I'm eating tag soup again this season, but I'm quite a bit more educated about what I'm doing than I was when I started hunting for the first time last year. A few things I've learned, mostly about staying warm, which is bloody hard in a treestand.
* Spend real money on your gear. Ain't no substitute for quality. The Sitka Thunderhead stuff I spent way too much on at the end of last season is working out well.
* Even so, there's no such thing as waterproof and breathable. Layer yourself with fabric that keeps you warm even when it's wet - wool is good, as is pretty much anything I use XC skiing.
* Wear as little as possible while hiking into your treestand. If I'm cold at the truck, I'll merely be sweating when I get to the stand, instead of having soaked through everything I hope to wear.
* Bring warm liquids in a thermos. I'm sure the deer can smell it, but it may be the only thing that can keep you in your stand.
* Use those peelable 12-hour body warmers. A lot of them - I try to use at least 3 when sitting for any length of time in sub-40 weather.
* Lots of "waterproof" boots will soak through in the first hour. Others won't. Don't be ashamed to return the bad ones until you find a pair that works as advertised. (My Oboz and Merrill's are back at REI - my feet haven't gotten wet since I got my Lowa's.)
* Use a big pack. Most normal daypacks will be full long before you get your kill kit, extra layers, thermos, water, food, antlers for rattling, spare trail camera batteries, rangefinder and binos all packed. I'm looking at this one, as soon as I can convince my wife that we desperately need it:
https://exomountaingear.com/shop/exo-3500-backpack/* If your glasses keep fogging up, anti-fog spray is cheap.
* Get a good bino harness. You have to be able to get at your binos easily, you don't want them flopping around, and you need to keep them at least mostly dry. They're also a good place to store your cell phone, rangefinder, wind detector, and so forth. I got this one at the beginning of the season, and love it:
https://www.alaskaguidecreations.com/shop/packs/alaska-classic-hbs-with-m-a-x-pocket/.
* It takes a surprisingly long time to get yourself and your gear up into a treestand, especially a climber. Get to the stand at least an hour before shooting light, so you can be settled down and quiet 30 minutes before shooting light.
* If you like reading in your stand, a waterproof Kindle is great.
Those are a few things I've learned this year. Curious what other folks' hard-earned lessons are.
