Lessons you had to learn the hard way.
11-25-2010, 03:40 AM
#21
Fork Horn
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Tug Hill NY
Posts: 420
1) Stick to the basics- Know your gun, maintian it, practice with it, never lean it against anything.
2) Trust your compass
3)Dont ever feel you have to shoot. A fudged shot- off hand, off side, through brush, etc. usually results in a wounded animal.
4) A hunting partner that feels he needs a beer while hunting needs to be left in the car.
5)A hunting knife is only used on game animals. If the most important thing a hunter needs to carry is a knife, the 2nd thing is a stone for it.
6) Leave the electronic toys at home. Chances are, worrying about the toys you left something you needed (like matches and a firestarter, or water bottle) at home.
7) One of the few things you can assume: The "other" hunter you see does not see you.
8)Always empty the gun before climbing the stand.
9) Always check the chamber once you are in the stand
10)Have a spare key to the vehicle where you can get to it.
11) Treat each shot as if it is the last bullet you have.
2) Trust your compass
3)Dont ever feel you have to shoot. A fudged shot- off hand, off side, through brush, etc. usually results in a wounded animal.
4) A hunting partner that feels he needs a beer while hunting needs to be left in the car.
5)A hunting knife is only used on game animals. If the most important thing a hunter needs to carry is a knife, the 2nd thing is a stone for it.
6) Leave the electronic toys at home. Chances are, worrying about the toys you left something you needed (like matches and a firestarter, or water bottle) at home.
7) One of the few things you can assume: The "other" hunter you see does not see you.
8)Always empty the gun before climbing the stand.
9) Always check the chamber once you are in the stand
10)Have a spare key to the vehicle where you can get to it.
11) Treat each shot as if it is the last bullet you have.
11-25-2010, 06:52 PM
#22
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 362
1. Strap your release to your bow EVERYTIME you are done with it. Does not do you any good on the ground when you are 20 feet up.
2. Pack everything in your vehicle the night before including your hunting weapon.
3. Make sure you have a flashlight in your gear on afternoon hunts.
4. Put a chemlite (glow stick) in your pocket, on your treestand and in your bag. For those of you that said a click on light these work a lot better. They look like a spaceship landed in the woods.
5. Spare key ON the truck.
6. Drag the deer the extra hundred feet to your truck. Don't assume the ground is hard enough for your truck just because it is for you. (Yea this one cost me .... Its expensive to get a tow truck out in the middle of nowhere at 10 pm)
7. Practice with your bow A LOT during off season. This includes drawing your bow at different angles and shooting it.
8. Make sure you have medical tape on your arrow rest. Ever heard a freight train in the woods? You will if you draw your bow without that on there.
2. Pack everything in your vehicle the night before including your hunting weapon.
3. Make sure you have a flashlight in your gear on afternoon hunts.
4. Put a chemlite (glow stick) in your pocket, on your treestand and in your bag. For those of you that said a click on light these work a lot better. They look like a spaceship landed in the woods.
5. Spare key ON the truck.
6. Drag the deer the extra hundred feet to your truck. Don't assume the ground is hard enough for your truck just because it is for you. (Yea this one cost me .... Its expensive to get a tow truck out in the middle of nowhere at 10 pm)
7. Practice with your bow A LOT during off season. This includes drawing your bow at different angles and shooting it.
8. Make sure you have medical tape on your arrow rest. Ever heard a freight train in the woods? You will if you draw your bow without that on there.
11-25-2010, 06:55 PM
#23
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: So. Indiana
Posts: 288
Have spare primers in your vehicle, deer do not die to "bang" "bang"
Yeah I once left my primers at home while on a draw hunt, I ended up running into another hunter who donated a few to me.
Alas it was already after I had "bang " banged" 2 deer.
Yeah I once left my primers at home while on a draw hunt, I ended up running into another hunter who donated a few to me.
Alas it was already after I had "bang " banged" 2 deer.
11-26-2010, 04:44 AM
#25
Fork Horn
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Great Mills, MD
Posts: 204
Remember to put the gun in the back of the truck before leaving the house to go hunting.
Make sure your ram rod is secure, especially if you're walking through thick cover.
Don't leave the water bottle in the truck.
Never try to make adjustments to your tree stand when you're already up on the tree.
Make sure your ammo bag is secure. Really sucks when you only have one round in your muzzleloader and your ammo bag has just fallen off the tree stand.
Make sure your ram rod is secure, especially if you're walking through thick cover.
Don't leave the water bottle in the truck.
Never try to make adjustments to your tree stand when you're already up on the tree.
Make sure your ammo bag is secure. Really sucks when you only have one round in your muzzleloader and your ammo bag has just fallen off the tree stand.
12-05-2010, 12:41 PM
#26
Dominant Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 25,116
#1 If your afraid to go real high in a tree..no sweat..simply set up about 100 yds away..I looked back today of all the bucks that busted me..5/6 were busted by movement..not scent. Bad stand location { Too close to game trail} for us chickens who don't like it high..simply move away and use your long range rifle.
#2 Hunt all day..increases your odds tremendously..I ran into a die hard hunter the other day..here he is " Yes sir..I've got 7 deer so far..I hunt all day..most of my deer killed were between 1:30 -3:30 PM " I tried his technique and sat 12 hours yesderday .. Igot my deer at 5:15 PM
#2 Hunt all day..increases your odds tremendously..I ran into a die hard hunter the other day..here he is " Yes sir..I've got 7 deer so far..I hunt all day..most of my deer killed were between 1:30 -3:30 PM " I tried his technique and sat 12 hours yesderday .. Igot my deer at 5:15 PM
Last edited by Chuck7; 12-05-2010 at 12:45 PM.
12-06-2010, 12:20 PM
#28
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,473
If hunting from the ground, clear all the leaves from around the area you are about to sit. If you need to reposition to make a shot (which is highly likely), you won't make any noise and spook off your quarry. As we all know from our squirrely friends, rustling leaves are LOUD.
12-06-2010, 06:43 PM
#29
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Free Union, VA
Posts: 750
*When you are eating lunch in your stand.....remember that the deer are still in the woods......and might be directly beneath you. Nice 6 point walked out from beneath me in bow season about 7 years ago as I was shaking smashed banana off my hand. Not sure if it was the rattle bag I was using or the doe sent I had spread wen I set up....doesn't matter I was set up right next to a buch of blackberry bushes and he magicly stepped right into them. By the time he stepped out he was out of bow range.
*No matter how much you have practiced shooting that fancy bow, don't try to shoot thru a hole in a tree that is only the size of a grapefruit.
*A cheap scope is not a bargain. Cheap scopes, cheap chainsaws and cheap ladders. They can all get you killed. Fortunately the deer I missed have only run away.
*The moss covered log you walked across in dry daylight will be slippery as snot in the dark after a rain.
*Even with a cellphone and gps waypoints, you are alone. ....completly alone. Don't drink your last bottle of water till you get back to the truck and are back on the highway. Don't go out in the woods without a space blanket, magnesium block, matches, cord.
*When you realize you are lost, STOP. Make a plan, and execute that plan. Backtracking till you reach a recognized landmark usually works.
* Think about how you will survive that night in the woods before you have to.
* Cotton Kills......quite possibly the best lesson I have ever learned. Even in "the south" cotton will kill you if you are in freeze conditions and are even remotely damp.
*No matter how much you have practiced shooting that fancy bow, don't try to shoot thru a hole in a tree that is only the size of a grapefruit.
*A cheap scope is not a bargain. Cheap scopes, cheap chainsaws and cheap ladders. They can all get you killed. Fortunately the deer I missed have only run away.
*The moss covered log you walked across in dry daylight will be slippery as snot in the dark after a rain.
*Even with a cellphone and gps waypoints, you are alone. ....completly alone. Don't drink your last bottle of water till you get back to the truck and are back on the highway. Don't go out in the woods without a space blanket, magnesium block, matches, cord.
*When you realize you are lost, STOP. Make a plan, and execute that plan. Backtracking till you reach a recognized landmark usually works.
* Think about how you will survive that night in the woods before you have to.
* Cotton Kills......quite possibly the best lesson I have ever learned. Even in "the south" cotton will kill you if you are in freeze conditions and are even remotely damp.
Last edited by dpv; 12-06-2010 at 06:49 PM.
12-06-2010, 10:07 PM
#30
Dominant Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 25,116
Amen brother and cotton stinks..
Lesson I learned yesterday..about pee.
I was talking to another teacher .a PE coach who had land in Idaho.He had much trouble with deer eatting his crops. He was told { And it worked} to put bear urine out. The deer stopped coming around. Last week I peed out of my stand..After hearing that..I will carry a pee bottle. God has gifted the White Tail with an extra ordinary sense of smell...to discern between pee ? WOW!!
Lesson I learned yesterday..about pee.
I was talking to another teacher .a PE coach who had land in Idaho.He had much trouble with deer eatting his crops. He was told { And it worked} to put bear urine out. The deer stopped coming around. Last week I peed out of my stand..After hearing that..I will carry a pee bottle. God has gifted the White Tail with an extra ordinary sense of smell...to discern between pee ? WOW!!