Fighting boredom in all day sits.

[LedSled]

How do you guys manage boredom and stay focused during all day sits while whitetail hunting? My job is very fast paced and in a stressful environment. Therefore, my brain is accustomed to constantly running from one thought to the next, and my attention span has suffered as well. I find it very hard to stay off my phone during slower hunts. I absolutely cannot stand it. If it wasn't for the safety factor, I would just leave the thing at home.

What other ways do you find helps to pass slower moments during longer hunts when not seeing deer for several hours?

 

[Billy Goat]

Make memes.

 

[WV Mountaineer]

I really don’t have this problem anymore. I used to though. It was a direct reflection of life’s burdens and responsibilities at the time. I always felt like I had so much to get done besides enjoying time hunting. Family, work, etc….

Now, I dread the dark as it means I have to get down and go back to the hassle.

It’s all in your perspective. Learn to appreciate the slow time. You’ll soon find you look forward to it.

 

[Wrench]

I strop blades until they are dangerous.....then I do it some more.

 

[schur7559]

I always take a book but I barely ever read it for fear I’m going to miss something. I think it really comes down to being genuinely optimistic about your chances. If you feel like your hunt is shot it’s pretty hard to convince yourself otherwise.

 

[tony]

Books, my phone, way back when I borrowed my daughters game boy.

 

[jimh406]

Work up to it or hunt somewhere that has something to watch.

 

[Pharmseller]

I contemplate my conquests.

It keeps me busy for hours.

Days, even.





P

 

[Traveler]

I was sitting in a blind last week, boss starts texting. I felt I had to text back, pass messages to my team. Didn’t need done right then but thought it did. After two texts I looked up to see a decent buck walking out of my shooting lanes just out of range. I’ll never make that mistake again. Good reminder to just be where I’m at.

 

[Wrench]

I contemplate my conquests.

It keeps me busy for hours.

Days, even.





P

We talking blondes, Chrysler tsi or the middle east? This is much deeper than knife stropping.

 

[Billy Goat]

I contemplate my conquests.

It keeps me busy for hours.

Days, even.





P

Must be a slow thinker.....

 

[huntsman22]

Why even go, if it bores you so?.....

 

[Pharmseller]

We talking blondes, Chrysler tsi or the middle east? This is much deeper than knife stropping.

Many blondes, several brunettes, even a couple of redheads.

And Billy Goat shouldn’t leave himself so wide open.




P

 

[jahaze]

I listen to podcasts through my Bluetooth hearing protection. Helps me stay focused much longer than I could otherwise.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ten Bears]

I stopped whitetail hunting over this…

I lived on a 60 acre farm in the midwest for 10 years. The amount of hours I sat in a stand is uncountable. Once I started upland and elk hunting I could never sit there all day again..I just don’t find it fun or rewarding. Sat this weekend for two brief hunts and could barely handle that.

Pissed that I didn’t quit sooner..so many hours wasted just sitting there waiting for a deer to walk by… my advice go buy a hunting dog!

 

[elkliver]

take a good book... almost a guarantee that a bull or a buck will walk up and surprise you... and you won't be ready to shoot because you were engrossed in the book

 

[PaHunter86]

I watch the other animals that are out and about. Whether birds, squirrels, turkeys, any animal thats out that I can watch. Typically I know deer are coming by how the squirrels react to the movement and sound of the deer.

 

[Gravel Road]

There's no way I'm sitting in a stand all day. I don't have the ability to concentrate that long, and IMHO you have to concentrate. If you are reading or looking at a phone then you will miss something, either a fast moving deer or another animal cluing you in that a deer is coming. I've read somewhere that about a 10 second window is what you should expect for a quality shot on a mature whitetail. Of course it's also terrain dependent and watching a mountainside is different than mixed terrain.
For me, 3-4 hours in a stand is max.

 

[ozyclint]

"Boredom is the result of an unimaginative state of mind"- Wensel brothers, Primal Dreams.

 

[Foxsoup]

Audiobooks, set to a low volume. Keeps me awake during the hours I’m not likely to see anything