AR Bowhunter

What changes have you made in your hunting style over the years? I am not talking about weapons or accessories. I am speakingof changes that you have made that you feel better your odds.

I spend less time in the woods,two months prior to the season opener. I do most of my looking around an scouting in the March an April months.I also do my triming during those months.Iuse to scout year round but that has changed the lasttwelve years or so.We have our workweekendat the camp during the first part of September, webushhog all the oldroads in the woods.

early in

I startedhuntingin Alberta (Edmonton Bow Zone) in '05. This will be my 3rd year come Nov, can't wait. I've seen more big bucks inmy first two years up there than I've seen in my whole hunting career (25yrs) in Pa. I love my home state but being single allows me nowtofulfill a dream that I had for many years, to bowhuntbig Canadian bucks. They are truely in a class of thier own!

MN/Kyle

last year i started hanging my stands higher, 20-25 feet up. Its helped me a lot, i see more deer, and don't get busted. Gets my thermals above the deer.

IL-Cornfed

For me it's been learning to pay strict attention to the details. I leave nothing to chance, always keep the wind in your favor and to seriously thing about perfect stand positioning and placement on every set-up. It's one thing to talk about like most folks do, it's another matter to actually see it through and stay this dedicated through out the entire season. Treat every hunt as if it's your first,.... or last you'll make! Good luck and good shootin'

Oneshot7

YEp i wen tto a bowhunter mentality and god know how much it has helped me i started scouting while shed hunting and found their staging area between the bed and the food that i know a good sized buck comes down and i have another path that is the exact same way. I cant wait for bow season ( considering i can shot a bow by then with my arm bein broken twice) because i feel like i will bag a buck this year for sure in one of my 5 spots i have picked out.

bloodcrick

I have learned not to over hunt a stand and be willing to try more observation stands then adjust from there.

tsoc

AS much as possible I try to think like I believe a big buck would as it relates to how they would use an area and then I hang my stands accordingly.

AR Bowhunter

It is nice to hear that someother people go through the extra steps to do whats best for the hunt. Sometimes to me it just gets old doing it, but as soon as you take a short cut or chose to overlook a step it would cost you the evening or morning hunt.

KS227

I pay attention to moon phases. I obsess over scent control. And I hunt all day, 5am to 6:30 pm.

SwampCollie

I spend more time scouting and look more at the big picture. I used to just be, look, rubs and deer trails...must of found the hot spot! And thats where I would concentrate my efforts without wondering why it was a hot spot.

For me, the light really came on when I started bow hunting about 5 years ago. I paid so much more attention to the little details, such as wind direction, stand placement, deer activity. With the rifle, all I had to do was see the deer and I could kill it, with the bow, I had/have to get to within 40 yards. Once I applied that mentality to the rest of my hunting, my success skyrocketed. I went from killed 2 or 3 deer a year still hunting, to taking 32 last year (all legal of course, we have a long season, and lots of doe tags).

The other thing I have done is started to hunt from the ground more. With a good ground blind, I can often hunt places a tree stand isn't feasable.

As someone else wrote above, I also will not over hunt a stand, or hunt it if the wind is iffy.