Patience on the stand

[sweet old bill]

As a young hunter it seemed I could stay out all day. Just walk in for a bite and be back out till total dark. Being retired and able to hunt each day and now also 68 years young. I find I do not have the patience or staying power to be out that many hours. I am now planning during the pre rut / chase period to go back to hunting most of the day.  I am sure that I miss some big bucks by being in the easy chair and not in the ground blind during the chase / pre rut period. How about you how long do you hunt each day.....

[nybuckboy]

Early bow season I tend to hunt til 10am and then go back out at 3pm. As the season gets into Nov I tend to hunt all day.

[CNYlungbuster]

Likewise the closer it gets to the rut the longer I stay out, and the crappier the weather I stay out.  Pretty much only call it quits early in early season.  I'll probably sit all day or as much as I can on the opener just because its opening day finally and I'll want my bow in hand as much as possible. 

CNY

[Geno C]

i usually sit all day not matter the time of the season... i have been getting good deer movemtn oon trail cam from a week ago at around the noon time to 330 ish and thats just what my trail cam catches in the spot. so ill be sitting the day unless i feel like getting out for lunch. even if the morning may not be productive, as a hunter i always try to be positive and tell myself it can happen any minute and you know what sometimes it actully does! and the time could be 12 - 1pm. my mind frame while i am in for lunch is always thinking about what could be walking past my stand while in eating. so i bring lunch and sit the day. i love it...

thank god for 5 hour energy drinks LOL

[wztirem]

As I predomininately hunt State Land, I sit the entire day concealed in a blind, with more than enough to eat and drink. To pass the time I usually do crossword puzzles or read.

[Doc]

Bowhunting is usually a morning and afternoon activity. What's kind of interesting is that I definitely have a lot more patience in the afternoon hunt. Every minute that goes by until quitting time gets better and better and more an more likely that the deer will be moving.

AM ........ well not as much. After 8:00 or 9:00, things start getting less and less confident. The later it gets, the excuses to get up and start doing a bit of scouting start to get more and more convincing ...... lol. Usually around 10:00, I have convinced myself that all the deer are laying down in the bushes snoring and have no intentions of moving past my stand even though that probably is not true at all.

Doc

[crappyice]

I like to sit most of the morning till about 1. but my partner can't make make it past 10:30 or so. This year he promised me noon once we get closer to rut.  This is our first year with trail cams and I am amazed at the time the deer have been arriving. The hottest, legal shooting time on the cameras is the 2-4:00pm hours.  What are those deer doing? Eatin? stretchin? The cameras are between a bedding area and food source. Just seems to be a strange time for all that activity. thoughts?

[nyslowhand]

I'm a terrible sitter, very difficult to sit for any length of time. I have restless leg syndrome.

I'm great in the mornings; brisk temps, sunrise, lotsa deer movement & on high alert. Good 'til ~10-ish.

Afternoons are my worst time waiting for that last hour of light.

Warm afternoon, no deer movement, squirrels driving you crazy, eye lids closing, stand-up, sit down, ....

[fasteddie]

Opening day I try to hang in there for the duration . I might take my hub blind and a chair along this time so I can sack out if need be . I find it very tiring to sit all day and gey drowsey after a while . I am usually setup about 45 - 60 minutes before legal time so it gives the area time to quiet down .

[sweet old bill]

I have in the past tken in the back pack my reading glasses, a good book and also a FM radio with a ear plug to keep me from getting tired of sitting in the non hot times. I am a lot like Doc, maybe it due to age, but I am good in the morning from 1/2 from first light to 9 am, then I walk in and then go out so I am in the ground blinds from 2 1/2 hour from dark.  As we getinto the last week of Oct and first week of Nov to me this has been the buck chase period and I like to stay for longer periods.

[Cabin Fever]

Morning hunts, I try to sit until ~10am. Afternoon hunts, I head back in ~3pm.

I don't see many deer, which makes it REAL hard to stay on stand. Seems like the "most" I've seen on a bowhunt might be 4 or 5. If I see 1 deer, I consider it a good day. Might not seem like much, but ONE is better than NONE!

[nybuckboy]

OK, as strange as this may sound... bring your IPOD. Particularly on days when we you can not hear well because of wind or rain. I know a guy who shot a nice buck while listening to "Freebird" 25 years ago on a Walkman tape.

Put on something mellow. Turn the volume all the way down and then just barely turn it on so you can just hear it. I've done this a few times. When you get the urge to get down from your stand and leave turn on the tunes for 30 - 45 minutes. As we all know, if your not on stand you can't see deer. Better to use your eyes to see than read a book or do a crossword puzzle IMO.

[20ftupatree]

I can be out all day and be happy I'm out. I will sit on one stand in am till 11, I like to let other hunters leave the woods at 10 and wait till the dust settles before I decide to make my move. I pack a lunch a lot of times, not a picnic size lunch but a sandwich, snickers whatever and move to the next stand. I just love sitting in the woods. As the season wears on, I get so much hunting in because of where I am ( on SZ and NZ divide) by December I'm worn out and patience is thin.

[nyslowhand]

.... while listening to "Freebird" ......

Nothing like a little Skynard to get the adrenaline going!

[Cabin Fever]

OK, as strange as this may sound... bring your IPOD. Particularly on days when we you can not hear well because of wind or rain. I know a guy who shot a nice buck while listening to "Freebird" 25 years ago on a Walkman tape.

That reminds me, a couple of years ago I would download videos/shows onto my phone and watch them when things got real slow during the mid-day. Sure helped pass the time.

I think texting helps pass the time also. My cousin in MD frequently texts me when he's bored on stand or as he's sitting in his stand waiting for daylight, AND also to rub it in that he's hunting and our season in NY still isn't open yet!

[nyslowhand]

Or you could always take your laptop and do some work...? ???

[nybuckboy]

Or you could always take your laptop and do some work...? ???

NOT!!!!!!

[Cabin Fever]

Or you could always take your laptop and do some work...? ???

OR I could just take a nap....

[nyslowhand]

Or you could always take your laptop and do some work...? ???

Sorry!!!

What was I thinking???

[wztirem]

I always stick it out all day. As my hunting time afield is limited, I try to take full advantage of the opportunity.

[growalot]

a few years ago ...I went out at camp before light...it was -10...got to rhe stand....a ladder stand and sat for 12 hrs.......My Dad in- law actually got the truck and drove the road to see if he could spot me in the stand...the temps never got above 0 ...Now...well I've spent a good part of the summer rigging things so I'm not sitting in the wind and weather....Gun opener two years ago it was raining to beat the band and sorta warm...lasted that until noon and was MISERABLE the whole day even after I came in....The older I get the harder all day hunts are becoming...unless I'm in my Tree lounge...That is just the greatest stand made.... for a person with a bad back ....also because I really don't sit a whole lot and have a problem with vitamin D deficiency  ..during hunting season I suffer from mind destroying leg cramps...the long sits are tough...

[cbx46]

i try to sit all day expescially now my trail cam has deer movement at noon a nice large ten pt. at 1230 the other day. i also shot a bear last year at 1130 opening day of bow and i only noticed him went i stood up to leave he was coming down the hill straight at my stand didnt want a bear but still wasnt getting down with him their when he passed perfectly broadside couldnt resist.  i shot a 7 pt the opening day of bow the year before at noonish so they move during the day early or late season can get a deer from the rack!