How do you stay occupied in the deer stand?

[swampbuck62]

my new job prevents me from too many morning hunts, hard to get up when you work till midnight and beyond sometimes.. When I do hunt mornings I try a sit from dayligt till noon I have killed many buck between 11 and 1.. As far as passing the time I call fairly often and text buddies who are hunting as well [bad habit] it has cost me a couple good deer..

afternoon hunts is what I mainly do now and normally sit from 1:30 or 2 till dark and have pretty much the same routine..

 

[swampbuck62]

Don't know, they banned me for saying the new swap and sell sucked when they started it back up. Haven't been back since.

it does not take much to get banned from GON ...

 

[jimmythegem]

 

[dawgs511]

my new job prevents me from too many morning hunts, hard to get up when you work till midnight and beyond sometimes.. When I do hunt mornings I try a sit from dayligt till noon I have killed many buck between 11 and 1.. As far as passing the time I call fairly often and text buddies who are hunting as well [bad habit] it has cost me a couple good deer..

afternoon hunts is what I mainly do now and normally sit from 1:30 or 2 till dark and have pretty much the same routine..

I've heard quite a good bit about big bucks killed between 11am and 2pm which has got me doing a few afternoon hunts lately. I just haven't had the ability to sit still in a stand up until that point after getting in before sunrise.

 

[Powerhouse]

A comfy stand (Summit 180), something to eat and drink and a book in case I start getting restless.

 

[sinac84]

Depending on what stand location I'm on I will surf the Web on my phone, check emails, or text. As a matter of fact, I texted Bear44 Thursday around 11:15 am saying that I was going to get down. He responded back by saying, "stay out another hour and a half, you might get some mid-day movement" so I did. I waited 10 minutes.... boom, dead deer. So, stay in as long as you can because you never know what might pop up.

Like others have stated, get a comfortable stand. That makes a huge difference. Make sure your seat is adjusted correctly. It will make or break a good hunt. I use a Summit Viper. I had the seat set up too low and it was a huge discomfort after 2 or 3 hours. Fixed it and now I'm good for 5-6 hours. The API Magnum is a good choice as well.

 

[57tr6]

Think about stuff. Or nothing......

 

[Trout Slayer]

I start doing all day sits during the rut here in GA and when the action is slow I'll read a little (I download books and articles to my iPhone) but most of the time I work my binoculars when I get bored. I'll do super slow scans of the farthest points that I can see and work a full scan of my area. I've been surprised to see some deer way off doing that. I'm also starting to learn more about birds. Listening for different bird calls and looking at the different species can take up a lot of time.
If I have service in the area I've been known to bring the iPad and do a little work or browsing social media but most of the time I like to stay on point. An all day sit will drain you mentally but this time of year it is worth it and most of the time if your wind is right and you have a good spot you'll have activity almost all day. Last Thursday I had a fawn bed down about 30 yards from my stand at 11:00 and she slept and chilled out for 3 hours right there. That kept me occupied watching her.

 

[swampbuck62]

Think about stuff. Or nothing......

change the words to popular songs in my head..lol

 

[sniper22]

Nice 20 min power nap works wonders. You'd be amazed how you stop moving around and then see more animals.