How do you guys do it? I think I must have adult A.D.D. I can't seem to stop moving and looking around, it so hard to sit still w/o falling asleep. For me, the best way is to get deep in prayer but even then I'll have to start fighting sleep after a while. I'm good for 10-15 min. then I think of a reason to get something out of my bag or do something. The more camo around me the better
im kind of the same way about falling asleep... but i just try and let my eyes "pull" my head and move slowly that way. never have a heard a deer that was close enough to shoot that i couldnt get my head round quick enough to shoot... for whatever thats worth. on all day sits i switch standing and sitting each hr, and i also try and pop a mini snickers each hr too to keep the fuel burning. try other things like jelly beans or gum. that seems to keep me away lastly, and correct me if im wrong. damn smartphone is what i find myself doing more and more. looking at emails, txts and other things/internet. dammit im supposed to be hunting not working!
I bring a good book. Yes I have fallen a sleep but not too bad. When I was younger I could sit for ten hours and hardly move a muscle. Slowly turn my head a scan and turn the page. I can still sit for a long time without moving but it's only like 4-5 hours. I feel that as soon as I move a deer will spot me so I try to stay very still and when I have to move it's very slow.
I try to reward myself for ever hour I sit still I'll give myself a snack or a sip of water. Then every two hours I'll get to stand up for 30 min or so. Works for me. And I try to avoid eating a real big lunch it puts me to sleep real fast.
I use the smart phone as a lot as well. I'll text my other buddy who is hunting another stand, check the weather etc. and there is a great bible app called "you version" that you don't need to have internet connection to use and that's my reading.
i take a 5-hr energy drink and play on my phone silently (internet/games/etc) the whole time...it doesn't cause too much movement either, so you're good incase that deer decides to walk by.....i look around every 5-10 minutes....works for me without getting sleepy....
Gotta have the phone. Angry Birds, Tetris, or just texting other people hunting! Sitting still is not natural. My dad can sit all day without using anything. If I stay in a stand all day, and do not get a deer, I will be CRANKY! Four hours per sit, cant do it any longer (unless there is a lot of activity)
I go the smartphone route. But I can only sit for maybe 4-5 hrs at a time. Staying in the stand all day drives me crazy. I think the longest I ever sat was about 530 am till 1pm. That wasn't by choice. I had to pee so bad my eyes were floating and i could only stand and squirm but the deer were like a fog that wouldnt leave. Finally it got quiet and I basically ran out of the woods. Left my bow and everything at the stand and came back about an hour later for the afternoon sit.
I can sit all day only in my climber. It is above and beyond my most comfortable. I use the smartphone a lot, bring a book also. When I start feeling antsy I give a 360 degree very intense scan then allow myself to stand/stretch/any other big movement. I make sure to make these big movements smoothly and dont move too fast.
I just look up news on iPhone and text. Try not to get to involved in the phone though. I also just keep my mind running through different scenarios. Even if its not even about deer hunting. That always seems to work. I hunt in a hang on stand and theres noway I'm falling asleep in that. Idc if i do have safety harness on.
I'm a smart phone nerd,and also just think a lot. People always ask me how I can sit in a stand that long but 2 minutes into a meeting im spaced out.....well im usually spaced out about hunting!
We have barely have cell signal where I hunt so my phone is constantly searching for signal and normally dies after being out there for about 4 hours. So not many games for me to be had. I just sit there. I will sit back as long as I can, then I will lean as far forward as I can and let my harness hold my weight for a while and then back to sitting back.
Sometimes when I get antsy, which is usually when the deer aren't moving much, I like to get out of my stand and take a little walk-about. You know, just to stir the woods up a little bit, get things moving again. Once I feel like the deer are ready to start moving again I get back up in my tree for the remainder of the hunt or until things get slow again.
Am I the only one that watches nature? Sure, I've text-ed in the past some, and now with the iPhone I'm sure I'll be on bh.com occasionally... but really? 10-15min is all you guys have? Some tricks I have to stay engaged: -mouser - mice are constantly running about. I try to track where their runs are or even imagine I'm a fox or hawk waiting to pounce. -listener- challenge myself to focus on and identify every sound in my woods. Everything from bird ID, to church bells, to hearing boats on other lakes. On cool crisp mornings I've been able to hear my dad's hot tub kick on from over a mile away. -where's buck-o - I break the view I have up into digestible pieces, and closely examine every inch of it. Looking for anything that could be a part of a deer. I'll take a slice like the area from my 10 o'clock to my 11 o'clock. I start at the base of my tree and slowly work my way to the horizon. Stick by stick, leaf by leaf. -warm up- On cold late season sits, I'll warm up by flexing individual muscles for 20 or so reps. I usually start at the toes, then my arches, then shins , then calves, etc, etc and work my way up to my head, and then down my arms to my finger tips. -the wind game- similar to Where's buck-o, only I'll look up wind, pick a spot and try to decipher the flow of scent through my entire field of view. Then I pick a new spot. Watching for falling leaves, seed pods, grasses, all of which can help you follow the flow of air throughout your site. If that's not enough, hunting season is always the time of year I take to reflect on my previous year. Am I happy with how it went? Did I accomplish my goals? What are my new goals? Etc, etc. Season used to be the only time I'd find myself talking to God. Happily that is no longer the case, but there is something about being lost in the rhythm of the woods that has always given me clarity of thought. Many of my little tricks are silly, but it keeps me there and in the game. Patience and focus are two virtues I've been striving for my whole life, and hunting allows me to hone both simultaneously.
I don't know? if you watch any hunting video out there the guys/gals hunting are wipping around to talk to the camera guys moments before they fire a shot???
I use the same method I learned on countless long night watches in the Navy: I pay attention and focus on what I'm there to do.
