Big game hunting journals?

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ID_Paul

Guest
Just wondering how many of you keep a journal of your deer and elk hunts.

If you do, what method do you use, and what do you keep track of?

I am thinking of starting to keep a log of my big game hunting so I can try to learn patterns, weather effects, etc. Just wondering what the rest of you do.

Thanks.
Paul
 
I've always wanted to do this but once I get up in the mountains it seems like its to much of a hassle. I really wish I did so I could look back and "relive" what happened. This year I think I'm gonna "make" myself do it.
 
Have one of every hunt since 1996. Not so much a written excerpt as what I saw. I have date, hunting location, morning or evening, how many bucks, does, bulls, cows, etc. Definitely helps notice patterns of occurrence of game. Kind of nice to look back through it once in a while. Maybe in 200 years my descendants will think it is cool. Or they'll throw it away and tongue lash me as one of those primitive thinking animal slayers from the 20th century. I like it though.
 
I have for about 9 years now. I started it not so much with the intention of patterning deer year after year, but more so to read back and relive the hunts. As the years go by, I have picked up on some deer tendencies though. I write in a notebook, nothing fancy, I include the date, time, weather, where I'm at, etc. I try to update it after every 3 days or so, the fresher things are in my mind, the more detail I write in my journal. I also write what deer have been taken in my hunt area and on what day. It's fun to go back and read some of the stuff I write, my emotions at the time, the weather, it's amazing how vividly I can remember as I read them.
I only do them for my deer hunts "back home" now. I used write a journal for EVERY hunt, but quit because it started to be a lot of writing. :) At the end of every year, I recap every hunt for the year and write what state, what animal hunted/tagged, and the dates.
It's hard to get started doing this, but after your've done it for a year or two, it's fun to go back and read them.

Lien2
 
I have been doing journals for about 4 years now and my reason was to look back and re-live the hunt. I put in specific info that helps me remember habits etc...from each species but the journal is more of something for me to hope it brings some fun for kids/grandkids down the road..... Allen Taylor......
 
Bura,
Good point. I first got the idea from a buddy who's family had done that and he was reading back through their journal and hunts that his dad and others had been on.
I know how interested I would be if I would come across my dad's of grandfather's journal and be able to read how things were "back then". I hope some day my kids can do the same, and to be sure of that..........I'll keep writing in my journal, and leaving it at the hunting cabin.

Lien2
 
I have kept a journal on-and-off for a number of years. I keep notes for the purpose of becoming a better hunter and for my younger family members (I would like to think that they may like to read them in order to become better hunters).

I believe it's a very good idea to keep track of the following information. It does not take long, but over the years, assuming you hunt the same area year after year or at lest every so often, it will make a difference in the long run to your hunting success.

1. weather ? temp, humidity, wind and direction, precipitation, ground cover ? how much snow or rain fell/is on the ground etc.
2. previous weather and when it started (if you know) I like to watch the weather in my hunting area and note the first real snow fall and the first real long cold snap.
3. time and light (can you see and when can you see)
4. how long it takes to move around your hunting area
5. how many and the sex of the game you see
6. type of deer ? WT, Mule, Elk. . .
7. how long it takes to get to a particular location
8. best routs or directions to move around in an area
9. secret deer hideouts or special areas that I do not want to forget ? crossings or holes
10. where I kill deer ? if I kill deer. . .
11. what the deer were eating and how they were moving
12. map their movements if possible
13. if I found water or need to take along gear that I did not bring
14. other ? anything special or out of the ordinary like other hunting pressure, cats, bears, and what the deer do.
15. Topography and elevation ? where are you seeing the deer.

Later, you can match the variables together from years of information and get a real good idea of what to expect and how to better hunt your area.

In the final analysis, I jot down everything that comes to my mind that may make my hunt more successful in the future. You can not write too much! Weather, timing, deer activity are the most important to me. You would be surprised at how easy it is to forget how long it took to get to a location. Weather plays a big part in timing so I write it down so that I know how long in might take to get back to a specific site. If you hunt a long of different areas or do a lot of hiking, you will soon confuse one area with another ? I also write down how long it takes to drive to a spot. Again, the weather can be a huge factor in this so I take notes so that later I know how much time to give myself to get to a specific spot.

I guess I would like to think that someday my nephews will pick up my journals and use them to hunt the same areas. I know it would be nice to have 20 years of notes on a a particular area written by a guy chasing deer.

I almost never write in the field unless I'm camped out and have not choice in which case I will take a small note pad and PENCIL, never a pen! Pens fail, freeze, leak, run if the pad gets wet etc.!

Take care, good luck.
 
i think that this year i will keep a note book with me, keep it next to me when im glassing, write down the time, date and what side of the hill/ how far up the deer is. i might get a littl bit more spefic but i have thought about this before but i think that i am going to do this this year.
casey
 
I carry a small voice recorder and record everything on my scouting and hunting trips,when hunting trophy bucks it sure helps your chances of killing a big buck if you remember every thing that you saw while scouting. Like patterns, signature bucks that ran with the buck your trying to kill and even bucks in the area from previous years.For me this is much easier to do than write everything down.Also its fun to compare notes over the years.......P Pennie
 
What has really worked for us is keeping a master copy of a map of the area. Each member of the camp puts a dot on a 7.5 minute topo of the area each time they see an elk. After a few weeks or preferably years, we were able to see where the elk were congregated as well as identify saddles, trails etc where they crossed from one area to another. It also proved valuable when deciding where to place spike camps to eliminate hiking in the dark to get to promising areas at daylight. This has worked so well that we now make similar maps for our deer and turkey hunting camps as well. It really shows you where to spend your time!
 
I created a database a couple years ago but find in too time consuming to enter a report every time I go hunting or scouting. I do have a fishing database that I have recorded every trip for the past two years that I find extremely helpful. I think it just depends on your personal opinion if the extra time you spend recording data is beneficial.
 
Thanks for the replies, there are some interesting thoughts in there. I haven't been keeping any notes except for some rough ones from scouting. It seems like a good idea, I think I'll try to keep one this year.
 
I've keep a journal of all hunts, big game and birds, and all fishing trips since 1974, thats 30 years. Do take notes in field but mostly make write up after I get home. Don't have a specific format but just what comes to mind and what I think is significant.

from the "Heartland of Wyoming"
 

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