So as the season starts to wind down and I become more restless in the stand, I've started bringing a book to read to help pass the time. What do you guys do to help get through late season sits?
When I'm on stand, no matter what stage of the season, I'm CONSTANTLY scanning for deer, non stop. It's the whole reason I'm there. I can wait until I get home to read, or play on the computer. jmo
Without a doubt! Because if I'm doing a dark to dark hunt, it's because it's the rut! The woods get my undivided attention during this time.
That's a good point haha, I guess towards end of season my adhd must kick in and reading helps me to stay on stand longer Good luck w rest of your season
I have a serious issue staying focused in stand on long sits at any time of the season. Typically i read magazine articles and/or these forums to keep me still and "focused"(obviously to an extent). But i wish i could just scan the woods the entire time, but i fidget too much when i do haha Sent from my SM-G930V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
I am not a multi-tasker, if I'm hunting, I'm hunting. Deer can pick up movement from a long way off, often before you even see them, especially now that the leaf cover is gone. My dad is fidgety, can't sit still to save his life, and I see 10 times as many deer as he does, from the same stands. I stopped letting him use my stands because I had deer looking up there, he educated them! You gotta be still. Late season for me involves sleeping in, and if I hunt at all, I'll hunt travel areas between bedding and food for just a couple hours in the evening. Older I get the less I can take the cold.
Being figity on the stand has always been a problem for me. I finally found out why. This past year at the age of 39 I was diagnosed with severe ADHD. That explains so many issues I have had all throughout life. The doctor put me on Wellbutrin and I was finally able to be a normal person. It lasted two weeks then on April first the Wellbutrin caused me to have two seizures, which led to a stroke. Anyways, I can't be on ADHD meds. Not sure what to do. Maybe a ground blind to conceal my movement. Wonder how many deer I've spooked off? I make sure to get in a tree with a lot of cover such as a hemlock, or if in my climber I try to be surrounded by hemlocks. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I could not imagine reading in the stand. If a deer slips in behind you and is in bow range, where do you set your book in a hurry? I agree with constantly scanning for deer and just watching wildlife.
I normally play chess on my phone. I have an app where I play chess against other people and I will play. Normally the games are pretty long and you have plenty of time to make a move, look up and scan the entire woods then back down to play your next move.
i leave the top of my pack open so I can quickly and silently put it away should a deer appear. I usually read a page or two and then do a scan, then read a page or two and do a scan, I really don't see how it is different that when people mess around on their phones while in the stand, at least the book wont run out of batteries.
Typically I just sit and watch but I will occasionally check these forums or facebook if it's slow. I'm not one to do all day sits either.
I had to teach myself to sit in a stand without fidgeting when I started hunting whitetails about eight years ago. Growing up in the west and constantly being on the move, glassing, stalking, etc. I really struggled to sit still in a tree stand. In the first season of tree stand hunting I took a book to pass the time after not seeing a deer for the first 5-6 times out. I too tried reading a bit, looking around, reading a bit and so on. About the third evening I did this, I looked up as the hind end of a deer stepped out of sight about 40 yards away. I was extremely disappointed that I had been distracted and missed seeing my first deer from a stand on now my eight or ninth time out. I never brought the book again and slowly worked on focusing on the hunt. I now sit all day probably 8-10 times each season in addition to morning and evening hunts. I have gotten much better and can honestly say I stay focused on the woods the entire time I'm in the tree. There were at least six times this year when I spotted a deer that was only visible for 2 seconds or less. I wait all year for six weeks of tree stand hunting and I'm not about to let any of it slip away while I'm distracted.
I have to have something read. Having narcolepsy with sleep apneia if I didn't I would be falling asleep and a snore would be worse than anything else. Not to mention the increase risk of falling out of the tree. I use my kindle so I don't have to worry about losing my page. I can quickly put it either in my backpack next to me or in my warmer muff if a deer shows. Since all my hunting is in pure woods. The amount of area to be scanning is pretty small and normally I can hear the deer before I could ever see them. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Podcasts-nice idea. I also fidget too much. Being 6'8" I'm usually cramped unless standing or lying on the ground. I have only been on a couple hunts where I get to pick my location. Usually I'm a guest and go where directed by my host. I don't read much but peek at my phone quite a bit and only for a moment. Just like opening morning of gun season I was looking at my buddies text of the nice buck he just shot, I look up and here comes a good buck. I switched to video and tried to get him on film for a few seconds...then quickly remembered I wasn't there to film that. Put down the phone and dropped a nice buck. I'm very lucky to be in a box blind and the only complaint I have is the ceiling is 6'6" low.
I struggle to be super still and scanning the entire time. I have a phone battery charger pack in my bag and ill read a lot of my phone when its.not dark or getting dark.
