How many do it??
 

How many of you "hunt off the hip?" Go into the woods with the bow and tree stand and hang it to hunt that day. I hunt this way most of the time, I have very little time to scout other than the day of the hunt. I go in a general area that i know and find what i need to find and set up, and I have been very successful with this style. Id like to scout more, but have 2 small children and a working wife is tough on my scouting time.

RE: How many do it??
 

I have done this many times and have been sucessful with it. Now i use a climber alot so i guess its still the same. I find new areas while shed hunting and save themuntil thetime is best. I did that last season, saved it till early Nov and wind conditions. Went in and killed my buck the first time in.

RE: How many do it??
 

I do 90% of my scouting on Google Earth. I don't "shoot from the hip" per se', I have a good idea where I'm going to hang when I get there......But I've carried the stand in and set all day though.

RE: How many do it??
 

I have done it before. I killed my January buck last year doing this. We knew there were good deer using the area late season so we went in and set up off the trail they were using to enter the field. There wasnt a lot of cover and we ended up gettin picked out by the first group of does and then the first buck that came out. Luckily the big buck took a different trail and we were able to seal the deal!

I usually have areas completely scouted out and have stands hung well before season though...

RE: How many do it??
 

It's funny you mention this, as a I was going to start a similar thread concerning climbers vs hang-ons. I scout a decent amount to get an idea of where I want to place the stand when I enter the woods, and I will sometimes move a climber from one spot to another and hunt it the same day. I've never shot a deer the same day as the move, but I've definitely seen deer due to the switch.

Now, not trying to hijack the thread, but to add into what Vabow is asking...those of you who use climbers, how many of you leave them in the woods? Or do you take them off the tree every night/morning after the hunt?

RE: How many do it??
 

good question Hensler, I usually pull mine that night, unless Im coming back in the morning.

RE: How many do it??
 

my stands are locked and ready Im a walk in and climb into my seat and hunt kind of guy! LANDON....GET TO TEACHING THOSE KIDS!!!!

RE: How many do it??
 

Im on planning twildasin.....;)

RE: How many do it??
 

I have a few areas with a high theft rate, so I will only use climbers. Through experience I know which tree I'm going to though.

RE: How many do it??
 

I've done this many times. I don't do it nearly as much anymore but I've had success with doing it.

RE: How many do it??
 

sometimes...
w/ my climber.

RE: How many do it??
 

I hunt mostly from my climber, so I usually kind of running and gunning, so to speak. I usually have a general idea between a couple different trees where I'm going to be. I scout for trees in the late winter when the leaves are down to get an idea of what the area looks like. There are a couple trees in honey holes that I've climbed many times. The buck I shot this past season came from a tree/area I had never hunted before. I had discovered the area walking to the area I had planned to hunt, but it looked too good to pass up, so I shimmied up the best tree I could find. Definitely satisfying to just discover the spot and have it pay off.

RE: How many do it??
 

I do a lot of this at times until I discover where the sightings are, then I hone in on one or two trees in that general area - but try to rotate so I never hunt the same area twice in a week or so- so constantly scouting, observing, fine tuning

RE: How many do it??
 

What are you planning? How to hang your stands??LOL[8D]

RE: How many do it??
 

VA--I hunt a military base as you know. We cannot have any permanent stands on the base, so its a climber or hunting from the ground. I know alot places on the base but sometimes I go in to get my pass for an area, and the area is closed down, so I would say 10% of the time I hunt from the hip in that I hunt a new area and use my climbing stand. Also, one of my best learning tools is that I use the mid October slow down as a time to scout/hunt new areas on the base to increase my working knowledge of areas I usually do not hunt. I just pop around on the base in the middle of the month, walking/exploring and hunting, just trying to take it all in to formulate a game plan for the following year.

RE: How many do it??
 

I'm still exploring some of the public land in my area, so I have done this a couple of times and probably will again this fall. So far I havent aken any deer this way, but I've seen plenty.

RE: How many do it??
 

I've done it before, but not too much. I mostly use a climber so its not too big a deal but two seasons ago, I went out hunting and got bored. I got down and walked around a whileand came upon this really good spot. That afternoon I brought outa ladder stand and even a saw and cut limbs and hung the stand. That evening, I sat that ladder stand and killed a big bodied old buck. Unfortunately he was so old that his rack was on its way down and he didn't have much, but oh well.

RE: How many do it??
 

I have never done it. I always go somewhere where I have scouted.
During the rut I will scout hard for fresh rut sign then get in there right away and hunt it.

RE: How many do it??
 

I've done it before and had succces,espeacially when hunting large tracts of woods,just put the stand on my back and head out until I find a spot with deer sign,usually a food source.Sometimes the first time you hunt a place is the best time.I think we as hunters tend to hunt the same familar spots each year and don't try that spot that's in the back of your head,but you don't want to miss the chance at your honey hole.In fact that is one thing I am doing different this year,I am going to hunt those spots that I have neglected,instead of my stands that I am more familar with.I love the excitement of hunting a new spot for the first time anyway.

RE: How many do it??
 

I did when I was younger, don't have to now, after you hunt an area a few years, you know where the sign will be, where the scrapes will be laid, which trees rubbed, which white oaks they feed under first, no need to do it after you learn the lay of the land...Some trees I climb, I just check on them during the summer to make sure they are still there, then go in and climb when I'm ready to hunt...

RE: How many do it??
 

I love the run'n gun style of hunting!! It produces well and it fits me. I will leave a standin one place for a while if the spot is a hotone.

RE: How many do it??
 

All the time.....I hunt all public land and sometimes other hunters force you to adjust.

RE: How many do it??
 

VA- I actually do the opposite... but for the same reasons...kids and less time toscout offers me with little chance to move around...what I do is set up 5 stands in September and let them be.....It hinders me because I can not always react to the wind direction for a particular day....however....at the end of the year it all works out in the end....

RE: How many do it??
 

Do it. You know that saying "first time in is the best" i'll walk with my climber in a particular area I and slide up.

RE: How many do it??
 

Hardly ever during archery season.Traditionally all my stands have been set in advance,I want to go in area's as quietly as possible and get up in to my stands as quickly as I can with as little disturbance in the area as possible.I do intend to do a lot more in season scouting going forward so that I can get stands up in area's that are hot right at that specific time.In my area we don't have a lot of older bucks so your pre season stand sets can end up being quite non productive some times.
I will continue to set 7 to 10 stands and then with increased in season scouting will look to react to whats going on.I intend to purchase a lone wolf assault soon,I am debating as to buy their strap on sticks or to carry 10 tree steps.I have tree steps that are really tapered and sharp that I can get in to a tree very fast.
I would appreciate any one's opinions or experience's about this.

RE: How many do it??
 

no...I leave most of my stands up year round.

RE: How many do it??
 

i do from time to time sometimes I'm in different areas during the day so I'll slide out on public landin the afternoon during the week. On the week end i go private where i have stands set up

RE: How many do it??
 

Ok, so when you do this type of hunting, do you just look around for signs and food sources find a tree and setup??? cause i have a hard time being able to scout especially since my public land i hunt is a good trip away. What type of signs do you look for the most??? scrapes??? rubs??? what??? kind of new and trying to look for a good tatic that will fit me.
thanks
P.S sorry for sort of hijacking the thread.

RE: How many do it??
 

millerhunter, your not highjacking at all, actually it is a great question, thanks for asking. Yeh, that's exactly what I do. Early season I find the best acorn crop I can in a few places before the actual opening day, and then pick one. I will hunt it a few times every so often, but I then start moving. I pick an area and go in, I look for food first and then droppings, usually by the end oct it's got the rubs and scraps there too. I do look for rubs and other sign, but I mostly find food and hunt that. I killed two very nice bucks this yr one my first two trips in different blocks of woods. I analized the surroundings and the food that was there and looked for sign like rubs and scraps, but more or less I looked for trails, tracks, droppings and found fresh sign, day old. set up and killed bothe within an 1.5 hr.

RE: How many do it??
 

^ thanks that is the answer i was looking for.

RE: How many do it??
 

i do it if i have to

RE: How many do it??
 

anytime bro!! I do this out of necessity mostly, I would love to have the time to scout and know exactly where Im going eveytime, but I can't most hunts and I have to use my gut insticnt about 98% of the time, after 20 years of hunting it gets to be like riding a bike.

RE: How many do it??
 

I have Done this method with limited success, sometimes my friends have places picked that we can try and i'll go in there "blind" so to speak but for the most part i hang a stand on places i scout in the pre season.

I have to take my climber out with me everytime cause it will become someone elses property if i dont.

Ryan.