Keeping a Journal

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Lockdown
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Keeping a Journal

Unread postby Lockdown » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:23 pm

I know we just had a member post a similar thread asking how we go about logging info for journals, so sorry for the redundancy. I feel this is another important topic.

If you're not keeping track of your scouting and hunting findings you're only hurting yourself. Now if the idea of a journal makes your cringe and takes the fun out of the hunting and scouting experience, then absolutely don't do it. After all, we want to have fun. But if you're serious about killing deer, a journal can be a VERY helpful tool.

Case in point: I watched a nice 3.5 yr old 7 pointer (technically an 8... right g3 was barely scorable.) in a hay field last year. Saw him twice pre-season. He was roughly 17" wide with 8" twos. Shooter. I hunted my best bedding adjacent to that field on opening night, and I bumped him from underneath my kill tree. He didn't know what I was and stuck around, and I had an encounter after I got set up, which is when I noticed the 8th point. What does a journal have to do with this? I read through my entire property log for this area last night, and am quite sure I saw him in the beans in 2015. (the hay and beans border the same bedding area). My notes were along the lines of "A two year old 7 pointer and a doe came out. No other deer." All of the sudden it clicked. :shock: SAME BUCK!

I never would have made the correlation in a million years. A two year old 7 pointer... NOT INTERESTED, but I wrote it down anyway. I did see him a second time a week to ten days later. That time he was the only deer in the field. I have the dates logged, now I can use weather underground and compare conditions with sightings.

Dan has said many times, people ask him "What's the key to killing big bucks?" and his answer is "There is no one thing, its all the little details."

A journal is nothing more than years of "minor" details. Its crazy how reading a couple sentences can jog your memory! If you want to up your game, keep a journal.


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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby rbuckleyjr1 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:37 pm

You are absolutely right, Lockdown. Last season, I didn't do a very good job of documenting my findings during winter/ spring scouting. I kept all of the tracks on my GPS and could refer back to them, but I didn't get any of the small details that would have been a tremendous value come season. There is a constant learning process to everything we do year-to-year. If we aren't making mistakes and learning from them we aren't really progressing. This year I will be keeping a journal and logging every important detail. The more I learn, the more I am loving the process.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby mauser06 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:09 pm

I definitely see the benefits of it.


Scouting I tend to use pics and a GPS which is backed up in 2 other places periodically. I can type a short note in the GPS. "west wind buck bed". Or "big rub" or whatever.


I tried the journal thing...I can easily type a play by play of my hunts on here or another forum...I can't keep a journal lol. After a couple hunts I slack off.


I should start putting in the effort and keeping up with it though... Especially tackling new ground.



It often is a combination of a bunch of small things that put a deer on the ground.


Keeping a journal can definitely show a pattern of how and when deer use an area...Couple the journal with trail cam pics etc and you'd have some hard data. If you combine it all you can see how weather, moon, barometric pressure, phases of the rut etc coincidence with deer movement. I know I left a camera soak nearly all season and probably learned more than had I done it the regular way of checking regularly.

Past data can certainly help kill deer...
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby jwilkstn » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:24 pm

I do pretty well with recoding scouting finds and stand locations, but I tried to keep a journal this year and quit on it pretty quickly. By late season, I was already regretting the fact I didn't stick with it.

I did not list "keeping a journal" as part of my 2017 Goals, but that's only because I forgot it. I fully plan to do so this year.

Great post and great topic Lockdown!
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby Ack » Thu Jan 26, 2017 7:08 pm

I've tried logging info in the past and just never stuck with it.....I've always gone off what I knew and remembered in my head. After struggling on figuring out which spots to hunt a few times last season I'm going to document bedding areas, stand sites and their wind directions better this year. Already got a start on it after some scouting last week, so hopefully I can stick with it so I have some kind of reference come season.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby tbunao » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:12 pm

Excellent post. Between your prepping post and this post, I think it just goes to show that we need to slow down with our processes. Like what's been said in the videos, people just fire right through the scouting process. Slow down and pick up on those little things.
Not taking the time to log findings in a journal and ensuring your access and trees are prepped correctly to me a person is in just to much of a hurry to "be bothered" with it.

The journal process won't only help with the up coming season but it acts as a great historical reference as well.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby Wlog » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:18 pm

Definitely worth the effort. Scouting notes are especially helpful for me. It's really hard to remember all the little details of a scouting trip months later when you go back to hunt it.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby Lockdown » Fri Jan 27, 2017 12:07 am

They also help you find holes in your game. For example one property tht I've hunted for 3 years now, I realized I've never gave it a solid rut sit. All my hunts were September and early October. Journal helped me realize I need to switch it up.

I have also found that over time the excitement over a certain property or bedding area can fade. Re-reading the comments and positivity in my posts like "definitely need to get back here again!" Or "There HAS to be a shooter or two here!" Has helped me realize I might need to give that spot another look.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby Whitetailaddict » Fri Jan 27, 2017 1:14 am

Good post Lockdown. I think you're right about not really seeing the results until after multiple seasons. It takes a few years before you start to notice patterns for different areas and unfortunately for me I hunt too many spots to keep them all straight in my head. I'm hoping my journal entries from last season will help this upcoming year.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby Rich M » Fri Jan 27, 2017 1:22 am

Didn't keep a log or journal until the Beast. My journal for last year was just what was written on here, wasn't going to go back to the property again after 2016.

However, what I did write, and the comments from others helped me improve my game. It helps focus your thoughts and record events.

This year I plan on keeping a detailed scouting log as well as the journal on here. Hoping to be hunting public in 2 or 3 different areas in FL and hopefully in KS as well. GPS coordinates, aerials, topos, etc. will be in the journal. Computers make this stuff easy - you mark in on Google Earth and then overlay the topo and it is very close. I also use the soil survey information overlay.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby Ladykiller » Fri Jan 27, 2017 1:35 am

I keep a digital journal in Microsoft Excel in a spreadsheet. I put in as many columns of data that I can. That way I can go back later and filter the data out, whether it's by wind direction, location, year, critter, etc ...
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby thwack16 » Fri Jan 27, 2017 1:43 am

I start off nearly every year trying and end up letting it fizzle out. Did keep one up on here throughout the season, but that's not data that is easily put together from the prior season. I need to run a simple Excel file with corresponding stand sites, sightings, and weather conditions.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby Jonny » Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:25 am

The one thing I can say, is that if you set up your journal or spreadsheet so that it is very easy for you to use, you will use it more. As someone who uses spreadsheets on a daily basis, 90% of the issues are from not setting it up properly. Grab a drink, sit down for an hour and really think about how you want to organize your data. Take the time to set it up right otherwise you will be fighting it and not wanting to do it. What I am doing is making a spreadsheet and then making a paper copy of it in a small notebook that I can carry into the woods with me to note while I am in the tree. Details as of what county am I in, what area, where did I park, stand coordinates or id number (whatever you do to note your stands), wind direction, weather, temp, date, milkweed flow direction (thermal effect), how many deer did you see, how many people did you see, leaf drop. And probably another 20 categories I could list off the top of my head.

After reading many peoples journals here, it really is amazing how small of details really stand out during crunch time. Plus all of these details will make scouting easier because you have all of the knowledge you could want sitting right in front of you while you hunt. Seems dumb to not record it. Once you figure out excel, it is really user friendly for what we are trying to do here. No different than trying to switch from a climber to a hang on and sticks. Just involves a slight learning curve.

I am going to try and finish up my spreadsheet this weekend, have one for offseason stuff and one for in season. I'll see if I can post it in my journal when I finish.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby cbay » Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:30 am

Been trying to use waypoint descriptions to avoid a journal for the last year. It's not the same. Really need to get back to a journal.
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Re: Keeping a Journal

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:40 am

I've kept a detailed journal for many years. Also use a Garmin GPS and load waypoints onto laptop Garmin Basecamp.

When I really get busy hunting many days in a row (seems to happen more often while turkey hunting) I will use my Olympus Digital Voice Recorder (Model VN-4100PC) which is small pocket size. After the hunt when I jump into my truck to drive home I start talking about the hunt and recording myself. I usually don't have a short drive home so it works great. This unit comes with a usb cord and then I just load the wave file onto my laptop. Then I dont have to write a log when I get home. But I usually prefer to write a log.

Also, if I'm hunting with other family members or friends and we text via phone back and forth (ie "just had a small buck come by from the north") these texts have time and date stamps. So when you get back home and try to remember "what time was that" its time stamped. Works great.


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