What's on your mind?

[Sailfish]

"stay in the moment" for any length of time .

wish I could do that at work some days

It is very interesting isn't it? How (it appears) most of us can and do get into some sort of zone when hunting.
Quite an amazing thing if you think about it. HOURS and HOURS in that separated self phase

[pickleguy]

My mind is always going mach 6 when I am in the stand. I am always thinking about different things.
I use the time to stay in touch with our great Creator, think about the family, job, the next wall hanger, meat in the freezer.
I also when I have wide open viewing get out the Kindle & read. I try to enjoy the quiet time as much as I can. I also tend to stress myself out on ocassion thinking about all the time I put into hunting only to have it screwed up by others, land owner, horse riders or tresspassers.I am trying very hard to relax & be one with nature but I struggle.

[Woods Walker]

"It is very interesting isn't it? How (it appears) most of us can and do get into some sort of zone when hunting.
Quite an amazing thing if you think about it. HOURS and HOURS in that separated self phase."

Actually, not all that amazing when you consider that we ARE predators, and that when you factor in how long our species has been around the period of time when we've been that detached from our roots is very little in comparison. It's in all of us. You just have to let it come out!

[hot tamale]

I think about the great opportunity I have to watch the woods around me wake up with the sun. I often wonder if the Indians have walked through this area before or hunted where I am.
Then I look down to my legs and wonder "Do these camo pants make my ass look fat?"

[Woods Walker]

..or maybe it's more like...."Does my fat ass make these camo pants look big"

[Deebz]

I thought the point of camo pants was to make your ass look like it isn't there at all!

[hot tamale]

Oh stop guys!! You're making me blush!!!

no but seriously, I love waking up with nature around me. You never know what is going to pass by-coons, opossum, hopefully a deer. I like to try and pick apart the brush to see if there is a deer laying next to a downed log-just keeping my mind focused. .
Then I have an even harder time than most of you because I am deaf in my right ear due to a botched surgery when i was younger, but I have a hell of a time figuring out which direction sounds come from so I have to depend on my eyes more.

I love it when I am sitting motionless in my stand and a doe walks by, looks up at me and stares. the staring contest. she puts her head up, down...and then back up again staring at you, trying to figure out exactly what the camo blob with the fat ass is doing in the tree.
She'll stomp her feet, trying to get you to move.
I cant contain myself sometimes--I wind up laughing at her antics. I probably blow my chances of a buck being behind her, but it's just funny when they do that.
To me, I wouldnt change those interactions for the world.
Or like the time I dropped my snickers bar from the stand and two squirrels fought over it making such a ruckus I never thought I'd see a deer after that noise. (yes I actually had a small buck come in about 5 min later. probably thought two bucks were fighting!). wish I would have had a camera cuz i could have sold that footage to the snickers company showing how good the nuts are in their candybars.

[Sailfish]

I love it when I am sitting motionless in my stand and a doe walks by, looks up at me and stares. the staring contest. she puts her head up, down...and then back up again staring at you, trying to figure out exactly what the camo blob with the fat ass is doing in the tree.
She'll stomp her feet, trying to get you to move.

Or like the time I dropped my snickers bar from the stand and two squirrels fought over it making such a ruckus I never thought I'd see a deer after that noise. (yes I actually had a small buck come in about 5 min later. probably thought two bucks were fighting!). wish I would have had a camera cuz i could have sold that footage to the snickers company showing how good the nuts are in their candybars.

Had the doe run in a few weeks ago. It is neat.
Had me a 'possum, squirrels, and coon last night.

Wild how much noise one squirrel or a baby coon can make! And yet when we creep through the wood, we step on one leaf..........snort snort blow blow........gone!

[rthomas4]

I write deer hunting articles in my mind as I'm sitting in a tree stand with my Encore in my lap, watching the food plot. If I'm in the swamp with the shotgun, I'm straining for any sound of deer or hounds wafting through the cypress, or splashing through the water and muck.

[Woods Walker]

"Wild how much noise one squirrel or a baby coon can make! And yet when we creep through the wood, we step on one leaf..........snort snort blow blow........gone!"

You know, it does seem that way, but I think that a lot of times that "one leaf" we step on is merely the final piece of the puzzle for the deer that either was watching us or heard us beforehand. Usually unless they wind us they will not bolt after hearing one twig snap or even catching some movement, especially if they haven't identified it yet. It's when they're on high alert from already hearing/seeing you first that they'll bolt.

When I stillhunt I'm amazed at how much I do get away with as far as movement goes. But then I do move VERY slowly and any motion I make with my hands/head I try to do in slow motion. You can even get away with some noise too, but you CANNOT sound like a human. As you said, squirrels and other critters make noises in the woods and the deer don't bolt from them. Try to sound like them if you have to move. NEVER walk with the 1-2 cadence that humans walk with. Take one step, pause, and then take another. Ot if the leaves are dry put your toe down first, pause again for just a moment and then bring your heel down. That's how a deer or any quadraped for that matter walks.