lost art of hunting.

I used to crab apples on my clothes for a cover scent when I was a kid. Leaves clothes in pine needles etc and smoke them.

 

[EricS]

If your going to wait until December to hunt I would just drill in late September and call it done. I just see too many deer in the early season not to hunt despite the sweltering heat, snakes, mosquitoes and ticks. I’m planning on prepping more trees on public. Most of my hunting on public the last few years is run and gun or picking a spot based on maps and hunting it. I enjoy that but there is more evening that I go in to scout then hunt but really never find a spot I want to hunt and wind up backtracking and hunting the best mediocre sign I found.

 

[Vthntr]

I have a few:
-More presets. Couldn't agree more
-1 bow- I'm going to get a new bow setup this winter then go through all my setups and stick with 1 for the majority of the summer
-clean out, Ive accumulated a lot of gear in last year figuring this saddle thing out, and I have some surplus
-not be afraid to ground hunt a little, I got so into the saddle thing I didn't ground hunt at all t h is year, and probably missed some opportunities

So do I get to stop by the house and see the sale items before you release them to General population here at SH?

 

[denots]

For scent control: drive in with non hunting clothes on, use wipes and spray to wipe down before you change clothes, once clothes are changed re spray down and then use a cover scent if legal. For your hunting clothes I wash twice and dry once with scent control soaps and dryer wipes. Before I head out I hit them with ozone for 5 min and head out. My ozone container is air tight so 5 min is all I need. Since I have started this I have only been busted once or twice over the last 3 years.


Your other option would be to smoke your clothes. I have not done it but I know there is a large population that swears by it. Might be your best option with using a boat: drive in with non hunting clothes on, use wipes and spray to wipe down before you change clothes, once clothes are changed no need to spray down.

I tried smoking my clothes this year and got busted twice before I could even see deer. I came home and washed everything. It's not that I don't try and be as scent free as possible, but I have come to the conclusion that you just ain't beating a deer's nose. After I first joined the site and reading some of Eberhart's stuff I did the full scent Lok suit and followed his instruction I thought as exactly as I could. Still got busted. Scent Lok in the early season in South Louisiana is impossible. I will sweat through my clothes just sitting in the tree not doing anything. And not washing them after that is not an option. There's nothing I can soak up that smell after three or four hunts. I have not tried ozone yet. I have also sprayed down with scent killer sprays until my clothes are wet and still been busted. It seems like all the time and money I've spent on it would have been better spent on arrows, broadheads, and more time scouting.

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[Slingpredator06]

If your going to wait until December to hunt I would just drill in late September and call it done. I just see too many deer in the early season not to hunt despite the sweltering heat, snakes, mosquitoes and ticks. I’m planning on prepping more trees on public. Most of my hunting on public the last few years is run and gun or picking a spot based on maps and hunting it. I enjoy that but there is more evening that I go in to scout then hunt but really never find a spot I want to hunt and wind up backtracking and hunting the best mediocre sign I found.

I see most deer in the early season as well by far. Archery is always the most fun. Around here most people don't bow hunt for some reason so when me and my boys go we have an entire national forest to ourselves. When gun starts and the 9am hunters start rolling in my deer sightings probably reduce to half

 

[Letemgrowitllshow]

With tomorrow being my last day to hunt hard, I've been thinking of things I can improve for 2019.

Early season
- Im toying with the idea to take time off to hunt the first week of season. Deer are still in their summer patterns and if I would have had a week to hunt hard I would have killed a 140 class 10 point. In MN the weather can get to the mid 80s the first week of season, but its not bad if you take your time to move around.

Presets
- I only had 1 tree preset this year, and killed from it opening morning. It would mostly be for killing does, but filling the freezer is about 90% why I hunt so much. Next year I'd like to have at least 6 presets. Plus it makes early season hunting more bearable.

Somewhat minimalist approach
- Switching to a saddle this year has been a huge game changer. Another big game changer has been learning to leave the extra gear at home and only carry what I need to. With my hand climber seat platform I can carry that and a small fanny pack with all I need. I need to work more on gear organization so I can find anything with a blindfold on, but Im liking what I've got going so far.

There are a ton of things that I could go into crazy detail about, but those are a few things that I need to work on for next year.




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[Nutterbuster]

If your going to wait until December to hunt I would just drill in late September and call it done. I just see too many deer in the early season not to hunt despite the sweltering heat, snakes, mosquitoes and ticks. I’m planning on prepping more trees on public. Most of my hunting on public the last few years is run and gun or picking a spot based on maps and hunting it. I enjoy that but there is more evening that I go in to scout then hunt but really never find a spot I want to hunt and wind up backtracking and hunting the best mediocre sign I found.

I think the gameplan is going to be to scout and prep postseason when the weather is still pleasant, which will unfortunately necessitate something left in the tree. September I can hog hunt, and it's still frog-giggin' weather.

Slightly embarrassing confession. Twice on two years I've broken out in a very bad rash during our September hog/squirrel season. I'm not talking a little monkey-butt. I'm talking torso so swollen I couldn't get my arms in a shirt sleeve. The swamps and riverbottoms are just incredibly hot, and I dont think the bugs and bug spray help. I think staying on the boat would just be more fun. I know, I know...I'm a sissy.

I did have a run in with a WMA bachelor group opening day this year, but other than that all of my big bucks have been killed in cold weather. It's just more profitable from a numbers standpoint to deer hunt during cold, rut days.

Hinting turning into rambling is why I want more presets. I think our efficiency as predators stems from our ability to plan and reason, and think in abstracts regarding the future. Presets play to that advantage. Mobile hunting still has its place I think, but I'd like to try using it more as a plan B than a plan A, as fun as that plan B may be.