Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Things you learned along the way...

Plain old brown Carhartts are better than 99% of the camo out there.

My pard from ID used to annoy me with the amount of time/effort he'd put in to taking pictures. Now I'm that guy. All too often they are the best/only momento from a hunt and a great way to relive it.

Once you have kids this becomes very important!

I'm no expert photographer, but even I can take a decent one with modern digital cameras.
On sunny days, push hats back to get rid of half moon shadows on faces.
Do NOT attempt to make an animal look bigger by standing back or holding it at arms length. It looks fake and fools no one. It cheapens the shot. Your animal is what it is. Show it for what it is.
Look at what's in the background. Moving or turning the animal a bit can sometimes greatly improve the shot.
Get the animal completely in or out of the shadows. The camera can adjust for light or dark but it can't fix a patchwork of light and dark. Get the light even.

Here are a few tips I've picked up over the years for hunting from a blind.


1)
One gun per blind. Any more than that is not safe. AT ALL! One gun..do you really think you'll have a chance to shoot more than one deer at a time anyway? The odds of that happening are about 0.2%. It may happen once in your life. It won't happen twice. It's crazy enough when a deer is sighted while you're on the ground or in a tree stand. In a blind it's amplified because you're all close together....One gun.

2)
Any noise in the blind like a zipper, velcro, a mildly wet fart, or a shoulder touching the side of the blind will be heard for at least 3 counties. The colder it is, the louder they get and may be heard in further counties.


3)
Try as hard as you can to have 2 instead of 3 in a blind. 2 is hard enough. 3's company.

You'll each have super comfy chairs that Goldilocks herself couldn't complain about, lunches, backpacks, space heaters, sleeping bags, 1-3 cases of Steel City Beer, several bags of Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies, Vaseline, rubber boots, a book of matches, ball gag, tomato paste, a roll of paper towels, a pack or 2 of smokes, crab legs, deer calls, compass, gps, a Bowie knife, 2-5 pocket knives, a skinning knife, a bonning knife, a pearing knife, a switch blade, a lock blade, a drop point knife, a chopping knife, a fillet knife, a buck 501 folding knife, and a spare knife if the others get lost, nun-chucks, throwing stars, hand cuffs, 2 mags, and 3 extra boxes of shells in case it gets real up in here!!

After all that, you guys might be able to get in the blind.

4)
A pee bucket. Or plan to hang it (get as close to the edge of the window for the less gifted) out the window. This is where guessing on the proper amount of clothing to wear becomes VERY important. Too many layers and you're in trouble. Four inches of clothes and 3 inches of wiener... you're getting wet!

Blinds are noisy. Going in and out is noisier yet and add 1 or 2 more people to this and it's a zipper fest. If someone does choose to leave the blind to pee or more importantly, poop, a picture MUST be taken. This is non-negotiable.

Poop and pee pics are standard deer camp practices and this sacred tradition must not be broken. If you are the Pee'r, the proper educate to pose for the picture is to have your dick in one hand (its both hands for me) and give the pic taker the middle finger with the other. If you're the pooper, the pose is double middle fingers. Again, non-negotiable. Make sure you keep your balance for this one. If you're not leaning on a tree or bending over a log, things could get interesting. Remember to check your bibs before you pull them back up.

5)
Wear a hood or hat that is at least somewhat water proof. With the frosty cool November air, and all you hot air, heavy mouth breathing sums of bishes in there... Moisture is going to accumulate on the roof of the blind. This is fine for about 3 drips and then you remember it's someone else's spit. (pass the paper towels) Then you're going to want tear through the roof of the blind, toss your super comfy hunting chair, kick your Tollhouse extra chewy chocolate chip cookies into the air as you scream like a zoo monkey from the Chinese water spit torture that has made your hair and shoulders wet.

6)
This is almost as important as #1. We could have even called it 1a.

The night before the opener, DO NOT eat chili, gas station burritos, canned Vienna sausages, Kraut and polish, smoked salmon, smoked carp, smoked sucker, smoked catfish, smoked sausage, smoked smoke, tuna sub, Grainbelt, Lennie's Oktoberfest, pickled herring, pickled northern, pickled bluegill, pickled walleye, pickled carp, pickled bullhead, pickled spruce grouse, pickled pickles, cabbage soup, garlic bread, or wolf bait.

The foul odor from one of you stinky bastards is bad enough. Can you imagine this all coming out of the top of 3 pairs of blaze orange bibs at the same time? you'll have to add Glade Red Honeysuckle Nectar and Lavender Peach Blossom candles to your gear list.

Freaky.

I now prefer shorter knives, lighter rifles, wool, medium cartridges, simple scopes, an extra snickers bar, a pad or light chair to sit on, shorter shots, simple gear, longer walks vs longer 'sits', longer sunsets....

TP CAN MAKE OR BREAK ANY HUNT!!!!!!

If it’s a hunt or a rifle, take the hunt EVERY time.

Feet ruin far more hunts than anything else.

You guys that mention a change of socks, how many miles would you say prompts that?

In all of my hunting, hikes, walks for fitness or running, I have never needed a change of socks. My feet don’t sweat. I have had sweat run into my shoes but not from my feet.

This^^^^^^^^^

Saying nothing will stop me from hunting.... Life will throw you curves and bitter pills to swallow. Savor every second out there, like it's your last.
Prep for everything prior to your hunt. including every meal and snack, supplies etc..... Your hunting time is finite, don't dilute it with chores.
Go out in the dark and don't come back till dark. Take whatever equipment you need to be comfortable, be there and make it count.
If you use a GPS, make sure to MARK your starting point and turn it on, that way it knows where the starting point is. Learn how to use it in conjunction with a compass and map.
Have emergency gear with you and be totally self reliant.
Use walking sticks, they will save your knees, offer you balance, especially while climbing or descending. They also can be support for binoculars or rifle, if used right.
Always carry rain gear and be prepared for mother nature.
Have the skill and mindset to spend the night if you have to.
Stay in the shadows, move slower than slow. Don't ignore the wind. Glass supported when you can and for hours.
Learn to process your game fast and safe, with plans to get it out of the field in advance so nothing goes to waste.
If you have to leave downed game overnight, mark your territory or leave a clothing item like an undershirt with plenty of human predator smell to thwart scavengers.
Have an open mind and listen to hunters with experience, there's always room to learn.
Make it a point to stop and talk with the local game meat processor/butcher. They always seem to know where the animals are being taken at, due to the tags on the animal indicating local.
Be smart and safe.

It's a harvest, for my soul as much or more than it is for my freezer.

A sunrise, soft goose feather snow that you wade through silently. It's all beautiful, gods canvas which is wiped clean and changed with some new element to the masterpiece daily. There are smells that lock themselves in your mind. Every outing is a unique scenario. Wind, mist, rain, snow, temperature, terrain, moon phase, cloud cover. The variables are enormous and never exactly the same. There is a lesson in it, every time. The effects of the variables, how does it effect the animals? how differently does sound carry, how effectively does scent carry? There is knowledge to be gained, always. What you learn may never fit again in the future. Not exactly, not like a wrench fits a bolt. The knowledge may partially apply in future scenarios though. Apply as best you can.
Most importantly, don't lose sight of the forest for the tree. Experience nature, enjoy it. Find happiness in priceless small moments of true silence or beauty, smells, sounds, etc. Enjoy it.

Smells lock in your mind....Cedar swmap and Spruce trees. The day I open the hunting gear for the upcoming season and there is a hint of last fall in the pack still. I love that. Wood smoke from the shack, beer farts, burning birch. All good.

I think the most important lesson I have learned over the years.........stop balancing on one foot while trying to stick the other thru my underwear. I hit the dresser pretty hard the last time.

Mortally wounded animals don’t always go downhill....

No doubt! I wish they’d run to a road...Just to change it up a little. 😎

Best place to shoot a moose is right between the wheel ruts.

Patience is the biggest and is cliche.
Don’t be afraid to take a second shot
Even if you think you missed, give it a good hard look
Make sure your flashlight works the night before
When on public land, if you think your far enough from a road, keep going
You can’t spend too much time scouting

If you are going to sit, SIT! You cannot be too comfortable, too warm, too dry if you're going to sit and you cannot stay there if you're not comfortable.

Make sure you can bet your life on every piece of your gear, you might have to.

I'm going to add one more to my list here. Never pass up a chance to hunt with your parents, grandparents, and most of all your kids. Time really does fly by, and these memories are precious. I wish I'd done more with Dad when he was still around, and I miss the family fishing trips to Canada. Mom would be grunting hard as she fought a big pike to the boat with her old red Ambassadeur. I still have that reel and it is one of my most prized possessions. We'll do this again some day Mom and Dad. Miss you guys so much.