He'll, I've spent 1000s of hour in a tree and nobody even had a clue where I wuz. Glad I have a flip phone or I " may" join you social freaks whilst in a stand. Lol.
Im usually pretty good about keeping still per se ... but I am up and down ... its the all dayers or 3/4 dayers that are the butt kickers .. as for the phone, nope no damn games for me, it is either off or silent unless I'm checking weather ....
Whenever my hunting buddies ask how long I’m hunting in the morning I say “til my battery dies”. I literally watch movies, play chess, scroll random social media, etc. Of course I’ve been busted by deer a couple times but I’ve been busted doing nothing also. Don’t get me wrong there are many sits where my focus is dialed in on killin deer but other times I’m Clint Black, just killin time. As far as the op I try to sit as still as possible and avoid sudden movement.
Kind of funny, but at the age of 50 years old I'm fairly new to stand hunting. Most of my archery hunting has been for elk, on the ground and calling to them, or turkey "run and gun" style. I still prefer to run and gun turkeys with a bow to this day. All my whitetail hunting was done with a CF rifle for a lot of years, with still-hunting being the main method. Anyway, it has been in the last 4 or 5 years that I've moved to stand hunting for whitetail, with a bow or traditional muzzleloader. I try to move slowly when I want to scan around me as much as I can, turning my head slowly, twisting at the waist slowly, raising my bino's up to use. I will also switch between standing and sitting, age and too many motorcycle crashes mean I get sore and have to switch positions here and there to stay comfortable. So I'd say I'm in the middle, I try to stay still and move very slowly to scan, but don't get too freaked out about ruining the hunt if I need to move a bit to investigate a noise behind me, or keep comfortable.
I did that and fell over 20 feet down. So, I move around now but...not enough to "test" out the harness!!!
Getting to the age where I may have to start thinking abouts how to open up a blind window undetected. Seriously, I'll go out on a limb here and say, far more deer are shot by a smart mover then on that never turns their head.
I"m of the old school thought that the buck that I didn't know was there is the one that will catch my moving around. I probably move around more when I have deer around me then when I don't. At least I can keep tabs on them and move when I get the opportunity to do so. With me full time saddle hunting, I will say I move around way way more than I care to admit. I'm better now, but last year was comical at times I felt. As for phones. I use mine to navigate to stands, maybe check radar if things look like its about to go sideways weather wise and if needed touch base with the wife, or a buddy i'm hunting with that day. Other than that... I am in the woods to hunt and kill. Its my escape from technology.
This right here. Its funny. Spend enough time in the woods and on stand and you feel like you get into a rhythm of knowing when you can move and when not to.
I like to shift positions every 20 Minutes or so when I wake up from my nap. I check my my phone , make sure I didn’t miss anything then nod back off for another 20 minutes or so.
I need to get one of those lumbar tree stand back supports that strap on the tree.... after two sits, my lower back is sore as hell ... its tough to stay comfortable with a bad lower back ... addendum : just order a Hawk lumbar support for the tree(s) ... 9.99 + shipping
I have to ask those that have to text from the stand, is it safe to assume that you check texts while you drive as well.
