Don't lie now; you do the best napping of the year...

Status
Not open for further replies.
There is a certain temperature around the mid to low 70's where it is all I can do to stay awake, even fully rested. Throw in a nice afternoon lunch, and a soft breeze, just enough to ruffle the leaves and I might as well throw in the towel.

That said though, I can hang with the best till I eat something then all bets are off. Been a lot of time I hit the floor at 03:00 and headed north to hunt till dark, then head back home. Eating anything, and it sure would be a rough trip for the other folks on the highway....:D
 
A few years ago I awoke around sun down under a tree and there were about 30 crows in the trees waiting on me to die and 3-4 vultures circling overhead.

I think they were dissapointed when I walked off.
Click to expand...

I just had to wonder if it were the sight or the smell. :D

You must be young. You will find that priorities change the older you get.
Click to expand...

Amen, brother, amen. :D











Sorry, J/K
 
It makes sense to take a mid day nap in some circumstances. Lots of times on multi-day hunts you go to bed late and get up early. A little snooze around 2pm on a crisp, sunny fall day leaves you refreshed and ready when the deer become more active as late afternoon approaches.

Plus it just feels good to indulge in a little relaxation while enjoying nature.
 
For some folks, deer camp is about poker or dominoes late into the night. Can't do that at home with the guys. :D I've never had that affliction, but I do sleep a lot. :rolleyes: I try to be alert on the stand when I need to be. Used to take a thermos to an elevated box blind and drink coffee. That helped me stay alert, but I found that I really needed a porta-potty which I never got, just quit drinking the coffee. Someone told me that eating rolaids would stop the natural laxative qualities of coffee and that did seem to work.

Getting up early is tough on me, might have to get another thermos and a big box of Rolaids. :D
 
I've certainly done my share of napping leaning up against the base of a big pine. A chilly mid morning, the wind swirling through the cypress, the absolute peace... That's a recipe for a nap.

I once had that exact scenario: snoozing against the base of a big pine, right on the edge of a cypress head. My tree was about 15 yards from the edge of the cypress and there was a little creek between me and the cypress. I don't know what woke me up, but I opened my eyes and there, staring at me on my side of the tiny creek about 5 feet from my foot was a tiny little shoat. It was about the size of a little swamp rabbit. This made me pretty nervous because I had no idea where mama was. I reached for my rifle and it spooked, ran into the cypress head squealing. I heard mama but never saw her. Since then I have questioned the wisdom of snoozing on the ground in pig swamps. At least it wasn't a Cottonmouth.
 
I don't get in trees anymore. I'd fall asleep and die for sure. Nap time for me is about 2PM. Use my hunting bag for a pillow.
 
It seems that most of my hunting trips are an exercise in sleep deprivation. I am always up late a few nights before the trip preparing gear. Then you get to your camp/location and everyone wants to hang out and party a little. Then it is up at 5:00 AM getting ready to hunt for opening day.

It seems like that first one is the most exciting, but physically draining of them all. Then you are playing catch up on sleep for the rest of the hunt. I wish I could actually get a refreshing nap in the woods. For me, most of my hunting is on sharp pointy rocks that leave my back hurting.
 
The best nap I took while hunting was years ago when I was working deep nights. I had been up for about 36 hours when I got on the stand. It was cold, windy and clear. The sun was high in the sky and I hadn't seen a shooter. I came out of the stand and crawled onto a large, warm, flat rock that was out of the wind. I was out like a light. Later that evening my brother-in-law asked me where I was late that morning. He had glassed my stand from a distance and couldn't see me, but could see quite a few deer milling about. I guess I was asleep as the deer tiptoed by.
 
I've commonly fallen into what's called a "hunter's doze". Not really asleep; light napping, I guess it could be called. I've often awakened to see does or javelina fairly nearby, or sometimes a buck. Usually, an afternoon hunt where I walk for a while and then sit and watch countryside--and doze off.
 
Art Eatman said:
I've commonly fallen into what's called a "hunter's doze". Not really asleep; light napping, I guess it could be called.
Click to expand...

I'm also guilty of this. My tree stand is practically a tree house, falling out of it would be impossible, unless the tree itself came crashing down. At which point I would be taking a permanent nap.
 
yep I can't keep my eyes open after about 10:30. especially if I am in my box blind with the heater going. 2 weeks ago I was in my box blind and it was about 30 degrees. I had my heater going and when I woke up there were deer all over. I got over excited and hit my gun barrel on my window opening. I still managed to shoot a good eating 3 pt.

my climber stand is also very comfortable. when I used to hunt the national forest early in the season I found it impossible to stay awake.
 
Well I don't know about stands, we don't use them here. But ya, sure, I get some of my best naps in under a shady tree while hunting, always look forward to that part of the excursion.

GS
 
Best sleep I've had is 20 feet off the ground, at about 10 AM.
There's nothing like it.
 
2pm during late ML season in Western NY. 20 degrees with a 10 mph wind chill. Find a nice spot on the leeward side of a snowbank with a view of the field. Nap until the deer start moving around 3:30-4:00 pm. That's a nice winter afternoon.
 
The last hunting trip I had with my dad was fall 89. I was home on leave and we went down to Pa for the opening of bow season. We could see each other from our spots, I looked over to see three deer standing looking at him where he had sat down behind some tall grass and promptly started to snooze. Every once in awhile he would swat at a bug that was landing on his face. Had the head wobble and snoring going on and all I could do was watch. One of the deer snorted and the only thing my dad saw were the backsides as they jumped the stone wall. I couldn't hold it in, the look on his face when he looked back at me then back the way the deer went, then he started laughing. That was a good day.
 
In 25 years of deer hunting, I have taken deer at first light, and with barely enough light left in the day to make the shot.....and nearly every hour in-between. When I onlynhave a handful of days to hunt deer every year, not a second of them is wasted napping when I could be hunting instead. A 1/2 hr snooze after coming in for lunch maybe, anything beyond that, no.
 
I have had plenty treetop naps, 2 of which ended unpleasantly. First was a 12 from fall without a harness where I landed flat on my back in mud. Walked away bruised but not broken. NY second was out of the same tree the next year this time with a harness. It was a 5 ft fall ending with what felt like castration and a face plant into the tree, then 2 hours of swaying in the breeze, and finally a 7 ft fall when I cut the harness and fell the rest of the way. My naps are now from a ground blind.
 
Captcurt said:
You must be young. You will find that priorities change the older you get.
Click to expand...
Starin' down 40, so I guess so. Compared to my father, all I do is sleep as he doesn't do much of it, even in his old age (older than you). I doubt I've got it in me to work my way up to his number of waking hours, but maybe. Tradition has it that us natives never slept as much as the Europeans and as much as everyone does these days.
 
I always take a book with me to the box stands and since reading always puts me to sleep, a little nap is in order. I just doze a little here and there and to date don't think I've missed much. I was just settling in for a little nap last night just at dark when a 250 lb. boar hog walked out under a feeder 70 yds away. It didn't take me long to turn on the night sight, get my earplugs in and drop him in his tracks. The adrenaline always makes for a quick wake-up.
 
I have been known to crawl into a down tree top or under large branch, or even behind a large hay bale when conditions are prime for napping. Nothing more disconcerting than waking up about dark in a brushpile.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
You're safe the great lie
Replies
15
Views
1K
General Gun Discussions
AK103K
AK103K
Captcurt
  • Locked
I have done it wrong all of these years.
Replies
82
Views
5K
Hunting
md7
md7
M
  • Locked
ladder stand hunting
Replies
4
Views
369
Hunting
3pairs12
3
W
  • Locked
Treestands - Homemade vs. Pre-fab'd or Why I don't like to hunt with my uncle
Replies
14
Views
1K
Hunting
gun-fucious
G
K
  • Locked
What do I do now ?
Replies
11
Views
850
Hunting
Zombiphobia
Z
Top Bottom
Back