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What have you learned?

I’ve learned not to get attached to the plan. Flexibility and confidence reading the sign and conditions has to be constantly re-evaluated. So for example: I’ve got some hunt all worked out; I’ve put lots of effort in to learning about deer or a deer in an area, the spot is prepped 6 months in advance, the conditions are lining up perfectly for it all to come together. I get up at 3 am, put all my effort into hiking way the hell out to a hard to access location, all is going according to plan. 100 yards out from the stand and I realize the thermals are doing something unexpected… which will block the desired deer movement.

There was a long time when I’d just proceed anyways. You know the rationale: there’s still lots of directions deer can come from… all that. STOP. Back out. Back out enough to not be messing things up. Maybe I’ll set up on the outskirts where I’m not ruining my hard earned research, maybe just head out and go somewhere else to scout - or to a backup location, maybe go home and cross something off the honey-do. Either way, take the time to re evaluate what was going on and make adjustments instead of forcing my way in and “making do.”
 
Proper layering! Alot of folks here helped me figure this one out. One of my early hunts last season I bout got darn near hypothermia because of wind and improper layers. I thought just throwing on a layer of thermals underneath would help. Nope. Gotta block the wind.

Also, I need to hone my skills of visual ranging a little better, especially in low light before the rangefinder will work. Missed the buck of a lifetime last year because I thought he was at 25-30 but he was only at 18 yards. He came out before I even had a chance to start using the rangefinder.

BT
 
I need to stay on top of my freezer better. I threw out 120 pounds of meat last week because I kept putting off defrosting it and it finally crapped out. To add some karma to the matter I threw my back out cleaning it up and laid in the fetal position on the floor for two days. So I'm eager to fill some tags this year and to be better about not procrastinating stuff around the house I know needs done.

I've undergone quite a lot personally. I feel like every year since we started having kids is about 3 years equivalent pre-kid time. Hunting is not as much a part of my identity as it was in my 20's and early 30's. I'm mellowing out and becoming more process oriented. I just try to enjoy the time I get and spend less time in a bad mood wishing I had more. Strangely enough it seems I've gotten better results that way.
 
Black Titan said:
Proper layering! Alot of folks here helped me figure this one out. One of my early hunts last season I bout got darn near hypothermia because of wind and improper layers. I thought just throwing on a layer of thermals underneath would help. Nope. Gotta block the wind.

Also, I need to hone my skills of visual ranging a little better, especially in low light before the rangefinder will work. Missed the buck of a lifetime last year because I thought he was at 25-30 but he was only at 18 yards. He came out before I even had a chance to start using the rangefinder.

BT
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Super easy to refine that skill. Any time you are walking anywhere, pick a spot call the distance and count step till you get to it. If you will make a habit of doing that, by hunting season you mostly wont need a rangefinder for anything in bow range.
 
1) If I’m going to hunt an area repeatedly don’t get too aggressive and focus on a low intrusion / place where wind and ground scent likely to do minimal harm, transitional travel ambush point, because the deer will catch on, and especially a mature buck is very likely to leave. Access, access, access. Don’t let curiosity result in a bunch of ground scent. Get as close to the thick stuff as clean access allows and no closer, unless this is a one and done. Figure as much of this stuff out as possible before season, or the years before. Once you’re in season its way easy to make big mistakes if nothings scouted or understood.

2) Almost all season there are interesting plays to make, they’re just different plays. And it can be a long term multi year process to understand the plays for a given property or given deer and those plays might be different in two years than they are right now. The most generic repeatable long term play is hunting doe group areas in the pre rut / rut. My favorite move, but one that requires the most scouting and preparation and very specific, is early season bedding to food, or acorn action. I have come so darn close with this for 3 years running but each time failed bc the encounter was not quite right.

3) ScentLok seems to work, to some degree.
 
Swampwalker said:
To take the shot you've been given. Instead of waiting for that perfect shot.
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Usually when I say the same thing I get attacked as being unethical and that I should wait solely for the perfect broadside shot. Game is under no obligation to give you the perfect shot. You get what you get and that's it. That doesn't mean a ridiculous shot like a Texas heart shot or excess range.
 
It's not a failed season to not get a buck.

This year I had my goal more oriented toward a "large" buck than I ever have before. I'm not talking a booner, just a nice 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 year old will do.

I shot a small doe during ML season, and nothing with my bow or gun this year. But I had some of the most fun hunts I've ever been on. I don't think I've ever had a season with so many deer inside 25 yards. Some of them were even the size I wanted.

On the other hand, the day I shot the small doe I didn't really handle things well. The morning wasn't shaping up like I wanted to, and I gave up on the day and went to hunt right next to camp. Looking back, I really wish I had performed mentally a little better. I wouldn't have the doe, but I really think I would have seen bucks had I stayed with my original plan.
 
boxerboxer said:
What was your previous climbing method?
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Last year I was using 3 LWCG long sticks, sometimes with a versa aider. But I did not realize it until I saw this video that I was getting lazy and picking the easy tree.

This year I realized that at 70 if I wanted to continue to hunt elevated, I need to make some changes. So, I lost 20 lbs. (still need to drop 10 more) and for the last 2 months or so I have revised every climbing method I previously tried. I wanted to save some weight if I could.

I made some changes to the tree step with aider method and got it working well for me. But that is on a TP tree (telephone pole tree). After seeing this video, I decided that this method will have me hunting trees instead of deer.

I am going to go with 4 Shikar sticks, 6Lbs 4oz. saving me about 1.5lbs over the LWCG sticks and allow me to be more flexible with tree selection.
 
I learned that I spooked too many deer last year, by hunting too deep into the woods. :rolleyes: This year I'll be hunting on the edges.
I learned that I need to stick to my plan of killing the first full sized doe that walks by. Passing on does based on the theory of "if I pass on a doe, more bucks will show up", is nutz! o_O
Never pass on shooting a coyote!!! :cool:
 
Yep.. Last few seasons have proved the impact intrusion has. For what seems like forever I've held a bow all season but last year I blew the dust off the smoke pole when muzzleloader season started, then rifle when that date hit. It was fun and successful.
 
Lucky13 said:
Yep.. Last few seasons have proved the impact intrusion has. For what seems like forever I've held a bow all season but last year I blew the dust off the smoke pole when muzzleloader season started, then rifle when that date hit. It was fun and successful.
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Yep. My biggest mistake last year was over hunting an area. Id hunt this spot 1 day, then move 300 yards further in the next. I don't think people realize how much an area you booger up every time you go in.

This year I intend to stretch myself extremely thin. And looking back on the last 8 years, 7 of the last 8 years I killed my buck on the first sit.
 
Stop overthinking it and just get out there.

Killer funnel, third buck in 2 days during a late December 27-31 timeframe. I wanted them inside 20 yards of the ground blind. Had to pass two 130-140” ten points because I was being a snob and wanted them up close.

This guy comes out of the blue and strolls in, 24 yards broadside. I watched him and filmed him for 3 minutes before I shot. Almost let him walk, hoping the bigger bucks would show back up.

I easily get consumed in the whole “analysis paralysis” mentality. Go hunt, enjoy the woods and opportunities He provides us. A4371CF2-5E2A-4454-9986-F5CC5CDBD2CE.jpeg
 
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bigmike23 said:
Yep. My biggest mistake last year was over hunting an area. Id hunt this spot 1 day, then move 300 yards further in the next. I don't think people realize how much an area you booger up every time you go in.

This year I intend to stretch myself extremely thin. And looking back on the last 8 years, 7 of the last 8 years I killed my buck on the first sit.
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Respectfully disagree. There’s some spots that if hunted properly, you can get several hunts in a row out of. Obviously access/exit needs to be bulletproof, but it’s very possible.

The buck I posted above was taken out of a ground blind that I had hunted nearly 5 days in a row, morning & evening. That was the 3rd mature buck seen from the ground blind.

Will I hunt every spot like this? Absolutely not. Some spots just consistently produce big bucks.
 
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