Sensory question?

[Kirk]

I have often wondered if most hunters experience a ramp up of sensory ability as you sit in a tree stand for several hours.

Hearing gets sharper, movement is easier to detect, smells and odors become more evident as the hunt progresses.

In my case, if I climb a tree, get settled in and comfortable, it usually takes about 15 minutes to really get tuned in to the world around me. Then it is like hearing hits hyper drive, the slightest movement is easy to see, any change of smell is easy to detect. I guess it is just getting settled down enough to let the senses take over.

Does this happen to everyone?

 

[Boll Weevil]

Does for me too.

I really have to force myself to slow down and focus; especially early in the season. I'm crazy-excited to just be in the woods again and have to remind myself of the contrast between the pace of hunting vs. work and life in general. My sense of details and being "in tune" is a little rusty until I'm back in the woods and able to really focus.

 

[TheLBLman]

Does this happen to everyone?

It does for me.
I think it's something about being tuned in as a "hunter".

Most people have not had the true "hunting" experience, and cannot relate. Even some people who hunt are more shooters than hunters, and have not had this experience.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I think it's something about being tuned in as a "hunter".

Agree. There are certain times when I feel as much a natural part of my environment as any other predator...perhaps not altogether different than a bobcat or a hawk (though not nearly as efficient or effective :blush. When I HUNT (vs just climbing in a stand or walk in the woods) now that's a good feeling.

 

[TN Larry]

Yes, I get the same feeling after being there for several minutes. It is kind of like getting clearly tuned in to a fuzzy radio station.

 

[muddyboots]

After a trip or 2 I get tuned in. I feel like a stone cold killer when all senses are on go!

 

[Winchester]

Absolutely, senses go on high alert and concentration is elevated as well! A day in a treestand will wear you out worst than working when you are totally focused and 100% alert to your surroundings!

 

[Snake]

Of course it does , we become a different human being surrounded by nature and we turn into the provider of our clan !!

 

[catman529]

yes I respond to every sound that might be a deer, twig popping, leaves crunching... even when I am falling asleep. I can be snoozing and something makes a sound and I am back to fully alert again. As for smell, i smell deer year round, usually when walking around a bedding area. Vision seems pretty good usually... I dont know if there is a difference in the treestand, but just watching out my back window at the house I have been able to see the slightest movement of a squirrel, turkey or deer in the woods behind the house. Maybe we got enough wildlife in the backyard to keep my senses tuned in year-round. who knows

 

[BMan]

Definitely. To the point of almost having a sixth sense, to where I can practically feel the deer's presence.

The few times I've sat with another person, they're always amazed how many deer I point out to them.

 

[BSK]

It isn't the ability to "turn on" the senses that amazes me, it is how these senses can be learned over a lifetime that I find fascinating. I'm sure every experienced hunter has had a chuckle over how new/young hunters are amazed at his/her ability to pick out deer are great distances and through thick brush. The experienced hunter simply "learns" how to use their eyes like other animals do--to pick out movement instead of trying to "see" a deer. And this ability is not natural to humans, as we use our eyes quite a bit differently than most wild animals do. Learning to "see like an animal" does not come naturally to us; we have to learn how to do it.

 

[Kirk]

The experienced hunter simply "learns" how to use their eyes like other animals do--to pick out movement instead of trying to "see" a deer. And this ability is not natural to humans, as we use our eyes quite a bit differently than most wild animals do. Learning to "see like an animal" does not come naturally to us; we have to learn how to do it.

Good point. I generally never see a "deer" I see slight movement or a change in shadows that catch my attention. As I focus on the area I saw the movement, then I can start to see parts of the deer.

 

[BSK]

I generally never see a "deer" I see slight movement or a change in shadows that catch my attention. As I focus on the area I saw the movement, then I can start to see parts of the deer.

Learning to look "past" the woods, and focus on nothing in particular, while allowing the rods in your eyes--which are concentrated in our peripheral vision--to do their job (rods pick up light and dark as well as movement) takes years to perfect.

It always makes me laugh to read those articles about how to "see deer" by looking for an out of place horizontal or vertical line, or change in color pattern. "Looking for deer" is exactly how NOT to see deer. Allowing your eyes to focus on movement--just like most animals' vision--is the way to see deer, and that takes considerable practice to master.

 

[TheLBLman]

I feel like squirrel hunting really trains your eyes for "seeing" game while hunting.

Absolute fact.

Becoming a good squirrel hunter is a big advantage to collapse the time frames for becoming a good deer hunter. Take note that so many of the very accomplished deer hunters first became accomplished small game hunters. Talking about fellows like Stan Potts, not some of the young celebrity hunters.

Among small game hunting options, I'd rate squirrel hunting (one-on-one, just you vs. the squirrels, no dogs) the best small game hunting for improving your deer hunting and woodsmanship skills. This is in part because you can typically gain more experience in "seeing" lots of squirrels, and you're "looking" among the trees, often in a similar environment to where you're trying to "see" deer.

 

[Mike Belt]

Agreed Wes. You can sit and hunt or you can stalk and hunt. Depending on when during the season you hunt you have to be acutely tuned in to movement and slight sounds. It ought to be a pre-requisite.

I also agree on sensory abilities. Seasoned hunters can get a total recall on these abilities just by stepping foot into the woods. I've often thought about writing a "cookbook" on deer hunting that has nothing to do with eating unless you're lucky enough to drop a deer. Rather it deals with the sights, sounds, smells, and the feel of different hunting locations. A stand in pines after a rain...quiet and green with that scent of pine differs from a damp bottom stand with grey, leafless trees and that musky smell.