Probably 1/2 the time I know where I'm hunting the night before, but there are so many times that even the morning of, or on the hike halfway in I go with a gut feeling on where to hunt. The only thing that affects this is wind direction.
Matt: This is a PERFECT example of what I'm talking about. I may choose an area or even a tree the night before....but I still change, quite often. I'm not comparing anything....but it sounds like Dan and I have similar approaches (and you..to a certain extent).
It's also hard to "measure" if what you're doing is "successful". GR8 saw more bucks than he usually does...with what appears to be a fairly analytical approach. I saw 1/3 (approx) of the bucks I saw last year.....but I took (in my eyes) my best buck in 3 seasons.
All I know is....I HATE to be sitting in a tree.....and not feel good....or second-guess where I chose to set up. I did that a LOT the first year I deer hunted......a "few" times, last year.....and maybe once or twice, this year ('07).
Aaron....the difference whenI took my buck is....I knew I was in his core a few days earlier...and that I'd seen him there. That wasn't rocket science AT ALL. That's just plain old common sense! The hard part was not being able to go int here for the two days I couldn't!
Part of my "that feeling" was.....knowing he was in the area.