Patience on stand

[CampCoffee]

Anybody got any good ideas for how to endure lots of hours on stand? I think I'm as good as the other guy with daydreaming and doing nothing, but after several days, it gets a little old.
Thought about taking a book, radio, whatnot, but that seems to be too much of a distraction. Breaking it up by taking a day doing still hunting would work, but our camp has been real successful on stand the last 3 years, with 4 spikes. Go ahead and tell me if I'm crazy, I can take it. Really interested in how the rest of youall do it.

[unluckyjohn]

Ill put a hand held yahtzee game in my day pack, just make sure you turn off the volume

[archery288]

When I hunt whitetails in November I sit in the treestand from about daylight until dark..  It's usually about 20 - 35 degrees - sometimes temperatures hit the single digits or below.. Makes for a long day and a cold one at that.. I usually do pretty good sitting all day however..    It is in the rut and you see deer or several deer usually once an hour or every other hour.. One thing I do to pass time is look around at the scenery and watch the squirrels eating their pine cones and the birds flying around and fighting with one another.. I also bring my camera and I'll take pictures at times of things around me or things going on.. I don't know what your stand is like for elk, but every time I hear the slightest twig break it keeps me on guard and awake..  There have been several times when I'll check to make sure my strap is tight on my safety vest and nod off,  but the stupid squirrels usually manage to drop a pine cone from about 40 feet up and scare the crap out of me!     I am not sure what to tell you to do to pass the time, just try and enjoy everything and bring some snacks to munch on..

[Hyde]

I went on a bait bear hunt in Alberta, I couldn't stand it.  I went crazy sitting in a tree stand.  Thankfully I got my first bear on the 3rd day and stayed in camp the 4th day tending to the hide.  It was all I could to to go back out the 5th day, (two bear area).  In 6 days of hunting, I saw 2 bears.  That type of hunting is not for me.  I was freezing even though I had tons of clothes.  I was starving all the time even though I had a satchel of grub each day.  If I tried to read, I got sleepy.  It didn't help that I knew I had to sit perfectly still for 8 hours.  My suggestion is to make sure you have enough clothes to stay warm.  The insulated boot covers look like a good idea too, as my feet were the most frozen.  Have fuzzy type clothes on so you don't make noise when you fidget. Lots of food, and something soft to sit on.  

Now if you are talking about stand hunting, but not necessarily in a tree stand, then I can do that.  The three of us would go separate ways in the mornings, and meet up at a particular clear cut in the afternoon.  Some of my best memories are of sitting with my buddies each year for several hours a day.  We'd talk, but very low.  We laughed and laughed, reliving old hunts, crazy stuff that happened, etc.  We'd have a fire, and it never bothered the elk.  We killed plenty of elk that way over the years.

[Annette]

Stand hunting certainly is not for everyone. In cold weather  ( 17 `) I can sit only about 4 hrs. I pass the time  thinking about many things that our fast pace life seldom fits in  time for. I sit ready to shoot without having to reach for my weapon. I also photo other things going on . On my ground stand for elk this year this year I sat still from 10 am to  when I shot my bull at dusk. You never know when an elk was around so no movement was best. I got up and went to the ladies room about 3 times and buried it. I had elk come threw, ( cows ) through out the day. don't sit so long that you shoot the first thing that comes in. Don't be miserable...because you won't go back." Think like a trap, be the trap"
Annie

[PolarBear]

NO distractions at all!  Even just the movement of turning page will spook of a deer from a ways off.  I stay absolutely dead still the entire time.  I only hunt the first 3-4 hours and the last 3-4 hours of daylight in my stand.  I can't take any more than that.  Mid-day I still hunt and look for fresh sign in other areas away from my stand site.  I try to spend as littl time as possible on the ground around my treestand.  In and out as quietly and quiclky as possible.

[baldopepper]

I use a Kindle (can even get a camo cover)-very easy to take as it's light and thin and you can turn the pages with a simple push of your thumb. I suspect any e reader would work and they're not as distracting as a regular book is.  I even download the newspaper on mine.  I've only used it on a turkey blind but it did help pass the time.

[bow4elk]

I'm known for daylight till dark treestand stints.  They can be agonizing but you just don't know when cruising buck will show up.  I write in a small notebook sometimes but mostly I just try to enjoy the time.  I alternate between sitting and standing and always have my bow hanging with an arrow nocked.  Hunting whitetails in the midwest, you can often hear a deer coming way before they get close but hunting late season blacktails, they can just appear due to the quiet, wet ground cover.  Knowing this keeps me focused.

[rasbo]

I can sit long periods if I know I put my stand in a good spot..I dont do anything but sit,snack a little have a smoke and wait for the ghosts to appear..

[PolarBear]

I use to have my boom box tied to the tree while I played my guitar and smoked cigars.  It made the time go by but wasn't great for hunting.