RE: Mistakes I've made along the way
I have a couple of things I've learned (the hard way) along the way.
Not staying in stand late enough. Even though you might not be able to see through your peep, chances are, you can still see some when looking around. Stay in that stand until its good and dark before getting down. Big bucks love that last 15 minutes of daylight, regardless of the time of year. I bet we'd all be surprised at what we might be spooking when we can barely see and are getting down out of a stand.
Not striking when the iron's hot. I have passed on sitting in a particular stand, especially during the rut, because the wind wasn't just right. Even though the day before, out of the same stand, I had to beat deer off with a stick to get down. What I have come to realize is that during the rut, trails are great, but how many bucks chasing a doe usually stay on a trail? They'll end up behind you, to your left, right, or in front of you. Playing the wind IMO, can be thrown out the windowa lot of the time once they're chasing.