We all know that a day spent in the woods — even without a deer sighting — is better than a day at work or just about anywhere else. But the reality is most bowhunters don’t have unlimited days to sit on stand. Juggling work and personal obligations can leave little time to invest long hours waiting around for Mr. November to walk by.
So are all-day sits really worth it? They can be — but not always.
Even some of the biggest names in bowhunting won’t climb into a stand for an evening — much less a full day — until late October or early November. While a buck could stroll by at any time, the odds of it happening mid-day in hot September aren’t great. And sitting out all day this early in the season could leave you burnt out before the real action even starts.
But come peak rut activity? All-day sits certainly have their place. Especially if wind and weather conditions are just right, you have a decent chance of spotting a buck at some point in the day — that typical lunchtime lull included.
First light to last light sits can be both physically and mentally exhausting, but I know lots of hunters who’ve connected with a bruiser smack dab in the middle of one of these all-day rut sits. And anytime I leave my stand during the rut, I can’t get past the nagging feeling that a mature buck is passing by my empty stand. So sucking it up and sitting all day during this prime time of year can definitely be worth it.
If you’ve burned the last of your PTO to hunt, sticking it out — even if your sits haven’t been as productive as you expected — can’t hurt either. If these are the last days you’ll get to hunt this year, why not go for broke?
The Bow Bully,
They might be worth it, as long as you are actually hunting, and not having a “text battle” with your wife. A friend of mine did that a few years ago; he was in his stand, and his phone pinged; he made the mistake of answering a text from him wife; it went on and on, back and forth. By the time he looked up from his phone, he saw that a buck had passed on the trail under his stand, and was now heading down the trail away from him…whoops!…around the bend and gone, before he could think of getting off a shot…he blamed his wife for the loss of the chance at the buck…but I told him that I blamed him….so did his partner who was hunting nearby, hahaha! 🙂
Keep up the good work,
dave
dave, this is why I ignore texts from just about everyone in the woods!
Amen! LOL! 🙂
Bow B
I go a bit further. I turn mine off when I get on stand. Even the small “pings” can seem awfully loud in an otherwise silent wood.
Of course,, it took a ringing phone as a deer walked by to fully convince me. Slow learner, I guess.
Ed
TBB
I’m guessing you don’t have kids or a wife/girlfriend yet. Or other family members..
When I was a kid we was out all day and night even if it was the weekend with school or days off when we young’n got jobs.. We didn’t have cell phones yet. We had check in times on different days. And we better be there or there would be some mad parents because they would come looking. That would mess up thier time/plans. Then we probably didn’t get to go out for a few days if that happened.
But just say’n if your out hunting and people know then your phone should be on silence but still be able to see a text or missed call. To me that hunt may be important to feed the family. But also that call or text could be more important than that missed deer.
Life has priorities.
Sure, you can glance at your phone to make sure it isn’t an emergency. But I’m talking about having text conversations about stupid, unimportant stuff – the treestand isn’t the place for that
TBB
Sounds to me like that person having the conversations is not really into the hunt. Maybe they shouldn’t of even been there.
Bow Bully,
I realize there are places and conditions that require sitting in a tree stand or in a blind but I avoid them. I prefer stalking based on year round scouting or at least some time scouting preseason. I like moving (especially on skis or snowshoes) in the woods or mountains; better for our health than sitting still for long periods of time. I also like to kayak to places most hunters never get to on roads or by foot. Bucks travel the water corridors (especially at night, dawn, and dusk) as I have noted before.
shootski
Especially with the popularity of guys like The Hunting Public, more whitetail hunters are hitting the ground. Tough but exciting for sure!
Sometimes waiting until later in the morning/day has its advantages.
Especially when there is a lot of hunting pressure in the woods.
Everyone wants to be in the woods before daylight, and before early evening.
But a lot of my success in the past (hunting on public lands and years later in the hunting lease) Many “hunters” get there early, and after a few hours on the stand and they are tired of sitting watching squirrels or surfing their phones, They get antsy, and want to hop on their 4 wheelers or side by sides and go cruising the trails, or back to camp for lunch.
The movement of people and vehicles in the woods makes the deer have to move without the cover of darkness, since you have been in the woods before daylight, and have been part of that landscape that day, your chances of taking an animal during the middle morning to early afternoon seems to increase as the other people become mobile, in my experience.
As usual, your mileage and experiences may vary,
Ian
Ian, playing the hunter pressure is smart — all depends on where you are