Hunting Journals

[NYDeer]

Actually it takes very little time. What I did was to make up a blank data sheet and ran a whole bunch of copies. I would dash down the stuff when I got home from the day's hunt. Over the winter, I am always looking for things to do anyway, so I just took all the data sheets and entered the stuff into my spreadsheet.

Great Idea. You can even compile the info in a 3 ring binder for the season, and compile the stats afterwords when you have more time..

[Doc]

When I first started the Excel project, I used a little spiral bound notebook that fit in my shirt pocket. But the spreadsheet quickly grew to the point where that wasn't enough room. So I went to the input sheet that was filled out when I got home. That works well. What ever you use is unimportant. What is important is to see to it that those memories are not lost and that those experiences can be relived in future years. If you can turn it into a diagnostic tool ....... so much the better.

Doc

[ameridear]

I have a spreadsheet that covers hunting seasons from 1982 to 1995. I have attached (hopefully) some screen shots that show how I used to use this electronic journal. I have never used the photo attachment thing before, so if it all works, I will add another reply to explain all of what is depicted here.

Doc

doc is possible to setup a tutorial for the basic of get a log like this started. i am not to familiar with excel, let alone using macros .

very cool looking log.

[Doc]

Let me see what I can do. With some work, I maybe can take a copy of my log, gut out the input, and attach it to a message here. It might be worth a try. Of course whenever I try these kinds of things, I always wind up with compatibility problems between my older versions of Excel and the versions that others are using. For one thing, all my macros are written in the old macro language instead of Visual Basic. My version of Excel has no problem with that, but other versions may. I'll see what I can do. If it doesn't work, then so be it.

Let me do a quick test with another spreadsheet and see how it all reacts.

Doc

[Doc]

I am having a heck of a time turning a copy of my database into an empty one that anyone can use. When I take large gobs of data out so that all new input can be entered, the formulas seem to get a bit confused ...... no actually they have a melt-down. Excel doesn't like formulas that result in infinity, and when you turn the denominator into zero by eliminating the info, that's exactly what happens. At least that's what I have concluded from some of my attempts.

I also have some "read-only" protections on the spreadsheet that don't show up until I upload it to this forum. So I have that to deal with also.

I haven't given up, but it just is not turning out as simple a task as I thought it would be.

[Doc]

I can't do it. The logic is too intermeshed with my own personal entries, and things seem to blow up when I start clearing out my data. Sorry, I gave it a heck of a try, but nothing useful came out of it.

Doc

[ameridear]

doc thanks for trying. i will just have to keep playing until it works for me.

[greybeard]

I've kept a hunting/fishing journal since 1965.

This year I decided to not document as much since I'm slowing down a bit , but I  still do keep some good records of game/birds that I call including the type /brand call I used,response time, if any, details of the locations, and actions of the game called

For me the journals have been valuable for :

reliving past adventures

planning a new trip back to the old spot

details about the area including terrain

type of game/fish found there

equipment needed (type of boots/ waders,  game calls, decoys,, weapon, ammo, etc.

safety issues

pheasant stocking when appropriate

heavily hunted, or not

other details that I haven't listed, but those are game/ spot specific for my method of hunting (which is usually alone).

My fishing records are much more detailed

I can't imagine not keeping journals

[sweet old bill]

I was a member for years in a hunt club called outoodrs forever. We had a log book that was on the table that was used to show who was in camp as well asw what area they hunted, weather, temp, number of deer seen and if they took any other wild game etc. It got that you could look back for several years and see patterns to what were the better areas to hunt, what day in the month of Oct that the start of the chase but rut on average took place and also when the full rut was on. We had 7500 acreas of state land to hunt. A road that went for about 4 miles and then had a turn around. A great bunch of guys and all shared in the work parties to keep the club going..