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Battling Burn-Out

In all honesty I am not down to hunt 30+ times a season and I don't consume a tremendous amount of deer meat. I experienced the same thing last season as I hunted, hunted, hunted so much that by the time my rut kicked off in early December I was tired of dragging myself out of bed. Flash forward to this season and I based all of my plans around the rut which is statistically the most likely time for a buck to be on his feet in daylight. When I killed my biggest buck ever last Thursday that was only the 3rd or 4th time I have hunted all season. Alarm went off this morning at 4:05 so I rolled over, turned it off, and went back to sleep. Ha. If I go again so be it. If not then I'll check my cameras after season and see what guys I can set my sites on next year.
 
This has been a strange season for me as well. I haven't hardly had the chance to hunt much due to College, work, and kids, and when I do go the deer sign is scarce. I had to shift where and how i was hunting just to get meat in the freezer this year. I haven't even been able to come close to tagging out, but hopefully next season will be more promising.
 
Mescalero said:
Starting at Thanksgiving, I've been burned out. It usually doesn't hit me until around Christmas time. Haven't been able to get my butt out of bed at zero dark thirty and by the time late morning/afternoon rolls around, I find it too easy to think of an excuse to not hunt. I think this year there are a few reasons why. I opened my season with the archery opener. Next year, I'm waiting until mid-October to begin. The middle TN weather usually starts improving a bit for hunting around that time and delaying two weeks will at least get me through Thanksgiving before burn out starts setting in. Having to only hunt public land, no kills, few sightings also works against getting motivated. But also hunting by myself doesn't help. The camaraderie of a hunt club/lease also helps.

Next year, I think I will delay my archery season until October 15ish and look to schedule an out-of-state outfitted/semi-guided hunt on good ground for 5-7 days in November while mixing in the TN public land hunts the remainder of the season. What does everyone else do to fight burn out? Maybe you don't suffer from it or maybe you just fight through it.
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This year is the least I have hunted in a decade. I've maybe been out 5 full hunts not counting Oklahoma.

One of my go to places was planted in Soybeans. They never cut them because the crop ended up being 90% cockleburs that make hunting the field impossible. The field is probably 6-7ft tall. There is some kind of legal issues going on that is preventing it from being bush-hogged.

The lake property we hunt has just been completely dead, all year. Word is, the farmers killed over 70 deer this past summer with depredation permits.

Our place here at home just receives so much pressure from neighboring parcels, with many shooting anything with antlers, we just see very, very few mature bucks and honestly not many 2.5YOs.

I've never been more discouraged about hunting TN. Which is sad, because I see the potential.
 
I fight thru it, mix in some predator hunting, hunt more afternoons and sleep later. Hunt the warmer weather as it's more bearable and can sit it out longer. It's a challenge and part of our nature. If you're not having fun find something else to do, don't punish yourself for the sake to hunt
 
Fatboy99 said:
If you're not having fun find something else to do, don't punish yourself for the sake to hunt
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I try to tell people that all the time. I'm at the point in my hunting career that hunting is now just a form of entertainment. If it isn't fun, I don't do it. Could I be more successful hunting longer each time I'm on stand, or hunting both early and late season? Oh yes, absolutely. But I wouldn't be having fun anymore, so I don't.
 
I hunt quite a bit in October, but the days are long and I can still get all my work done and have my evenings for working around the house. Life is pretty easy in October.

I hunt really hard the first 3 weeks of November, usually bow hunt in TN, then do a couple out of state trips. I get my fill during this time.

I spend time with family over the Thanksgiving break, then take it easy the rest of the season. If it's hot out, I go fishing. If I wake up hungry, I stay home and make a big breakfast. If my wife's dad wants fried squirrel, I go squirrel hunting. If my wife wants to go Christmas shopping, I meet the boys at deer camp. :D

There's no reason to burn yourself out.
 
I think we all have those times where we ask if it's worth it. Hopefully, the answer for me will always be yes.

I got tired of swinging from trees a few years ago, and only hunted from the ground during any type of firearms season. The change up was fun and challenging. I use stands about half the time now.

Years ago, I gave up compounds and switched to traditional bows. Nice change and made it fun again.

Now, I pick about a half dozen weekends and a few weekdays a season, and focus on those. It's made it more fun, challenging, and less business-like.

It's supposed to be fun.
 
I quit bow hunting years ago because of this that helped a little .Now i just muzzle loader hunt and if i haven;t got my 2 bucks by the ed of that i will rifle hunt until Thanksgiving.
It was fun in the 80s
 
I don't get burned out but I will not make myself go just because. I'm also not sad when it's over either. The last 3-4 times I've hunted have been goose eggs mainly because I'm hunting a certain buck and not very likely to see many others. He's purely nocturnal and I'm trying to get lucky. But going and seeing nothing gets hard. This deer is probably gonna die in his bed and he's gonna beat me down in the process.
 
Ya'll need to lose " your" hunting land because the owner sold it for $4,000,000! No problem, his land,but one could occasionally kill a buck, coyote, or doe.

Just got back from Jackson Co with a basically a two day hunt on a friend's farm. I had the scope on a little doe for 5 min deciding to kill or not but she kept staring like boyfriend was coming up the hill. Never happened.

That was exciting and no burnout involved. Lower your standards, enjoy that you are outside in the woods and not in a grave, healthy enough to hunt, and that you live in a country that allows you to have a firearm to hunt with.
 
Day 57 for me this year. Taking 2-3 days off while raining to catch up with other stuff. Will get back after them Monday for rest of season.
 
I used to get burned out after around the middle of December. It was a weird feeling - I felt very lonely and depressed is the best way I can describe it. Now, I just simply don't hunt after that anymore. However, my focus turns to planning habitat improvements at that time and can't wait till after the season to start implementing those plans.
 
JCDEERMAN said:
I wouldn't put at "start date" to it. Just wait until the weather cools off in October before going. About mid December is when I'm ready to call it quits. It's at that time I start thinking about the next year and what I need to do different and what to change. That's what keeps my excitement going.
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About mid December is when I think the season should end,season is to long and gets people burnout
 

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