Fighting boredom in all day sits.

[Scoot]

I don't really enjoy all day sits. I will occasionally do it, but rarely. It's just not my jam. Even when I do an all day sit I'll often change stands mid day.

 

[satchamo]

I fight it by not sitting all day. I think it’s an extremely unproductive use of time…

 

[UncleBone]

Take a nap. Ive woken up to several deer walking through crunching leaves, and even shot a few of them.

 

[huntinfool84]

When i went out East i found it very boring sitting in a tree all day!! I would put in 1 air pod with random podcasts to listen to. Probably not the best thing to do but it got me by.

 

[Robobiss]

This is terrain dependent, but in my AO even rifle hunting I’m very unlikely to shoot a deer or have a shot at one I didn’t hear first. If I shot one tomorrow that I didn’t hear before I saw it or could shoot it, it would be the first one.

I dub off, I play on my phone, I’ll even close my eyes or stare at a tree. My ears do all of my hunting for me. The second there’s a sound that’s suspect whatever I’m doing or thinking about goes away and it’s 1000% concentration. It’s amazing how well your ears can tell the difference between a squirrel and a deer with near 100% accuracy after you have listened to enough of them.

At least half the deer I’ve shot in the last decade (probably 75%) I was scrolling on my phone when they showed up. To this day screwing off on my phone or otherwise has yet to cost me a deer. I’ll probably cut it out if that ever happens.

I’m a millenial I can’t help it

 

[robtattoo]

4 hours is my absolute sitting still limit & that takes an audiobook & earbuds these days.
Nowadays, I much prefer to pick & choose the perfect wind, weather, moon phase etc.... & go sit for shorter, 2 hour stints.
Oddly, I find myself seeing & shooting many more deer since I started hunting this way, vs just arbitrarily hunting whenever I have 'spare time'

Quality over quantity, man!

 

[dtrkyman]

I use my phone when I have signal, even have listened to podcasts, shot a nice tom once while listening to a podcast, even had the phone on speaker no ear buds so I can still hear things around me.

Better chance at killing something while distracted than sitting on the couch!

 

[WV Mountaineer]

I’m surprised by the number of guys who have cell service where they hunt.

Whitetail hunting where I do, my phone functions for a map and a clock. Other than that it’s useless. No service. I like that.

 

[Maverick1]

I am a bit surprised by the responses on this thread. Yes, there is definitely a difference going from active elk hunting mode, climbing up the mountains and being active all day - to passive deer hunting mode, sitting in a treestand and doing nothing for literally hours at a time.

I just got done doing all-day sits for 16 days in a row (except for the day in the middle dealing with logistics and travel to hunt another state.) Outside of that, it was all-day sits for 16 out of 18 days.

I just figure the best way to kill a nice buck is to be on stand. Takes quite a bit of time and energy to hike in (20-60 minutes), setup the climbing sticks and stand (45 minutes), hunt for a couple of hours, and then take it all down again - just to do it again in the afternoon. Also leaves behind quite a bit of ground scent and disturbance.

If I have confidence in my scouting and know that a good buck is in the area, I have no problem sitting all day. If the spot is good, the odds increase of shooting that particular deer. On the rare occasion that confidence is not there, then I will relocate to an area where I know a good buck is in the area. But, that is rare.

To answer the question posed by the OP: how do I manage boredom? I really don't get bored on stand. Just stay alert. Unplug and don't think about life. Just focus on hunting and enjoy being outdoors. Many years ago I used to listen to sports on radio using a portable radio and earphones. Had a nice deer walk underneath me as my hearing was compromised - stopped using the headphones that day. That was about 20 years ago.

 

[dirtshooter]

Reading forums on my phone

 

[Davyalabama]

A small Gideons Bible.

 

[Fatcamp]

Take a nap. That's what I did and why I no longer do that.

 

[jrbarnes9972]

Read a book

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

 

[E.Shell]

In my area, most spots that have good numbers of deer are too thick to hunt from the ground and you just about have to be in an elevated stand to see, so I spend a lot of time stand hunting.

Having confidence in your spot and scouting skills helps immensely, and IMO is the key to having the necessary patience. I have had days where I hunted as a guest and was put in some random spot and just couldn't wait to quit and get down. I have had plenty other days in a stand that I had carefully picked and just KNEW I would see deer, so the waiting was easy.

I occupy my time on stand by watching birds and small game. I use my binoculars to penetrate the woods further than I can resolve with my eyes alone and see many interesting things that would have been on the fringe of my vision. Even seeing a deer out of range or too obstructed for a shot is better than no deer at all.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Read a book. In calm conditions I can hear a deer walking before I can see it from most of my stands, so I’m not worried about missing anything and read with abandon. When it’s windy or I’m hunting a stand with a longer range of view, I read a page, look up and scan the area, read another page, repeat.

Louis L’amour paperbacks are my go-to because they’re light, entertaining reads and they fit nicely in a pocket. I was in the middle of LL’s Treasure Mountain on opening morning of Missouri’s rifle season last weekend when I heard a deer approaching. I set my book down and filled my buck tag moments later.

 

[loganwayne]

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

there are places here on public where if you want to kill a big buck you gotta be there 4-5 days straight. It could be the only deer you see the whole time. they like to make loops of "their ridges and mountains" if you stay in one spot long enough hes gonna come by.

also i cant stand to hunt like this so i dont kill big bucks in the mountains.

 

[LedSled]

I am a bit surprised by the responses on this thread. Yes, there is definitely a difference going from active elk hunting mode, climbing up the mountains and being active all day - to passive deer hunting mode, sitting in a treestand and doing nothing for literally hours at a time.

I just got done doing all-day sits for 16 days in a row (except for the day in the middle dealing with logistics and travel to hunt another state.) Outside of that, it was all-day sits for 16 out of 18 days.

I just figure the best way to kill a nice buck is to be on stand. Takes quite a bit of time and energy to hike in (20-60 minutes), setup the climbing sticks and stand (45 minutes), hunt for a couple of hours, and then take it all down again - just to do it again in the afternoon. Also leaves behind quite a bit of ground scent and disturbance.

If I have confidence in my scouting and know that a good buck is in the area, I have no problem sitting all day. If the spot is good, the odds increase of shooting that particular deer. On the rare occasion that confidence is not there, then I will relocate to an area where I know a good buck is in the area. But, that is rare.

To answer the question posed by the OP: how do I manage boredom? I really don't get bored on stand. Just stay alert. Unplug and don't think about life. Just focus on hunting and enjoy being outdoors. Many years ago I used to listen to sports on radio using a portable radio and earphones. Had a nice deer walk underneath me as my hearing was compromised - stopped using the headphones that day. That was about 20 years ago.

I agree confidence during the hunt is a big factor. I would definitely say I struggle with boredom more when I am not confident during a hunt. However, sometimes I just enjoy being out there even if I know the weather, wind, location, etc... is not preferable. Usually during these days, I stay away from my spots I know I have good bucks nearby.

At the end of the day, I'd rather be out in the woods when I can than not.

It's good to see I'm not the only one that struggles with this.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I keep playing out different possible scenarios of how it will go down. How to prepare if they were to come in from different directions other than the most ideal one. How will I get around for a shot if they come in from one side or the other , or even from behind, will I be able to position myself for the shot. I also spend time watching other animals and the birds, even the clouds. just enjoy the experience of being outdoors rather than sitting in some small office, behind the wheel of a big rig or on the assembly line of some factory doing a dead end job. Enjoy the forest and the mountains.

 

[hunt1up]

I used to do a lot of all day sitting. Three of my biggest bucks were killed were between the hours of 10-2 and I've killed a few beside those and had opportunities at others. Generally speaking the midday can get slow and boring, but when it's on it's on. Our deer population has declined so those encounters have definitely slowed down. I now generally hunt until late morning then go to a different tree. A one hour break makes all the difference. If movement is good then I'll stay put. And when you're seeing deer it's not hard to sit all day. One thing I do is try to break the day into segments. Morning, mid, and evening. Getting to 11:00 is usually easy. The middle is the struggle. But once I hit 2:00 I sort of treat it as a new sit.

One year I played every version of Angry Birds. Beat every level. That passed the time really fast, lol.

 

[Skerhunter]

It can be a GRIND, but if you do it right there is only a few slow hours mid day. I only plan all day sits when conditions are perfect, so that helps prevent burnout. Most days the wind forces me to change stands and gives me a break.

All day sits I need a back up battery for my phone!