Hunting notes/logs/journals??

[1_pointer]

I love getting information from folks whom have kept extensive notes/logs/journals of their hunting and fishing. I have written down a few things in the past to keep a record of them, but am not committing myself to be more diligent about doing so. Likewise, I've not been happy with my format and organization of them. That leads me to these questions:

1. Do you keep notes/journals for hunts where you didn't harvest anything?
2. Is your style more of a note/log or like a journal or hunt recap (not of the Oak style ) that is posted here?
3. What information do you prefer to include for big game, upland, waterfowl?
4. How do you keep them? Electronic files on a computer, handwritten in a notebook?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dcopas78]

Dad and I used to keep rather extensive records of our turkey hunts, including preseason scouting. This was mainly back when turkey hunting here in Ohio was draw only. We don't really do it much anymore. We kept track of where we were hunting, what we saw, how many turkeys we heard/saw, if we called any in, deer, squirrel, rabbit, grouse..etc sightings. We just drew out a grid on some notebook paper and filled it in each time we went out. I will be going down to my dads this afternoon. I will try to get a sheet and scan it in and post a picture of it back on this thread for ya if I can. It is really neat to look back through this. It floods the old memory bank!
Derek

 

[putm2sleep]

Cool subject 1pointer!

1 - I have documented. Back in the 90s. All elk hunts for several years. Never have done with mule deer or fishing either? Probably should be - fun for a grandkid to read someday. I did harvest though, made the notes better for sure.
2. Mine are notes. I would say BigFin and other gentlemen are loggers / journalists.
3. All info ---- as said, should include fishing, but I can barely keep stuff together now, taking a kid hunting is a circus. The biggest and BEST show on earth. He is crazy passionate about the outdoors and hunting and fishing. Now I document in the head and enjoy the ride!!!!!

4. hard copy only - hand written.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Dear Diary,

Yesterday my hunting partner looked so hawt in his camo..........................

 

[LCH]

I keep notes in a notebook, such as dates, weather, #s of critters spotted, etc.
I then type them up and add pictures when I get home, and save them on the computer.
I've only been doing it for my out of state hunts.
When I get several, maybe 10 years' worth, I'd like to put them all together and print them out as a book.

 

[Straight Arrow]

My twelve year old grandson, Bode decided to write stories about his first hunts. His first story "That was our great hunting adventure" begins with "On Tuesday during the school week, I was on an adventure with my papa." After his hunting success it goes on to say, "Mark and his dog Merl came out to help us while me and papa were celebrating, so I decided to name my antelope after Mark's dog MERL."

 

[deer_shooter]

I've kept a record of each big game animal I've taken, including weapon used and the range. I keep it in an excel file. If I could start again, I'd add the date and weather condition.

 

[deer_shooter]

I keep notes in a notebook, such as dates, weather, #s of critters spotted, etc.
I then type them up and add pictures when I get home, and save them on the computer.
I've only been doing it for my out of state hunts.
When I get several, maybe 10 years' worth, I'd like to put them all together and print them out as a book.

Pretty cool idea! Based on Dink's post, his could be titled "Fifty Shades of Camo"

 

[Straight Arrow]

Pretty cool idea! Based on Dink's post, his could be titled "Fifty Shades of Camo"

... or perhaps "The archery stalk on Brokeback Mountain."

 

[MTsage]

Ive been meaning to keep a journal on fishing for years now, I just haven't made it happen. This is the year though so I might as well log hunting as well. I'm going to add as much info as possible; weather , temp, time,moon, water flows, location etc. Plus I will write a detailed description of the outing and of course try to take pictures.
I think hand written will be easier to maintain but being able to add photos and the potential to print a book eventually, like LCH alluded to, has me leaning towards the computer.
If anybody has an example of the format they use it would be very cool to see.

I've heard people say that the more detail and description of scenery, stories, thoughts, the better as it makes it more engaging to look back on.

 

[Sioux33]

I've been doing this pretty religiously for about 8 yrs now and it's invaluable to go back and look at your postings when heading back to a hunting or fishing spot. I do it in an excel spreadsheet and track date, location, temps (water temp for fishing), wind, elements, time of day, moon phase, barometer, give the day a rating of 1-10, then include a comments section for anything noteworthy and to sum up the day. It's interesting to go back and look at the good and bad days and look for similarities or trends in what might have influenced the results.

 

[1_pointer]

Keep the ideas coming guys! I'm all ears. Any and all examples of templates you use would be very appreciated.

A quick search showed there are quite a few apps available for doing this. However, I don't think I'd go this way due to legacy and printing issues. Though I haven't really done a whole lot in it, I have used MS Note to jot some things down. It allows for putting in pics as well. For those of you keeping a digital record, how are backing them up? Couple of folks mentioned tracking weather data. What weather data do you include?

Main reason I want to do this is to have something to pass down to my kids and hopefully grandkids. I can relate about the circus of taking a kid hunting since I've been taking my 7yo quite a bit more this year. I try to remember to jot things down and flesh them out later if need be. Just have to make it more of a habit.

Dink- It's obvious you have talked to Oak about what an experience hunting with me is like...

 

[BuzzH]

Pointer,

I have kept hunting journals since the mid-80's,

I would say the earlier stuff I have was more just facts, how many deer I saw, how many fish I caught,, etc.

As I went along, it started to be more about the places, people, and hunt/fishing trip that I wrote the most about. I kept track of things that I might forget otherwise, locations of bobcat tracks I found while hunting for example, when I still ran a trap line.

Rut timing for whitetails, elk, mule deer was another thing I recorded.

I also have a map of the area I've hunted in the Blackfoot, since the early 80's, with every single location of animals my family and I have shot over the years. Last time I looked at that map, there were well over 100 pins for whitetail, 40 elk, and a dozen or so mule deer.

Visually, the map is pretty cool...not too hard to figure out patterns of where things are in that country in a real hurry.

Combining the map with the journal notes...times, dates, and places to be during peak rut times are so easy, a cave man could do it.

I've also been asked by biologists for my notes and map, as well as opinions on whats going on in the area I hunt.

I say just start writing and see where it takes you...I don't regret the time I've spent writing about my adventures.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I keep notes in a notebook, such as dates, weather, #s of critters spotted, etc.
I then type them up and add pictures when I get home, and save them on the computer.
I've only been doing it for my out of state hunts.
When I get several, maybe 10 years' worth, I'd like to put them all together and print them out as a book.

I've been hunting since the mid 70's and when I look at the pictures of those hunts I can remmber so many details of each hunt.
When I'm gone in 40-50 years nobody is going to care about such details.
I don't want to end each day with Dear diary.....

 

[BuzzH]

I wouldn't say that...history books are full of details that nobody likely thought would be significant. I'm equally as sure that a lot of important things have been lost, because nobody cared to record it.

I used one example of how my journals have been used by biologists that are making decisions RIGHT NOW for wildlife management.

 

[npaden]

I've pretty much run the gamut from very detailed recording of weather conditions, exact times of when I saw the animals and the direction they were going and their behavior, etc. to where I am now where I try to just write up a recap after the hunt is over.

I do find myself going back to some of those detailed journal entries to help decide when and where to go hunting here on my land in Texas, but I've quit keeping very good notes.

On my western hunts I typically just log my GPS trip information each day and take lots of pictures and then I go back and can visualize and work up a narrative after I get back from that.

I never seem to take enough pictures though.

 

[LCH]

Both of my grandfathers were gone before I was old enough to really know either of them. I'd love to be able to read about some of the things they did, places they had been, things they had seen. I don't think anyone else would ever be interested in my life experiences, but my grandkids and great-grandkids might someday.

 

[Nemont]

I've been hunting since the mid 70's and when I look at the pictures of those hunts I can remmber so many details of each hunt.
When I'm gone in 40-50 years nobody is going to care about such details.
I don't want to end each day with Dear diary.....

My grandfather was a faithful journal writer. He led quite a life, including being a Butte Miner, a rancher in the Milk River Valley, survived through the depression, was a sailor on a ship in WWII that got kamikazed off the coast of Okinawa and a life time hunter. His journals are one of the most treasured thing he left to our family.

When I first kept my hunting journal is was just the facts and about the kills I made, very little of the observations surrounding the hunt. Now it is more about who is along, what we did and observing the surrounding area, conditions, times of day something happened.

As I progressed further from being a die hard big game hunter into a bird hunter, I have started writing about the dogs, the fall colors, the numbers of birds observed, the guys/gals who I went with, the weather and what the birds were doing or not doing. I document every hunt whether successful or not.

Nemont

 

[kansasdad]

I have my hunting partners signatures included with the days entry. And now I sometimes need to add a link to a HuntTalk thread for pics or additional info

 

[coppermushroom]

I keep a journal of most every hunt and especially all of my out of Ohio excursions. It has been fun looking back and I imagine the older I get the more I will enjoy reliving those hunts. My kids also like going back through as I keep a lot of pictures with them.

My wife calls this scrapbooking.