To most, the best days of the season are behind us in the areas that I hunt. It’s been great so far. I’ve learned a lot, discovered spots I’m excited about for next year, and have meat in the freezer. That being said, I am struggling to find motivation to keep hunting. I’ve hunted pretty hard up this point, and although I still have a buck tag, I cannot get motivated to keep grinding. Is anyone else struggling to keep after it? And what do you do to reenergize yourself to keep after it when you get a little burnt out. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I'm in the same boat. This has been unquestionably one of the worst years of hunting I've ever had, and I hunted a lot. I'm taking a little bit of time off right now and not worrying about it. I'm taking my son hunting a few more times this late season and took pretty much this entire last weekend off to have a date night with the wife and go spend some time together. It's refreshing and helps put things into perspective. Life is a lot bigger than just deer hunting. I plan on getting after it as much as I can these last few weeks, but I'll pick my shots. This is the time of the year when it's good to hit the reset button. Forget everything that you've been doing and that's happened and start focusing on where the bucks are at now, where they're going to be when it finally gets cold, and start game planning. It helps to look at things with a fresh set of eyes. Get out and do some scouting. Move trail cameras around. Mix things up and attack it from a new direction. IMO that's one of the best ways to re-energize yourself. Going back to hunting the same stands and spots that haven't paid off all season can be brutal.
I use December and January as a chance to hit new spots. If nothing else, it usually leads to me finding more spots for future years. I also have more optimism going into a new spot rather than hitting an old spot that feels burnt out.
hunt when you feel like it and don't when you don't. it's just a deer, it's just a passion to enjoy. forcing yourself to go and not be happy while doing it is like being in a marriage with one you don't love. time away from the woods, no pressure to kill a big buck, and learning about late season activity is a wonderful thing..in short, it ain't that pressing man, it's just hunting.
even though I did finally take a buck, the Doe sightings this year have been the pits ...I hunt state land and the pressure the last few years have been plain stupid, esp. now with a HUGE number of crossthingy guys who have invaded the place(s,) many are guns guys looking for some early action and it sucks as to the pressure now ... seeing only 4 Does the whole season has me worried, and Ive heard it from others also .... ... however I do want one more for the freezer ... I'm going to try a few different spots on the place that hopefully hasnt seen much pressure, but since I havnt been to em yet, who knows ... Ive got only 2-4 hunting days left I can get out, so I'll keep hanging away, if anything, just to be out there and it sure beats watchin' f-n football games .. stay at it, look for new spots, that is what I'll do after the season closes, I'll go right back into scouting for next season and maybe bypass locations that used to be favorable
Man I feel ya, with the main rut over it it's kinda discouraging, but bucks are still hitting scrapes, hang a camera on a good size scrape even if it has leaves in it, the bucks are working the licking branches, there's nothing like getting a daylight photo of a shooter to reenergize yourself, iv put in over 230 hours this season and only took a doe just for the meat, December 1st I almost didn't go hunting, but I decided I would and wound up passing about a 130 inch 8, couldn't get the shot I was looking for, he was chasing a hot yearling, this is the buck I'm after and getting photos like these keeps me motivated, just don't hunt the same dead spot over and over, get out and try something new Sent from my motorola one 5G ace using Tapatalk
Swamp rarely see deer let alone kills them, yet he still gets up early as S and gets after them. That's usually my motivation to quit complaining about dragging my butt the woods. I see more deer in one sit than Joe usually sees in a season. Sometimes you need to take a step back an appreciate what you have in front of you, I'm guilty of it as well, I have 66 acres of private land I didn't pay for to hunt. I'm very lucky to have what I have.
my motivation just got shot in the ass ... one of my employee's just let me know he will be in rehab for his heart for 2-4 weeks (just had stents put in)... the rest of this season is now gone .... FUDGE !!!!
In the same situation. This year has been unusual to say the least. Retired in 2019 thinking I’d have all kinds of time to hunt. Didn’t realize that my wife was going to become a travel agent and we’d spend lots of time away from home. Not complaining, but didn’t leave much time for pre season scouting, so went into the year blind. Between helping my brother farm for extra money that I thought I needed and a hunting trip to Wyoming, deer season was in full swing by the time I started. Seemed like I could find any excuse to have that second cup of coffee in the morning and end up not going out. Finally started getting some excitement and traction and hit the woods. Things didn’t get much better. Seemed like I was getting picked off all the time. Was a discouraging year all around. Things started turning around, I got my head out of my butt. Harvested a doe and things started to click. Took my bow out during Illinois second gun season, sat in my best area,,,, and some jackwad cut the catalytic converter off my old hunting truck while I was out there. One more issue! Getting back in the groove, even though I’m typing this at 7:30 in the morning. Probably should be in the stand, but the winds 15 mph and that second cup of coffee was good this morning. Going out to scout a new area, the north end of some property I hunt this morning. Wish me luck, just bought another set of tags and have a couple weeks to hunt.
I think we all experience this at some point. It has happened to me when I hunted hard, too hard, and went out a lot at the beginning of the season. Archery elk would open and I'd hunt too much and too often when it was still hot and the elk weren't vocal. It just led to frustration setting in, usually when the hunting just started to be prime. Then I'd do the same thing when whitetail opened, hunt hard in October and go a lot, the hunting isn't best until November when the rut kicks off and I'd be burnt out by then, and also my wife would be starting to get frustrated I was gone on weekends so much. I'm not the brightest, but it finally dawned on me that I needed to change things up a bit. I started holding off on going very much until the rut made it prime. I started making myself remember that I hunt mainly to spend time in the woods, away from hustle and bustle and enjoying watching nature around me. Not just elk or deer, but squirrels, birds, etc. So now I may go a few times early on as a gear check and to satisfy my excitement of the season being open, but I hold off until movement and encounter chances are at much higher odds. I should mention that I hunt timbered mountain areas where game movement/feeding patterns aren't nearly as predictable as ag areas, so rut activity is far and away the best time to have encounters. This has resulted in my enjoying just watching everything around me as well as more encounters which means less frustration and keeping my excitement at a high level. I'd also mention that being properly dressed can make all the difference. Going out over dressed and roast, or under dressed and freeze, will lead to frustration and be in the back of your mind when next deciding whether to go or not.
Sometimes it is best to just step away from it all and do something else. For me, the process of scent control, packing and unpacking my truck every hunt, not to mention driving over an hour one way to where I hunt wears on me. Every season, I get to a point where I just spend a couple of weeks at home instead of the grind of hunting. Sent from my SM-G973U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
I am usually looking forward to the end of the season (is that even right ??), as I put so much effort/time into it every year ... burn out does happen .. by the end, I'm looking forward to winter Steelhead fishin' on the streams, bunny hunting, coyote hunting and getting back into my running again ..
Heres some motivation. I was almost there myself. Last sunday i had a good encounter with a buck who came into a scrape i didnt even know was there. Couldnt get a shot but i knew that my chances of getting the monkey off my back (been in a 5-6 year buck kill slump) were zero if i slept in and didnt get out there. Thats not to say a break isnt necessary. I totally agree with stepping back, hit the reset button, organize your gear, study the maps again, do some scouting, spend some time bowling or something with family. It really does help recharge the mental focus. Then come back at it like a freight train with no mercy. Eventually it will pay off. I just scored yesterday morning on a good buck trailing a doe. Rut activity is still in play. Early fawns and unbred does are still out there you just may have to bounce around. One thing is for sure though if you arent enjoying yourself out there then there is no need to be there. Do whatever necessary to make it enjoyable again.
