to pass time in the stand and what do you have on it?

right now I'm reading Marcus Luttrell's "Service"

lot easier to carry than a magazine or even the Farmer's Almanac

they dont work so well with gloves, or below freezing....

I've been reading Twenty Years After on my phone.

what is a stand?

None of that stuff works where I hunt...

I use my I-pad, fingers got really cold when it was 15 with 25mph winds

It is solitary confinement with a picture of woods on the wall.

I use a Kindle Paperwhite while on stand.

What is a kindle?

Vivian Kindle

Hey Big Dave,

These fit really well on a Kindle, but you probably shouldn't take them hunting as you'll miss seeing all the deer.

http://ow.ly/tH2jT

Kind of hard to see but here I am reaching for mine as I get ready to wind down in camp.

I ain't buying it...


The last thing I want when I go hunting is anything electronic around me.

If I took something like that to stand I could not look at it long enough to read anything as I would be worried I am going to miss something.

Bucks show up and are gone pretty quick where I hunt.

twofish

I usually tote my iPad with me. I have a SD card viewer for it, I can check my cam pics while waiting for shooting light.

Truth be told we hit this public spot of ours for many years, eight bulls down with 100% success for the tags we drew, 5x5 being the minimum. Nothing like it, frankly. This from one who has played guided BC, Alberta and Africa. No complaints, just different and better.

The only electronics were my Cal Bay Area partner (a local Leadville Co graduate 15 years my senior and once my "boss" years ago...) that allowed us to try our first and early loss of vehicle GPS in 2004. Another dumazz story. I still do not own one but run maps and compass.

If I am going to sit a stand where hearing a deer isn't going to happen I listen to audiobooks on my Ipod, make the time go quicker.

Yes I love it when I get texts and have to answer them. Numb fingers are usually the result.

14 degrees here now. It sure did get cold early this year.....

Thanks I may check them out. Anything like William johnstones westerns?

Paper back book when hunting but only on occasion.

I've read five books on my Kindle this season. Read a page, scan the area, read a page, scan the area,...

Will admit to looking up and thinking, where the heck did he come from.

Saw a stand like this one in Texas except that it was the cab from a late 40s/early 50s truck and wasn't quite as tall.

Not a Kindle user, but I've been using a Samsung tablet for 3 seasons. I love it.

1) It is smaller and thinner than Farmer's Almanac, and fits in my jacket pocket. It is also MUCH lighter than a lot of the books I've taken out to the blind or stand.
2) I have Internet connectivity, so I have access to weather updates.
3) After buying a book off BN, the first season, I have been using Gutenberg.org and reading for free. Mostly I like to read military history when I'm out. G'berg has a bunch of good stuff.
4) I figured out years ago that reading was a benefit to hunting from a stand or blind. It keeps me absolutely still and quiet, but I can still listen. The way I have my reader set up, I look up and scan every page.

It is fairly common for me to have doe feeding under my stand or hen turkeys pecking away nearby.

I also use a Samsung tablet, and can use it with a kindle app and to view my trail cam pics as I use micro sd cards in the cams with adapters and pop them into the tablet. Only problem I am having these days is after I look up from reading a page it takes longer for my eyes to adjust from the close up reading to looking for deer. Things are a little fuzzy for a few seconds...

I hear that about the eyes not being what they were. If you use a low-power bino, the problem seems to go away-- at least for me. I keep a pair around my neck.

The trick with these things is not to go too overboard with it. If you don't watch yourself and set limits, you find yourself absorbed in the virtual goo and you stop hunting. My son, Angus, has the same device, and had that problem. He's 16, and hunting on his own this year. Once I pointed out the problem a year or so ago, he seemed to get with the program pretty quickly.

Some other hints:

1) I can use mine as a GPS, Compass and map, but I would never let me life depend on any of them. As required, I carry backups.
2) I also would not let SKYPE or Hey-Tell be a replacement for my cellphone, or my walkie-talkie. If I get in an emergency, I do not want to depend on a tablet.
3) I found a small pocket-sized device that provides a recharge to my tablet, and other USB enabled devices. It will charge my tablet, my phone, my wi-fi dongle, etc several times over. I keep that out in one of my blinds, and carry it into camp every few days as needed. It extends my use of the tablet by many hours.
4) I bought a retracting key ring and hooked it to my tablet and then to my coat. That way, if I drop the tablet, it is not falling to the ground from 15 feet up.
5) Kentucky now lets you do telecheck from a website. From now on, I'm checking my deer and turkey in the field using the tablet.
6) Adjust the brightness and turn on the nightlight (white text on black) when you're reading before legal hunting. That screen will illuminate you in the blind and you're a dead giveaway.

I took mine elk hunting and read "Killing Lincoln". Good read. I probably only read a couple hours total per day. I'd read a page and then scan and scope, rinse, repeat...

I am surprised by the responses here, I can't see myself being so bored while hunting that I need a tablet to keep myself interested. I seem to enjoy the outdoors, even when there is no action there is always something to listen to, or watch out there.

Very surprising so many pack their gadgets with them.

If I wanted to read, I'd stay at home

I take my tablet, or my phone, both have the Kindle app on them. I enjoy reading after dark while back in camp.

You guys make stand hunting sound so exciting I might just have to but a tree stand. Hiking around is hard on the legs anyhow .

I take a paperback sometimes in my backpack. I usually only read it when I get in the stand really early in the afternoon or hunt really late into the morning, and then it is usually just early/late season hunts. I put it down if it is anywhere near "prime time". Same goes for coffee/snacks. I missed looking at a big-bodied deer last weekend because I was texting my dad, asking when he was headed to his stand. Looked up and a blocky deer is already halfway in the brush. This time of year a guy has to keep a keen eye. Our bucks don't show themselves for long when they area roaming for does. November usually has me hunting with my rifle in my hands the whole time.

I know that some hunters read (books, magazines, Kindle, etc.) while on a stand and a whole bunch of hunters fool with their smart phones (weather, texts, e-mails). This is absolutely not for me. I like to be alone with my thoughts. I want to see and hear everything that is going on in the woods. I want to be ready for that quick opportunity. I DO NOT want any electronic rings, pings, buzzes or clicks.

RS

+1

I agree. Part of hunting is getting away from computers, smart phones, that new Apple watch thing ... etc.

sometimes.....since my thyroid started taking a chit that if i plan on sitting somewhere for very long i bring a paperback to read or read a book off my phone otherwise i tend to nod off even if i dont want to if i dont have something to concentrate on....

I take one but leave it in camp for a little reading before I doze off. I may take a paperback to a stand.

I read three novels one time while waiting in SEATAC on delayed flights, sure was nice to just buy a new one without getting up and losing my seat (they were few and far between).

I don't care to read in stand and would not carry a kindle anyways under any circumstance. I do carry a small note pad and will jot hunting related maps and information down from time to time. I don't own a so called "smart" phone either. There is no accessible computer network or cell coverage where I hunt and I don't ever want there to be. I am 50 and didn't grow up with any of it, and don't care for current technology trends at all. It is a devolution, more akin to the telegraph than an advancement.

To here y'all old farts tell it I asked who carries a desktop computer, ham radio, karioke machine and disco ball hunting with you. Get with the times. It's 2014

Much better

Dan Ruined me. I never used mine for reading until I tried his novels. Now I have 40 books on mine- I really like some of the Wilbur Smith stuff which I read while stuck at SeaTac that day. I can read without a headlamp at night which is nice.

As far as not liking smart phone technology- that is your loss- stay in the dark ages. It is really nice to have all the apps that can make your life simpler and faster. I have apps for welding, shooting, weather, wire calculations, calculator, GPS, altimeter as well as maintenance manuals for any airplanes I work on right at my fingertips. I don't have to use them all the time but when I need them, they are there.

I can take a photo of something and share it with someone instantly. This is nice for both social reasons as well as trouble shooting.

BTW, I also use nail guns when framing instead of hand driving all the nails. What do you think of this technology? If you don't like it, join the Amish