The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Hunt

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old November 20, 2009, 09:24 AM   #1
camper4lyfe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 2, 2008
Location: Fairport, NY
Posts: 165
How do you sleep?

How do you sleep the night before opening day? I find that my mind starts to wander, and I get myself all worked up and excited with anticipation before opening day of gun season. This makes it pretty difficult to sleep, which is a bit counterproductive when you consider how early I have to wake up.

What do you do the night before the "big hunt"?
camper4lyfe is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 09:50 AM   #2
.284
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 8, 2009
Location: davison, michigan
Posts: 665
You're not alone. I have accepted this as part of the hunting ritual. I guess if you didn't have those feelings and thoughts, maybe hunting isn't your bag. For me, it's part of what brings me back year after year. I used to find it hard to sleep the night before duck season opened as well.

To answer your question......

Mass quantities of alcohol, although, you might not be at your best during the hunt. Nyquill comes to mind....hmmm, might work. Undoubtedly you have hunting buddies....perhaps they could beat you senselessly rendering you unconscious. Again, you may not be up to par for next mornings hunt. Aw shucks, I think you are just going to have to deal with the excitement.
__________________
Guns have only two enemies, rust and politicians!

Deer are amazing creatures....so please don't burn the sauteed onions and I'll pass on the steak sauce, thank you.
.284 is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 09:52 AM   #3
Mike Irwin
Staff
 
Join Date: April 13, 2000
Location: Northern Virginia
Posts: 41,374
When I was going to hunting camp with my father, I didn't sleep.

Those guys would vibrate the damned cabin off the foundation and move it down the lane with their snoring and farting.
__________________
"The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind" -Theodorus Gaza

Baby Jesus cries when the fat redneck doesn't have military-grade firepower.
Mike Irwin is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 10:07 AM   #4
camper4lyfe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 2, 2008
Location: Fairport, NY
Posts: 165
My only hunting buddy right now is my wife and dog, and neither of them actually hunt (it's actually part of the reason we got the dog...he doesn't retrieve very well, or at all). My wife just likes to sit by the fire and read.
camper4lyfe is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 10:12 AM   #5
Willie Lowman
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 5, 2009
Location: Uh-Hi-O
Posts: 3,006
I tie one on with my uncle.

I never sleep much the night before opening day.
__________________
"9mm has a very long history of being a pointy little bullet moving quickly" --Sevens
Willie Lowman is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 10:36 AM   #6
horseman308
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 3, 2009
Location: Maryland
Posts: 526
I don't sleep well either, unless I'm only planning for an afternoon/evening hunt. Of course I get excited, but I'm also a little paranoid about oversleeping and I find myself counting how many hours I've got left to sleep

"Okay, if I fall asleep now I'll get 6 more hours. . . . If I sleep now I'll get 4 1/2 more hours. . . . etc."
__________________
You only take one shot at a time - make it count.
horseman308 is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 11:43 AM   #7
davlandrum
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 27, 2006
Location: Lane County Oregon
Posts: 2,547
2 stout cocktails and force ourselves to stay up until 10. Sometimes just the staying up part is hard, since it is dark and cold early. Still don't get great sleep, but at least am on my game in the morning.
__________________
U.S Army, Retired

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. -Potter Stewart
davlandrum is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 12:46 PM   #8
langenc
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 19, 2007
Location: Montmorency Co, MI
Posts: 1,551
Alcohol disrupts sleep patterns.
langenc is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 12:54 PM   #9
davlandrum
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 27, 2006
Location: Lane County Oregon
Posts: 2,547
So does excessive excitement, so its a trade off.
__________________
U.S Army, Retired

Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. -Potter Stewart
davlandrum is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 01:30 PM   #10
Buzzcook
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 29, 2007
Location: Everett, WA
Posts: 6,126
I don't get nervous and excited till after I pull the triggerThe night after I get a deer I can't sleep
Buzzcook is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 01:40 PM   #11
sserdlihc
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 10, 2008
Location: S.C.
Posts: 1,454
Two Tylenol PM and it is lights out for me.
__________________
Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration. Aupleius
If someone doesn't like you, that's their problem! Milton Childress
sserdlihc is offline  
Old November 20, 2009, 01:48 PM   #12
FrankenMauser
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 25, 2008
Location: In the valley above the plain
Posts: 13,402
Quote:
Two Tylenol PM and it is lights out for me.
Tylenol PM and Benadryl contain fair amounts of the antihistamine Diphenhydramine. Diphenhydramine suppresses REM sleep, which causes a loss of sleep quality, which leads to groginess and lower immune function.
So... you're often better off getting the "crappy sleep", staying up the night before to ensure you're tired enough to sleep, or using a small quantity of alcohol to make the lights go out. (The 'night cap' has little effect on sleep patterns.)

I no longer have sleep problems before a hunt. I did in my younger years, but not any more. I just don't get worked up. I really look forward to hunts, throughout the year, but it doesn't get my anxiety level up now.


As a side note: One of the reasons the common "PM" medications have strong warnings about repeated use, is the REM suppression factor. Repeated loss of REM sleep (sometimes as few as 3 days with the medication) can lead to major dysfunction. The last thing I need, while walking through the woods, is to start hallucinating or having uncontrolled muscle spasms.
__________________
Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.
FrankenMauser is offline  
Old November 21, 2009, 07:05 AM   #13
jgcoastie
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 15, 2009
Location: Kodiak, Alaska
Posts: 2,118
Quote:
having uncontrolled muscle spasms.
Happened to me once on a turkey hunt as a youngster...

Learned a real important lesson about sitting down in the dark...

Don't park your keester on an ant bed...

Dang turkeys must have thought I was looney, dancin around and stripping naked... They'll never forget that chubby white boy that was screamin and stripping...
__________________
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." -Richard Henry Lee, Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, initiator of the Declaration of Independence, and member of the first Senate, which passed the Bill of Rights.
jgcoastie is offline  
Old November 21, 2009, 08:14 AM   #14
Suwannee Tim
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 27, 2009
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 320
I don't sleep well at home and I don't sleep worth a damn if I'm uncomfortable. I don't hunt but I camp in a tent and I will sleep a couple of hours without help. This is no danged good on a week long river trip. I take 3 mg of melatonin every night about a half hour before bed time. This is an OTC "dietary supplement". Camping I take temazepam which is a Schedule 3 prescription drug. I will take it every night of a camping trip but when I return home I will not take it for at least a week. I will not take it at home for more than two nights in a row or two nights in a week. You can get addicted to it which I don't want.
Suwannee Tim is offline  
Old November 21, 2009, 01:42 PM   #15
MosinM38
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 23, 2007
Posts: 1,030
Not real great.

I get all excited,etc. and can't sleep.

Problem is, for me, it's all season
MosinM38 is offline  
Old November 21, 2009, 01:57 PM   #16
Ricky
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 6, 2008
Location: N.California
Posts: 408
Sleep

I usually don't sleep well the night before (usually getting to deer hunting camp in the early evening the day before opening day) Then I'll get up well before dawn, hunt till about 10:00 then take a nap. Last time when i woke up from my nap I shot a nice buck before I even stood up!
Ricky is offline  
Old November 21, 2009, 02:21 PM   #17
sserdlihc
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 10, 2008
Location: S.C.
Posts: 1,454
Quote:
I no longer have sleep problems before a hunt. I did in my younger years, but not any more. I just don't get worked up. I really look forward to hunts, throughout the year, but it doesn't get my anxiety level up now.
That is great to hear FM! I have used Tylenol Pm for a while and I function just fine. Appreciate the concern though.
__________________
Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration. Aupleius
If someone doesn't like you, that's their problem! Milton Childress
sserdlihc is offline  
Old November 21, 2009, 06:40 PM   #18
camper4lyfe
Senior Member
 
Join Date: September 2, 2008
Location: Fairport, NY
Posts: 165
Well, my excitement was pointless...didn't see a dang thing. I need to find a new spot. It's somewhat convenient, but there's not a lot of sign, or movement.
camper4lyfe is offline  
Old November 21, 2009, 08:48 PM   #19
James R. Burke
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 3, 2009
Location: U.P. of Mich/Quinnesec
Posts: 1,897
Yes indeed that is a good question. It seems to get better with time, and of course time spent is the woods. I try to get all my things together the night before, and whatever needs to be done. Then I take some sleeping aids, and try my best.
James R. Burke is offline  
Old November 22, 2009, 08:17 AM   #20
roy reali
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 23, 2005
Posts: 3,248
Coffee

I just drink a bunch of coffee.
roy reali is offline  
Old November 22, 2009, 09:30 AM   #21
Edward429451
Junior member
 
Join Date: November 12, 2000
Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado
Posts: 9,494
I don't get excited the night before. There's been more empty seasons than filled. The night after my successful hunt however...I pretty much couldn't sleep. Last year the man upstairs finally let me connect for the first time, and it meant so much to me beyond providing food for my family.
Edward429451 is offline  
Old November 22, 2009, 10:01 AM   #22
trigger happy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 6, 2006
Location: Pensacola
Posts: 759
you guys can actually sleep?
__________________
"You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass" Admiral Yamamoto
"You have enemies ? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life" Winston Churchill
trigger happy is offline  
Old November 22, 2009, 10:14 AM   #23
fisherman66
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 22, 2005
Location: The Woodlands TX
Posts: 4,679
I loose sleep over problems. I get my very best rest in a tent or camper away from the star killing lights of the city. If there's a cricket or toad serenading me...all the better. The day following a hunt over hill and dale brings even better sleep. I take one vacation a year and that's for an annual hunting trip with some old buddies. 5 more days
__________________
la plus belle des ruses du diable est de vous persuader qu'il n'existe pas!
fisherman66 is offline  
Old November 22, 2009, 09:15 PM   #24
HiBC
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 13, 2006
Posts: 8,274
That elevation gain and pack in makes me really tired.Then there is digging up the cache with the british army cot and a mountain dew bottle of Old Bushmills.

There is not enough spirits in camp to even ponder getting a buzz,but sipping an oz is relaxing.

A therma-rest on top of the cot,the -20 down bag,balcava on my head.

I sleep.The cot contributes a lot.

If I can get 2 sleep cycles of about 2+ hrs each,I can make it OK the next day.
HiBC is offline  
Old November 22, 2009, 09:25 PM   #25
benny27
Senior Member
 
Join Date: August 31, 2007
Posts: 264
You might want to try melatonin, a natural easy to get sleep aid. It's actaually a natural chemical that the pineal glands secret to help you fall asleep. You can get them at usually any drug store, and yes they actually work. I have used them myself, good luck.
benny27 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:30 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.12339 seconds with 10 queries