Top reasons we are defeated before we hunt

[fairchaser]

I often think about the things that trip us serious deer hunters up before we ever start the hunt. Here are some of my top reasons. How about yours?

1. Hunting with the wrong wind.
2. Bad approach to the stand.
3. Spoiling the area too close to the hunt with cameras or stands.
4. No shooting lane once in the stand.
5. Turned the wrong way in the tree.
6. Forgot something important like calls or binos.
7. Loud metal clank during set up.
8. Bathroom call soon after reaching my perch.
9. Not paying attention, moving too much.
10. Too sleepy to hunt.

 

[infoman jr.]

Waiting for the "perfect" shot.

 

[Deer Assassin]

Waiting for the "perfect" shot.

i agree 100%

 

[mimitk]

Wife

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Setting trail cams in second week of july only to check it 2 weeks later then 2 weeks then 2 weeks before you know it the spots blowed up....

 

[doubledownranch]

Leaving the stand too early is something I struggle with.

I get bored easily and need to move around.

 

[catman529]

Leaving the stand too early is something I struggle with.

I get bored easily and need to move around.

I have to stand up and sit down now and then to stretch out and move, but I've sat in the tree for 6+ hours a few times and one day last year I sat in the climber all day without getting down.

BUT I much prefer to stay for less than 4 hours before climbing down. I am pretty much ADHD and it's hard to sit for too long.

 

[Nhill]

Leaving the stand too early is something I struggle with.

I get bored easily and need to move around.

I have to stand up and sit down now and then to stretch out and move, but I've sat in the tree for 6+ hours a few times and one day last year I sat in the climber all day without getting down.

BUT I much prefer to stay for less than 4 hours before climbing down. I am pretty much ADHD and it's hard to sit for too long.

I used to be bad about this, but I've improved with age (one of very few things)

 

[eastTN270]

Waiting for the "perfect" shot.

i agree 100%

I've fallen for this many times. My motto now is "Wait for a good shot, not the perfect shot"

 

[BlountArrow]

Leaving the stand too early is something I struggle with...

This is sometimes a problem for me particularly if I'm hunting with a few buddies because it is such a "social event" for me and I'm usually dying to know what everyone else saw and how everyone did... even though we usually keep in touch via text message the whole time .

 

[Bone Collector]

Wife

LOL

this and leaving too early, which is usually caused by my wife.....

 

[GreyGoose]

alcohol{the night before}has delayed a couple of morning hunts,but had pretty good success going in late to.waiting on the perfect shot.deciding if hes big enough until its to late.and the unpredictable wind and freezing would be my reasons

 

[Snake]

Glad to know none of these apply to me

 

[tbam]

don't forget..."Facebooking"

 

[redblood]

number one reason


hunting a spot too often or before prime time

 

[102]

I have seen WAYYYYYY too many hunters who are hunting "GHOSTS".

They repeatedly hunt a stand that has been productive in the past and see little or no activity. And sometimes find out later that just over the ridge, or across the hollow, deer are VERY regularly passing by a good acorn tree.

Hunting memories ("ghosts") is a very tough habit to break.


Most successful hunters I know are constantly "stacking the deck".

THey have many HIGH CONFIDENCE spots spread out far enough away from each other (often in different counties or States) and do not overhunt any ONE of these spots only hunting when the wind is right.

 

[102]

Way too many hunters spend 80 percent of their time hunting, and 20 percent scouting. When they need to do the opposite.

 

[bowriter]

Failure to practice
No knowledge of how to scout
Too much dependence of products
Not knowing when to shoot
Overhunting a stand
Not knowing when to move or draw
Hunting on low percentage days (weather)
and on and on

 

[RAFI]

Leaving the stand too early is something I struggle with.

I get bored easily and need to move around.

yep that was me. i would leave by 930 until I ran a trail cam that had most deer coming by after 10

 

[Hunter 257W]

My problem is not being able to sit still enough. I HAVE to have some kind of blind. Also my back and knees get to hurting to the point that my mind is dwelling on it and that makes me want to wiggle more.

I have no problem with waiting for the perfect shot. My bucks practically never stop running and I am always afraid that if I make a noise to try to stop them, they'll just run faster so I shoot them running. I have missed more standing deer than running by far. Guess that means I am more of a shotgunner than rifleman!

 

[BlountArrow]

number one reason


hunting a spot too often or before prime time

I'd say that "before primetime" piece is high on the list because many are going to hunt whenever the opportunity presents itself not necessarily when conditions are right...probably due to a demanding job, family, etc.

 

[Pinwheeled]

I tend to overhunt spots and pick crappy access routes.

 

[Engine2c]

I tend to overhunt spots and pick crappy access routes.

This. I've gotten better about my access routes but I've definitely got that one stand that gets over hunted.

 

[duckriver]

Checking tndeer to often to see who has got one lol

 

[Lost Lake]

I've had better luck waiting for the right time to hunt certain stands.

Not taking myself too seriously allows me to relax and be more patient on stand.

 

[UTGrad]

I often think about the things that trip us serious deer hunters up before we ever start the hunt. Here are some of my top reasons. How about yours?

1. Hunting with the wrong wind.
2. Bad approach to the stand.
3. Spoiling the area too close to the hunt with cameras or stands.
4. No shooting lane once in the stand.
5. Turned the wrong way in the tree.
6. Forgot something important like calls or binos.
7. Loud metal clank during set up.
8. Bathroom call soon after reaching my perch.
9. Not paying attention, moving too much.
10. Too sleepy to hunt.

This is a good list...I'm getting better at taking these into consideration.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

I have a bad habit of losing all confidence and therefore not being able to stay put after a close encounter or missed opportunity. After having one come right by me or drawing on one that I never got a shot at, I tend to think that was my chance for the day and climb down. Many times I've stepped onto the ground only to see another bounding off flag a flying.

 

[SMarshall]

Waiting for the "perfect" shot.

i agree 100%

I've fallen for this many times. My motto now is "Wait for a good shot, not the perfect shot"

This is definitely true. I waited too long for the "perfect shot" on a great buck a couple years ago and ended up not getting to take a shot at all.

 

[BSK]

That's a well-thought-out list fairchaser.

From watching other hunters, I would suggest the biggest mistakes many hunters are making are:

1) Poor stand location. Too often hunters are choosing their stand set-up just because a location looks "deery." Or they found some rubs or a scrape. No thought is put into why deer might be coming through (why would that location be preferred by deer over other locations), or what pattern the deer will be on in that location (is this a daylight or night-time usage area).

2) Over-hunting stands. This may not be a problem if the hunter is expecting 100-300 yard shots, but for those setting up for 25 yard shots, over-hunting stands can be a huge mistake.

3) As Bowriter mentioned, over-reliance on products/gadgets. Why worry about stand placement when you're going to call the deer right to you with the latest doohickey acorn cruncher as seen on the latest monster buck hunting show?


As for myself, the biggest reason I'm not more successful is a lack of passion for doing everything necessary to outwit hunter-wary older bucks, which is a fancy way of saying I've gotten lazy in my hunting. I no longer go the extra-mile in scent control, I don't walk a half-mile out of my way to use the perfect approach to the stand, and I'm out of the stand in the morning as soon as I start getting bored (which is usually somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30). In my area, there's still a lot going on the woods sometimes up until 11:00 AM that I'm missing.

 

[fairchaser]

That's a well-thought-out list fairchaser.

1) Poor stand location. Too often hunters are choosing their stand set-up just because a location looks "deery." Or they found some rubs or a scrape. No thought is put into why deer might be coming through (why would that location be preferred by deer over other locations), or what pattern the deer will be on in that location (is this a daylight or night-time usage area).

That's a great one BSK! I am bad about picking a spot that makes my hackles stand up because it just looks right. Deer are where you find them. Why deer may be coming through is also good. Often we pick only a piece of the deer's pattern without considering why he's coming through there and developing an entire picture.