First, things that worked well and not changing
1. Saddle, bow, arrow setup all working. The few deer I’ve shot at last 2 years all died quick, and tracked easy. Keep only taking high percentage shots.
2. Found great grounds, very efficient with great encounters on most sits. trail cam rotation working (1 cell, 3 non cell). Only closed the deal once, though.
Things to change
1. Stay in good “back shape” so I don’t throw out my disc doing household stuff at the start of rut-that means cardio, stretching, core strength.
2. Add preset Paracord/SRT to my climbing method. (Canyon IV rappel) Experiment with 2TC, maybe 1 stick, maybe ROS. Decide by June to change or stay with 3 stick/BD etrier for non preset climbs.
3. Efficient summer trail cam/climbing/preset sessions in the woods after work. Of course that all sounds great now, but heat, ticks, and mosquitoes usually blow these plans! Reality is family stuff in the summer takes priority over scouting on weekends so just hit the woods after work.
4. Take a rutcation. Just staying local, but taking the time off work.
5. Skip morning sits, except during rutcation. (3 for 3 this year in bumping in the dark walking in, or having to rappel and crap at first light, or worse did both on a sit, AND dropped my platform for a record 3 climbs in 1 tree. Luckily I did that just before my back issue, every deer in the county not killed by EHD was laughing at me, and needed 6 weeks to forget….
6. Learn thermals better, or don’t hunt calm days. Had issues with changing wind this year that cost me on 2 occasions.
I blew a few chances this year fiddling with gear because I changed A LOT last year in my first year saddle hunting, and did t practice enough in the off-season. Managed a doe, learned a ton, and loved the limited time I had in the woods this year. Thanks to all the killers and climbers on here for sharing the knowledge for us newbies.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk