JOURNALING

That’s interesting, what does journaling have to do with bow hunting? As far as I’m concerned, everything! Why? Well, let’s first define journaling - (v. “the act of keeping”) a (journal - n. “daily record of experiences and observations: a diary”). For the ladies reading this, many kept a diary during their youth, so this is nothing new to them. For men however, they will have to get past the stereotypical “diary” concept of keeping a journal of secret thoughts of their friends, crushes, and parents; and instead focus on how a hunting and scouting journal should be utilized to better their bow hunting efforts.

Next, let’s find out if journaling is right for you and ask our self, “Why do I bowhunt?" I’m sure there are many reasons among us, but the core reasons for me include: the greater challenges involved in order to achieve success; the rewards of plying my woodsmanship skills and hunting prowess against an opponent who is finely tuned to survive predators much better equipped for success than I; the solitude it offers while on stand; and the camaraderie of sharing my experiences with my friends at camp. If your reasons for bow hunting include these or other similar reasons, we share the desire to become the best hunter we can given the time we spend in the field. It then makes sense we should learn all we can from each experience, which accelerates our learning curve and diminishes our unproductive time afield.

So, how does journaling benefit me in my bow hunting endeavors and resulting experiences? To best answer the question, let’s break the answer down according to each of the reasons I bowhunt.

1. How does journaling help me overcome “the greater challenges” of hunting with a limited use weapon, the bow and arrow?

Journaling my hunts and scouting forays allows me to retain the things I’ve seen and learned while in the field; and also becomes a record of the result of my attempts at new strategies.
Journaling each hunt throughout the hunting season provides an annual record for me to review prior to formulating new hunt and stand site strategies each season.
My journal becomes a guide for formulating strategies before individual hunts that take place under similar circumstances during the same phase of the season,
Which in turn helps me not to make the same or similar mistakes, and thus allows me to get within shooting distance more often than not.

2. How does journaling help me improve my woodsmanship skills and hunting prowess?

I become much better at observing what I see and find while hunting and scouting, noticing things I didn’t before including: deer behaviors, weather variances and its effect on deer movement, seasonal influences that cause deer to use different areas of the land for travel, feeding, and breeding, etc.
Keeping a record of my attempts at new strategies and stand sites allow me to look back and evaluate my choices, strategies, actions, and attempts to get within shot distance and/or draw deer in for a shot.
A journal becomes an autobiography of my strategies, plans, and actions that both fail and succeed, providing me insight for each new hunt and season alike.
Keeping a journal hones my bow hunting skills and makes me a more productive bow hunter.

3. How does journaling take advantage of the solitude I enjoy on stand?

Because I record my hunts, I become more in tune and focused on what is happening within my stand site zone, such as noticing the behaviors of birds and squirrels that often precede the arrival of a deer; a subtle change in wind direction or weather condition that causes deer to come in from a different direction, or move earlier/later in the hunt.

4. How does journaling benefit sharing experiences with my friends?

A hunting and scouting journal becomes a permanent record of all my hunts for each season, year after year, which allows me to share in detail and accuracy WHAT happened WHERE and WHEN, HOW I hunted, and what the RESULTS of my STRATEGIES and ACTIONS were.

In conclusion, after 17 years of journaling my hunts, I have learned that doing so affects my success more than any other single thing I invest in, including my gear. Think about it: I can wear the latest, most expensive brands of camo and boots, shoot $30 arrows out of a $1500 bow, and fill a fanny pack with hundreds of dollars of the newest gear, but unless I can predictably get within range of my quarry each season, it is all for naught.

So I ask, is journaling right for you? That all depends on WHY you hunt. Whether you are a bow hunting newbie and long to make your first killvest, or have several successful seasons under your belt and have decided to begin chasing mature bucks, journaling will propel your bow hunting skills like no other strategy.

God bless, and have a great season!

-Zano