How many of you keep hunt journals?
Not just for the successful or eventful hunts but also for the uneventful ones.... The ones where you couldnt figure out where the birds went or why they were doing what they were doing.
One of my good buddies (doesnt turkey hunt) is a professional waterfowl guide and has always (since highschool) meticulously kept up with every hunt and then does an overview at the end of each season to look for trends.
I thought it was an interesting idea because sometimes when I get caught up in the day to day hunt, I just go with it and dont always look at things closely. Maybe I'm missing out.
What you think???
I keep meaning to start one, but haven't set down and done it yet. I want to do more that record kills - I have a kill log that my granddad started for me when I shot my first gobbler at 6 and I have kept it up.
The only journal I keep is ones that would resemble a stat sheet. Times, locations, weather, phone numbers (landowners) & calls where I located birds or killed birds in the past. Keeps my memory fresh.......
I have for about 20 years. Its fun to look back and see how you have "grown". At the back I have a "hindsight" section that has helped me to learn from my mistakes. Most of that has been shooting and not getting to my spot early enough.
I used to, but I also keep my facebook page updated with photos and hunts. So, after several years of doing both, I stopped the book upkeep. It was more detailed with failures & the like, but I never honestly went back and read those entries to try and get an edge on fishing or hunting the next season.
I am considering putting up a blog that is seperate from any other feeds, that way I can put up more detailed information & not worry about it cluttering up the feeds. We shall see!
My dad keeps a day to day journal of both our deer and turkey seasons. It's fun to go back and remember some of the times, good or bad.
I used to, even had a separate one for each type of hunting that I did. Somehow they got tossed out during spring cleaning, and I have not gotten back into it. More than likely laziness on my part.
I would like to keep one, but from year to year it can be completely around my area with the floods and such. I would like to keep one just to keep one and see if there are any trends as well
No. But I do analyze heavily after every single hunt. Drives my buddies nuts!
I started a notebook a couple of years ago with notes of successful tactics and unsuccessful ones also. I try to note the weather and time of successful hunts as well
I have a friend that has been doing it for years. I always forget to do it.
My parents started one for me, and I've continued it. I've expanded it to include kills, date, weapon used, mast conditions for the year, gobbling, rutting activity, weather, etc as well as what my buddies and family harvested. One day when I'm old I'll put it together like a book.. Haha, joking. It is interesting to get out and read about the hunts and details of yesteryear.. Anyone with kids or grandkids I would encourage to start one for them too, as they'll appreciate it in time.
I kept for the past waterfowl season and plan on doing the same next year.
Those that do keep a journal for turkey hunts, what kind of information do you include?
I have kept one since the early eighties. I write down ever time I go hunting. I started it out with a "Hunt Journal" with weather, speices hunted, who you hunted with, guns they and you used, dogs,game harvested, who shot it, times, Bullet/Shot used, and a space for notes about the hunt.
I now have 6 or 7 loose leaf binders filled with the Journal.
This takes care of Hunting Camp questions. Who got the biggest deer? What year was a particular deer shot? What year was my grandson first up at camp? Just stuff like that.
I figure when I am in the nursing home and cannot hunt any more it will help me get through the Spring and Fall days when I want to go out but cannot because parts do not work anymore.
It takes about 10 minutes every night and I am so glad I have done it.
I kept one for years when I grouse hunted. I kept up with a lot of stuff, even stats on birds such as tail feather length, color, male female etc. I'm not sure it was any benefit other that it was really neat to go back and read it several years later. I used to keep one for fishing also. I don't keep one now at all. I kinda wish I had continued with it. I can see how a journal would be very useful in turkey hunting, I've just never done it.
I used to. As I keep one for other things I do like fishing and deer hunting. I do this because over time you start to develop patterns on were you need to be at specific times, moons, tides wind etc. But what I felt with the turkeys thwy weren't patterable. It seemed to be a as if they were just a feather in the wind so to speak. Wherever the day took them it took them. So I kind of stopped with the turkeys.