Hunting Log

[goosegunner]

if you ask me keeping a journal is an absolute critical piece to consistent successful waterfowl hunts. Having years of previous data is extremely helpful. I have a couple apps I use one is called hunt Proof and the other is just a DU app, they both work good and you can add your photos as well from each hunt. Plus, I still back it all up in a written journal in fear of losing everything in this electronic world.

[actionshooter]

 I'll start off with, I'm not a waterfowl hunter, but I have kept a journal of all my days in the field since 2008.. Every year my wife gets me a "right in the rain" journal for Xmas and I have shelf of them that correlate with old school photo albums.

 Ghost Hunter has done it right! Those would be cool to look at.

[ganghis]

I have 40 years of camp notes, for every hunt every day .
Who was there
What happen
Animals seen
Weather
Temps
Dinners
The works.

Write in a journal every morning and every night.

Wow, I love that. What a cool keepsake to pass down to family someday. Any memorable entries you'd like to share?

I have many this is e eryone favorite.

A Gift From God

Back in the 1980 we were hunting as a group in E Wa. We had a pack that if someone got a deer down they would let the other know by firing the Meat Shot. ( two quick, one delayed shots)

Evan and Brad went up one side of Canyon. Crazy Ron and I up the other.
About10 am we hear two shots. Then a few minute later the meat shot. It was Evan and Brad.

Crazy Ron and I walk to the edge and look down and can see they have a deer. We decide not go help them because they are right above an old cat road and they have a home made game cart.

Ron and I hunt 3 hrs more and go back to truck. We slowly drive towards camp. The up hill bank is 30 ft or more. Now Ron is a little dialectic.

All of a sudden this deer strapped to a cart comes flying through the air from the up hill ,lands 10 feet in front of my truck and the wheels pop off. We hit the brakes.

Ron looks at it,looks at me, looks back at the deer and says “ Gift From God”

We get out look at it scratching our heads, and we hear two guys cussing at each other above us. Turns out Evan and Brad had put their deer on a cart and tied a rope to it. They had come down the steepest part of the hill , lost control and the cart took off with the deer.

For years after they argued as to whose fault it was that the cart got away.

Awesome story, thanks for sharing.  Though it makes me curious how one gets the name "Crazy Ron" 

[hdshot]

My logs would have been very disappointing the last 5 years hunted for waterfowl with the lack of ducks.  Still get out scouting with nothing to write about these days. Regret not documenting with pictures showing what the Columbia basin once produced regularly for duck numbers at peak times consistently.  But since taking it for granted back then now considering a liar or being negative from today’s hunters. My former hunting partner would have ate his words but since not having the proof makes it my fault believing everyone knew the same history as me.

[hunter399]

My logs would have been very disappointing the last 5 years hunted for waterfowl with the lack of ducks.  Still get out scouting with nothing to write about these days. Regret not documenting with pictures showing what the Columbia basin once produced regularly for duck numbers at peak times consistently.  But since taking it for granted back then now considering a liar or being negative from today’s hunters. My former hunting partner would have ate his words but since not having the proof makes it my fault believing everyone knew the same history as me.

Same here for sure.
Folks come over turkey hunting,think our deer herds are excellent.
Till deer season starts ,same deer change pattern move to private.
Definitely a fraction of what it was....👍

[metlhead]

Some successful log pics

[hdshot]

Some successful log pics

Not bad with 2 green heads logged.  Sure hope we are not going to be logging these gas prices for very much longer because waterfowling demands for fuel is insane.

[lovetogrouse]

I keep a log of all my hunting and fishing trips. It’s one of my favorite possessions.

In addition to everything you have listed, I record:
- My decoy setup (amount, mix, decoy pattern shape)
- What I learned
- What I would do next time

I think about my log as a tool of continuous learning.

[follow maggie]

Some years I mark on a calendar the days I’m in the field to track my number of days, but that’s all.

[Geoffphrye123456]

I have enjoyed reading all of your posts and hearing the passion you have for recording in a hand written journal. I decided I will start this next season!!!

So I went in search of something online that would be cost effective and would record what I wanted to record. I found some that did part of what I wanted. I didnt find "the one".

I decided to make my own - https://amzn.to/3Rv5hTS

The ones I saw online had the same information on every page. I wanted something to encourage use. Each page records the basics for the day, but also gives a tip about waterfowling. A suggestion for decoy placement, or even a semi-scientific glimpse of how a duck sees the world around them. I attached a couple of screen shots here (I hope they come thru). The book is a paper back, would need to be protected in a baggie if you take it out in the field, this was honestly to keep the cost down.