We are running a piece in the Fall issue of OOD on building patience while angling and hunting and we'd like to hear from you. What do you do on the water or in a ground blind or tree stand to keep focused and from packing up early?
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We are running a piece in the Fall issue of OOD on building patience while angling and hunting and we'd like to hear from you. What do you do on the water or in a ground blind or tree stand to keep focused and from packing up early?
Patience for me is a bye product of simply having time, that is the element missing in life today for almost all of us. Being retired I now don,t pack it in until I get extremely bored or my backside gets to sore.
I’ve always just enjoyed being out there alive & taking it all in . Now that I’m retired I even enjoy more cause no 8 hr work day . It’s called fishing not catching & hunting not killing . Relax & enjoy .
Hardest part for many people when it comes to having patience today, is that they don't have to wait for anything.
They also do not realize that there is a period of time, from when you enter an area, till wildlife goes back to a normalish routine.
It's like trying to catch fish, but first you have to throw a huge stone in the middle of the pond. The mud and ripples are going to be around for awhile, cast your line, sit down and relax. Nothing is going to happen for a long time.
Being dressed for the weather conditions.
Being set up as comfortable as possible.
Belly full of food, not feeling hungry. Packing in lunch, snacks.
Having confidence in your setup.
Sitting or standing comfortably, then - listening to the forest,trying to catch the sound of a deer sneaking by, enjoying the hum of the fall forest,breathing in the smells of autumn,feeling the sun on my skin(where applicable)thinking about life,past ,present,hunts, successes ,failures...anything goes.
Then listening again ,then listening again.
Meanwhile not move,just sit and enjoy.
Works for me,i hunt mostly inside bush and forest,but where applicable,i also scan and scan and scan again and again the whole area for deer.
Busy mind brings lots of patience.
Having confidence in your hunting location to sit it out as a result of your scouting and previous hunting experiences.
I have a lot of patience but I can't sit still for too long so I limit my sitting time when it comes to deer hunting. Most of my deer/turkey hunting time is still hunting. Passing the time while still hunting goes by fast (even though you may only be moving at a snails pace). If you are confident in what you are doing it makes waiting or sneaking up to game (any wildlife) fun/exciting and pretty cool.
Being comfortable is most important which means you need a plan. That means being dressed for the weather, having a comfortable chair, having snacks/water and if doing long sits having something to pass the time (ie a book to read). I also pass time by glassing with binos, recording notes in my hunting log book (i.e. Weather, wildlife observations with times, making maps of the property, documenting landmarks and yardage from the stand etc.).
I pre-determine what time I want to leave the stand and do not leave till the watch reaches that exact minute. Train myself not to leave even one second early, watching the last 10 seconds count down.
The hardest part of every season is learning how to sit still again. 2 one week attempts to decompress from the other 50 weeks.
i had kids. once you have kids, the time you actually get away from it all keeps you there until that last second of freedom.
Since the old gang has broken up long ago and I've been deer hunting solo for the last 20 years, my success has always been due to patience and persistence, without a doubt! I've made myself a couple of comfortable stands that that I can literally spend all day in. Good comfortable swivel chair, heater and some reading material. I have no issue with climbing into the stand at 06:30 and climbing out again at dark, though I will say, I've been known to climb out a bit early since I don't want to clean n drag it out in the dark. Getting too old to struggle with that by myself in the dark.
In my 20"s I had very little patience. Now @ 49 I can sit still for several hours. I have enjoyed some great hunts that were a result of sticking it out and waiting for that moment of truth.
My advise for new hunters is to wait then wait some more. Then wait for that perfect shot.
Rush slowly!!
When it comes to fishing - have to have a few bags of tricks up the sleeve. If something isn't working then move onto the next. I used to have more patience fishing. Would go all day without a bite and not care. I don't have time for that anymore. Two young kids and a honey do list.
As for hunting, as long as I am comfortable I am good. Cell phone games makes those 8 hour sits much easier though I have to admit.
I think that hunters/anglers should develop a routine very early on when they think about heading out and maximizing their time afield or on the water.
Think backwards when you develop the routine.
What is it that will cause you to end your allocated time prematurely ? Other than the obvious of filling a tag/catching a limit or enough to eat if that's your intended goal.
That will be all the variables that you DID not prepare for or could face.
Many previous threads already mentioned the things to consider previous to heading out.
Developing a routine will only assist you with being patient, sometimes patience alludes certain people and it seems to be easier for some.
Patience is a mind set that most of us do not prepare for. We prepare trails and bait sites. We prepare our gear and equipment but very few prepare our minds for a long season in a blind or tree stand.
Bring things to keep your mind occupied such as reading material and games on your phone.
being comfortable and warm are definitely true. Over time I've realized with myself at least that with my most productive locations I have been able to stick it out for quite some time. The anticipation and knowing its a good spot keeps me excited and ready and wanting to remain out there. In order to do that of course is spend some time in the bush on the off season. cameras, walking, looking for sign all these little things will aid in not just a higher probability spot but also one that will keep you excited and keep you antsy and keep you in the bus longer come the season. I myself can be the most patient person ever but also the opposite and how ive trained myself to be better over the years is to really put in my research of the area, and make sure that I'm finding better and smarter overall locations to hunt that I know will keep me excited and patient as the hours go by each hunt.
When it comes to hunting, I feel the biggest factor to building patience is having previous successes and/or optimism for success. It comes down to motivation. If you're not seeing evidence of your desired game (camera, tracks, visual sighting), it's harder to stay motivated.
If you're sitting on stand over an upright bear bait barrel that hasn't been touched in 2 weeks it's harder to convince yourself to stay.
If you haven't seen a deer in 15 hunts, or haven't seen one on trail cam, it's harder to stay motivated to get out there and stay out there.
As you build experience and become more successful, those successes will build motivation and patience.
I think of patience as kind of a reserve which gets depleted by certain things. I don't know if you can really build up a bigger reserve of patience, but I bet that people who work with the public or have raised kids probably have more patience than others. If anything, it's like a muscle which needs to be exercised. The more you overcome challenges to your patience, the greater your reserves of patience will be.
I think that adopting a patient attitude can really reduce the speed at which you 'run out of patience'. Getting fulfillment through the activity itself (i.e. being in the woods) rather than only through some event (i.e. shooting a big huge buck) really helps to make it more pleasant and therefore less trying on your patience. Having an attitude and confidence that your goals will be accomplished in the fullness of time also helps. As other people have said, being comfortable also helps.
When I was younger, much, I would sit till about 11am so about 5 hrs. Dress properly, what kept me there was the thought that if I leave now, the deer will come along 5 minutes later. Then I'd eat lunch and still hunt different parts of the bush. Now much older it is harder to stay anywhere near that long. I like others pick a time and wouldn't leave before that. I take an e reader with me if I get bored, that helps to keep me there longer, but try not to use it as it is a distraction. Dress for comfort and have a good chair to sit in. Fishing just pick a time and fish till that time.
I will disagree about the food thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhawk
If I eat too well, I'll just go to sleep especially sitting still in a stand.
I stay far more alert on an empty stomach for any activity I do... work or play.
I believe you learn patience, 10 years ago when I started hunting I wanted everything to happen in the first half hour of a sit. I was young thougt that things would always just fall in place and I could be all done and home in time for supper. As I grew older started working full time I began to appreciate what I was doing. I think as it of an escape, it's not just about killing the biggest buck or shooting the most ducks, it about the experience, watching ducks fly out of range and work around or watching a few young deer chasing each other through the hardwoods became just as enjoyable as making a kill and getting home. Once you learn to appreciate what your doing and the beauty of nature, patience are sure to come.
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For me the patience come from the moment I first step out of the truck to scout the area. I believe that hard work pays off, and I believe that if you put the work into scouting your area setting the tree stand in a prime location or as prime as you can get, the work pays off. I do pre season work in my area for bear, deer, moose, goose etc. And that helps me be confident in my setup. The patience comes naturally when you are confident in yourself and your location.
Happy hunting!
If you're asking how I actually spend 6-8 hours on an uncomfortable hang-on stand, here's what I do:
1 - Stay alert and slowly take in all the surroundings.
2 - Start to nod off, just keeping alert with my ears (I keep my harness lead short and tight to the tree for safety)
3 - Have some coffee, and break out my e-reader. (There's no flipping of pages since you just tap the screen, it has a backlight that's not too bright, and batteries last forever)
4 - Do a little meditating, staying vigilant to any changes in the environment
I pretty much run that cycle over and over. You can mix in an online game of scrabble on your phone or something but this is a pretty good way to kill time.
My buddy told me after a long dry spell it's called hunting not grocery shopping! LolQuote:
Originally Posted by rossh
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