LAST UPDATED: October 20th, 2020
More days than not, we’ll hike out of the bowhunting woods with unpunched tags. And that’s okay. It’s what seems to fuel the hunt and drive the passion within us for that next encounter. Some hunters tend to experience more frequent encounters with critters during their time in the woods, while others seem to return to the woods time after time with not so much as a sighting of the game they pursue.
Why is this? Is it skill? Woodsmanship? Luck? While there are many factors that contribute to a successful season year after year, the best hunters have learned to overcome the 5 mistakes most hunters make every time they go hunting.
1. You Stink
The scent control industry has boomed over the last 10-15 years. There are products designed to clean and kill body odor from head to toe. I remember the early days of my bowhunting career when I’d pour a little Red Fox urine cover scent on my boots to “mask” my odor while in the woods.
I was young and naïve…and I spooked about every deer that came remotely close to my stand site. Some years later, a wise hunter shared with me why my cover scent efforts were in vain. “Have you ever burnt popcorn in the kitchen?” he asked. “Burnt popcorn stinks. And no matter what candle you burn, or potpourri fragrance you spray, it still smells like burnt popcorn. The same applies to the stink of a hunter in the deer woods.”
Over the years, hunters have figured out this truth. That’s why you see less apple or acorn cover scent and more products designed to reduce or eliminate odor at the molecular level. The trend soon became scent elimination sprays, detergents, soaps, and shampoos. The store shelves are now full of products that allow you to brush your teeth, bathe your body, and spray down your gear and clothes when you’re in the field.
Do these products work? Sure, they will help reduce human odor. Do they completely eliminate human odor as some suggest? Not likely. But every product is part of the puzzle that helps you go undetected while in the woods. Use these products and make a commitment to make every effort you can to stay free of deer spooking stink.
Think about what you do and where you are, once you step out of the shower, and how it will affect your hunt. Some hunters will go through all the effort of washing their clothes in a scent-free detergent, take a scent-free shower, and then walk across a greasy gas station parking lot in their hunting boots and camo, or sit in a smoke-filled café before the hunt.
2. You're Noisy
Once you come to grips with the fact that you stink, and you’re now willing to make the necessary changes, you must focus on the audible alerts we send out to deer every time we enter the woods. Laziness is the root of evil here.
To avoid a longer walk, we drive the truck or ATV closer to our stand than we should. With a noisy treestand on our back, we rattle, clank, and stomp our way to the stand. We talk out loud to our hunting buddy on the walk in instead of a hushed whisper. And we wonder why deer sightings were slim to none.
Whether in the stillness of the pre-dawn darkness, or mid-afternoon, deer are easily alerted to sounds of an approaching hunter. Our approach to and from the stand should be conducted with as much silence as we can achieve. Walk a little further to avoid the noise of your ride in to the stand, and the exhaust left behind.
Use aerial photos to determine the best (most stealthy) approach to your stand. Clear a trail to your stand for easy access. Rake leaves and move sticks and limbs to allow a silent sneak to the stand.
3. You're Unprepared
I can’t count the number of times that a lack of preparedness on my part has resulted in a foiled hunt. The memories of some of these hunts, and the fact that avoidable mistakes were made, haunt me to this day.
There are two parts to preparedness that must be achieved if you want to experience consistent success year after year. First, we must be prepared with our gear and equipment every time we step into the woods. I use to view opening day in the deer woods as the time for working out the kinks in my gear and deciding what I needed and what could be left in the truck.
Looking back, I see how this lack of preparedness on opening morning resulted in blown hunts on what could have been the first and best opportunity at undisturbed deer all year. Take the time to climb a tree with your gear before opening day. Opening day is not the time to find out you don’t have a screw hook or bow hanger to hang your bow and gear once you climb into the stand.
Make sure you’ve adequately prepared shooting lanes for shot opportunities. Do you have a rangefinder, calls, binos, hand saw, mask or face paint? Don’t blow one single hunt this year by not being prepared with your gear.
Secondly, mental preparation is a must. When we dropped the ball or missed opportunities on game day the coach would bark at us, “Get your head in the game!” It’s no different in the deer woods.
We miss opportunities when we don’t have our head in the game. Are you prepared for the shot? Do you know where deer will approach and where you’ll stop them for the shot? Once you’ve confirmed shot distances with your rangefinder, continue to remind yourself of these distances over and over throughout the hunt.
Be prepared in the deer woods, and you will kill more deer.
4. You Spend Too Much Time On Your Phone
Smartphones are one of the greatest tools ever created. I love them. Smartphones allow us to sneak out of the office and do a little multi-tasking from the treestand.
But as convenient as this is, I cringe at the thought of the bucks that have likely slipped past my stand while I had my face buried in my phone. Sure, they help pass the long hours on stand. And yes, you can get a lot accomplished on your smartphone while sitting in the stand waiting on a buck.
But what is the true mission you are in the woods to accomplish?
5. You Hunt Like You Have Other Opportunities
Far too often we hunt with a half-hearted attitude, knowing we have plenty of other hunting opportunities throughout the season. We sleep in, get to the stand late, and climb down early.
But what if you truly made each hunt count? What if you treated every hunt as if it was the only opportunity you had all season? If we knew we only had one shot, surely we would climb into our stand well before daylight.
We would hunt all day, not wanting to miss a single moment. And we’d certainly soak in every last opportunity of an afternoon hunt until darkness brought the game to an end. Several friends come to mind that have left this life on earth since last season. They will not be here to experience a hunt this season. I smile when I think of how they made the most of the moments they had. They didn’t waste a day.
Do you hunt like that?
