Opening Weekend - Lessons Learned

Any that you'd like to share with the rest of THF breathern????

Worst opening weekend for me ever. Lesson learned...if it can break, it will. Just couldn't get in sync all weekend.

I learned you can’t put gas in your diesel truck. Been running diesel trucks for 20 years and never done it. I guess I just flat out wasn’t paying attention. Switching between gas and diesel vehicles finally but me in the butt! Lesson learned, slow down and have a clear mind.

You’re not the first to make that mistake. Speaking for a friend…

Left my coffee in the truck!! Daniel

Working on ambulances we had a guy do it as well. Yes we do have a mix of gas/diesel but all vehicles have the type of gas in hood next to gas cap. I was working the truck the next day…. Talk about a crappy truck

Acorns change everything

Full moon sucks.

Stay late in the morning whenever the moon is approaching full. It was almost 10am before I saw my first deer Saturday morning and then I saw three within a 30-minute window.

When you’re in the tree stand and hear footsteps in the brush right behind you, don’t immediately jerk your head around to look.. Might just be the only mature buck you’ll see all weekend, and you don’t want to spook it….

These days I strive to place a stand with heavy brush or
other obstacles behind me and I'll have a kill zone where I
can't swivel around and get busted moving my head/upper body
around trying to see whatever. Been busted by the old
wise does too many times. Turn back around and there's the
old biddy staring straight at you within spitting distance.
They also snort the loudest after they busted you and are
running away at top speed

If the man who set the timers last says he "thinks" he remembers the AM feed time he set - give yourself an extra 30 earlier than normal just in case

I have come to rely on iphone too much to pass time while sitting. I forgot my phone and glasses Sunday morning and found myself missing the ability to access the internet. Flip side, for the first time in a long time I was able to sit quietly and observe the beauty of the sunrise, the waking of the birds, and overall more in tune with my surroundings. Going to make a strong effort to minimize my time on the phone while hunting.

There was a reason those first Blackberry devices were often called "Crackberries".

Make sure your scope is on your zero and not 14.25 or 15 MOA high from shooting 700y last time out He didn't survive the 3rd shot...our deer are HUNGRY and evidently stupid

Opener wasn't good at all. saw some young bucks already chasing does around and it is going to be hot all this week.

Check your "neighbors' fence at least a week ahead of time so that you dont have a herd of cattle on your place all week the week before knocking down/emptying feeders

Yep, I once drove my wife's vehicle for 2 weeks and then filled my diesel truck up with gas the day we made the switch back. Painful.

When your ex wife sends you with your youngest daughter and says, "Ah it's just allergies".......Nope it's pink eye and a trip to urgent care on opening day in BFE and the whole family likely gets it.

That is excellent. I can't remember who said it, but there's a quote (of course I'm probably paraphrasing, since I can't remember who said it) that says..."Most of the world's problems are caused by men who cannot sit alone, in a room, quietly, for any length of time." I'd be much obliged to any member on here that could cite this quote properly.

My first sit of the season every year now I know that "it's a process" to "tune out and turn on", "get back in the groove", etcetera.

Many moons ago I learned to double check that your magazine is with your rifle, not sitting on a shelf in you safe back at home. Still got my deer that day, but glad as heck I didn't need a fast follow up shot.

"All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone," wrote the French philosopher Blaise Pascal.

As I should have said, at first, I was missing the phone, but quickly decided I was better off without it and spent the rest of the time enjoying the process....

Yes, this!!!!

If you use The Timer. Don't set P1 to 5:00PM 0 sec spin and P2 5:00PM 5 sec spin and expect it to go off at 5:00PM

Acorns don’t change anything. Deer have always eaten them.

Acorns
Full moon
Clear sky
Wind
Warm temps

Create a perfect storm for not seeing deer.

Still beats the hell out of sitting at home though.