Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I know what the "std./Pat./PC" answer is.....but I wanna know the real-life truth to how you approach most of your hunts.

In late Sept. of 1995.....I had yet to kill a deer. I was putting pressure on myself....and I was talking to everyone I knew and trusted in this endeavor.....asking what I might be doing wrong....and disseting each and every move even before I made them.

I remember where I was when a co-worker told me to quit thinking so much....and to follow my "gut instinct". He told me....."You're smarter than them. You have a good idea of where you wanna hunt......what your set-up should look like...etc... . Nowjust go out there and trust that this isn't rocket science."

About thissame time.....Germ told me to relax and have fun. Man what a difference.

So I ask you.....are you the analytical type? Do you dissect EVERY aspect of your hunt? Do you second-guess yourself over stand choices that day? Properties, that day?

EVERY TIME I catch myself doing this.....I turn off the ticker. I decide tomake my decision (the next morning, for example) "on the fly". There's a REAL REASON we need to go with our "gut" instinct. We're dealing with (and I mean NO disrespect) an animal who's brain is the size of a small pear. This ISN'T rocketscience.

I think we need to trust ourselves a bit more. I'm not saying we should flip a coin. We're all smarter than that. BUT....if you have a good feeling about a stand.......HUNT IT.

What about you? What's your approach?

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

Actually this year I became way more analytical. Not to the point of second guessing stands once there. But deciding where that stand would be beforehand!

Factors to consider:

Wind direction
expected deer movement (to-from)
weather patterns
Temp
Expected background cover to pick camo pattern of the day...(Not an issue anymore ;))
other hunters ?
rut phase (or reason for movement)
etc etc

I was usually on an aerial map site several times a day planning and looking at the intended hunting area!

I had a great season seeing over 30-some bucks. I will use the approach next year and add anything else I can learn.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I have stands that I set up for different wind directions and times of the season. I try to stay with the game plan I had in mind when I hung the stands.....butthis year those deer with pear sized brains are kicking my tail. Last weekend my stand that is normally automatic was off limits due to a 35mph east wind, pretty much unheard of this time of year here. I say keep the game plan in focus, the scouting, shed hunting, aerial maps etc will payoff in time. I hope.:D

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

Yes and no. I’ll think about where to hunt, and why I feel it would be a likely spot and all that stuff, but in reality often times I don’t know exactly where I am going until I step out of the truck. I’ve let wind direction dictate where to go the past several seasons, so that helps ease my choices. I have a general game plan, but actual details are subject to change at any moment, for any reason. And if I go and pick the “wrong” spot, yea I’ll take a few seconds and tell myself I should have been “insert other spot here”, but I don’t dwell on it. I know guys who over think where they sit to an unhealthy degree, and to me it just doesn’t make sense.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

Well i find it to be true also, i dont exactly know how but i knew i was going to at least see that little spike the day i killed him, prolly cuz i had seen him a few times alreadybut none the less didnt you post about a good feeling you were havin right before you killed the Bull right?

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

Keep in mind on both Dan's and my own properties, there are roughly 15 stands on each that are prehung in various areas...........all good.

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. The last doe I took (bangstick) was one of these, I woke up with intentions to hunt a different spot but ended up in the "Sweet Spot" stand instead.......and sure enough there they were.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

Also, Dan is really good at this hunting on the fly thing. He will just walk in the woods 2+ hours before dark with a climber on his back and his bow and find a tree in the dark and setup. This is exactly what he did this year with the buck he killed during the NY bow season.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I try to determine where they are currently bedding, where they are currently eating and how they may get from one place to the other,then check the weather (barometer, wind, etc.)report and hunt accordingly. Because I pack in my treestand I can find the best tree available in the area I go to.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

GMATT, good post and question. Actually my better hunts are on the fly or off the hip. This year I took my 2nd and 3rd best buck with a bow and I never scouted before hunting those two spots. They were the first trips in the woods in that area and I scouted as I walked around with the stand and bow in my hand. I listen to my gut and my past experiences. I often put my stand up the second I jump deer in a new place that Im hunting, they always seem to return. I don't always have succes following my gut, and yes, I do question my decisions at times, but I do have success at times when shooting from the hip. I also have learned that you can over think this game way too much.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

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.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I spend so much time planing and mulling things over it's rediculous. My GF calls me anal-lytical. [:-]

She's right, but I'm happy with my results. However, I could be mid-stride on my way to a preplanned destination and do a 180 and go somewhere else if a new idea that'll work enters my mind.

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RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I hunt State land a lot around here in Wisconsin! So I need to have back up plan A,B and C. There are times when I go to an area where I'm thinking of hunt only to find another hunter hunting this area, so I move on! I'm not one to molest another persons hunt. I have no problem with hunting the State land I just need to be prepared! So I guess I hunt on the fly a lot!

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

Get up check the weather and wind direction,pick my spot and go hunting.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I changed my approach this year from being very analytical to just going out there and having fun... Only hunting when I felt like.. Or when the weather was just right.

I've enjoyed this season!

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I've been hunting the same piece of property (public) for 12 or 13 years now. There's no set pattern the deer have here. They just walk through the woods. Sometimes over here, sometimes over there. I've always just picked a spot (or general area) depending on the wind and time of day. The spot where I shot my one and only deer last year was the first time I hunted that spot all season. And the spot I shot my buck in this year was the first time I ever set up there. The more I hunt the more analytical I'vre been getting, but the times I just say "let's see what I see over here", I usually see something.

I guess I should just say I hunt on the fly, at times only deciding where I'm going when I start walking into the woods. It really adds the the whole 'adventure' of it all. Maybe that's why I still get so excited when I got out.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

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RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I saw that too, and was wondering.:eek:

When I first started hunting the properties I now hunt, I analized my next moves for every hunt. Now that I have been hunting these areas for 10+ years I just kinda rely on past experiences and hunt the same spots that have been good to me. But that being said I always seem to find new spots while shed hunting or just scouting the woods. Then I find a time that I think it would be right to hunt that new area and go for it.

But like others have said, I leave the house thinking I am going to one stand and for some reason I end up in another oneI just have a feeling about.

Then there are a few stands that I don't hunt all season just so I can hunt there during the rut, because there is always action there at that time.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I'm like that Treebark dude...

I analyze.. analyze some more.. then re-analyze the whole scenario again. Every move I make is not without much deliberation. I have been known to spend hours in the field searching every tree within a area I want to hang analyzing every entrance and exit a deer can take.. and the wind to hunt it.. the route to get to it.. ETC. ETC.

I study aerials at night while watching television. Topo's too.

When the conditions call for it I can be very instinctive. But I think most those instincts have evolved from past experiences and general knowledge of whitetail behavior. At times I do believe my over-analyzation have hindered my instinctive nature and caused possible 'missed' opportunities at some great bucks. But there can be a fine line between instinct and just plain laziness too.[&:]

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I'm pretty analytical. I gaze at GoogleEarth, internet Tax Maps, GPS coordinatesand Topo Maps during the off season.I use the ambush saddle for all of my bow stands and my trees are prepped from Jan-May. I avoid all of my stands from May-Oct except for hanging a feeder for nannywhacking.

During the season, I use internet weather predicitons of wind direction and GoogleEarth to select perspective stands for the following day. On my way to the stand, I call the local airport automated weather system to verify wind direction and then I double check it with the powdery stuff when I arrive. I am happy to walk an extra mile if I can avoid jumping a deer on the way to the stand.

I want to be as confident as possible that I am in the right spot. This makes it easier for me to relax and know I have done everything possible to ensure I am in the best spot. The intense stand prep is part of the sport to me.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

gut instinct for me, i have learned to relax alot over the years and just get out there and do it. the only thing i worry about is the wind and my stand approach. I never was a dissector :Djust a pike co. hill jack!!!!

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

I hunt the wind first and foremost....... sometimes I find myself second guessing my standlocation once I am sitting. I tend to over think thingsbefore I jump in, drives my wife nutz but I like to get it right the first time.

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

Yeah I said 1995....and MEANT 2005. But it was still correct:D. If I hadn't killed one by 2005......1995 was a SURE bet!

RE: Hunting "on the Fly"?
 

LOL

My biggest challange to date is still being patient. I can be in a stand and still thinking about another stand
sometimes I still get down and go to another. It seems bow it is less of a problem then gun season.
I get up to Northern Wisconsin and I cant take it sitting there for long periods of time. The cold does nothelp matters but still. So what I kind of do to help this is have a different stand every day for the 7 days (Sometimes I split the days in half for this) I am up there to keep the scenery fresh and thus far it has worked out pretty good for me.