Passing hours on a stand

[DThurston]

OK - newbie-ish question: What's your favorite method for passing multiple hours in/on a stand, particularly when deer hunting/watching?

I'd consider reading, but I'm afraid of how much noise it really takes to scare off the deer. Likewise, I'm a fan of audiobooks/podcasts for drive time and can imagine listening to them some as the sound level should be consistent and low enough to avoid tipping anything off. However, I'm concerned that even that level of sound, coupled with the earphones blocking my own hearing some, would be a problem.

What do you guys do or suggest? FWIW, I plan on the longer sits being in a largish platform surrounded by some camo burlap.

Thanks!

 

[Fishersjohn48]

Sleeping . Always seems to happen. I phones are great for posting whats happening in your tree stand here on INGO. I try not to do anything that takes too much attention away from why I am in the tree to begin with. Enjoy nature, watch the light change as the sun comes up. Notice the sounds in the woods. We have enough distractions during our everyday life not to totally immerse yourself in nature for that time you get to be out in it.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I don't hunt from a stand, and am usually not even in a blind, just sitting out or laying down.

I read, I nap (light doze), I listen to podcasts with an earbud in one ear. I look at the woods and contemplate life, the universe, and everything. I hone my blades. Sometimes I draw diagrams of stuff I'm building.

I get a deer just about every year, not because I hold perfectly still and dip myself in shellac to keep the scent locked, but because I know where the deer are on my property and when they are. Long ago I stopped worrying too much about spooking deer when I keep getting them coming up to me when I am running the chainsaw or tractor out in the woods, or putting in the maple taps and running the drill and pounding in the taps, etc. Not just the youngsters, but the older deer who should know better.

 

[DThurston]

Thanks - good to know. I suppose I'll just have to figure it out over the Spring and Summer when I plan to just sit to see where they really are moving. I too don't want to miss the various small things that happen in the woods and that's part of my reson for getting into it in the first place. I just know that if I have to park in one place for multiple hours, I can get bored.

Also good to keep in mind for when I take one of my kids out that I should be able to keep them engaged in something and content for a while too.

Now I can't wait for the warmer weather to get the platform built and get out there with them!

 

[Glock18FA]

iPhone...surf the web. I can sit in a stand up to 6 hours with this method.

 

[Ashkelon]

I don't hunt from a stand, and am usually not even in a blind, just sitting out or laying down.

I read, I nap (light doze), I listen to podcasts with an earbud in one ear. I look at the woods and contemplate life, the universe, and everything. I hone my blades. Sometimes I draw diagrams of stuff I'm building.

I get a deer just about every year, not because I hold perfectly still and dip myself in shellac to keep the scent locked, but because I know where the deer are on my property and when they are. Long ago I stopped worrying too much about spooking deer when I keep getting them coming up to me when I am running the chainsaw or tractor out in the woods, or putting in the maple taps and running the drill and pounding in the taps, etc. Not just the youngsters, but the older deer who should know better.

More of this. I could take multiples on my property if I just put a shotgun boot on my skid loader. My scent control is diesel fuel.

 

[snapping turtle]

I can do 10 hours or better in stand with nothing more than a am/fm walkman i got in the 1980's. I tore up an ear bud on a set off phones so I only listen one eared. Normally there is something listen to on the air. A book sometimes comes along. I don't always stand hunt but the first few days of rifle season is spent in a stand normally unless it is raining or snows. Let me tell you that cheap walkman has held up real well to all the abuse it has seen since the 1980's. A good college football game a race or some music. Keeping still and quite is the key some days.

Peeing into a plastic 2 liter is a a fine art in a viper climbing stand way up in a tree on a windy day. The big mouth bottle work better, I get deer come in that i could spit on from the stand. Radio on so the sound is at a low level.

A couple good old BPJ's and a bag of jerky, a thermous of coffee and set still. I could see an Ipod or droid but all i have is a standard cell phone with no data contract so that is out.

 

[Mitch B]

Get you a little handheld poker game or some kind of game that can be put on mute and slip in your pocket easily.

 

[Mike H]

I just tune into nature, or doze a little.
This past season I did 3 all day sits. No problem.

 

[Leadeye]

There is usually so much going on nature wise it keeps me occupied.

 

[hunter46140]

The longet I have sat in a treestand was 13-1/2 hrs in early archery season. That particular day I didn't have anything thing to occupy me. Since then I have taken in small handheld video games, bird books, tree books, leaf books etc.... I've realised that taking all that stuff in the woods just gets to be a pain. Now I keep my cell on me so my hunting buddy and I can inform each other of deer movement. I just enjoy the outdoor life. Its relaxing and beautiful so why pass it up!!??

 

[DThurston]

Well, it sounds like I should be safe with anything I was considering. Also made me realize that I can hand over my iPod to the boy or girl to game on a bit. It's got no speaker, so it'd be quiet at least. Then if I see something, just get their attention and otherwise, I can enjoy the time.

I can't wait for the warmer weather to get the thing built and go sit with the kids for a bit and watch what happens if we're quite for a while.

Thanks folks!

 

[clfergus]

I usually find myself going through highs and lows during a days hunt. I am normally very pumped up and excited when i get into my stand before dawn. I think its way cool when I am sitting there and can hear movement all around but cant see anything. I wait in anticipation as the light starts to come up, excited thinking there could be deer all around. Usually there isn't ..HA! But early in the morning I enjoy watching the sunrise, the squirrels getting going for the day. As the morning approaches lunch I start to get a little tired so I get out the blackberry and read sports some. Then I eat lunch at the base of the tree if its archery and outside of the rut..if activity seems good ill eat and stretch in the stand.

I find myself in the afternoon dozing off, the focusing in when I hear movement. When 4 hits I am wide awake again and zoned in for the dusk movement.

Thats about how a day goes for me.

 

[tom1025]

I don't do anything but take in mother nature. I can sit all day long. It's amazing how alive the woods are when the little critters don't think anybody is around. Instead of giving the kids a video game or other electronics try playing I spy or something else on those lines. Not only will it make them more aware of the woods but it will give you more interaction.

 

[randyb]

I have shot deer who have waken me up from a nap, while I was making coffee, building a fire, going to the bathroom, reading a book. While in the woods I whittle, read, take pictures, journal, eat, hone knives, make out with my girlfriend, etc.

 

[DThurston]

Tom - good point and I agree. I just know my kids and (I like to think) their attention spans and limits for just watching. Part of it would depend on what's going on. The couple of times I've been out, I was as still and silent as I could be for a couple of hours or more and still there was nothing moving. Not even squirrels. Some days are like that, I'm sure.

I'm just glad that other distractions may not be as detrimental as some would have me believe. Shoot - between "diesel fuel is my scent cover" and the expensive clothes and scent-blocking accessories and people's stories, what's a newbie to believe?

 

[shibumiseeker]

I have shot deer who have waken me up from a nap, while I was making coffee, building a fire, going to the bathroom, reading a book. While in the woods I whittle, read, take pictures, journal, eat, hone knives, make out with my girlfriend, etc.

THAT's what was on my trail-cam!

All becomes clearer now.

 

[shibumiseeker]

I'm just glad that other distractions may not be as detrimental as some would have me believe. Shoot - between "diesel fuel is my scent cover" and the expensive clothes and scent-blocking accessories and people's stories, what's a newbie to believe?

Believe that you'll have the best opportunity on ground you know well enough to know what deer are around and what their local habits are. All the little ritual things folks go through may make a deer a tiny bit more likely to get a little closer than it may have, but in the end if the deer aren't using the ground you're hunting you can stay out all day long forever and not see a thing.

I live on my hunting land so not only are deer habituated to me being around, I spend enough time in the woods to know where they are running, where they bed down, when the dominant buck is being challenged, and when the yearlings have left mom.

The deer practically leave calling cards as to what they do in the woods, the real learning curve is in developing your ability to read those signs.

 

[IndianaSlim]

I can't believe that deer hunting has come to this...

I take a phone, but it's always off unless I need assistance.

I don't know how many times I've heard in the last few years especially..."Man I would have had a shot at that huge buck I've been hunting, but I was (insert some dumb task such as texting your girlfriend, facebooking, etc) and didn't see him until it was too late!" When I go to the woods, I go to the woods to get away from all the BS and hunt. On an all day sit (6 this year), I take a pee bottle, a sammich, some beef jerky, and a bottle of water or two depending how hot it is. I know for a fact that had I been at all pre occupied this fall, I would not have taken the buck I did. I saw him for at most 15-20 sec before I shot him and still barely got a shot. Delay that by even 5 or 10 seconds and whoops, I DON'T GET A SHOT! There is nothing more relaxing for me than to just sit and hunt. I am completely blown away by most hunters that are "bored" on stand. Anyway, whichever method you choose, good luck and be safe!

 

[DarkRose]

iPhone...surf the web. I can sit in a stand up to 6 hours with this method.

This. I use my Droid with all the volume turned off, surf the web, text my friends, watch videos, play games, etc. Nothing with noise or needing an earbud. We have a camper out there also, so I can charge it when we're in for lunch.