2020 changes you plan to make.

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G-Patt
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Re: 2020 changes you plan to make.

Unread postby G-Patt » Tue Aug 11, 2020 6:45 am

Do more observing of deer and making a better plans to execute. I also plan to hunt more primary scrapes in the morning hours during pre-rut. I hit snooze too many times last year, plus work got in the way too much. I'm also excited about gun hunting a WMA close to me even if it's like storming the shores of Iwo Jima on opening day (at least that's what I hear) :lol:


On my deathbed, I will receive total consciousness. So I have that going for me, which is nice!
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Brad
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Re: 2020 changes you plan to make.

Unread postby Brad » Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:21 pm

As far as equipment:
I'm going to hunting from a saddle, after using a hanger all last season.
Went with a heavy arrow set up (570 gr vs last years 450), and single bevel cutthroat broadheads (vs my VPA 3 blades from last season)

As far as tactics:
Getting in to and setting up in/near thicker areas, and no longer waste time sitting in the "pretty" areas with good set up trees... but only a few deer... & no bucks...
Working on getting better at in season scouting, finding, and setting up on fresh sign... if I can find it...
Trying out some new locations. I hunt exclusively public land and last season found myself going to the same general areas too many times.
HeadHunting
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Re: 2020 changes you plan to make.

Unread postby HeadHunting » Wed Aug 12, 2020 11:13 am

This is a great topic, especially for someone that is making some pretty drastic changes this year. I have only known two styles of hunting for my whole life. I started in '86 with dogs when I was barely taller than them and we converted to what we call "still" hunting where I hunt which is sitting in a stand. We are the definitely the typical hunting club where 99% of our members hunt box stands over a food plot and sit around and wait for the deer to come out. Most of all of the food plots have been so heavily used as kill plots that only very young deer come out during the day. A new food plot might be productive for the first couple of years but then falls in line with the rest of the heavily over pressured "kill plots."

I personally had slowly started to convert from that style of hunting to a little more mobile style adding lock on's to the mix and seeking out new areas to hunt. It has increased my sightings but I realized as I am diving deeper into what it really means to be a mobile hunter that I was only taking my bad learned habits to another part of the woods, hanging a smaller but still permanent setup and over hunting it, laying tons of ground scent and watching trail cam pics go from a few buck pictures to none quickly.

I feel one of the bad habits that I have acquired from my limited hunting knowledge is that I would walk through the woods and scout areas and not deer sign. I was looking in the air and at trees or on the ground for acorns rather than deer sign. Finding heavily worn deer trails and following them. Putting the time in the off season to do scouting and see where the deer were in the fall. Asking the question of "why" a lot. Trying to see what makes sense. Understanding that deer hunting is more than just a 4 month period.

My planned changes for this year...

1.) I have been doing scouting, using research and then going out in the field and applying that research
2.) I am incorporating saddle hunting into my portfolio
3.) I am scouting deer sign, not an area of the woods that looks good because it has a good tree to hang a stand in
4.) I am going find the deer, not hope that they will find me
5.) Paying attention to how I access an area
6.) Eliminating some box stands that I feel strongly that they affect the deer around that food plot
7.) Walking more to stand locations, rather than trying to get as close as possible. I started this last year but will expand further this year
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