d_rek
Well-Known Member
** LONG READ **
Around 1:30pm on Nov. 25th I headed into town to pick up an private land anterless tag since I only had a restricted 4+ combo tag to use. I knew that I probably would not be seeing any decent bucks at this property and had only seen 3 smaller 1.5 yr old bucks prior to firearms opener. So after a quick trip into town I made the short 10 minute drive back out to my uncles property where I have permission to hunt.
I arrived around 2pm and quickly dressed outside the car, donned my aerohunter evolution tree saddle, strapped my pack on and grabbed my h&r ultra slug hunter. I had briefly considered taking my bow out earlier and actually kind of kicked myself later for not taking it.
I did the 800 yard hike to the tree I had prepped earlier this year, following the rutted two track and trail tacks installed in the spring after doing my post-season scouting, tied my shotgun to the lift cord, and ascended the tree to my tree saddle stand without incident. I checked time after strapping in and the clock read about quarter to 3pm.
Despite the impending warm front that was moving through I was hopeful I would see deer this sit for a couple of reasons: One - it was my first sit at this location in almost 3 weeks - since the week before firearms opener. Two, -Even though my uncle and cousins are hardcore hunters, they rarely hunt their own property unless they need to put something in the freezer. I more or less had the property completely to myself for the entire season up to this point, and was hoping that the pressure from firearms season would have pushed more deer onto my uncles property as there is a very prime bedding/sanctuary area there, but was unsure because there were no readily available food sources because he didn't have any crop in his fields this year and had only plowed them up to prepare for seeding corn for the next.
My stand is setup about 150 yards outside the sanctuary where a couple of old ditches, along with the natural understudy, creates an excellent funnel that dumps directly into the sanctuary. Personally I would like to hunt closer to the sanctuary on occasion but per my Uncle that part of the property is off limits, and since it is not my property I abide by his rules.
Around 3:30 I saw my first couple of deer. They appeared about 125 yards to my south, milling around in a .75 acre clearing my Uncle occasionally puts a food plot in. However for the last several years he has done nothing with the plot and it had overgrown to weeds. This year, though, he plowed it up and is planning on putting a food plot in next year. After watching those deer mill around I began to notice more movement from the direction of the funnel and, after a few more minutes, noticed 7-8 more deer milling around, all does and fawns.
While I had considered this stand location a success earlier in the year because of the amount of deer I had been seeing, I quickly learned that it was out of position by about 40 yards. I setup my stand on the wrong side of the funnel, where a few deer might occasionally pass through, but up to this point they had been more apt to move on the opposite side of the funnel between two sections of thick understudy. Still I was hopeful that I would be able to lure one into range for bow season, and did on several occasions, but for one reason or another I was never able to seal the deal with my bow. Still I thought this should be prime for firearms as the extended range would give me any number of clear shots at deer moving through the funnel. However for next year I will be relocating this stand the short distance to the other side of the funnel. Lesson learned.
Over the course of the next hour I counted 9-10 does with fawns. They initially grazed in the plowed food (weed) plot and slowly made their way through the funnel where I was setup. At about 4:15 they were directly in front of me moving through the funnel, although none of them presented me with a shot I was comfortable with taking even with my shotgun. A minute later I noticed more movement to my south and I saw a doe and a fawn working their directly towards me and into the small clearing where I had made my shooting lanes earlier in the year. After what seemed and eternity the doe and fawn finally came to about 25 yards of my stand, although they hung up.
I slowly peaked my head around the trunk of the tree that was concealing me and noticed the doe staring right at my stand. "Damn!", I thought - a guaranteed bust by an old nanny doe. After I took my peek at her I started to here this steady, "tap, tap, tap...". I slowly peaked around the opposite side of the tree and noticed the mama doe staring at my tree tapping her left hoof in a steady cadence. Again I thought to myself that I am surely going to be busted as something about the aspect of the tree must have caught her attention. Meanwhile the other 7-8 deer browsed heedlessly 50-60 yards opposite of the mama doe.
Fortunately after a few tense moments of me being absolutely certain a bust was going to occur the doe let up and started to move directly into my shooting lane at a slow clip. I knew my opportunity for a shot was nigh and I leveled the shotgun, braced my elbow against my chest for a rest and as she came into my shooting lane perfectly broadside I let the 20ga slug shotgun bark out it's truth. The doe ran off, with what looked like a good hit, and the rest of the deer scattered too.
I immediately saw a wound open up on the doe that looked like a solid lung hit. I also distinctly saw blood shoot out of both sides as she ran off. She hightailed it 60 yards and I clearly saw her law down and kick around. "Perfect!", I thought. A nice easy recovery was at hand... sadly it was not to be.
I waited about 15 minutes, thinking the doe is lying there simply waiting for me to recover. I went through the ritual of lowering my gear from the tree, unstrapping my tree strap, hooking up my lineman belt, and descending to ground level. Once there I dropped my aerohunter evolution, kneepads, and shotgun to the ground, donned my backpack, and began blood trailing in the quickly fading daylight.
-Sent from d_mobile
Around 1:30pm on Nov. 25th I headed into town to pick up an private land anterless tag since I only had a restricted 4+ combo tag to use. I knew that I probably would not be seeing any decent bucks at this property and had only seen 3 smaller 1.5 yr old bucks prior to firearms opener. So after a quick trip into town I made the short 10 minute drive back out to my uncles property where I have permission to hunt.
I arrived around 2pm and quickly dressed outside the car, donned my aerohunter evolution tree saddle, strapped my pack on and grabbed my h&r ultra slug hunter. I had briefly considered taking my bow out earlier and actually kind of kicked myself later for not taking it.
I did the 800 yard hike to the tree I had prepped earlier this year, following the rutted two track and trail tacks installed in the spring after doing my post-season scouting, tied my shotgun to the lift cord, and ascended the tree to my tree saddle stand without incident. I checked time after strapping in and the clock read about quarter to 3pm.
Despite the impending warm front that was moving through I was hopeful I would see deer this sit for a couple of reasons: One - it was my first sit at this location in almost 3 weeks - since the week before firearms opener. Two, -Even though my uncle and cousins are hardcore hunters, they rarely hunt their own property unless they need to put something in the freezer. I more or less had the property completely to myself for the entire season up to this point, and was hoping that the pressure from firearms season would have pushed more deer onto my uncles property as there is a very prime bedding/sanctuary area there, but was unsure because there were no readily available food sources because he didn't have any crop in his fields this year and had only plowed them up to prepare for seeding corn for the next.
My stand is setup about 150 yards outside the sanctuary where a couple of old ditches, along with the natural understudy, creates an excellent funnel that dumps directly into the sanctuary. Personally I would like to hunt closer to the sanctuary on occasion but per my Uncle that part of the property is off limits, and since it is not my property I abide by his rules.
Around 3:30 I saw my first couple of deer. They appeared about 125 yards to my south, milling around in a .75 acre clearing my Uncle occasionally puts a food plot in. However for the last several years he has done nothing with the plot and it had overgrown to weeds. This year, though, he plowed it up and is planning on putting a food plot in next year. After watching those deer mill around I began to notice more movement from the direction of the funnel and, after a few more minutes, noticed 7-8 more deer milling around, all does and fawns.
While I had considered this stand location a success earlier in the year because of the amount of deer I had been seeing, I quickly learned that it was out of position by about 40 yards. I setup my stand on the wrong side of the funnel, where a few deer might occasionally pass through, but up to this point they had been more apt to move on the opposite side of the funnel between two sections of thick understudy. Still I was hopeful that I would be able to lure one into range for bow season, and did on several occasions, but for one reason or another I was never able to seal the deal with my bow. Still I thought this should be prime for firearms as the extended range would give me any number of clear shots at deer moving through the funnel. However for next year I will be relocating this stand the short distance to the other side of the funnel. Lesson learned.
Over the course of the next hour I counted 9-10 does with fawns. They initially grazed in the plowed food (weed) plot and slowly made their way through the funnel where I was setup. At about 4:15 they were directly in front of me moving through the funnel, although none of them presented me with a shot I was comfortable with taking even with my shotgun. A minute later I noticed more movement to my south and I saw a doe and a fawn working their directly towards me and into the small clearing where I had made my shooting lanes earlier in the year. After what seemed and eternity the doe and fawn finally came to about 25 yards of my stand, although they hung up.
I slowly peaked my head around the trunk of the tree that was concealing me and noticed the doe staring right at my stand. "Damn!", I thought - a guaranteed bust by an old nanny doe. After I took my peek at her I started to here this steady, "tap, tap, tap...". I slowly peaked around the opposite side of the tree and noticed the mama doe staring at my tree tapping her left hoof in a steady cadence. Again I thought to myself that I am surely going to be busted as something about the aspect of the tree must have caught her attention. Meanwhile the other 7-8 deer browsed heedlessly 50-60 yards opposite of the mama doe.
Fortunately after a few tense moments of me being absolutely certain a bust was going to occur the doe let up and started to move directly into my shooting lane at a slow clip. I knew my opportunity for a shot was nigh and I leveled the shotgun, braced my elbow against my chest for a rest and as she came into my shooting lane perfectly broadside I let the 20ga slug shotgun bark out it's truth. The doe ran off, with what looked like a good hit, and the rest of the deer scattered too.
I immediately saw a wound open up on the doe that looked like a solid lung hit. I also distinctly saw blood shoot out of both sides as she ran off. She hightailed it 60 yards and I clearly saw her law down and kick around. "Perfect!", I thought. A nice easy recovery was at hand... sadly it was not to be.
I waited about 15 minutes, thinking the doe is lying there simply waiting for me to recover. I went through the ritual of lowering my gear from the tree, unstrapping my tree strap, hooking up my lineman belt, and descending to ground level. Once there I dropped my aerohunter evolution, kneepads, and shotgun to the ground, donned my backpack, and began blood trailing in the quickly fading daylight.
-Sent from d_mobile