Mistakes , Bad luck and Unforeseen Circumstances

[Northcountryman]

So as of right now, still havent gotten a deer this year; suffice it tosay, its been a disappointing/frustrating year, to say the least, for many different reasons, including the following:

1) Opening day- Had a class scheudled for opening morning to teach a class for international students, which i didnt want to do, but really can use the extra $ , so couldnt turn it down. Class is in China, so time difference is 12 hrs (now its 13), requiring me to teach from4:30-6am, essentially , wipinmg out the mornings hunt.  Anyway, the class never happened cuz the kid didnt show up and I was never infomred of this prior that she wouldnt be attending- I was pissed!! Anyway, I pack my stuff, rush up to camp and get there about late morning.  Eventually, I make it out a little after noon, park my truck , and start to get ready to go in. Then, i realize that I brought my 30-30 bullets and I was carrying my 300!!! Just wasnt my day- drove back to camp and got drunk!!

2) Second day- Hunted the am till about 10:30 , didnt see anything , but club member shoots a little bear so I get involved with assisitng him with that for rest of the day.

3) Thanksgiving week- Hunt for a couple hours wednesday before Thanksgiving and hirt my foot- no more hunting rest of holiday weekend till that sunday.

4) Sunday, Thanksgiving weekend- Finally get back to woods , but decide to go to one of my other spots with a climber already set in place - its gone when I get there.

5) Following weekend, SaturdayFinally: A full weekend to hunt!!  Get to my other spot with another climber set in place and, although its still there, some idiot stole the seat off of it . Also, I didnt see anything (of course).

6) Sunday- Sneak into a spot with my mobile ground blind and setup- here movement a little after 7 but cant see deer. Try to call him with grunt tube-nothing.  Few minutes later, deer takes off-did it wind me?? Later, around 11, start to getup and leave and suddenly, I see movement to my right. Already standing and out of blind, I slowly grab my gun and wait: 2 does step out.  Having a DMP, I decide to take one.  They both look at me as I stand there motionless, assure themselves Im part of the forest and proceed to walk in the other direction. I take aim at the lead one, pull the trigger, and : missed!! Thye both get away. After I get back to camp, in major disbelief that I had missed such an easy shot, I check it at our rifle range in the back; sure enough, its off and firing high- very high.  Dammit!!  When I helped the guy with hte bear the other week, I dropped my gun, bot rtealizing it must have thrown off the sights.

7) This past weekend- Saturday am, couldnt find my climber till 7am after arriving at 5:30- turns out, i was 20 yds away from it the whole time!!  Rained heavy all am  including thunder and lightning to boot.  Didnt see a thing. Sunday- Humped in my friends lighter, more mobile climber to a spot and slipped a good tree- in place by 6:15, cool.  Didnt see anything till about 8:30 , then I hear a nervous deer keeping to the treeline walking rapidly towards me and off to the right. In good cover so difficult to place a shot but finally, as its off to may far right, steps into a brief opening.  I go to swing my gun to draw on it and Damn!! I had left my gun tied to the hoist rope I use to pull it up into my stand!! I couldnt swing it all the way cuz of this and when I finally untied it, deer was too deep into the brush to get a shot off- Man, do I suck !! lol

 

This past weekend- Go into my spot at 5:30 on saturday  and couldnt find my stand till 7am- turns out, i was like 20 yards from it!!

7)Yesterday- 

[phade]

Sounds like a tough year. I always try to focus on what I can control to make things better or have better results. Being able to shake off the other stuff you can't control, allows you to focus on how you react to it or better yet, take proactive steps for the future.

There is ample late season for those in the SZ. Still time.

Edited December 13, 2021 by phade

[2012_taco]

24 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

So as of right now, still havent gotten a deer this year; suffice it tosay, its been a disappointing/frustrating year, to say the least, for many different reasons, including the following:

1) Opening day- Had a class scheudled for opening morning to teach a class for international students, which i didnt want to do, but really can use the extra $ , so couldnt turn it down. Class is in China, so time difference is 12 hrs (now its 13), requiring me to teach from4:30-6am, essentially , wipinmg out the mornings hunt.  Anyway, the class never happened cuz the kid didnt show up and I was never infomred of this prior that she wouldnt be attending- I was pissed!! Anyway, I pack my stuff, rush up to camp and get there about late morning.  Eventually, I make it out a little after noon, park my truck , and start to get ready to go in. Then, i realize that I brought my 30-30 bullets and I was carrying my 300!!! Just wasnt my day- drove back to camp and got drunk!!

2) Second day- Hunted the am till about 10:30 , didnt see anything , but club member shoots a little bear so I get involved with assisitng him with that for rest of the day.

3) Thanksgiving week- Hunt for a couple hours wednesday before Thanksgiving and hirt my foot- no more hunting rest of holiday weekend till that sunday.

4) Sunday, Thanksgiving weekend- Finally get back to woods , but decide to go to one of my other spots with a climber already set in place - its gone when I get there.

5) Following weekend, SaturdayFinally: A full weekend to hunt!!  Get to my other spot with another climber set in place and, although its still there, some idiot stole the seat off of it . Also, I didnt see anything (of course).

6) Sunday- Sneak into a spot with my mobile ground blind and setup- here movement a little after 7 but cant see deer. Try to call him with grunt tube-nothing.  Few minutes later, deer takes off-did it wind me?? Later, around 11, start to getup and leave and suddenly, I see movement to my right. Already standing and out of blind, I slowly grab my gun and wait: 2 does step out.  Having a DMP, I decide to take one.  They both look at me as I stand there motionless, assure themselves Im part of the forest and proceed to walk in the other direction. I take aim at the lead one, pull the trigger, and : missed!! Thye both get away. After I get back to camp, in major disbelief that I had missed such an easy shot, I check it at our rifle range in the back; sure enough, its off and firing high- very high.  Dammit!!  When I helped the guy with hte bear the other week, I dropped my gun, bot rtealizing it must have thrown off the sights.

7) This past weekend- Saturday am, couldnt find my climber till 7am after arriving at 5:30- turns out, i was 20 yds away from it the whole time!!  Rained heavy all am  including thunder and lightning to boot.  Didnt see a thing. Sunday- Humped in my friends lighter, more mobile climber to a spot and slipped a good tree- in place by 6:15, cool.  Didnt see anything till about 8:30 , then I hear a nervous deer keeping to the treeline walking rapidly towards me and off to the right. In good cover so difficult to place a shot but finally, as its off to may far right, steps into a brief opening.  I go to swing my gun to draw on it and Damn!! I had left my gun tied to the hoist rope I use to pull it up into my stand!! I couldnt swing it all the way cuz of this and when I finally untied it, deer was too deep into the brush to get a shot off- Man, do I suck !! lol

 

This past weekend- Go into my spot at 5:30 on saturday  and couldnt find my stand till 7am- turns out, i was like 20 yards from it!!

7)Yesterday- 

That sounds like a tough season!! You should get the OnX hunt app for your phone and mark your stand locations, works great! Once you download the maps you'll not need internet to use in the woods as it uses your phones gps to locate you. jmho.

[Splitear]

That sounds like a comedy of errors  I hope you can find the humor in it eventually, and I hope you still find/have time to get in the woods during ML. Good luck man!

[mlammerhirt]

OnX or Huntstand....that will eliminate not finding the stand.

Sounds like instead of a mental checklist you need a small typed....laminated list you can checkout of everytime you want to hunt.
Gun
Ammo
Pack
Safety harness
All the way down to the give detail of....hoisted gun up......round in the chamber


Sent from my SM-A716V using Tapatalk

[Splitear]

You could try putting an Apple Airtag on your stand, as long as you don't mind the bigwigs in Silicon Valley knowing where your hunting spot is

[Northcountryman]

31 minutes ago, Splitear said:

You could try putting an Apple Airtag on your stand, as long as you don't mind the bigwigs in Silicon Valley knowing where your hunting spot is

Never heard of that !! what is it?

[SpacemanSpiff]

I used to get so pissed off not finding a  stand in my sister’s woods. I bought some of those tacks that illuminate in my red headlamp, problem solved. Like you i was always right by the stand but covered in sweat and all the deer had blown out of the entire county by daylight. Marking tape works well to unless you don't want to advertise your stand location so much. 

Edited December 13, 2021 by SpacemanSpiff

[Splitear]

7 minutes ago, Northcountryman said:

Never heard of that !! what is it?

I think they are like $30, it's a little tracking tag that you can put on luggage and stuff. I don't have one and have never messed with one, however, I think you use an app to locate whatever it's attached to, sort of like finding a lost phone using "Find My iPhone". I just looked, and they are water resistant, but I would probably keep it in a plastic bag or something if it were going to be exposed to the elements. 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-airtag-silver/6461348.p?skuId=6461348&ref=212&loc=1&extStoreId=541&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA-9uNBhBTEiwAN3IlNIxpURm7EK2col2uT7z39r33z19LTIqFHyxyy-BBf2am86AcBTCBgBoCkXkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I just read last week that car thieves are using them to track cars by putting them under license plates and following them until they are unoccupied. Weird stuff..

[wolc123]

I had a few years like that until I connected the dots and realized that Jesus Christ alone had the final say on the final destination of all living things.  If I wanted that to be my freezer for some deer or fish, then I had to base my actions on His preferences and not my own.  
 

Everything has fallen in to place rather well since then, and we haven’t had to eat much store bought chicken.  You still have plenty of time to get things straightened out.

 

[Northcountryman]

1 hour ago, wolc123 said:

I had a few years like that until I connected the dots and realized that Jesus Christ alone had the final say on the final destination of all living things.  If I wanted that to be my freezer for some deer or fish, then I had to base my actions on His preferences and not my own.  
 

Everything has fallen in to place rather well since then, and we haven’t had to eat much store bought chicken.  You still have plenty of time to get things straightened out.

 

You da Man!!  And what did you change about your approach to start enjoying regular success?

Edited December 13, 2021 by Northcountryman

[BowmanMike]

Or ditch the stands,I hardly ever sit in a tree during gun season. With the extended range of a gun I feel I don't have to get so close. Plus it allows you to move if you have to.

Keep things simple and work your way up from there,pun intended.

[Splitear]

10 minutes ago, BowmanMike said:

Or ditch the stands,I hardly ever sit in a tree during gun season. With the extended range of a gun I feel I don't have to get so close. Plus it allows you to move if you have to.

Keep things simple and work your way up from there,pun intended.

I really needed by climber this year as I was hunting over kind of a swampy meadow, and the grass was fairly tall across it. If on the ground I would have had a hard time finding any shots. Taking my climber up about 15 feet gave me a good 125-150 range across the whole area. 

[BowmanMike]

1 hour ago, Splitear said:

I really needed by climber this year as I was hunting over kind of a swampy meadow, and the grass was fairly tall across it. If on the ground I would have had a hard time finding any shots. Taking my climber up about 15 feet gave me a good 125-150 range across the whole area. 

Of course there are situation where you need one. You also don't have to be as diligent about what is beyond your target as it usually is dirt when you are elevated.

It also is easier to not be detected in a tree vs on the ground. After the bowseason I don't bother much with getting elevated.

[Northcountryman]

1 hour ago, BowmanMike said:

Or ditch the stands,I hardly ever sit in a tree during gun season. With the extended range of a gun I feel I don't have to get so close. Plus it allows you to move if you have to.

Keep things simple and work your way up from there,pun intended.

Really.  Do you use a blind or just stand behind a tree or something. 

[Northcountryman]

1 hour ago, Splitear said:

I really needed by climber this year as I was hunting over kind of a swampy meadow, and the grass was fairly tall across it. If on the ground I would have had a hard time finding any shots. Taking my climber up about 15 feet gave me a good 125-150 range across the whole area. 

Dude, do you have predetermined trees that you know youre gonna setup in with your climber or just kinda go in and find one? I like to find one via scouting then haul in the climber and set it prior to hunting it.

[BowmanMike]

1 minute ago, Northcountryman said:

Really.  Do you use a blind or just stand behind a tree or something. 

just stand by a tree or some blowdown. Movement is what will give you away. I sat by a tree opening day and had a spike buck come to 7 yds. That was when you could see you breath.  He obviously was a dummy,but it easier than you think. Problem is if they come too close you won't be able to let them walk past without getting busted.

[Northcountryman]

Just now, BowmanMike said:

just stand by a tree or some blowdown. Movement is what will give you away. I sat by a tree opening day and had a spike buck come to 7 yds. That was when you could see you breath.  He obviously was a dummy,but it easier than you think. Problem is if they come too close you won't be able to let them walk past without getting busted.

I like it but I always feel like i'm missing deer visually further out unless I'm up high, you know?  Do you see alot of deer where you hunt?

[Splitear]

Just now, Northcountryman said:

Dude, do you have predetermined trees that you know youre gonna setup in with your climber or just kinda go in and find one? I like to find one via scouting then haul in the climber and set it prior to hunting it.

I have a few that I know on the property that I hunt, but this year's was a new one for me. I went out in the afternoon to hunt, found a tree that I thought I liked, but ended up with my toes and knees pointing downward once I got to the top (too much taper). So, I climbed down and found another. When climbing down that afternoon I notched the tree where I stopped with my top cable, and then trimmed limbs on my way down and when I got on the ground. That will probably be my go to tree depending on the wind moving forward. I use HuntStand on my phone as well, so I set a marker at the tree, take a photo of it from my entry point, and also make notes of how my cable set-up was so I don't have to adjust once I'm in the tree (I usually have to do that the first time I climb it). 

[BowmanMike]

1 minute ago, Northcountryman said:

I like it but I always feel like i'm missing deer visually further out unless I'm up high, you know?  Do you see alot of deer where you hunt?

yeah,lots of deer in 4F. They also manage to disappear after the opener though,for the most part anyway.

I don't care too much about deer that are 100+yds out,unless it is for future intel.

After opening day deer tend to avoid areas where you can see that far anyway.

[Northcountryman]

1 hour ago, BowmanMike said:

yeah,lots of deer in 4F. They also manage to disappear after the opener though,for the most part anyway.

I don't care too much about deer that are 100+yds out,unless it is for future intel.

After opening day deer tend to avoid areas where you can see that far anyway.

Yeah they do, im not seeing s%*# now lol

[wolc123]

3 hours ago, Northcountryman said:

You da Man!!  And what did you change about your approach to start enjoying regular success?

I could tell you right here, but it might rile up some of our more liberal and atheist members, so I will start a new thread in the political section.  

[Swamp_bucks]

Best thing I ever did for my hunting was getting mobile. I used to have the same issue with finding stands.  So now I do all my scouting way before the season mark it on huntstand and carry my stand in every time.  I have a good system for where everything is so when I get to the tree all I need to do is unhook my sticks attach rope to my bow and I'm up and sitting within 10 minutes.   When I get down it all goes in the same way every single time.  Eliminated 90% of the errors I used to make.  

[Northcountryman]

Just now, wolc123 said:

I could tell you right here, but it might rile up some of our more liberal and atheist members, so I will start a new thread in the political section.  

Gotcha!!

[Northcountryman]

1 minute ago, Swamp_bucks said:

Best thing I ever did for my hunting was getting mobile. I used to have the same issue with finding stands.  So now I do all my scouting way before the season mark it on huntstand and carry my stand in every time.  I have a good system for where everything is so when I get to the tree all I need to do is unhook my sticks attach rope to my bow and I'm up and sitting within 10 minutes.   When I get down it all goes in the same way every single time.  Eliminated 90% of the errors I used to make.  

Oh ok, so you use sticks. what about climbers -dont like 'em?