pre6422hornet
Handloader
- Jan 24, 2012
- 974
- 12
Well after hitting the range on Friday I made my way home, spent some time with the kids and wife and headed out to a tree stand for the first time in 2 weeks.
I hung this stand on Sept 20th, 5 days after the opener. I was walking out early on opening day after arrowing a doe ( which I never found) when I came out of my trail into the field there were 15-20 deer feeding in the beans as was 10 or so Turkeys. I came back the next day and did some scouting after searching for the doe and determined they were using this area because:
1. There is a very thick bedding ridge that runs from 100-250 just to the north of the field edge, which faces South East.
2. They are completely protected by a natural drainage so they can sneak up and get behind a high spot in the field. This gives them a protected spot to feed. A SE wind their nose will let them know if anyone is around, and it is only a quick dash to the cover of the drainage.
I came back 4 days later with stand #3 and a couple Leverage Stix. I found a walnut tree about 5 yards off the field edge that looked promising. I could cut some limbs off and have a great shot into the field. Here is what it looks like from 25 yards in the field. The trunk extends just above the evergreen in the middle of the pic.
And here it is after trimming and setting the stand. You can just make out the top of the seat. It is only 17 feet high but man is it hidden.
Here is a view from the stand. The deer come out at the right of the picture, at the edge of the swale which is where the drainage starts. It is a 49 yard shot to the edge through the opening just above the cut branch. The next three pics are looking right to left into the field.
The next pic is basically where I shot the doe at. She was standing broadside, facing to the right just above the limb, almost into the limbs to the right.
Well two weeks ago I hunted the stand in the evening on a north northwest wind and the hunting was fabulous. Deer started coming out at 5pm and I had a button buck standing at 20 yards in the middle of the opening till 615. He never saw me or smelled me. 9 or 10 does with fawns came out from that swale and worked their way into the field and just started to turn to head my way when someone across the field must have finally caught a glimpse of a head when they started blowing a fawn bleat like a goos flute.. I am hunting public land so I have to take the good from the bad. After about 10 minutes of this person calling continuously, the deer decided enough was enough and they turned and walked back in the woods. With only 10 or so minutes of shooting light left I got down and snuck out undetected.
Fast forward to Friday and it was blowing hard 15-20 mph out of the north so I decided to hit the stand again. The wind was supposed to calm down around 5pm so I kept my hopes up. As I started the 3/4 mile walk to this stand, I heard a truck on the road behind me, so I knew there would be someone else around, but I have yet to see anyone as deep as myself.
Things were quiet until 5:00. All I can say is at least it wasn't a fawn bleat this time. This time someone decided that it was good idea to start rattling. FOR 15 Minutes straight.....3 minute break, then 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT... Seriously... Using the exact same cadence every time. Now I may not be a deer, but man it sure sounded phoney to me. I couldn't see anyone in the treeline 200 or so yards away across the field. Around 5:50 the wind dropped and out came a small fawn. Right behind her were two mature does. The bigger of the does stayed back and stood at 49 yards in the opening, while the other mature flathead picked her way through the beans on a course for a 25 yard shot. As she began to make her way into the open, the bigger doe started on the same path. I held drawing, hoping the second doe would follow. As soon as the lead doe started to crest the hill, thus exposing her to the opposite tree line the hunter started rattling again... FOREVER... At this point the lead doe stopped and turned around and looked right at me. I had my bow up by my face to help break it up and she sniffed the air, licked her nose, sniffed again, then dropped her head and started heading back towards the other two deer. My regualr saddlecloth,don't believe in scentlok, only washed in Baking soda, hadn't showered for almost 12 hours worked perfectly.
I figured at this time the rattling was going to spook the deer back into the woods so when she stopped on last time to look for the source of the rattling, I ranged her with my Redfield Raider ( very good ranger for the $$) at 26 yards. I slowly drew my Hoyt Vtec and settled my 20 yard pin just below the midline, tight to her shoulder. On the release I watched the all white crested Easton Epic bury in the lower 1/3 of her ribs with a liquid thud and she bound off. I watched her run back into the woods and a couple seconds went by and nothing. It was very wet in the woods so I couldn't hear if she crashed or not. Then all of a sudden a deer started blowing and blowing like nobodies business. Since the deer were completely upwind of me and had no idea I was there, and knowing that I was the "deepest" hunter in the woods, I made a calculated guess that the doe was down and the other mature doe was trying to get the fawn to follow or something like that. I lowered my arrow bow, walked right out to the field and found my arrow covered in frothy deep red blood.
I walked over to the long grass where she entered, about 10 yards from the wood line and immediately found blood. At the wood line I found this sign:
Needless to say with this much blood she did not last long. 30 yards into the woods I found her expired. The amount of blood in those 30 yards was outstanding and even though it was roughly 6:40pm and the sun had already set, I could follow the blood with out a flashlight. I took a quick pic with my camera and I apologize for it. Hunting solo for most of my life, I have come to be a sort of MacGiver when it comes to finding suitable camera perches. This one is on a small log.
I hooked her up to my climbing harness and pulled her out the old fashioned way with my two legs. Carrying a bow, two climbing sticks, wearing a backpack full of stuff, and dragging a decent doe out is a pretty good workout. I had just under a mile drag back to the truck. I hunt Army corp of Engineer land here in Missouri and that means ZERO wheeled vehicles ( except the farm implements). The only way to get around is either by foot or horseback. This is one reason I feel I don't ever see other hunters as deep as myself. Well I hitched her up and drug her about 300 yards across the field and field dressed her there and that lightened the load considerably. At 9:20 I made it back to the truck and I was home by 9:45. My lovely wife had a plate of dinner for me and after a nice hot shower I hit the rack.
The next morning both girls jumped up and down uncontrollably when they heard me say I shot a deer. They both said they wanted to help " cut the meat"... Gave this Dad a pretty big smile.
So now it is buck hunting for a while with some fresh meat in the freezer. I can't wait for the rut to kick in. That big buck whose shed I found is out there just waiting to be introduced to Mr Muzzy!!!! And if that doesn't work, November 10th is the rifle opener and I know a model 71 Carbine that has been waiting since 1987 to be broken in properly :grin:
I hung this stand on Sept 20th, 5 days after the opener. I was walking out early on opening day after arrowing a doe ( which I never found) when I came out of my trail into the field there were 15-20 deer feeding in the beans as was 10 or so Turkeys. I came back the next day and did some scouting after searching for the doe and determined they were using this area because:
1. There is a very thick bedding ridge that runs from 100-250 just to the north of the field edge, which faces South East.
2. They are completely protected by a natural drainage so they can sneak up and get behind a high spot in the field. This gives them a protected spot to feed. A SE wind their nose will let them know if anyone is around, and it is only a quick dash to the cover of the drainage.
I came back 4 days later with stand #3 and a couple Leverage Stix. I found a walnut tree about 5 yards off the field edge that looked promising. I could cut some limbs off and have a great shot into the field. Here is what it looks like from 25 yards in the field. The trunk extends just above the evergreen in the middle of the pic.
And here it is after trimming and setting the stand. You can just make out the top of the seat. It is only 17 feet high but man is it hidden.
Here is a view from the stand. The deer come out at the right of the picture, at the edge of the swale which is where the drainage starts. It is a 49 yard shot to the edge through the opening just above the cut branch. The next three pics are looking right to left into the field.
The next pic is basically where I shot the doe at. She was standing broadside, facing to the right just above the limb, almost into the limbs to the right.
Well two weeks ago I hunted the stand in the evening on a north northwest wind and the hunting was fabulous. Deer started coming out at 5pm and I had a button buck standing at 20 yards in the middle of the opening till 615. He never saw me or smelled me. 9 or 10 does with fawns came out from that swale and worked their way into the field and just started to turn to head my way when someone across the field must have finally caught a glimpse of a head when they started blowing a fawn bleat like a goos flute.. I am hunting public land so I have to take the good from the bad. After about 10 minutes of this person calling continuously, the deer decided enough was enough and they turned and walked back in the woods. With only 10 or so minutes of shooting light left I got down and snuck out undetected.
Fast forward to Friday and it was blowing hard 15-20 mph out of the north so I decided to hit the stand again. The wind was supposed to calm down around 5pm so I kept my hopes up. As I started the 3/4 mile walk to this stand, I heard a truck on the road behind me, so I knew there would be someone else around, but I have yet to see anyone as deep as myself.
Things were quiet until 5:00. All I can say is at least it wasn't a fawn bleat this time. This time someone decided that it was good idea to start rattling. FOR 15 Minutes straight.....3 minute break, then 20 MINUTES STRAIGHT... Seriously... Using the exact same cadence every time. Now I may not be a deer, but man it sure sounded phoney to me. I couldn't see anyone in the treeline 200 or so yards away across the field. Around 5:50 the wind dropped and out came a small fawn. Right behind her were two mature does. The bigger of the does stayed back and stood at 49 yards in the opening, while the other mature flathead picked her way through the beans on a course for a 25 yard shot. As she began to make her way into the open, the bigger doe started on the same path. I held drawing, hoping the second doe would follow. As soon as the lead doe started to crest the hill, thus exposing her to the opposite tree line the hunter started rattling again... FOREVER... At this point the lead doe stopped and turned around and looked right at me. I had my bow up by my face to help break it up and she sniffed the air, licked her nose, sniffed again, then dropped her head and started heading back towards the other two deer. My regualr saddlecloth,don't believe in scentlok, only washed in Baking soda, hadn't showered for almost 12 hours worked perfectly.
I figured at this time the rattling was going to spook the deer back into the woods so when she stopped on last time to look for the source of the rattling, I ranged her with my Redfield Raider ( very good ranger for the $$) at 26 yards. I slowly drew my Hoyt Vtec and settled my 20 yard pin just below the midline, tight to her shoulder. On the release I watched the all white crested Easton Epic bury in the lower 1/3 of her ribs with a liquid thud and she bound off. I watched her run back into the woods and a couple seconds went by and nothing. It was very wet in the woods so I couldn't hear if she crashed or not. Then all of a sudden a deer started blowing and blowing like nobodies business. Since the deer were completely upwind of me and had no idea I was there, and knowing that I was the "deepest" hunter in the woods, I made a calculated guess that the doe was down and the other mature doe was trying to get the fawn to follow or something like that. I lowered my arrow bow, walked right out to the field and found my arrow covered in frothy deep red blood.
I walked over to the long grass where she entered, about 10 yards from the wood line and immediately found blood. At the wood line I found this sign:
Needless to say with this much blood she did not last long. 30 yards into the woods I found her expired. The amount of blood in those 30 yards was outstanding and even though it was roughly 6:40pm and the sun had already set, I could follow the blood with out a flashlight. I took a quick pic with my camera and I apologize for it. Hunting solo for most of my life, I have come to be a sort of MacGiver when it comes to finding suitable camera perches. This one is on a small log.
I hooked her up to my climbing harness and pulled her out the old fashioned way with my two legs. Carrying a bow, two climbing sticks, wearing a backpack full of stuff, and dragging a decent doe out is a pretty good workout. I had just under a mile drag back to the truck. I hunt Army corp of Engineer land here in Missouri and that means ZERO wheeled vehicles ( except the farm implements). The only way to get around is either by foot or horseback. This is one reason I feel I don't ever see other hunters as deep as myself. Well I hitched her up and drug her about 300 yards across the field and field dressed her there and that lightened the load considerably. At 9:20 I made it back to the truck and I was home by 9:45. My lovely wife had a plate of dinner for me and after a nice hot shower I hit the rack.
The next morning both girls jumped up and down uncontrollably when they heard me say I shot a deer. They both said they wanted to help " cut the meat"... Gave this Dad a pretty big smile.
So now it is buck hunting for a while with some fresh meat in the freezer. I can't wait for the rut to kick in. That big buck whose shed I found is out there just waiting to be introduced to Mr Muzzy!!!! And if that doesn't work, November 10th is the rifle opener and I know a model 71 Carbine that has been waiting since 1987 to be broken in properly :grin:
