Most generally I feel confident in the one I pick,but I have to admit once in awhile I swear I have to look like my Bull Dogs when I let them out of the house and they are running around trying to find the perfect spot.
Anyone else do this second guessing your set up stuff or do you find a set up and thats it...
I think I fall closer to the doggies example. Even on a few hunts I probably mark the spot 2-3 times
I think the more you become familiar with the ground you hunt the more confident in your setup you will be.
This season was full of trying to decide what spot and getting it wrong. Thankfully I got it right a couple of times. :icon_thumright:
one time i came on a bird gobbling good mid day on some late season hard hunted public land, i didn't think he would come so i just sat down, after a few calls i thought he might come so i moved to a better spot, after the next call he was coming and i still didn't like my set up so i moved again, not far just to a better looking tree, the next time i called he was behind me and i got to the back side of the tree just as he steps out and i take him, i think it was the first bird i ever had come in that had no clue as what tree i was on!
Sometimes yeah. It seems after I set down I cant always see very far and theres sometimes something blocking my view. Every setup isn't great.
Quote from: roverboy on May 06, 2018, 06:52:08 PM
Sometimes yeah. It seems after I set down I cant always see very far and theres sometimes something blocking my view. Every setup isn't great.
I had an old hunting partner that has passed on now but he would always stand or neal down behind a tree. He said he couldn't see when he sat down. I was going to call for him one day and we get ready to work this bird and he stands up in a cedar tree. I thought to myself this isn't going to work but he pulled it off.
Spur of the moment indecision is pretty standard stuff for me. It is a rare occasion when I choose a set-up where I am not sitting there thinking,..."right over there would be a better spot", or,..."I should have tried to get closer", or,..."Geez, I am risking getting busted by moving at this point",...or something similar.
Depending on the bird, sometimes it really doesn't matter,...but when it does, and I have chosen the wrong spot, or had the gobbler go silent and disappear, I am always kicking myself after the fact.
...It's all just part of the game... :newmascot:
I rarely sit that long so if I have to move no big deal. I do a lot of walking and calling so I isually just have to take whatever I can when I get an answer.
Quote from: Gooserbat on May 06, 2018, 04:44:05 PM
I think the more you become familiar with the ground you hunt the more confident in your setup you will be.
I believe this to be true.
I'm always second guessing my setup. ALWAYS.
I usually end up in some new spots I'm not familiar with so I just gotta pick a spot and set up. I might move once or twice if I really don't like it. Sometimes the bird comes in and doesn't give me a shot and I wonder, why didn't I just set over there. Lol
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Very, very often, the thought "No over there... No over there... No not here, this was a bad idea..." rolls through my head as I am trying to set up on a bird I struck up.
On smaller properties that I know, I tend to have more confidence, as I know the terrain that birds are likely to pass through, and know areas to avoid (due to terrain or other reasons such as poison oak).
On larger properties, when I strike up a bird, I often go through a process of "frantic decision making" in which I likely appear similar to an ant under a magnifying glass...
When moving on a vocal bird, I will often wait some period before moving. Maybe give him five minutes of silence and see if I can strike him up again, and discern if he has moved and how far... Depending on if, and how fast he is progressing towards me, will dictate if, and how far I move...
Not getting a second response, admittedly sends me into a bit of a frenzy... Do I move towards him? How far do I move? How far will the terrain allow me to move without bumping him or other birds?
Put a vocal hen in between me and the vocal gobbler, and I really get perplexed and indecisive...
Quote from: kjnengr on May 07, 2018, 09:21:47 AM
Quote from: Gooserbat on May 06, 2018, 04:44:05 PM
I think the more you become familiar with the ground you hunt the more confident in your setup you will be.
I believe this to be true.
I'm always second guessing my setup. ALWAYS.
I believe this is true for the most part but sometimes it hurts me. I always remember which way birds have come from in the past and set up for that spot how they have come from in the past and they come from a different way. I am always trying to cover all the angles, and hate it when they come in from behind
There is one small farm I hunt on, and I have never been in the right spot, not one single time.Ive gotten young birds there, but no gobblers. It's a hard place to hunt.