Diehard bird hunters can still hit the pheasant patches, turkey season is still open in eastern Montana. Waterfowlers are welcome to shiver away in their damp blinds and spread their decoys, but for the average big-game guy, hunting is finished until fall, 2009. Some still smile with the remembrance of magical days afield with family or might yet pump an enthusiastic fist when retelling the tale of killing a trophy bull. But most just file their guns back in the cabinet, repack gear in the garage and glumly wait for next year.
However, no matter how the season unfolded, there are things that can be accomplished in December to assure a better hunting season next autumn. Right now is the best time to evaluate the whats, whys and wheres of this year’s hunting episodes to improve them for the future. Here are some things to consider in preparation for the coming season:
1) Gear alert – You’re in a better position to sort through your gear and decide what’s needed for the coming year and what might be donated to charity now than you will be in nine months. Make a list of needed items in the following areas: guns and shooting equipment, camping gear, optics, clothing and footwear, and vehicle accessories. Once you’ve decided what’s required for next season, you can shop at a relaxed pace throughout the year
and pick up necessary items at bargain prices instead of parting with a large outlay of cash just before hunting season.
Regarding guns and shooting equipment, if you have new hunters coming into the ranks in your family, now is the time to start shopping for a great buy on a rifle. Watch for ammunition sales as well. Adding a bipod or range-finder to one’s cache of shooting gear is a great investment and these items are sure to please any hunter at Christmas.
Camping in elk country is one of the greatest delights of my life. On the list of necessary items for our elk camp are a new lantern and stove jack for one of the tents. I’m also in the market for another cot and a sleeping pad. For solo hunts, erecting my 12’x14’ wall tent alone is getting tedious, so if I locate a smaller,
lighter tent at a reasonable price, I’ll probably make that investment as well.
Quality optics are one of the niceties of hunting that can really pay dividends under low-light conditions. If you’re considering upgrading your rifle-scope or binoculars, why not put them on the list with a budgeted price to purchase before next season if the opportunity arises?
Kids grow (too quickly), boot soles wear and jackets get ripped on barbwire. After-season sales are optimal times to purchase clothing and footwear — as long as you’ve inventoried what you’ll need for next season.
Items required for your hunting vehicle should be evaluated as well. About the only time I routinely use tire chains is during hunting season. Before next year I need to replace a broken cross-link. Behind the seat I have a portable jump-starting unit, but it’s getting along in years and is on the low end for power. Replacing it is on my list of vehicle-related projects.
2) Pondering Places – We didn’t find many elk in the normal places in our hunting area this season. That seems to be somewhat of a trend, as the traditional hotspots were lukewarm last year as well, even though my son and I both killed bulls. For next season, we need to think about trying some slightly different areas. Although gas prices have moderated, I’m still looking for some spots close to home to hunt deer. We found a few worthy destinations this season, but before next year I’d like to scout out some more.
Just after the season is the best time to evaluate the locations that you hunted. Making some brief notes in a hunting journal about the location and numbers of animals encountered is a smart way to plan for next season. It’s easy to think you’ll remember, but nearly a year’s passage will certainly fog your gray matter in September as you try to recall the specifics of this year’s hunt.
Along with pondering the merits of previously hunted areas, now is an excellent time to sit down with maps to locate some new ones. It’s also the ideal time to figure out how to scout them once they’re identified. One of my perennial downfalls is pinpointing potentially productive hunting destinations on a map, then failing to scout them before the season opens. When that happens I tend to just throw up my hands and return to the same old places, some of which offered excellent hunting a decade ago, but have declined since.
Summer hiking, fishing and camping trips are ideal ways to scout a new location. Last summer I made an enjoyable backpacking trip to twin high country lakes near an area that looked like a possible hunting destination based on my research with a map. As it turned out, the lakes gave up a number of husky cutthroat trout, but the area didn’t turn out to be quite the type of wildlife habitat that I expected. But the outing was a success from the standpoint of fishing, physical fitness and eliminating a destination from the year’s hunting itinerary.
3) Setting a Schedule – Although Montanans enjoy one of the longest big-game hunting seasons of any state in the nation, it seems that the weeks fade much too quickly, with other responsibilities perniciously occupying days that could be better spent in the field. With the memory of this season in mind, it’s worth a few hours’ time to evaluate what got in the way of hunting. For me, it was writing articles, some of which could have been completed before the season opened, leaving more time for hunting. Readying my dwelling for winter also took some time, another job that I could have finished before the antelope opener.
Although work and other responsibilities shouldn’t be neglected, a little advanced planning can do wonders to clear the calendar for hunting. Jotting some reminders of tasks to conquer before hunting season starts (and then doing them) is one way to scavenge some extra days in the field — and I’ll take all of them I can get.
Jack Ballard, author and photographer, publishes magazine articles and photos pertaining to camping, cross-country skiing, canoeing, hiking, hunting, fishing, children’s conservation education and the natural history of wildlife. In the past ten years his articles and/or photos have appeared in over 25 different regional and national magazines, including: Sports Afield, Paddler Magazine, Deer & Deer Hunting, Northwest Fly Fishing, Montana Magazine, Women in the Outdoors, VFW Magazine, WildBird Magazine, Colorado Outdoors, Birds & Blooms, and others.
