Hunt Every Day, or Best Days

[Thesouthpaw]

Hello all! With it being January, the planning for this coming hunting season is in full swing. I was wondering what you guys tend to do in regard of how much you hunt. For me, over the past 6ish years, I try to hunt practically every day regardless of weather. Even though I'm out there all of the time, it seems that I still only have success on days that are "better" weather. Being a school teacher, I am pretty much able to hunt every single evening, but am beginning to wonder if maybe I am doing more harm than good when hunting those "bad" weather days. My question is should I continue to hunt those days that are hot and muggy, or should I focus mainly on the days that I am sure the deer will be on the move, and spend the bad weather days keeping up with the "to do list" so that my wife isn't so upset. I know JoE talks about only hunting a few times between kills, because he waits for the perfect situation where he is pretty positive that the buck will be out of his bed in the daylight.
Keep in mind, this is mainly for October, as I am obviously in the woods every chance I can get in November.

[SplitG2]

For me, it’s simple. If you wanna learn you gotta be out there. Hunt every possible chance. Some days are obviously better than others but I’ve shot deer on good days and bad days and I’ve shot deer in stands I never dreamed I’d ever shoot a deer out of. Even on the bad days I can find some spot to hunt to minimize or eliminate any damage I might cause. Wouldn’t rate these spots as “quality” spots but still spots that could possibly provide intel.

Quality setups are saved for the quality days. Otherwise if I’m able to hunt, I’m going regardless if it’s a good day or not and even if it means hunting a spot that pretty much takes me outta the game.

[mheichelbech]

What I have learned since coming to the Beast is to hunt smarter. It’s okay to hunt every day, just don’t hunt the same places every day. I have a 40 acre spot that I only hunted 4 times this year. In the past I’d hunt this property every weekend and by the time I figured a buck out I had already caused him to vacate or go nocturnal.

One thing I’ve also learned is that if I don’t have a specific buck I am after, then I need to do more scouting and/or observation hunts until I find one or more to go after. Once I have found them, I do observation sets in areas that aren’t likely to tip the buck off that I’m after him until I am sure I think I know how he is traveling and then go in for the kill. This is where hunting the “right” days comes in. For example, if you have a buck that isn’t moving to where you can shoot him until 20 minutes after dark and you can’t get any closer, then wait until some event, either moon or weather related is likely to have him coming out sooner.

I have learned that it defeats the purpose to go in and disturb an area and leave my scent everywhere for the buck to figure out he is being hunted and then to alter his movement before I am even anywhere near being able to kill him.

I think during the rut that I can hunt specific areas that I know bucks habitually travel if I’m not on any specific buck but otherwise I need to be jumping around until I find one.

Also, it’s important to be sure where your hunting is eighth for whatever wind there is that day. If you have deer smelling you 300 yards away, your putting pressure on them and don’t even know it.

I’m sure there are exceptions to this and guys who have had success doing it differently but I doubt they are consistently having success unless they have primo properties that aren’t pressured.

[Mathewshooter]

Hunt your best spots on the best days....hunt secondary spots the other days.

[may21581]

The areas I hunt are mixed with private and public. Sometimes I need a little extra something to get them to move a little earlier/later and a tad farther. I have found great success in hunting specific weather patterns. I agree with what others have said, however I have found a system that works for me in my neck of the woods.
Looking back through my journals all my big buck sightings and kills have been around specific patterns. I feel hunting smarter is the key for my style. I hunt the same properties as alot of decent hunters and I've yet to see any of them find success on these lands I hunt. The one thing that separates me from them is I hunt less than they do, but I hunt smarter than they do around the weather. The peak rut anything goes, outside of that and especially late season these weather patterns are critical. If you are interested in some of my findings pm me, I would gladly share some info with you that may or may not help your style for your location. Like I said, this system works for me and there are lots of ways to get the job done, none are wrong or right or even better than someone else's. I just find it works. I will suggest a daily journal to you though. Record the weather on a daily basis along with other basic conditions and compare this to your success and sightings as well as others. You will start to see a pattern after some time if you do this right. This is how I developed my system.

[Dewey]

I hunt every day I possibly can but also hunt those spots with a purpose. If I didn’t think I could kill a buck there I wouldn’t be sitting in that spot. The way I look at it is I only have so many days left in my life to hunt and I will be damned if I’m gonna sit on the couch waiting for a better day to kill a buck. I just enjoy being out there too much to not give it my all.

[G-Patt]

I think you're doing it right, especially if you're killing deer. For me, I'll hunt any free day I get except for cold, nasty rainy days. I'd rather binge watch Netflix on those days.

[Tsom]

I hunt any day my family schedule and work schedule allows. There ain't much weather that keeps me out of the woods. I've got too much learning to do. There's always in season scouting and and blind sits to do if the weather or conditions aren't right for a pre scouted spot.

[stash59]

If your only hunting a few spots, then maybe pick the "better" days. To keep the pressure off. And get some honey-do's done. If you have plenty of spots go for it. Plenty of bucks get killed on "bad" days too.

[raisins]

Hunters that hunt mostly pre-set blinds and stands that are all prime and don't want to blow them out seem to focus on hunting the best days and accessing stands and setting stands so that they will not alert any deer (Jeff Sturgis is like this).

Guys that have tons of places to hunt with trophy bucks seem to get very aggressive and it is no big deal to potentially ruin a spot to go after a trophy on any day (this reminds me of The Hunting Public).

Most of us are probably somewhere in the middle, and this is why I believe in listen to everyone but craft your own approach.

I don't blow through annual leave or go to my prime spots unless wind is good and either weather is good or I think it is prime buck cruising time. I might only hit a good spot 1 to 3 times per year, but I make it close to perfect. But I hunt everyday I can (including bad weather or wind days) and I have a handful of subprime spots or spots I haven't been before that are far from my better spots (so I'm not spooking the deer at my better spots). I'll often hunt from the ground and scout as much as I'm hunting. I just want to be out there.

[raisins]

Hello all! With it being January, the planning for this coming hunting season is in full swing. I was wondering what you guys tend to do in regard of how much you hunt. For me, over the past 6ish years, I try to hunt practically every day regardless of weather. Even though I'm out there all of the time, it seems that I still only have success on days that are "better" weather. Being a school teacher, I am pretty much able to hunt every single evening, but am beginning to wonder if maybe I am doing more harm than good when hunting those "bad" weather days. My question is should I continue to hunt those days that are hot and muggy, or should I focus mainly on the days that I am sure the deer will be on the move, and spend the bad weather days keeping up with the "to do list" so that my wife isn't so upset. I know JoE talks about only hunting a few times between kills, because he waits for the perfect situation where he is pretty positive that the buck will be out of his bed in the daylight.
Keep in mind, this is mainly for October, as I am obviously in the woods every chance I can get in November.

If you're going to your good spots on subprime weather days then you are likely spooking those deer and they won't be there on a good day. If you have large tracts of public nearby, then I would scout a bunch of areas and then hunt as much as you want but don't burn out your best spots.

[Thesouthpaw]

Thanks for the input guys. I hunted 40+ days this year during bow season, 90% run and gun, and never hunted the same tree more than twice. I guess I just listen to guys like Andy May and Joe Elsinger talk about only going in on "Kill Days", but I need to take into consideration that on the other days those guys are still out there scouting.

[may21581]

Thanks for the input guys. I hunted 40+ days this year during bow season, 90% run and gun, and never hunted the same tree more than twice. I guess I just listen to guys like Andy May and Joe Elsinger talk about only going in on "Kill Days", but I need to take into consideration that on the other days those guys are still out there scouting.

Andy and joe are excellent hunters. They found a system that works where they hunt. There are no guarentees or right or wrongs to this sport. With time and some studying you too shall find your system. If you do what every other hunter does than you will see the results every other has as well. Learn to be different and hunt different and you too will find your success. There are traits that a hunter must have to be a 10 percenter. They may be different than another successful hunters traits but often times they are very similiar.

[gsquared23]

If you really have 20 different spots that you legitimately think you can kill a buck, by all means hunt those spots 40 times. If some of them are just a tree in the woods with no chances for success, then use that time to do some in season scouting or observation. Or read a book, or practice shooting your bow. But sitting in a tree without an actual chance to kill isn’t hunting, it’s time killing. Not my thing.

[Jdw]

My best hunts are when I know where and when a buck is vulnerable.
I find it is best for me to scout and observe until I know where I need to be and under what conditions I need to be there.
When I was young I thought I was wasting opportunities by not setting up. Now I don’t want to hunt unless I have a good feeling about when and where I need to be.