Now that season is over..What are you doing to prepare for next season

Shooting everyday, killin hogs and yotes, working out 6 days a week, making sure I have plenty of honeybuns for spring bear.
 
For whitetails, I’m primarily hunting public land in eastern NC. Not much you can do for management there so I spend a lot of time in winter/early spring scouting while the mosquitos are in hiding and you can actually see through the woods without all the leaf cover. So far I’ve ID’d 3 new spots that look really good, and I’m checking out more after work today.

My family also owns about 90acres in WV that I hunt anytime we’re in town, usually around Thanksgiving or Christmas. Going to make some trips up there this spring/summer and try to take out a little bit of the autumn olive that’s sprung up. My mother had a timber company come do a select cut on the property this year and it looks like they’ve taken a lot of white oaks, next year I’m going to plant some new mast trees. I’m also hoping to put up a couple 2 person ladder stands this summer or next, my daughter is almost 3 and within the next couple years I’d love to take her out just once so she can watch.
 
Slowly getting our deer feeders bulletproof’d from the bucks horns and the raccoons claws……at $9/50# I’m over wasting corn on squirrels and coons.

We put out #5000 pounds of corn a year and I’m sure that #2000 pounds of it is eaten by coons and squirrels.

The free lunches are over….


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I’m going to continue trying to get more fit with a primary focus on weight loss. Good start already but need to keep it up. At 62 I wont ever be a navy seal but I am enjoying my outdoor activities more and more as I regain better health. I can have the best equipment money can buy but if you dont have health and energy to enjoy being outdoors then whats the point.
Not much to do other than that. I have all the great equipment I need . Not much to do at my cabin at camp either. Maybe build a bigger porch on the front of it.
Not anything to do in the woods really. Dump some salt in my licks. I will have my Ranger serviced next October just before the season starts.
I guess I will go saltwater fishing until it gets too hot.
 
Fitness is a big one as I am moving more into an active style of hunting vs more stationary and looking to go primarily public this year. Trying to get up to a marathon (currently at 5 miles) and strengthen the lower back.

Reviewing gear I have that I did not need and can get rid of. Gear that I have but it did not work well and seeing what better options are out there (my battery packs failed during some cold weather and left me in the dark on a new land wandering through the woods - not fun). Gear that I do not have that I think I need.

Mapping out where I'll apply for this year, how much vacation I am expecting to be able to commit, etc. I am committing to trying hunting trips this next season instead of random Saturday mornings and evenings. The hunts I plan will likely influence gear purchases.

Reviewing the experiences I had over the previous season and past seasons. Looking hard at what I enjoyed vs what was not worth the time. What did I do right? What did I do wrong? How can I correct what I did wrong?
 
After finalizing both copper and lead bullet options (for land owners who prefer one or the other) I am accumulating the necessary factory ammunition (I don't reload). The next step will be to determine which cartridge my rifle prefers. Fun, fun, fun...
 
Did a MTNTOUGH workout while listening to an episode of East Meets West. Two stones, one bird.


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Last season was the first season on the new farm. 2 bucks and 2 does. Not bad. I got access at start of bow season so I did very little scouting before muzzleloader started. Since season ended I’ve been walking the land (800 acres) and putting out cameras and picking stand spots depending on cameras for next season
 
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