How does it effect you guys?

It should be a great time to be out but after 4 days solid hunting with early starts and late finishes I'm taking a break tonight to have a beer with the wife.

Time was I'd have toughed it out but I couldnt face packing a buck out if I scored and will enjoy the rest of the week more for a break.

When I get this tired little things get on top of me and I start to feel negative. The physical side gets harder too.

Sometimes taking a morning or evening off is definitely needed. Enjoy a beer or a few and also recharge the mental energy is what helps the most.

I think deer activity plays a role to. Two or three days of limited sightings creates boredom. I always take a shotgun to Maine to break up the monotony with a little partridge hunting.

There's no sense in making work out of hunting. If you're running on fumes, heck yes – take a break.

I'm a simpleton so I rarely tire of it and should the slightest of notion cross my mind, I remind myself that I wait all year for it and it's a miserable, agonizing wait until next season.
The worst day hunting..........

Hunting hard kicks my azz these days. 4-5 days on followed by a rest day keeps it fun. It is nice to not have a rigid schedule or a lot of pressure. The last week of Oct. We head to Wyoming for a month. I have been training pretty hard and expect to be pretty fit after a month in the mountains. Nothing beats hiking w/ a pack in the mountains for a tune up.


mike r

Being old and out of shape make hunting harder to enjoy

I used to be a hunting fool. Hurry home from work, throw on my camo & hurry out to sit in a tree until dark. Year after year I couldn't get enough. The last few years with seniority at work and my choice of vacation time I was hunting longer, weeks at a time if I wanted. Lately I found myself getting tired & since I can hunt in my back yard I was no longer participating in 'deer camp'. I started to realize how much more there was/is to 'deer camp'. My Dad & his family hunted hard the first few days at camp. It was a years long tradition. After the first few days they stopped getting up so early and they started coming back to camp for lunch. They even seemed to find excuses to stay in camp. I never understood it, now I do.
It's not all about the pursuit of a trophy, some of us need to take a break once in a while and remember why we love to hunt. Lately I find myself hunting a few days and then taking a few off, before I know it I have that urge to get back out there. There's nothing wrong with taking a break.

Since my best and favorite hunting partners are typically teenagers, we have this discussion a lot. They’re tired constantly. . I get a nap in when I can, maybe sleep a bit later one day on a trip, but still get to the woods each morning.

Like Skane said, we wait all year for these few months. It’s a long wait. I always feel like I want more after the season ends. It would be worse if I was skipping good hunting days.

Usually hunt a day, skip one or two, then back again, except during the rut. Now that I'm working out, maybe I can hit it harder, but honestly it doesn't seem quite right until the leaves start to turn and it cools a bit.

Archery opens tomorrow, but it's going up to almost 90 in the afternoon. Gonna give it a few hours in the morning. I've got three months to make meat.

I have the tired days myself! One thing that helps me hunt more, is being comfortable at camp! I don't like to do the drive out early and back late hunts. When weather is good I take the camp trailer. When weather is snowy and cold I take wall tent! At 69 being comfortable is important!

A rest day helps but getting in shape before season helps mo better.

Pace yourself. I am 73 now and hunt about as much as I ever have (almost every day of the season). I just do it different then I used to. I sit more and walk less. I can remember a time when I couldn't sit at all. Had to see what was over that next ridge.

I can relate to this! I pace my self when we go to Wyoming. I still have to see what’s over the next hillside, but I do it slowly! In Michigan I have to sit. Lack of acreage!

I’ve been known to check the inside of my eyelids while in my chair that’s inside my blind. I usually do this on day 3 after coming off of the night shift I used to work. Working a goofy schedule will do that to a guy. At least I’m not working and doing something I enjoy.

Interesting. I'm in shape and the hunting is not very physical, its the lack of sleep that gets to me after a while.

Dragged one out of the Thicket From Hell this morning. I'm pretty tired. Next big one I get is getting the gutless treatment!

I understand that not gutting a deer before getting it out of the woods is a Southern thing, but frankly I don't understand why you would want to pull out 21-23% more body weight than you have to? Add to that it is probably warmer where you hunt and it seems to me that for the quality of the meat that you would want to open them up and get them cooling faster.

Sitting in a tree stand and nodding off is life threatening unless you are tied in better than most of us typically are. An acquaintance went to sleep, fell, broke his neck and his sons pulled him out of the woods three days later. You can't fall off the ground comes to mind every time I'm debating a tree stand or ground blind.

It's like that where I hunt, but it's seasons not days. (and "any", not "limited")



Yes, I always say, I enjoy hunting too much to turn it into work.

Oh, she was gutted, but the first 200+ yards of the 3/4 mile drag was through a jumble of fallen trees, briars, head-high weeds, and other crap that caught on her (and me) at every opportunity. The gutless method I was referring to is where the game is parted out, or even boned out, and the meat placed in game bags for packing on a frame. You leave about half the weight or more behind, and have very little to dispose of at home. Pretty common method with backcountry Western hunters, and also legal here. Probably just as fast as dragging, when you factor in the frequent rests required when doing that, the skinning easier, and the meat gets cooled better, sooner.

I never drag a whole deer out.

Paragraph 1..... I hunt on my land and can drive my 4 wheeler anywhere I want to. After I shoot a deer, it takes 3 minutes to walk to the house or 4 wheeler (depends on where I'm hunting) and less to drive to the deer. Load it on the 4 wheeler and drive to the house. Total 15 minutes, maybe. That's why I don't gut the deer, also, it draws coyotes.

Paragraph 2.... I fell out of a climbing stand, I wasn't asleep, and I was lucky, I'm still alive. I still use them, but now I also use a good harness. Wont fall out of one again. Some of the places I hunt, if I'm not elevated, I can't see more than 20'. Nothing against ground blind, but it's not practical where I hunt.
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I've been working out at the gym 3x a week for the last two years, still plan to take some breaks during this fall's five day hunt. Dawn to dusk on stand gets tiresome after a few days, I'll be going back to camp for lunch and a nap every other day.

Now that's the way to "drag". Where I used to hunt in PA, the farmer would drive his Ford tractor over and we'd toss the deer onto the three-point and off we'd go. Gutting one hanging from a barn beam is a luxury.

Ditto on the harness. Never fell, but ain't taking the chance now that my bouncing ability is limited. Last year I killed one from a stand, one from a seat on the ground. Just depends on the cover. Once we get a couple of killer frosts, things open up in the weedy areas.

Randy, I used to do that, but I can't load one on the wheeler by myself any more, so I use a small home made trailer. I can still get up in the trailer and pull him/her in by myself. Tie a rope around the head or horns, and pull it in. Harder to get up in the trailer than pull the deer in.



You damn sure are. And lucky to be walking. Had a friend/ex neighbor die a few weeks ago that was in a wheel chair for many years from the same thing. Broke His back when a stand failed. I have several wooden tower stands, and I check them over good every year before season. Most times if there is a problem it is with the ladder. miles

Miles, I know the feeling. About 2013-2014 the young 'uns started acting like it was a chore to help me load one on the fourwheeler. Decided it was time to quit. Still go occasionally if one of the sons of old friends ask me.

I remember when Randy suddenly stopped posting.

The old gray mare ain’t what she used to be!

That sums me up to a T

Gotta pace myself now!

I can hike for miles, it's the early wake up and late get home that kills me after a few days. So, I take a day off, or change. Now that I am in WY, I can hunt on my 3 different species in parallel: elk, antelope, deer in that order or priority. It's been bow season for all and I have until mid-dec to smack a deer. Wife already has her deer in the freezer!

elk hunting wears me out the fastest, earliest wake up, longest/highest hiking. Antelope is not an early wake up and the hiking if flatter and I am in the truck more. I haven't deer hunted yet.

When tired, I just default over to the next animal, weather or tiredness will have me skip a day of elk and move to antelope hunting for a couple hours.

Also, as I get older, weather keeps me from hunting more.

I used to live for the fall rifle hunt when I was younger. Didn't want to miss a minute because it was such a long wait before it rolled around again.

Now I start bow hunting in september, antelope and youth hunts in October, the general in November, Lions Dec-April, and then Spring bear in May. I train my hounds in between seasons on coons as well to keep them in shape. In other words, there is no true off season so I really don't mind taking a break every once in a while. MT seasons are long, I live in/near great country, and I have the flexibility to hunt when conditions are right so I tend to just choose high percentage days and make money on the low percentage ones. Keeps me from feeling like I "have" to hunt just because this is my one week of vacation to get it done.

I am awaiting on a Nov shoulder replacement so am getting out a bit now. On lots of painkillers and effect my energy levels.
I am a sheep hunter first, bull elk , mule deer and mountain goats run concurrently. I will walk by the the latter for the former. I take a saddle horse as far as I can go and then walk, luckily my legs and wind is very good so I can do this.
I take a pack horse as well, usually alone but the neighbors kids came along the last time. 13 year old farm kid, very savvy and can ride. I am going to put shoes on an old retired rope horse of mine for him and the little hunter will shine. God Bless

After working way too many hours and having a bad cold I climbed down and up 4k’ to setup a stand and on the way out killed a nice 8 pt sidehilling last year. I couldn’t drop to the truck and get my pack so I reminded myself the next day was the best closer and maybe I’d find one near the deer when I climbed to pack out. Being worn down and sick my wife loaded me up on NyQuil. Slept until 9am and when climbing up to my buck heard a shot. Short of it, a bear found my buck and carries him off before I spooked him around 10am. Neighbors nephew dropped him and he went 586#s. That’s a great Black Bear and kicking myself the entire year since. When I’m really worn down I remind myself it doesn’t take much to quit. I’m proudest of my hard fought trophies not my largest.

For the record, I’ve got 4 kids and a job that requires 110% 80+hrs a week. The last two months more like 120 hrs and a balance between all mental and all physical. After totaling a car being hit as a pedestrian and prior to that 2 herniated discs I’ve been told to go easy. I’ve also been told I’d never walk again. At 37 I’m not a young guy but not old. My body’s been pretty tramautized but it gets me where I’m going.

Only you know the right balance for you. It’s something I struggle with daily. I find the grueling hikes and miserable weather to be more liberating than most. I look forward to steep climbs in sub zero temps. It’s the best way to disconnect and it’s much shorter windows these days. I’d make the most of it and if I take a day off I’ve resigned myself that I’m giving up more than just 1 day. It’s undoubtedly the best wind/temp day of the season too for some reason.

I am more sore than tired, but Im tired too. I dont hunt hard or go in a long ways if I have a hard day at work that day or the day after. My shoulders get very stiff , my knee is very sore now so I didn't hunt today. I do however hunt only a few miles away from home now. It will likely get worse and may give up my Mission Endeavor bow for a new Mathews Triax cause it throws the same arrow the same speed with about 8 lbs less draw. I just can't pull back the bow like I used to with my bad rotator cuffs. .

With injuries the world changes unfortunately. Don’t take my comments to mean more than just fatigue related. I pushed through what Drs said I couldn’t and came out better for it. I also had nothing to lose and a lot to gain. With RC injuries I’ve heard it’s better to prevent any surgery as long as possible. I’d not risk long term health for a few hunts. With my knee being fragments and other lingering ailments I push harder than I should. I also have the flexibility to set my own schedule and pace most of the time at work. Not always and I push myself harder than anyone should but I have the option to focus on desk projects if I really need to. I don’t envy having the fever to be out in the wilds with the responsibility to be recovering for workdays.

I’m also lined up to have scar tissue scraped off my bad knee but keep punting. Last fall, I had 150#s on my back and 2k’ to drop still and the scar tissue locked my knee in place. Made for an interesting remainder to my pack out. I’m not truly remote or it might have been more dangerous.

Takes me 20 minutes to drive to the WMA I hunt. I usually do the mornings, then go home, eat, and take a big ol' nap. If I get something, I have time for tracking, dressing, and dragging out, plus getting it to the butcher. No rush, no fuss, no pressure. If I'm tired the next morning, I roll over next to the Little Woman and go back to sleep. This IS suposed to be fun right? Back when I was working, most of the fun had to be crammed into a few days of vacation and weekends. Too much like work.

If I go in the afternoon, it's usually to walk to a spot and sit a bit, often late in the year when I usually have the whole place to myself. Love sitting in still, snowy woods looking out over the Shenandoah.

Being retired now, I've learned to pace myself. Tearing my ACL on a side hill with too heavy a pack and too far from the truck was a wake up call. I've exhausted myself trying to get a whole deer out of the woods by nightfall. Now I carry a double and a triple small pulley set in my pack with rope to get an animal up high in a tree and cut an animal up into five pieces and pack it out over days instead of hours. Just do half as much, but take twice as long. Slowing down actually makes you a better hunter. Probably since the wife won't eat venison anyway, it makes me way more selective than I use to be and my taxidermy bills have increased because of it.

I take a cat nap whenever I can. I know I am tired when I can just flop down on the ground and take a nap. Nowadays about five or six days straight is enough for me. It starts to feel like a job with much more than that. Fatigue also increases the likelihood of screw ups so good to avoid that.

I have also been spoiled by usually hunting in areas with high numbers of game. When I hunt locations with lower populations it is easier to get bored with it faster.

It helps to walk 9 to 12 miles a week, it makes a world of difference. We dance most every Saturday night, wifey’s Fitbit will show 4 to 6 miles. That helps also, even though fueled by Jack Daniels helps.

The days of limitless energy and long hard hunts are now rewarded with several days of down time. But I am worn down in general from work and other things. I've made two packs out of these canyons this year so far with a bear and a buck and I have no desire to do any more right now! There was a time I could do this non-top, but not anymore.

Been known to nap a bit in the field and take some time for a little fishing during an elk season. I will take a pass though if there is a heavy rain falling. Not always moving, but pretty much out dawn to dusk. Will still get out with other camp members after I've tagged out and packed everything in.