gutshot

I pretty much hunt the same way that you do. I hunt the same areas every year so I go in with a good idea of where I'm going to hunt but with hunting public land sometimes when I get there someone is already in the area that I had planned on hunting so I have to switch my gameplan.

AR Bowhunter

I guess you could say I hunt on the fly also. I check theold roads in the woods an fields, powerlines,creeks an etc.I look for a concentrated area of tracks or fresh rubs or scraps that lead tomy main stand areas I have located. When I find good sign that is alot of time where I will hunt. I have learned that when you do find hot sign hunt it ASAP, because the next day theymaybe somewhere else.

TEmbry

i usually plan out every hunt, it just gets me when every time i set a stand trim lanes and get everything ready, once i begin to hunt i always start thinking dang that tree over there sure looks ALOT better. lol second guessing myself kills me. ive actually set hang on stands only to hunt 20 yards from them out of climbing stands. may sound stupid but its all about being optimistic or i cant sit there in the stand for hours on end feeling as if im wasting my time.

gregholland

I plan out my season and throw in a few extra days, as I like to call them, sick days at work. And I ground hunt 99% of the time.

archer58

I don't hunt on the fly as much as I probably should.
My game plan in the hilly terrain I hunt ,is to concentrate on Oak ridge tops and perimeters of bedding areas.
They are always UP HILL. I pre set several stands before the season based on White Oaks and Beechnuts.
I hate carrying a climber up hill in the dark.
I could come in from the top but that's usually where the deer are , so I avoid that maneuver.

This year I hope to use my climber"on the fly"on a Game Lands I hunted during late muzzleloader season. The land is flatter and the bottoms showed alot of promise. The food is concentrated along the small streams and found multiple trails crossing them.

tsoc

Archery hunts are 100% planned.I will have many stands hung.Wind direction and where we are in the season will determine the stands I choose to hunt from.I want to walk right in to a pre-scouted and pre-hung stand and go right up the tree with as little noise and disturbance as possible.
I will continually scout during the archery season and if I come across an area or concentration of sign that interests me I will set or move a stand to that location.

NY Bowhunter

ditto!

I'm 90% planned and 10% on the fly. 10% making up unusual circumstances that might make me have to go on the fly or one of those "overwhelming feelings".

The 3 pieces of land I hunt, I've hunted for a long long time. I have several stands set for different weather and wind. I have the best entry and exit routes to all of my stands with minimal disturbance. There's really no need to go on the fly for me. I know on any particular day where my best chances will be. It took a long time to get there, but I think I'm there now.

Plus I'm one that prefers not disturbing as much of my hunting land as possible. I think some people (buddy of mine in particular [:@]) mix it up and go with the flow too much leaving your trace behind everywhere. There's parts of the land I hunt that haven't had a human presence go through it in God knows how long.

jmbuckhunter

I hang a few stands late summer early fall in a funneldictated by what is planted in the fields that year. I will hunt those according to the wind direction. I have other spots that I hunt during the rut that I will take a climber to. Some of them I will hunt no matter what the wind direction because the deer come from any direction to this area.

If I see deer doing the same thing twice from a stand I will move to the area where I saw them goin thru. This has paid off a couple of times for me.Let the deer tell you where to hunt instead of relying on themto cometo you.

BOWFANATIC

I hunt on 120 acres (by myself with bow) and I have four different stands that I use dependant upon wind direction. I know when I leave the house which stand I'm going to sit in.

One of the stands rarely gets used anymore. I placed it so the wind was in my favor in relation to a bedding area that the deer use. This particular stand was for wind out of the east.
I Placed it in a spot close enough, and high enough,to the bedding areathat I could see them move around in the staging area when they get ready to move in the evening.
For whatever reason, they don't even get up from their beds until dusk when there's an east wind. I don't know if anyone else has ever encountered this problem with an easterly wind, but I stay home now.

On the flip side of that, when I choose to stay home in the afternoon because of an east wind, I get out there before sunrise the next morning in my funnel stand and usually see deer later in the morning.

This year I've added a pop up ground blind to my arsenal. I'm not sure what kind of strategy I'll use with that.

camoman73

I scout the areas hard usualy .Hang stands ,always make sure i have scent free gear,and am shooting good.
As a rule i tend to do a lot of research on every aspect of the hunt before i go .The layout of the land etc...