do you keep a hunting journal?

[pointysticks]

i'll probably toss this question up in some of the bigger hunting forums too.

anyways, so you? if so, what are you logging down? i am a civil eng, and we use these waterproof paper survey notebooks daily..i've always thought they would be a great hunting journal..i just got new box of them, and i think i want to start this year.

animal sightings? time/day? rut? what are you saavy hunters tracking?

i assume actual kills would be a no brainer..but what else would go in a journal?

cliff

[Freebird134]

I've tried starting one many times, and always fail. I have no doubt it would be wise to keep a long-term journal. For me, at least, the trick would be to keep it simple: location, species seen/killed, weather.

I think you are talking about Rite-in-the-Rain books, right? We use them for data collection too, and they make all sorts of designs: blank pages, lined, etc (check their website).

[RockChucker30]

I keep a journal yearly in a rite in the rain notepad. Mainly so I can remember details of different hunts years from now. I'll read through the ones from two or three years ago and it's almost like reading a story in Eastmans. It's amazing how much detail is lost over time.

[bullrub]

I have kept a hunting journal for about 4 years now. I log in weather, times of day for differents events that have happened during the day. Like critter siteing where they were at and what way they were going. I also have a mapping program so I use my GPS alot. I have been logging in locations where i find elk and downloading onto the topo maps. It has been pretty dare good info. over the years how you can track the elk. In the off season I put all the info. I have gathered from the hunting season together with my journal info. Then I start planing the hunt for next year. And its something to do in the off season.

[Swede]

I don't keep a journal, but I record different things about my hunting spots, kills, including time of day and date. and events that take place at them.

[easeup]

not me...but I do summarize on a daily basis what happened on my elk hunts..just the basics, where when, moon phase,weather, elev terrain conditions, how many other hunters I saw, how many camps were along the road going in, how many elk I saw or heard, other game I saw.

[Bullnuts]

I have a pretty simple and productive way of keeping a journal. Every animal I see or kill goes into my GPS with the date and time of day. Over the past 10 years I've been able to chat some pretty interesting maps that help me to locate the center of the center in my elk hunting area. I can predict with some pretty decent accuracy where I'll run into elk and at what time of day. How's it worK? Four elk bagged in five years with 100% shot opportunity (I missed on the lone bad year). It's a fantastic tool!

[Lefty]

I keep a personal journal
I do record a lot of my hunting situations uniqueness and particulars of the day and hunt
Number of animals, location,weather

[Vanish]

I wish I could! It takes a lot of dedication to maintain one. I have the same issue with fishing. The information certainly is valuable.

Probably something good to do during the lunch break!

I did record sighting locations in Google Earth after the season.

[bowpackerrob]

Wished i had in the past. I keep one now on all my elk hunts. In the past , I just wrote times on a calendar such as what i had seen, weather conditions and the area I hunted at, not really a journal but maybe a detailed report on weather conditions and activity where I was at.

[dreamhunter]

After reading the post here,I will start a journal.Sounds like a very good idea.A great reference tool.Transfer info to my topo plus it will be in my gps.where would be a good place to locate write in rain pads. ( internet sites ).

[Jahnke76]

I have kept a journal for whitetail for the last 16 years. I log scouting trips as well. Date, time I have seen anything, weather, location, any strange interaction. It seems to help determine where to hunt for certain conditions.

[one_elk]

Every year I say I am going to start keep a journal and I just don't do it, which is kind of ironic for me because the business I am in I have to journal what I do all the time....But this is the year I will indeed start with my hunting journal, cause the older I get the worse my memroy gets and the better my imagination gets, so it would be good to write some of this down!!!!

[bullrub]

Every year I say I am going to start keep a journal and I just don't do it, which is kind of ironic for me because the business I am in I have to journal what I do all the time....But this is the year I will indeed start with my hunting journal, cause the older I get the worse my memroy gets and the better my imagination gets, so it would be good to write some of this down!!!!

ditto on the memory and imagination one_elk.

[Vanish]

I'm using this site as my journal! Hmm, wonder if I should add weather conditions to my log.

[Curvebow]

I have tried many times to keep a journal for whiteatail deer hunting. I always bogged down with too much detail & information. Now, I do it only for elk hunts and out of satate der hunts. Problem is that my mind works way faster than my hand and my writing is so bad that I can't read a lot of what I do write! Doe Adirindack hunts, I used a friends method of making a copy of a topo map and marking my hunt (hike usualy) with a red pen. I would also record rubs & scrapes from saved GPS waypoints onto the map. This is a good plan; however, I am not faithful to that either. Sometimes, I'm just plain too tired to do it at the end of the day. Then I'll just do it tomorrow ... or tomorrow..... or tomorrow!

Would have been nice to write down the date that I saw a little crotch horned buck chase a doe and breed her three (yes 3!) times in under three minutes last fall!!

>>>>-------->

[Vanish]

Yeah ... I don't think the "write it down when I get home" method is going to work so well for this nine day hunt coming up. I might actually have to try writing by hand. I think early afternoon is probably the best time to do it for elk hunting.

[Bullnuts]

Yeah ... I don't think the "write it down when I get home" method is going to work so well for this nine day hunt coming up. I might actually have to try writing by hand. I think early afternoon is probably the best time to do it for elk hunting.

My brother does that. His journal reads more like a book and I think he could probably sell it someday. I'm sticking to the GPS notes since they're so quick and easy.