Halfway there

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tbunao
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Halfway there

Unread postby tbunao » Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:31 am

Today marks 180 days until October 1st. If you work the normal 5 days a week that gives you 26 weekends to get things done or 52 days. :o Not to mention turkey season kicking off.

How's everyone doing on your prep work? Are you ready to go? Are your cams ready for deployment? Do you wait until the last minute to go over your gear or are you already picking away at the list?

Might seem like a lot of time left but before you know it it will be here.


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Dewey
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby Dewey » Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:59 am

My scouting is winding down in the next few weeks. Once turkey hunting starts I hang it up for awhile so I don't mess up someones hunt.

I scouted more than average so far this year and put on a lot of miles. Feel very good about all the new spots I added along with previous spots that I studied more to figure out what I was doing wrong and made proper adjustments. Of course I have a long list of proven spots that I have been hunting for many years. Never a shortage of stuff to hunt.

The rest of the year leading up to the season will include running cams to spot check certain areas along with glassing and shining once antlers start filling in. Of course cyberscouting never ends.

My gear is ready to go. I take care of checking my stands other gear right after the season before I put it away.
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Mibowfreak
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby Mibowfreak » Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:06 am

Man half way there :music-rockon:

I am right in the deep of doing all my tree prepping. I also still have a few more days of scouting I will get in before full green up.

Been buying a case of batteries for the trail cameras every so often. Makes running 12 cameras a bit easier on the pocket book. Wont be long and it will be time to deploy all the cameras out again. Sure am looking forward to finding some returners.

I have been shooting the bow very regularly. I keep all my gear ready to rock!!!

Sure am looking forward to some summer glassing.
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Wlog
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby Wlog » Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:29 am

Have cameras out around a mineral site on my only private property. This year I did much better picking the right public areas to concentrate my scouting. Found a bunch of good new spots. Wrote down a lot of detailed notes. Feeling pretty good about next year.
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby Lastcast#1 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 6:58 am

Feeling good about my efforts this year..Been scouting very hard since January 2. Over 200 miles on the gps. My goal is to be done by May 1 with tree prep...It seems for every spot I finish, I add 4 more the next scouting trip..But I am happy with my efforts and will be confident going into the fall...Feels like last season never really ended, but I love it. .One potential follow up scout to Ohio soon if we can find the time after thier turkey season.Cant say enough about the Beast and how it has helped me continue to develop as a hunter.. Thankyou to everyone here...Shooting the bow daily..Like others have mentioned, I am ready to rock..

My Turkey hunt runs April 17-24 so I am excited to focus on the birds for a while..Every turkey scout turns into scouting for deer for reason! :)

Regards,
Chad
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cbay
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby cbay » Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:10 am

Seems like yesterday everything got packed away in terms of gear. As far as intel and spots it will never end. Been taking a break the last couple weeks after going at it aggressively. Hope to spend a lot of time trying to gather intel from now until aug/sept.
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tgreeno
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby tgreeno » Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:39 am

I intensified my scouting from last year and added many new spots. Hopefully one of them will pay off! I've probably tripled the amount of spots I had from last year. I'm still hoping to pick-up a few more spots before green-up. Cameras (I only have 2) are not a big part of my summer prep. I rely more on shinning, glassing & observation sits. My cameras never seem to be in the right place to get good bucks on film?
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hunter_mike
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby hunter_mike » Tue Apr 04, 2017 7:47 am

I will probably keep scouting beds as much as I can until really thick green-up. Then I will shift my scouting towards checking on my water access routes to make sure they are doable. That means doing some paddling and wading (and maybe some fishing). And I will continue to walk around looking at tracks.

I am considering not running all of my trail cameras this summer so that I can keep them available to drop off in staging areas during actual hunting season. Seemed like I missed out on good intel because of not having trail cams available to set on hot sign during season.

I have a couple hunting related projects going. My homemade camera arm is nearly complete but needs some silencing and paint. I am working on a mobile setup for ground hunting, consisting of an adjustable height stool and a lightweight ground blind.

Been a very enjoyable year so far!
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headgear
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby headgear » Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:32 am

I've got 5-6 more scouting trips planned then I'm going to shut it down for the summer, added some nice looking new spots this year and confirmed some old spots that needed some fine tuning. It's really nice to have years and years of scouting under your belt, more spots than I could ever hunt in a single year and I keep adding to the pile.
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Jackson Marsh
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:10 am

Locally I'm good to go, although I have a couple of more spots to check out once the water warms up a bit :lol:

I have additional hill spots to check out this spring and summer, but if the season started today I would be very confident in my sets.

I'll probably run some cameras this summer as well.
tbunao
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby tbunao » Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:18 am

Awesome! Seems like the consensus is everyone feels good going into the season at this point!


I feel like I'm behind. I think it's just the amount I did last year compared to this year was far greater. Last year I just blew through areas and cut some corners (didn't prep well). This year I practiced quality over quantity. I'm feeling good but still have a few more areas to scour, try to figure out better areas for a few cams with better access. I started "hunting" my cams last year and it was by far my best year pic wise. I have good summer time areas but need to find better access to the areas that I'll transition them to once season begins.

Gear is diald in. I shoot regularly, I've become pretty steady after doing sprints and firing out a 40yrd shot with no warm up. I've set up my stand well over a dozen times.
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:45 am

Time has been a major issue for me this year. I've only been out 7 or 8 times and most outings have been short. Some only a couple hours. I knew going into spring scouting that I was going to have to focus most of my efforts into checking existing sets and that's what I've done.

I do have a couple sets (two prepped, one more to go) at an area I've been watching but never bowhunted. One is a high % spot where I sneak down (in) a river and take a couple steps into a thicket clump and I'm ready to rock. They can get around me, but the wind is in their favor and there's a solid rub line coming right past me. Been there two yrs in a row now. :L:

I know hunting time will be hard to come by this fall as well. I'll be working overtime with a 4 month old and 2 yr old. The lack of time REALLY sucks, but I know I'll be in the game big time on the days I do get to hunt.

Gotta look at my stand and blind locations list and figure out which ones I NEED to get done and keep going in the order of importance. Would like to get one more new one ready in some bedding that's been speed scouted, but not sure I'll get that far with baby due May 19!

Also, landowner at my best rut grove just got a yellow lab, so that might be the end of an era at arguably my best spot! We'll see.
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wickedbruiser
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby wickedbruiser » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:25 pm

8-) I seriously need to hustle some scouting before turkeys on the 25th. Time has also been an issue this year. Oh well, have to make the best of it!
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jmaas07
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby jmaas07 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:50 pm

Still scouting, not 100% on the exact locations for cams yet, feel like I need more than I planned on having going into summer, I can see how a guy can run 20-30 cams lol. Wish there was an extra month of scouting time before green up too, so much I want to cover still in the next month, and that's not to say I haven't covered a good amount as it is either..will be using some vacation days the next 3-4 weeks for sure.
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Re: Halfway there

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:09 pm

I am still waiting for the snow to clear! We are almost there...but more snow is forecasted.


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