I head up one row several hundred yards and turn back walking slow and steady back down the next watching the seeds of what will be this year's food plot hit the freshly tilled, fluffy soil. With each splash of the seed into the ground I cannot help but think about what this plot will turn into and what big buck I may or may not see in it. Turning soil, planting food plots, creating bedding areas, making sanctuaries, hanging stands and strategizing for the season's hunt has quickly become as important to me as the hunt itself. I love standing on the family farm and looking out on the land as a blank slate, wondering what can we change for this year and how we can make the hunting one percent better than the year before. Now the plots are planted, the stands are hung, and the trails are cut. All that is left is to lye in wait for opening day.
With all of that being said, you can plant the most beautiful plots on the best piece of property and grow the biggest deer but if you are not prepared for the season both mentally and physically you are not going to have much success. On top of that you need to have your equipment ready, and have a game plan in place for when opening day comes. The season here in Pennsylvania is only six weeks long and that does not give us much time to put one of the big boys on the ground. There are a lot of ways to go about it but I wanted to briefly give you a run down of my gear and how I am planning for success this fall.
My biggest passion right now is hunting with a bow and arrow, I recently bought a traditional recurve bow but I'll leave that rabbit hole for another day. My archery season begins sometime around June getting my bow tuned and starting to get in some reps a few times a week while we plan out our fall planting strategies. I am currently shooting a Mathews Helium, Victory RIP 350's, Slick Trick 100's and a Scott's Archery Lil' Goose. I am constantly toying with my equipment and trying to improve wherever I can. With that being said, getting your bow tuned and shooting accurately is probably the most important factor in an archery season's success. You need to make sure that you are dialed in and confident when the moment of truth comes. The next piece of equipment that I dial in are my clothes. Between hunting the hot openers in Louisiana to Montana in late September I have quickly realized that a hunter's clothing can make or break your hunt. If you are going to be more than a fair weather hunter you are going to need the right gear. You will need a solid rain suit, light and quiet. I personally choose to wear Sitka gear from head to toe. I have found nothing that compares to the quality and durability of the product. I love the patterns and the way it breaks up my silhouette in all situations. Past the rain suit you will need layers. Layers are the key to being comfortable in all temperatures and conditions. I like to start with a Merino wool base layer. My base layer is super light weight so that I can wear just that during the early season. From there I will added a medium weight outer garment and as the season drags on and gets colder I throw on a third outer layer. I do the same on my legs, base layer and then a thicker outer layer depending on temperature. The last piece of clothing that is overlooked are boots. They are a bit more important in the western big game hunting but you do need the proper boots for the conditions. I started wearing Kenetreks' Mountain Extreme last year and I don't see myself switching for a long time. They have 400 grams of insulation which is perfect for me because I can wear them for early season but they have enough warmth to get me through even the coldest sits during late season if I pair them with the correct socks.Once my bow is dialed and I have the clothes that I need I will move onto the smaller parts of equipment that I use. I think the most overlooked piece of equipment for a whitetail hunter is a good pair of binoculars. I cannot tell you how many times I have picked out a small amount of movement or have seen a piece of an ear or an antler because I upgraded my binos. I didn't realize what I was missing until I started elk hunting with my little brother and he was using 15X binos. Obviously we don't need that level of magnification as Eastern states whitetail hunters but quality glass can make your hunt much more enjoyable and more successful. I am currently running the new Zulu 7 10x42's by Sig Sauer. For an archer in 2018 a range finder can be as important as any tool in your bag. Make sure you are buying quality optics. When it is rainy and cold you want a product you can depend on, I use the Leupold RX-1200.
After you have those essentials taken care of you need to fine tune the little things. Now that I am married with a daughter coming home safely is of the utmost importance. You cannot take tree stand safety too carefully, I always wear a harness from the time my feet leave the ground until I climb down for the evening. I just switched to a lightweight MUDDY harness that I can wear between my base and outer layers. It stays out of the way and doesn't bind or get in the way between my legs or when I draw my bow. If I am using a climbing tree stand to hunt some of the farms around my area I like to opt for a little bit heavier stand with a big platform and a comfortable seat for long sits. Some guys like to go super light weight but none of my walks are all that far so I opt for bulky but comfortable, I am currently using the Summit Goliath SD.
Last but not least are the contents of my pack. The most important thing in my pack for morning hunts is my thermos of coffee. Seriously. Staying awake and alert is the most important part of my morning hunts. The deer are still on the move and I like to be on top of my game for those first few hours of the morning. I also have a nine month old daughter now so being tired is just a way of life. Not to mention drinking a cup of coffee on a beautiful fall morning fifteen feet in a tree stand is probably one of the greatest feelings on the planet. I am also using the grunt call with multiple settings, a doe in estrous bleet can from Primos and some rattling antlers (sheds that I found) for the pre rut when I feel like I have a good chance to rattle in an interested buck. I keep two knives on me at all times, one for gutting and skinning and one for more fine caping cuts. I also make sure to have extra batteries for my range finder and headlamp. If you have ever been walking to or from your stand in the dark and your light goes out it is not a very cool feeling. I usually carry some deer scent in my pack from Code Blue but now that we are doing most of our hunting in a CWD area we can't carry urine scents. To round out my pack I carry a small hand saw for last minute trimming, extra bow rope, a second release aid, knife sharpener and some snacks.
My gear list continues to grow and change as I learn more about what I like and what products work best for me. I have so much fun tweaking my equipment and learning from other hunters and what they are using. I am sure that I will make some changes as the year goes on and we transition into late season but for now I have it all pretty dialed in. If you are reading this and have some suggestions on new gear to try please let me know. I cannot wait for Saturday to arrive and watch yet another sunrise from twenty feet up!
-Good Hunting
With all of that being said, you can plant the most beautiful plots on the best piece of property and grow the biggest deer but if you are not prepared for the season both mentally and physically you are not going to have much success. On top of that you need to have your equipment ready, and have a game plan in place for when opening day comes. The season here in Pennsylvania is only six weeks long and that does not give us much time to put one of the big boys on the ground. There are a lot of ways to go about it but I wanted to briefly give you a run down of my gear and how I am planning for success this fall.
My biggest passion right now is hunting with a bow and arrow, I recently bought a traditional recurve bow but I'll leave that rabbit hole for another day. My archery season begins sometime around June getting my bow tuned and starting to get in some reps a few times a week while we plan out our fall planting strategies. I am currently shooting a Mathews Helium, Victory RIP 350's, Slick Trick 100's and a Scott's Archery Lil' Goose. I am constantly toying with my equipment and trying to improve wherever I can. With that being said, getting your bow tuned and shooting accurately is probably the most important factor in an archery season's success. You need to make sure that you are dialed in and confident when the moment of truth comes. The next piece of equipment that I dial in are my clothes. Between hunting the hot openers in Louisiana to Montana in late September I have quickly realized that a hunter's clothing can make or break your hunt. If you are going to be more than a fair weather hunter you are going to need the right gear. You will need a solid rain suit, light and quiet. I personally choose to wear Sitka gear from head to toe. I have found nothing that compares to the quality and durability of the product. I love the patterns and the way it breaks up my silhouette in all situations. Past the rain suit you will need layers. Layers are the key to being comfortable in all temperatures and conditions. I like to start with a Merino wool base layer. My base layer is super light weight so that I can wear just that during the early season. From there I will added a medium weight outer garment and as the season drags on and gets colder I throw on a third outer layer. I do the same on my legs, base layer and then a thicker outer layer depending on temperature. The last piece of clothing that is overlooked are boots. They are a bit more important in the western big game hunting but you do need the proper boots for the conditions. I started wearing Kenetreks' Mountain Extreme last year and I don't see myself switching for a long time. They have 400 grams of insulation which is perfect for me because I can wear them for early season but they have enough warmth to get me through even the coldest sits during late season if I pair them with the correct socks.Once my bow is dialed and I have the clothes that I need I will move onto the smaller parts of equipment that I use. I think the most overlooked piece of equipment for a whitetail hunter is a good pair of binoculars. I cannot tell you how many times I have picked out a small amount of movement or have seen a piece of an ear or an antler because I upgraded my binos. I didn't realize what I was missing until I started elk hunting with my little brother and he was using 15X binos. Obviously we don't need that level of magnification as Eastern states whitetail hunters but quality glass can make your hunt much more enjoyable and more successful. I am currently running the new Zulu 7 10x42's by Sig Sauer. For an archer in 2018 a range finder can be as important as any tool in your bag. Make sure you are buying quality optics. When it is rainy and cold you want a product you can depend on, I use the Leupold RX-1200.
After you have those essentials taken care of you need to fine tune the little things. Now that I am married with a daughter coming home safely is of the utmost importance. You cannot take tree stand safety too carefully, I always wear a harness from the time my feet leave the ground until I climb down for the evening. I just switched to a lightweight MUDDY harness that I can wear between my base and outer layers. It stays out of the way and doesn't bind or get in the way between my legs or when I draw my bow. If I am using a climbing tree stand to hunt some of the farms around my area I like to opt for a little bit heavier stand with a big platform and a comfortable seat for long sits. Some guys like to go super light weight but none of my walks are all that far so I opt for bulky but comfortable, I am currently using the Summit Goliath SD.
Last but not least are the contents of my pack. The most important thing in my pack for morning hunts is my thermos of coffee. Seriously. Staying awake and alert is the most important part of my morning hunts. The deer are still on the move and I like to be on top of my game for those first few hours of the morning. I also have a nine month old daughter now so being tired is just a way of life. Not to mention drinking a cup of coffee on a beautiful fall morning fifteen feet in a tree stand is probably one of the greatest feelings on the planet. I am also using the grunt call with multiple settings, a doe in estrous bleet can from Primos and some rattling antlers (sheds that I found) for the pre rut when I feel like I have a good chance to rattle in an interested buck. I keep two knives on me at all times, one for gutting and skinning and one for more fine caping cuts. I also make sure to have extra batteries for my range finder and headlamp. If you have ever been walking to or from your stand in the dark and your light goes out it is not a very cool feeling. I usually carry some deer scent in my pack from Code Blue but now that we are doing most of our hunting in a CWD area we can't carry urine scents. To round out my pack I carry a small hand saw for last minute trimming, extra bow rope, a second release aid, knife sharpener and some snacks.
My gear list continues to grow and change as I learn more about what I like and what products work best for me. I have so much fun tweaking my equipment and learning from other hunters and what they are using. I am sure that I will make some changes as the year goes on and we transition into late season but for now I have it all pretty dialed in. If you are reading this and have some suggestions on new gear to try please let me know. I cannot wait for Saturday to arrive and watch yet another sunrise from twenty feet up!
-Good Hunting