Deer hunting is exhausting!

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HoosierG5
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Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby HoosierG5 » Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:13 pm

Sticks, stands, entry, exits, etc...is enough to wear a guy out! Ive always said I can sleep in January. Just out of curiosity, why do think hunting is truly so exhausting? Trying to use all of our senses? Trying to stay motionless or close to it? Trying to be as stealthy as possible? Curious as to why you guys think its so tiring (worth it-yes, but tiring).


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<DK>
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby <DK> » Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:38 pm

Killing them is the easy part and it ain't easy!
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby Redman232 » Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:41 pm

I spent about 5 hrs standing motionless today while on stand, every where I went does wanted to bed right beside me. I'm whooped.
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creepingdeth
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby creepingdeth » Sun Oct 29, 2017 2:56 pm

I'm an older dude(55) and all of 140 lbs. Don't have the lightweight set-ups you guys have (yet)...but for me, the mental part is wearing me out. The thinking and sitting still...I'm sleeping like a baby....very extreme :D
Yesterdays common sense is no longer common
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Jhand
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby Jhand » Sun Oct 29, 2017 3:06 pm

The most exhausting part to me is the long slow walk to the stand. Seems like when ever I'm in a awkward position moving over something is when the wind calms down and I'm stuck like that for a few mins. My setup is around 35lbs now and after a few hours on my back I can really start to feel it.
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tgreeno
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby tgreeno » Sun Oct 29, 2017 4:36 pm

The packing all your gear in & out every set-up, is enough to break alot of guys. No one I know does it.

The thing I've noticed the most this season is, I'm hyper-aware every minute I'm in the stand, while bed hunting. And it definitely takes more energy. In the past, I've just kinda sat there, not near as engaged.

I usually need a 1 day break, after 4 or 5 days in a row.
Last edited by tgreeno on Sun Oct 29, 2017 5:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jmaas07
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby jmaas07 » Sun Oct 29, 2017 4:43 pm

Driving...seems 95% of the time I’m driving 4 hours round trip each hunt, it’s a grind
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Stanley
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby Stanley » Sun Oct 29, 2017 5:00 pm

Yes it is.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Dewey
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby Dewey » Sun Oct 29, 2017 5:29 pm

I get mentally exhausted more than anything else. I'm constantly thinking and trying to figure things out while at the same time juggling hunting spots each day planning where to hunt next. This time of the year I don't sleep well because my mind is always racing with ideas. It's not uncommon for me to wake up in the middle of the night and study aerials when something pops into my head. The only time I really relax is when I'm finally on stand.

I have very few spots that are easy to get to so every day is a grind. The physical part I do pretty well with and even though I push it hard I'm always ready to go the next day. There have been days where my legs hurt so bad I could barely walk at the end of the day but sucked it up took some ibuprofen and continued on the next day. Thr pain is only temporary. Miles of thick marsh grass and thigh deep water/muck that’s very difficult to keep your balance in when just walking much less doing it with 30-40 lbs of hunting gear is tough on the body. In my opinion traveling in hill country is far easier. The next few weeks will test me as I am a few days into a 17 day stretch. I haven't hunted full days yet sun up/sun down but will be in a few days. That is when the real grind starts. If I feel myself burning out or losing focus I will sleep in a few hours and head out by 9am. I finally figured out a few years ago that can do wonders and refresh the mind and body again.

Hunting is all about having fun. If you get to the point your mind and body is breaking down it's time to refocus and change it up a little. We all need to figure out what the healthy balance is since it's different for everyone.
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby mheichelbech » Sun Oct 29, 2017 10:01 pm

I like to change it up between the long hauls with equipment and an short easy hike to a stand that is already set.

Also, I purchased 3 cheap stands to set in my top rut areas to make things a little easier.

Like Dewey, I don’t sleep well and that is what gets me. Makes it hard to hunt mornings sometimes.
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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ThePreBanMan
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby ThePreBanMan » Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:33 am

Everything about it is exhausting. Physically and mentally. But it's a labor of love. You don't have to make it so. Like you can shoot the smaller bucks and does. But there are choices we make right.. because we enjoy the challenge. If it wasn't so we probably would be doing something else.
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby brancher147 » Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:41 am

I don't think it is that exhausting...I never feel more alive than during deer season. The last couple years have been tough dealing with a serious knee issue and surgeries. It's been very hard to get up and especially down the mountains. Some of my spots I have not hunted in 2 years because I cannot get to them. But I have adapted and gotten new properties and new spots, but still have never called it exhausting. I would call it exhilarating.
Some do. Some don't. I just might...
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby briar » Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:48 am

Dewey wrote:I get mentally exhausted more than anything else. I'm constantly thinking and trying to figure things out while at the same time juggling hunting spots each day planning where to hunt next. This time of the year I don't sleep well because my mind is always racing with ideas. It's not uncommon for me to wake up in the middle of the night and study aerials when something pops into my head. The only time I really relax is when I'm finally on stand.


This is what it is for me 100%...worried about the where and when
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MN_DeerHunter
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby MN_DeerHunter » Mon Oct 30, 2017 1:11 am

Yes it can wear on a guy. I had to get some extra sleep this morning after going hard since Thursday hunting and scouting all day long in these bluffs. I think the terrain where a big buck lives is what really tires a guy out. Not many people can handle packing stands in and out every day over and over.
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Re: Deer hunting is exhausting!

Unread postby Southern Buck » Mon Oct 30, 2017 1:36 am

I'm miserable and burnt out 99% of the time, but when a plan comes together it makes it all worth it. I'd turn right around and do it all over again if I had to.
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. John 20:31


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