Quite awhile back I posted a question about keeping hunting records, you and a few others had some great examples but I can't find it now. Any way you could post yours again ? Thanks
BSK, Bowriter ?
- Thread starter 74MOPAR
- Start date
HOOK
Well-Known Member
Every hunt I do I write down the details. I call it a hunting journal. Grate to go back and read over the years.
infoman jr.
Well-Known Member
I made one last year but lacked motivation to start one this year. I recorded wind direction and speed, temp, hours on stand, deer sightings, etc for over 140 hours on stand. I also recorded an extensive commentary on how the season was going, what I was seeing on my trail cams, and when the crops were harvested. I loaded the data into a statistical software package called JMP ("Jump") to look for correlations and special cause variables. I got fancy graphs like these:
BSK
Well-Known Member
74MOPAR,
Much depends on what you want to learn from the data. Are you trying to track herd conditions (sex ratio, fawn recruitment rate, etc.), or are you looking more towards finding weather-related patterns in deer activity?
If you are tracking herd conditions, you will need to collect data on deer that are seen while hunting, by sex and age. This can be as simple as adult does seen, adult bucks seen, and fawns seen for each hunt. However, if you're looking for weather-related patterns, you will need to collect much more data, with "time" being a major factor so that you can calculate sighting "rates" (deer seen per hunting hour). So you will need at least "hours hunted" for each hunt, or better yet, time on stand and time off stand so you can calculate hours hunted. In addition you will need to collect as many weather conditions as possible that correspond with your hunt. And the sky is really the limit on this type of data. Some of the data points I collect for each hunt are:
The high temperature for that day
The low temperature for that day
The percent of the sky that is covered with clouds during the hunt
The wind speed and direction during the hunt
Any precipitation that occurs during the hunt (as in type of precip: drizzle, steady light rain, intermittent showers, etc.)
Atmospheric pressure and pressure trend (falling, falling rapidly, rising, etc.).
I also add data from websites, such as the percent of the moon's surface that is illuminated for that day, and whether the moon phase is waxing or waning.
Again, the sky is the limit on the types of weather information that can be collected for each hunt.
Much depends on what you want to learn from the data. Are you trying to track herd conditions (sex ratio, fawn recruitment rate, etc.), or are you looking more towards finding weather-related patterns in deer activity?
If you are tracking herd conditions, you will need to collect data on deer that are seen while hunting, by sex and age. This can be as simple as adult does seen, adult bucks seen, and fawns seen for each hunt. However, if you're looking for weather-related patterns, you will need to collect much more data, with "time" being a major factor so that you can calculate sighting "rates" (deer seen per hunting hour). So you will need at least "hours hunted" for each hunt, or better yet, time on stand and time off stand so you can calculate hours hunted. In addition you will need to collect as many weather conditions as possible that correspond with your hunt. And the sky is really the limit on this type of data. Some of the data points I collect for each hunt are:
The high temperature for that day
The low temperature for that day
The percent of the sky that is covered with clouds during the hunt
The wind speed and direction during the hunt
Any precipitation that occurs during the hunt (as in type of precip: drizzle, steady light rain, intermittent showers, etc.)
Atmospheric pressure and pressure trend (falling, falling rapidly, rising, etc.).
I also add data from websites, such as the percent of the moon's surface that is illuminated for that day, and whether the moon phase is waxing or waning.
Again, the sky is the limit on the types of weather information that can be collected for each hunt.
There is an app that you can use also. I think it is called the hunting journal. You can put in every type of weather condition you want and also mark spots on the map of where you seen the deer and which direction they were going. There are quite a few useful tools on there.
But, nothing really beats a good ole hard back journal.
But, nothing really beats a good ole hard back journal.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Although a well-designed program or app would be ideal, the problem I've encountered is finding a "well designed" one. And if it's not well-designed, what does it do with your data? How does it analyze the data? Are the analysis options offered adequate? I've not found one that is. Can you get at the raw data to run your own analyses?
Yes you can still gather the data, it doesn't analyze it for you. It just keeps track of it for you. It could be better, but it makes it a little easier to input the data and give you a visual of it. For each hunt I do I try to use the map portion of it, I track where I seen deer, which direction, and what time.
It helps me get a good visual of the activity on a given property.
I need to create a program using microsoft access. But the problem is, I never carry my laptop with me.
I have created a few programs using access and am fairly confident I could do one for deer hunting.
It helps me get a good visual of the activity on a given property.
I need to create a program using microsoft access. But the problem is, I never carry my laptop with me.
I have created a few programs using access and am fairly confident I could do one for deer hunting.
BSK
Well-Known Member
One of these days, I'm going to teach myself Access. I'm still using dBase from the early 1990s!
Hey, it works (as long as you run it on a Windows 98 machine).
Hey, it works (as long as you run it on a Windows 98 machine).
Access is incredible. It is pretty easy to understand, I just played around with it for a while and figured it out. I had to make myself figure it out while in the military to fix our medical records system. It was a very, very useful tool and made it easier on a lot of our guys.
It wasn't too hard to learn though. I had a deadline to meet, so I guess I had to learn quick but I recall it being pretty simple to figure and pretty simple to modify.
It wasn't too hard to learn though. I had a deadline to meet, so I guess I had to learn quick but I recall it being pretty simple to figure and pretty simple to modify.
BHC
Well-Known Member
I keep a log book, but scout look seems pretty cool. Got a mapping feature, u can log info... Shows weather and moon phase trends
BSK
Well-Known Member
MattR said:
I know how that works. When I went to work for the Census Bureau (back before PCs), someone asked me if I had ever seen a personal computer. Having turned on one of the first Apple computers once or twice in college, I suddenly became our Branch's computer programmer. Next thing I know, the first IBM PC (dual floppy drive version) in our Division is sitting on my desk. Didn't have the slightest idea how to use it, but I learned...
Within a year I was running the largest computer in three states (2,400 square feet).
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
I make a short little story of each hunt in about 5 sentences. It includes wind direction, my specific location, temperature (I keep a little L.L. Bean thermometer clipped to my backpack) and will look at the temp when deer are seen, the weather in specifics ,what I saw. May not seem like a lot, but I am specific as possible. Their behavior (with other deer - especially during the rut), what they were eating, the reason I chose that specific location, etc....
Thanks everyone, refreshed my memory. Now all I have to do is figure out how detailed I want to get, and try to go back as far as I can
