What are some lessons learned from this past hunting season?

Mine:
- don't hunt the pretty woods. I get in this trap every year.   The nasty stuff holds deer.

- have friends you bounce ideas off of during season. 

- next year buy a light weight hang and hunt system.  Climbers just did not cut it. 

Things happen, one accident and and the whole season lost !!

Hire an assistant so you can get out of the office when things start getting good!

The things I've been telling myself for three years finally kicked in.

1.  Shoot the first mature buck you see.  Any 5+ year old buck is a trophy regardless of inches of bone on it's head.  I shot a 6+ year old short tine 8 the first day I hunted.

2.  If I get into a situation where filling my freezer or not, is a matter of pride over weapon used, then I'm not serving my family properly.   
So this year I set with both bow and rifle in Missouri but shot my buck with a rifle when I sit a stand where chances of a bow shot were minimal and he happened to go by at 70 yards.
3.  Letting those you care about take your deer (of my allotment) won't take away from my success in a season.  My son in law took his first deer off my place and my priest one as well.  Both with a crossbow because we don't rifle hunt our place.  I shot two less deer than I could have because of that but it was sure worth it.
4.  Shoot less arrows per practice session.  Focus more on individual shots in practice.  My shoulder held up and both of the deer I shot at I hit as good as I hoped.
5.  I really miss the pigs.😩  I hope they come back soon.
6.  If you sharpen your ranch partners broadheads for them they'll have shorter blood trails that end with a dead animal.  If you buy good sharpening tools for the ranch and teach them how to use them they will do it themselves from now on. 

I had a great season.  I killed a lot fewer animals than normal but still enjoyed it, perhaps more than the years I've killed a dozen or more animals.  I'm thankful for it and if The Lord wills that it was my last season then I am content with that.

Thought of another one.  There was a direct correlation to my scouting in February and March with the deer encounters in October and November.  Time to start scouting. 

Be prepared for deer to show up from any direction. I made the mistake this year of betting on the deer approaching me from a certain trail only to have the deer approach from behind me, 15 yards away and I couldn't get into position to shoot without alerting him.
Either way I enjoyed my experience in getting close and having a chance from the ground.

I've been at this a long time. No crazy revelations. If I could to the op. You state hunting based on looks of an area. I as well as many others hunt pretty places, great sunrises, awesome foliage, etc but that's only got to be a small part. . You should base sets on different things like wind, food sources, travel from bedding areas, etc.
Your comment about deer in the nasty stuff makes me think you're hunting bedding areas. My personal method is to leave them alone there. Leave security areas. If you keep buggering them up the deer will readjust. No you'll start again. If that's the case consider that when deciding sets

Don't pinch your ulnar nerve in archery season 

Get your sons, daughters and grandchildren into bowhunting, they come in very handy when your deer runs into  the thick stuff and cattails to die and you are 70 years old!!!
Many other reasons also.[attachment=1,msg2990567]

I made a promise that I would learn to hunt all day when the weather was nice to take full advantage of my opportunities....just like all the other years I promised myself the same thing and didn't do.

SS Snuffer. I would love to hunt the cattail marshes of the north.  Completely different habitat than  what I chase deer in.

Quote from: supernaut on February 02, 2022, 09:41:08 AM
Don't pinch your ulnar nerve in archery season 

hold on.......

I blew mine saving a stage prop... but my girl won best actress in state..... so we both got medals!

I didn't miss much thankfully!!!  My surgeon was no issue!!!

Every year I learn go no matter what when you have time. I hear it's to hot, it's to windy, it's to cold, it's not the right wind it's not it's not it's not. I learned go whenever ya can fit it in. I tell my buddies my secret is I go. Lol. They say I have a horse shoe up My arse cause I'm fairly successful every year.  But they never go or only go when it's just the right conditions.  Also I only hunt a spot maybe 2 times and then I'm out of there but I'm blessed with a lot of public land and I know not everyone has that option. So being mobile is a big one for me personally.

Miss my days in PA.  Western Union county.  Paddy Mt.

Lesson I learned this year, don't let so many walk. Now I'm going to eat tag soup. I let 5 doe 2 bucks walk that were within 8 yards of my ground setup. That won't happen again

Don't try to stop a buck until you're at full draw!

Lesson learned walk around/they your property at least once during season a freshly fallen tree can alter deer movement

Become familiar with everything you're going to use to hunt.  Shoot your form

An interesting thread...