I would have to say that it is a tie between my movement in stand and scent control. I spray down and keep my clothes in a scent free bag so they don't pick up any odors. I always check the wind before I climb into a stand.By movement I mean I stay completely still or limit it to the minimum. I wonder how many times deer have seen me before I have seen them and got out quietly without me knowing. I practice on squirrels and turkeys. If you can move without a red squirrel or especially a turkey seeing you then a deer never will when it is crunch time.

Actually it was my conscience effort to not completely and totally submerge myself into deer hunting, leaving all else dangling in the wind. All year long just about every spare moment is spent doing something related to deer hunting( scouting, cutting paths or lanes, planting plots, etc). This season I have hunted less and spent more time with my family. In doing so I have seen more bucks and even got my biggest buck so far. Maybe SOMEONE was trying to tell me somethingI have hunted less in the number of times out but pulled more all-dayers which really increased my number of bucks seen. Maybe the deer are having a hard time patterning me this time

I know this isn't true, but it seems that I am getting worse. My second year I shot the nice 10 in my sig, last year I missed the same buck twice on different occasions, and this year I got spotted by a nice one without even getting a shot off.

I have improved in my mental game. I used to get so worked up in the stand full of adrenaline heart going a 100 mph shaking. Its hard to make a shot like that. It still happens but Im working on controling it. Its a fine lineI love the rush, but sometimes it gets to me.

getting to my stand without disrupting deer

I would have to say patience. My first year of hunting, I just went out during rifle season. I'd sit in a stand for a couple of hours then get down and do some walking in hopes to kick one up. My second year of hunting, I started bow hunting. I learned to sit in the stand longer and didn't do much if any walking and learned a lot more about scent control. This year, I have had a few all day hunts where I'd sit in one stand all day from before sunrise to after sunset. I've seen more deer on those days. If I wasn't able to hunt all day then I'd still sit there until I had to leave. I didn't do much if any walking at all. The only times I did any walking was during this rifle season and it also gave me the chance to scout more areas of my property. I get to hunt the same property next year and have permission to do some "work" out there to better suit me and the deer. We'll see what happens, I plan to hunt a few more times this year for late archery, but don't know how that will turn out. I usually don't seem to see many deer in the late season. I'm still trying to figure them darn things out.

Man, I have learneda ton.....scent control is what I consider to be the most important..Being upwind from a deer at 30 yds for 30 min and not getting busted, that was priceless. among others are stand placement, arrow building, 3" groups at 25 yds with a rest that has some minor contact with the vanes (that is my next thing to learn, to tune my own bow, I had this rest installed at the local shop, need 1/4"more vane clearance for perfection) I do not take shots longer than 25 yds by the way! Need to learn more about rattling and calling.

Bo

Man I learned so much....Second year bowhunting and I got my first deer - a small 6 point that was 15 yards away completely downwind. Then a week later I got an 8 point at 10 yards away during 30 mph winds. My first year hunting I became focused on becoming a good archer but I didn't see any deer. This year I focused on hunting and finding deer. Some of my lessons learned are below:

I learned how effective Scent Lok products are. I had my scent lok dakota and a scent lok head/face cover and my bucks never knew I was there. I was working all day and all sweaty and stinky but the scent lok covered my stink up!A weeklater I got a nice8 point at 10 yards from a tree saddle. I learned how much I like the tree saddle. I was able to completely move around the tree to shoot at that buck since he was directly to my right. At 10 yards he never saw me because I kept the tree between me and the deer. I never could have done this in a traditional tree stand. Also, I was able to call two deer back to me after they had after they had left using a bleat can (one doe, one buck). I'm convinced that bleat cans work when used the right way. I also learned that hunting in severe wind is not a waste of time as proven by my 8 point. I learned that my tiny little compact broadheads don't leave a very good blood trail even with a double lung shot. I plan on trying a mechanical next year. And I learned how hard it is to blood trail a deer at night, even with the brightest lights and lanterns. Next time I'll just wait till morning and walk right up to my deer like I did this year.... I learned a ton this year. I learned alot from you guys - Thanks!

This is fun guys. Keep 'em comin! I am glad I wasn't the only "stupid" one out there.....[8D]

Grouping. I bought a bow sling or whatever so when you shoot it dosnt bounce out of your hand. I cant put them alltogether.