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Author: James L. Bruner
It happens to nearly every hunter at one point or another where everything is piled up weeks behind where they should be. For some it’s business schedules, others it’s family issues, while for another group it’s just a plain old lack of discipline and desire to do the work involved in scouting out a proper deer hunting area. I can’t change your desire to scout earlier in the year and some would say these people don’t belong in the woods, but I won’t judge anyone here. Instead let’s hop on the quickest trail to a productive deer hunt.
First of all let me jar your memory for a second and remind you once again how important field notes and outdoor journals can be. If you spend a lot of time in the woods throughout the year you probably have crossed paths, literally, with several places that caught your attention as possibilities for an upcoming deer season. A good friend of mine use to lament about the time I would spend viewing deer trails when we were fishing the river banks of some secret brook trout hotspot. It’s just a natural reaction for me to always have an eye open looking at my possibilities. This is where your notes come in handy as your memory might be a tad sketchy on the location. In hindsight I have to admit that most of these areas that were found by chance have turned into good standby and even primary hunting spots. If you have such an area in mind, and it fits into your now restrained schedule, it’s probably a good time to have a closer look. In essence search your notes and mind for these little possibility places before running off to the woods hoping for the best.
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It isn’t often I get to take the time to knock around in the outdoors without some exact purpose for being there. There always seems to be some utility reason, not by design, it just always seems to work that way. This really is something I should work on changing as it seems some of what I consider the most interesting things happen when there is no destination in mind or job to fulfill. Just a non-charted trip to explore new places in the wild. Maybe it is just the lack of focus on having a chore to do on the trip that lets karma sort of have its way with you.
We use the word postmortem to communicate after the fact of life analysis of an animal. The word postmortem however can mean more than after death; it can mean analysis after an event as well. For example, this word gets slung around in the office setting in some companies as a methodical analysis of how something went at an event such as a tradeshow or a big sales meeting. The analysis of the facts, findings and the haul made from the event are all scrutinized and discussed for a better execution at the next event. Thus a postmortem is truly a review of after the fact data in this sense.
If timing and location truly are everything, then location needs some greater attention in the late summer to early fall when it comes to stand placement. Legwork done today can pay huge dividends in the fall through preparation and anticipation based on tactics and a little science. Highlighting and discussing a few of the top elements to successful stand placement; profile, pressure and natural boundaries seems a really valuable way to analyze if our current tactics are paying off or if a strategy tune-up may be in order. Open-mindedness to any new approach when it comes to wildlife is a really good way to keep an exploratory mindset and to find those quarks that your particular herd may have and could yield a better return on your time investment this fall.