Usually 3-4 seasons if Im lucky.

hmmmmm 3-5 years here in the forest lands/mountains....somewhere in thereI usually start feeling pretty comfortable with the big picture

Around here - woodlots get cut, houses go up, gas wells/utility lines/roadways go in, property changes hands and crops rotate so damn much... You're always learning on the fly. Things never have time to stabilize into a real, repetitive pattern.

I just wrapped up my 3rd season of focusing on my place in PA. I feel like I have a pretty good handle on things there now, but another year and I will probably even have dates pinned on what does go into estrus and when. I've already got a few of them pegged, and seem to now know all the escape routes the deer used (both when being chased by bucks and people), the major buck bedding habitat, and the core areas the does use the most. I've also seemed to be able to focus on the most popular stream crossings as well. One more year and I think I'll really have it pegged.

I'm starting to think I'll never figure it out...

I agree with a few others that this is one of my favorite parts of hunting. There is an area of national forest that I've been poking around in for 7 - 8 years, but kind of hit and miss,I live hundreds of miles away. Anyway, I have taken a few deer there in that time, missed one or two, and I feel very comfortable hunting there now. I know some good cover and terrain features, I know the wind behavior in those areas, and I remember deer sign from past visits. I know some areas that consistently hold deer. The only food source I pay attention to is acorns, and that is hit and miss for sure.

This is different country, and a different way of hunting than the typical midwestern farm country bowhunting.

First season I can get in a general area, second close in, and so one and so forth forever. It is kind of like the fact that if you close half the distance to a point, and continue to go half the distance from your last point you will never reach the destination. That is bowhunting whitetails in a nut shell as far as I am concerned. There is always room for improvement. Otherwise it wouldn't be as fun as it is.

I have 2 spots that I've been hunting for 10+years and I'm still using climbers and re-adjusting all the time. Here in the southern ny, semi rural area I hunt, there are no crops, corn, soy or otherwise, just hardwoods. Deer pretty much go wherever whenever making it hard to pin them down consistently. Couple that with hunting pressure and you find yourself constantly on the move.

Hmm....I just hunted a third season on one of our leases (180 acres) and I'm still finding out about how the deer move on it. Just when I think I get it figured out, something surprises me.