Prioritization for BowHunting.

Hey all,
So i have been thinking about how to make this next years hunting season a success. i have been thinking of how i am going to priori tie my tasks. What i mean by this is what is more important have on lock. i have come up with a prioritization based on my experience (1 season) and my hunting situation(public land/semi private). I have only one full season of experience and that was in 2012. I ate a deer tag that season due to a new relationship and just lack of experience and know how. I also am hunting public/semi private land. what i mean by that is i hunt on my base that i am stationed at which is military exclusive besides around 50 tags that there are a drawing for non military. so lots of soldiers all around this huge base hunting.

Ok onto the real subject. Prioritization of tasks. Scouting, Bow, and gear. These are the things that i have been thinking about a lot. I have been thinking how i should be prioritizing and what i should be focusing on the most. I know that all of these tie into each other in some way, shape or form. Here is my take on it......

SCOUTING: For me i feel this is the most important thing for me to do with the land that i hunt. the reason i feel this is the most important is simply, if you do not know where the deer are then you can't kill them. I have really taken this part seriously for this upcoming season because last year i was just throwing up a stand next to a field or near any old trail. I was not taking the time time to pattern the deer or find the perfect entrance and exit routes. Also just in general peeping for the season as far as grooming the infill and exfill routes or trimming my shooting lanes or simply finding a good tree to put a stand in or use my climber. So with all that said. i have already been romping around thinking methodically about every last detail of the woods and setting up a trail cam to start patterning bucks. I know it is late season and the way the deer act now may be totally different next year but for me i think it will be good insight on how the deer are behaving and maybe these patterns will carry over to next late season. I have gone so far as to use google earth and make a scouting plan along with several apps and a hand written journal with all my scouting endeavors.
This is just one tool i use and that i have developed for scouting.

BOW: Next subject is my bow and everything that is involved with a bow. My self i have a Mission Venture. It is my first bow and will be the only for quite some time. It works and does its job. I feel like this is the second most important thing because if your bow is not tuned and you are not good at shooting your bow, there is no way you can kill a whitetail. Well kill one efficiently. Last season i will admit that i did not take care of my bow very well and that i would just put it in the back seat of my truck every day and along with the extra arrows that were not in the quiver would end up thrown back there too. This caused a lot of accuracy problems and having to zero in my sights a lot. These upcoming weeks i am going to service the hell out of my Bow. get some new strings, sight zeroed in, adjust my peep sight and other stuff so i know my bow is performing well. The next step is for me to go out to practice since i have not been able to because of a recent deployment. I plan to take much better care of my bow so that it can take care of me when it comes down to me coming to full draw this next season.
The first day i got my bow. Just the skill of my self and also costing myself some money haha.

GEAR: Ok the last subject. The gear. for me i have an assembly of gear that i was piecing together throughout the season. when i talk about gear i mean, climbing stand, hang in stand, clothing and footwear. I started out with just wearing some BDUs and some face paint when i went on a bow hunt with my buddy(just as an observer). But after that bow hunt i was hooked. Maybe a story about it on another thread. Of course now i have the proper scent eliminating gear and all the other facets that go with it now. But the reason i feel it comes in third is if you can't blend in to the woods visually or eliminate your odor and noise the deer are not going to come near you or they will spook easily when they get close. No matter how good of a set up you have. I also have some skepticism about buying the most crazy new expensive scent eliminating or absorbing clothing. i treat and use the clothing properly but i still think playing the wind is the most secure way because thats what our ancestors did. Also i feel like it all starts with using all of your scent eliminating soaps, detergents, and sprays and that is the stuff that takes care of your oder at the source and the clothing is only meant to keep in the stink that you accumulate from perspiration or oils etc excreted from your body when you are moving to the stand. But beyond scent elimination the most important aspect of the gear area would have to be the stands. Of course the first priority with stand is safety. where safety straps and then making sure your star is properly and safely working and then making sure the tree is structurally sound to hold a 190 lbs man or more if you have a camera man sitting above you. With all that you are worried about how easy it is to set up and how light it is to carry into the thicket. I have the beginner brands and wish i had invested in some better quality gear but i got what worked and i could afford. It works safely and that is what matters to me. I have been trying to figure out how to make my stands more silent though. That seems to be the main problem with mine. The hang on stand creeks when i stand up if it is really cold and my climber makes a big racket when going through the bush no matter how tight i secure it so it does not rattle and then it also creeks when i stand up. Any suggestions?
My first bow hunt with my best friend. (the night i got hooked on hunting. just one of my stands setup in a terrible spot from from 2012 season.

Alright everybody. I know this is a long one but i just wanted to get some suggestions input or whatever else you all can think of. I am looking to discuss all of it with you guys.

Sincerely, Chris.

 

I would say definitely start playing around with trail cams right now. Keep up on it throughout the year, it will help u get an idea of the deer patterns and how and when they change them. Scouting is a big part of a successful hunt. The more time that is spent in the woods, the more u will learn about how they operate.

 

I simply can not place priority on just one of this polls choices and feel it is a culmination of multiple factors that will prove positive in the hunt. Scouting is definitely important but your gear, bow, physical ability, health, stealth, reaction time, weather conditions, and deer populations in your hunt area will all factor in. Best a Luck, your on the right track.