Disorganized. Am I alone?
Whitetail Deer
I'm usually glad when the first day is over. All the pre-season jitters, fumbling and bumbling at my stand, making too much noise... By the second or third hunt, things are squared away. So no, you're not alone.
You are not the only one, forgot my headlamp opening day.
Every year I have to re-learn how to do it right. You'd think after all my years of bowhunting I'd have it down pat. Not so, just proving I'm human I guess. Nice to know I have plenty of company in sometimes being unprepared.
Been meaning to make an " opening day list" for years.
Best to make that list on about day six of the current season
Early hunting jitters and age. Kinda like gas and a match- not a good combo.
Its me too. Went in the woods Saturday for our bow opener. Hiked in 2.4 miles, then up the mountain. Carrying a stand, pack, and bow. Couldn't find a tree in the area I wanted to be in, before daylight. As soon as it got light, I had decided to wait 8 yards from one that was hidden behind a big hemlock that was perfect. Climbed up, got settled in and reached into the pack for a drink of water. No water bottle. Long day it was.
Come home and went Sunday evening. Climbed the tree, pulled up the bow, and set down to only have my seat rip completely off the stand. Had it not been for my harness, I'd fell. So, I climbed down and went home. Truly disgusted at opening weekend performance. I pray it gets better. God Bless men
I am by no means organized but when I am going through pre hunt checklist with my son as we get dressed it has me thinking if I myself have everything.
My entire life is disorganized.
Went out for shotgun season years ago at an apple orchard that had been bulldozed to be made into a golf course. Forgot to bring new batteries and it was pitch dark and it died after about five steps. I said eh I can make it. I stepped into rut after rut from the dozer and fell every time. Not wanting to damage my shotgun I cradled it and cracked my elbows on rocks. After about the fifth fall I just stood there until it got light enough. Another time I went on a bear hunt in Maine and brought my rifle for coyote calling on the off time and forgot my key to the trigger lock and had to drill it out. That's two out of a hundred things I've done. Who hasn't forgot their hunting license?
When you hit age 50 it starts with accessories and by 55 you may not be bring your bow out.
You are not alone Pat! I started pulling out of the driveway Sunday morning for our Bow Opener and realized the bow was hanging in the garage, DUH!
Forgot my quiver full of arrows once for a javie hunt...i was only 30 then! The curve has not been kind!
You, my friend, are NOT alone!!!!
Why not just grab the bow and head out? Wander around? Not carry 30 pounds of crap on your back?
forgot rangefinder and grunt tube for morning hunt Saturday. Then forgot same things for afternoon hunt. Maybe third hunt will be the charm.
Me? Never, I always know exactly where everything is at, as soon as I find it. ( If I cant, I order a new one)
Guardian lol that happened to me 3 years ago!
I went to my area parked the quad about 400 yards from my setup walked to tree pulled my bow up and realized I had taken quiver off the night before.
Luckily I hunted in my dads stand and he left his bow in the tree. I grabbed an arrow nocked an arrow and lowered his bow to the ground and shot a doe 2 hours later.
JayG had to leave early and I gave him the doe so he would have some meat!
Luckily my dad and I were shooting exact same setup as arrow weight, length, etc.
I went through it this year but mainly because I switched to a new pack.
Just don't forget your boots Pat, it just ain't the same without 'em.
Takes me a few hunts to get it together lol....
Pat that's the beauty of October, get it all figured out for November.
I put everything i need in a small box. ( Range finder, release, calls, arm guard, ect.) Don't take anything out till i need them. put everything back when i get to the truck after the hunt. If there is anything in the box before you leave for the hunt, you know it. Just my way that works. Mick
Yes, you are alone. ALL alone....that must be why you ordered that Love Ewe.
Just when I got it all together, I forgot where I put it!
Not me, I'm just too anal about my gear (and my house and my stuff!!).
All necessities (head lamp, gloves, knife, flashlight, spare release......etc.) never leave the pack.
Optional stuff (balaclava, thermacell, compression straps, sunglasses, extra batteries......etc.) stay in the same "optional" storage box (with lid) always.
I tinker and play with my gear all year, plus I hunt hogs all year long. I just can't stand the thought of forgetting anything!
Same. There's the initial "shakedown cruise" where I forget something. Then I keep my truck loaded with gear October to January and April through May for turkeys. I get annoyed if I have to drive to a football game and have to clean out my back seat.
I have been doing this so long that I expect my first hunt to be a shakedown. What I should do is have a first day out in WI list of what I need and what I usually forget. I am aware that the first deer stand can be the most important of the season.
One time years ago 40-50 years my dads best friend owned a few hundred acres in Ontario.
He left Cincinnati and when he got to the boarder he found out he left his hunting license at home.
Yep turned around and drove back to Loveland/Cincinnati. He picked up his license and drove back.
Gets to the boarder again and finds out he forgot to pack his rifle! Yep another round trip back to Loveland/Cincinnati.
I never did know if he killed anything on that trip?
It's gotten to the point where about a week before opening deer season I pack my truck with everything and leave it in there. I've forgotten to take my field points off from target shooting and put on my broadheads. Forgotten my license once. Shotgun season I left my slugs at home. Twice. Good thing I'm usually just trying to fill my doe tag before the rut. I'm with Kodiak, my life is disorganized. Thank god my wife started bow hunting this year, she'll help me get it together.
Eric, your post made me think of f the sign I bought a while back!
Thought my wife was going to have a mental breakdown on Saturday night. She had put her safety vest in her pack but forgot her rope that goes around the tree, in her bag at home. After giving her mine and calming her down, all was good. :)
I actually call these early hunts... "trial runs". You are not alone, Pat! Just don't forget the TP or your phone. :)
I look forward to bow season every year and then when it comes it just sneaks right up past me. I usually have to force myself to go just to get the bugs worked out. Glad I'm not the only one! Took me 3 hunts to remember my headlamp too! LOL.
Not quite hunting but whitewater kayaking one day and was feeling loose and free then I realized I hadn't put my life jacket on. Geez.
Ill forget bits and pieces but I check and double check the essentials like license, arrows, bow, release. I can make do without anything else. When I travel and am heading to an airport I check my wallet and my passport probably a dozen times. But yeah, the first time or two out every year is a relearning curve.
Lost my pants, lol. Was all set up in my treestand and had a nice fat doe come as i stood up to make the shot my pants fell down, lol, seems the button came off while I was seated in the stand. Oh well did get a buck about five weeks later.
I wrote down everything that I took out of my pack one season... and although that list changed throughout the years, I still use it and adjust it as needed. Every animal I hunt, throughout the year, has a list to follow....
I went out opening day of turkey season last spring, without my license. I have forgotten my range finder and trigger release before. Yes I too have forgot my headlamp, and also a knife. I say "a" knife because I have so many, and should of had at least one with me. I have hiked up a mountain to realize that my bino's were on the roof of the truck. Never Ever put things on the roof of your vehicle, you will forget it.
Agreed! It usually takes me 3-4 hunts to get in a "rhythm" of what to bring and quickly getting settled once in the stand.
I lost two things on my elk hunt this year, a Kuiu long sleeve and a pair of sunglasses. The sunglasses were found in camp by my buddies that went back up but the LS is MIA. :(
We were a bit disorganized when the bull hit the ground and had to get meat out 3 miles then get camp.
This thread is very timely for me. Each fall I start out with as little gear as possible. Usually just have the necessities in my pockets and HSS vest.
Then, after a few hunts and the weather starts to cool I will realize I could have used my clippers/limb saw, or that extra facecover or beanie and need a place for my jacket when it warms up during the day. At that point I will usually start using my small $10 Walmart backpack.
It works ok but I would like something with a little more organization to it, but not be too big.
With being a minimalist in mind, what packs do you treestand whitetail hunters use and recommend. What are the necessities you take with you? I am hunting on the farm where I live and no super long walks anywhere so not packing in several miles for an all day sit.
^^^^^^ Badlands SuperDay Pack
I have established packing lists for each type hunt, and have pre-season layout inspections, then established packing SOPs in place thereafter. Okay, okay, I will admit to 20 years in the army (3 tours in theatre) 3 in deployed divisions (3AD, 82d ABN, 3ID)
I am normally pretty good. The only thing I looked for in my pack yesterday was my compass. I just like to have it to check exact wind direction while on stand. Shawn
Thanks. I will check out the super day.
Thank you for your service Michael Schwister.
I'm kind of the opposite, I usually pack WAY too much stuff in the first few hunts. Then end up paring it down to where it needs to be. I still carry too much stuff, but every now and again I need something that I have packed away.
I'm using a pack now that I pretty much just leave packed year around. But I did buy some new toys this year. . . Bought a blue tooth picture snapper for iphone, as well as a holder for my iphone that fits my little Joby tripod. So now I can more easily take lots of solo pics in case I kill something.
Everything else is pretty standard, extra contacts, extra release, a drink or two, a flashlight and headlamp and extra batteries for each. My rangefinder case is zip tied to my bino harness, so I can't forget that. Pretty streamlined anymore
I keep it all in same pack and always put it back in same place - no problems.
Adventure hunts require much more diligence/organization.
Cargo pockets!!!!Yes,gloves and headnets can be cleaned with the pockets buttoned down......tumble dry! Holds two game dogs a side,grunt tube,range finder,wallet,3 extra tree steps,water bottle,phone,apples,and if you sqwish the dogs enough much more. Nothing like "rattling" as you climb up,just nock an arrow asap.May need to strengthen belt loops for hanging all season and as dirt collects in them.
"Had it not been for my harness, I'd fell. " WV, i'm glad you were wearing your harness. I had my first trip out west elk hunting and had everything ready. I get home to go deer hunting and couldn't find half of what I needed the night before.
I have a pared down number of absolutes and they always go in the same pocket of my pack or of my pants. I put on my pants and run through my mental check list going from one pocket to another. When I am done hunting at the end of the day, I try to break it down and put each item back in its place and/or replace an item (like a snack bar or a bow hanger hook) that was used that day. Sure, this came after years of forgetting an item here and there...but you only need to drive home once or cancel a hunt because you left your safety belt on the floor at home to decide to be better organized. And putting things on the ground or the top of the car is a quick way to forget them, so do something like pile them on top of your pack or hand it to your companion rather than put it down.
sg
Great thread. no you are not, alone.
Always takes a few sets to lighten the pack....LOL!
Last time out my kid forgot to attach his bow haul line to his belt before he climbed up into his stand. I climbed up and handed him the rope and gave him a load of crap about it. As I was climbing up my tree in my climber, I got about 2/3 of the way up and noticed I hadn't tied my bow haul rope to my climber rail. I just laughed out loud at myself and started back down the tree. Doh!
Got to my spot the other day, forgot my rubber boots. Went home and came back with boots 20 minutes later. Got halfway to my stand and realized I forgot my safety harness. Went to another spot and sat by a field edge until it got dark. Old age I guess, I'm thinking of making a list and just succumb to using that.
last year on my first hunt as the sun peaked above the horizon I realized my bow was still hanging on the pull up rope. several years ago when I got ready to take my practice shot at about ten before heading in for lunch I realized my bow still had the padlock on it making it inoperable.
Left my bow home last fall, twice. It was just quick, dash into the woods after-work sits. Said screw it and sat with my slingshot hoping a partridge would show up. No deer ever showed up.
It's all fun and games until the thing you forgot was the toilet paper. Then things get creative. Anyone want a good deal on a one sleeved merino t-shirt?
Hunting season Alzheimer's. It afflicts all of us I see. Glad to know it, I feel better now.
Made a list. Forgot to put "take list" on the list.
Another mishap for me. Put up my stand, climbed in and strapped into my safety strap. Pulled the bow and my jacket up by the haul rope. Put the bow on the seat of my Lone Wolf Alpha but not the jacket. Untied the haul line from the bow and the jacket fell down and hung up on my 2nd climbing stick. Son of a Bit..........!
1boonr, padlock on your bow? Please explain.
Every Year. Without fail.
tobinsghost- up until a few years ago the law in Illinois was that your bow had to be in a case or inoperable until legal hunting hours. most people would put a lock on their bow through the cam to make it legal to carry to the treestand in the dark. I am sure I'm not the only Illinois hunter who did that. they trust us now to carry as long as the arrow is not nocked.
