Fighting boredom in all day sits.

Pochuck

FNG
Joined
May 21, 2024
Messages
6
Location
PA
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
 

Dakota Dude

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 24, 2019
Messages
162
Location
CO
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.
 

Sinistram

FNG
Joined
May 18, 2024
Messages
51
Location
SE, PA
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.
 

Rich M

WKR
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
5,597
Location
Orlando
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.
 

Orlando

FNG
Joined
Mar 5, 2024
Messages
22
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.
 

nam1975

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 5, 2018
Messages
161
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.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2024
Messages
12
…. 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
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2014
Messages
2,436
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.
 

Fdh

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 13, 2019
Messages
148
Optimistic state of mind is number 1. I read a book on my phone. U have to look up every page!
 

fatlander

WKR
Joined
Feb 11, 2016
Messages
2,154
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.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Archerichards

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 25, 2019
Messages
145
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
Jan 12, 2024
Messages
453
Location
Gulf Coast
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.
 

Beendare

WKR
Joined
May 6, 2014
Messages
9,080
Location
Corripe cervisiam
Audiobooks for me....though I do try to enjoy the solitude and being in the moment.

I went through 4 books on my last solo Backpack hunt.
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Messages
72
Location
A desk, truck, stand and blind in BC
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
 

WCB

WKR
Joined
Jun 12, 2019
Messages
3,642
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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