Fighting boredom in all day sits.

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
exactly why I like hunting after it has been dry for a couple days, you'll hear crunching leaves long before you see them
 
Sitting all day is a commitment. I used to do it 2 decades ago, but I don't think I could do it today. Even elk hunting (which I primarily do now), I only go for 2-3 hours in the mornings/evenings.

If I chose to sit all day today, I would take naps and be on my phone.
 
I suppose a thread like this comes up every so often as we're on the eve of the rifle season here in PA. For me, the slow pace IS the draw. I go into the woods to hunt, but the other 50% of the reason is to let the rest of life simply melt away and re-center myself. Sure, I'll goof around on my phone and maybe peruse some black Friday or cyber week deals, but the rest of the time is spend paying attention to my surroundings. You see so much neat stuff that the rest of the world simply passes by. I don't listen to anything, as I really enjoy the subtle sounds of nature. Plenty of time for noise when I get back to work.
 
I enjoy the break from normal life. Usually fall asleep for an hour or two midday.

I enjoy a full day in the tree or in the field. Dont get enough of those.
 
Figured out I don't miss much listening to podcasts with an earbud in one ear. Lot more attentive than looking at my phone or napping.
 
Quiet your mind. Learn how to meditate.
It s an active thought process.
Leave your phone and watch in the truck your grandpa made it back ok.
Let someone know where you’ll be. JIC.
 
…. For me, the slow pace IS the draw. I go into the woods to hunt, but the other 50% of the reason is to let the rest of life simply melt away and re-center myself. Sure, I'll goof around on my phone and maybe peruse some black Friday or cyber week deals, but the rest of the time is spend paying attention to my surroundings. You see so much neat stuff that the rest of the world simply passes by. I don't listen to anything, as I really enjoy the subtle sounds of nature. Plenty of time for noise when I get back to work.
Amen to that brother. My daily life is so loud, it’s nice to unplug and just zone out in my own thoughts. I could watch a woodpecker tap on a tree or a squirrel run back and forth for Hours or try and count the knobs on a pine cone. I’m simple minded I guess
 
Sitting for any length of time has always been a challenge for me. I make a move around 1:00 and that's been a big help.
 
Optimistic state of mind is number 1. I read a book on my phone. U have to look up every page!
 
Before I started making an annual trek out west, I’d do daylight to dark sits for 14-16 days straight every November. It was a grind but I knew I’d get at least one opportunity at a mature buck. Coffee, snacks, and binoculars in a game rich environment got me through. Nowadays, I whitetail hunt much less but still have an opportunity or two at a mature buck every year. I’m lucky to have a flexible schedule that affords me to more or less pick the days I want to hunt on pretty short notice.

I’d say start picking the days that stack as many odds in your favor as you can. Cold fronts and unpressured deer are your friend.


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I read books on my Amazon Kindle. Game changer. Can put it in dark mode for early/late use. Thousands of books available. I highly recommend it.
 
Joined a lease last season for the first time in probably 30 years.
Ladder stands, food plots, box blinds, corn feeders, antler restrictions,
check in/out, pull the jawbone, record the data, work days, planting days, dos-donts, etc...
Made 17 trips, countless hrs. in stand. Fired one shot, killed an 8 pt.
Cant do it anymore.
Duck hunting this year.
 
I read books on my Amazon Kindle. Game changer. Can put it in dark mode for early/late use. Thousands of books available. I highly recommend it.
Ditto.

I take my Kindle and my iPad mini to pass the time. The Kindle already had hundreds of titles loaded. The iPad is to play games on.

I have always been a walk over the next hill, around the next tree type of hunter as I grew up chasing blacktails and mule deer and still hunting was what I loved to do. Then I moved up to the north, where I switched to chasing whitetails. We don't a lot of them, so finding scrape lines and main trails in the thick stuff and setting up a blind with a good view of an area is a new way for me to hunt. So when I do sit, which this year has been a goal since I was injured at work in early Oct, I bring the toys to keep me interested. Otherwise I would probably sit for an hour, then wonder what is around the next tree.....

Cheers

SS
 
Biggest key I have found is carefully pick when you sit all day. Ill do 3-5 in an entire season when the time is right. Usually the first two days of MN gun season Ill sit all day as people are kicking deer everywhere and it is normally during peak rut. Last all day sit was last year Nov. 10th. Saw 15 different bucks all within 100 yards. I do usually get down eat lunch under the stand and curled up and took a nap for about an hour. Other than that nap our I only went about 40 minutes without seeing a deer all day. The main stand I sit all day in is in the middle of a tamarack swamp. After my nap I crawled back up and there was a doe bedded 30 yards away.

On days when it is slow or I get bored I just mess around a little on the phone. I have listened to a podcast or whittled on sticks. But I'm no doing day after day...1-2 days in a row is enough. I actually can't stand sitting in a stand but also compare it to guys that sit on a single glassing knob all day. Certain times it is effective the rest of the time, IMO, it is a waste and guys do it to just say they did it. I know a lot of guys here in MN that brag about sitting all day for may days and never have anything to show for it.
 
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Not sure if I'll ever hunt whitetails again, but I definitely put my time in before moving out West.

-build your mental endurance up for long/all day sits over the course of early season. You're ability to sit patiently will improve with practice. In the early season, stay put until 11 and then start increasing that until noon and then 1 PM.
-do everything slow. Take 45 minutes to eat your PBJ, a few minutes just to go through the process of sipping water. Slow everything down dramatically to match the pacing of the day and your perception of time. This really helps shift your mindset to one of patience.
-over years of of this, one thing I learned is that I prefer to do a long sit in the morning through the afternoon for consecutive days, sitting from dark until 2 PM and then going home. Having this time off and getting into bed early is extremely helpful. Likewise, if you prefer focusing on the evening, then sit from 9 am until dark. This is a very good strategy for getting more hours in without burning yourself out. I personally found a straight 8 hour sit until 2 more productive than 2 4 hours sits (morning and evening with a mid day break).
 
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