How many hours do you sit in a week? Now that I'm working swing shift I will hunt 5 or 6 hours a day during the week and all day on saturday What do you think is the best area to hunt. I think the best area to hunt are the pinch points. What do you think is the best part of the season to hunt. I like early season and late season. I just want to see what everyone thinks so I can try out there ideas maybe
I rarely ever sit in a treestand because I still hunt/scout 99% of the time. When I do sit in a stand it is because I've determined that is my best strategy to score. I'm basically a spot and stalk/shoot, call in kind kind of hunter. I sit in a treestand perhaps 1-2X every year.
I usually go out for the illinois bow opener in the afternoon. I might not get back out until the third weekend in october, then i'll start hunting the weekends. By the end of the month in october, I'll hit it hard around halloween weekend taking a day or two off and sitting all day. The beginning of november I'll start taking more days off during the week, leading into the weekend or after depending on what the weather forecasts predicts, moon phase, and other factors. Then this leads up too the first couple of weekends in november before gun season when again, I'll take a few days off during the week and hunt the weekends hard! I too like any kind of pinch point, inside corners of crop fields with timber around me is where I have seen some of my biggest bucks. Logging trails or heavy deer trails filtering up from the creek bottoms to a food source, vice versa if the bedding is up on a heavy wooded ridge and the food source is at the bottom, setup in the pick-off areas. If your hunting spot has alot of the key necessities, like cover, water, food then just about anytime will be good as long as your playing the wind, weather is good because those bucks will stay around if they have all of those crucial factors!
This year will be my toughest year in the woods and it will be my 20th year of hunting. Please don't laugh when I say this....I MIGHT get 6-8 hours a week in to hunt.
Assuming the schedule of my last few seasons, I will hunt friday afternoons, saturdays and the occasional sunday for about 3 weeks. Then I will hunt fri-sat & sunday for 3, maybe 4 weekends thru the rut. Add in a sit or 2 for an hour or 2 behind the house in the very early season.
Well I won't really do any hunting Mon.-Fri. Though on the weekend I'm going to plant my @ in a tree for atleast 6-10 hours a day. Im in some really thick woods and I don't like taking shots while walking around with a rifle.So I don't think I will do it with a bow.The bucks(BIG ONES) on the land I hunt on will be out at 10am in the rut just to munch on my corn pile that is for rifle season. Give me a call and I don't need to go anywhere.
6-8 hours a week is what I normally get VS. You'll do alright. I put about 60 hours in last year.. probably under actually. Would love to get out more but I live to close to the concrete jungle.
Mike, I hope so. I really love being in the woods so not getting that time to hunt will sting a bit. I am just going to enjoy each moment I get to spend out there bowhunting. I have already been scouting and will be prepared.
Me too Mike. Sometimes less and sometimes a tad more. Depends on the time of year. Usually I don't start hunting till mid October. In mid October I don't hit It very hard, maybe 2 sits a week. Come the rut you'll see me out more. It also really depends on time off from my job too. Some years I don't get much time off, other years I do.
I started a simple deer log 2 years ago (mostly because phones are now capable - and I got time while sitting in a stand). I have averaged 74 hours the last two years - over a 15 week season...so average 4.9 hours/week over the season. Obviously my days off work and longer sits are focused around the rut - but I do work hard to get at least one sit in each week of the season. I always envision hunting more - but also realize that the less I go, the more I appreciate it (and the more deer I shoot). I do remember days in school where I hunted "too much"...don't want that feeling again. Good Luck! Remember, if you aren't having fun - take a break...
Also I prefer my $60 stick not to go flying through the woods to where I can't find it. So I just shoot out of a stand so it will hit dirt
Being in college, I have a lot of time to hunt. I spend anywhere from 15 to 20 hours a week in the stand. 99% of the time my stand locations are on funnels or near food sources.
I prefer to hunt daylight til dark, if I can't I hunt every hour of daylight I can regardless of when it is. I also prefer to concentrate my hunting hours during what I call the trolling phase. When Bucks are on the move looking actively for does coming in. Dan
