Phaco
Active Member
Different kind of saddle hunt...
I originally set up at blue. While in the tree I observed 8 doe bedded at red. Wanting to get a doe this time of year I patiently observed them from my saddle from 100 yds away. As time went by they began to get up, and milled around for a few hours eventually leaving the area outside of bow range. With the deer out of the area, I still had about 45 minutes of hunting light. I decided to get down and try another area of this public park (see yellow crumb trail). I knew from previous years that this was a well visited area. Once at the edge, I quietly still hunted my way in with about 20 minutes of hunting light left (this corner is very thick with biers and brush). At this point, I'm just wearing the saddle and put down my sticks, and decide I will hunt standing next to a tree. Sure enough, about 10 minutes of light left, 3 deer walk out of the corner (light blue), with one seemingly on a mission to get to the corner where I am. It was getting dark, but I hear the unmistakable grunt coming from him. I range him from the opposite side of the tree (so I can get ready on the left side of the tree), and as he walks past my tree I am already at full draw and let the arrow fly (30 yds) at ground level). For those that have never shot a deer at ground level with minimal cover its hard to describe the thrill of it, but what a rush!
Anyways, because of the mobility of the saddle I was able to sneak around unencumbered and reset in a good ambush position that provided an opportunity on an unsuspecting deer. The other trailing deer had no idea what had just happened and followed the shot deer out of the field. I may try to set up on that inside corner the next time I'm out.
I originally set up at blue. While in the tree I observed 8 doe bedded at red. Wanting to get a doe this time of year I patiently observed them from my saddle from 100 yds away. As time went by they began to get up, and milled around for a few hours eventually leaving the area outside of bow range. With the deer out of the area, I still had about 45 minutes of hunting light. I decided to get down and try another area of this public park (see yellow crumb trail). I knew from previous years that this was a well visited area. Once at the edge, I quietly still hunted my way in with about 20 minutes of hunting light left (this corner is very thick with biers and brush). At this point, I'm just wearing the saddle and put down my sticks, and decide I will hunt standing next to a tree. Sure enough, about 10 minutes of light left, 3 deer walk out of the corner (light blue), with one seemingly on a mission to get to the corner where I am. It was getting dark, but I hear the unmistakable grunt coming from him. I range him from the opposite side of the tree (so I can get ready on the left side of the tree), and as he walks past my tree I am already at full draw and let the arrow fly (30 yds) at ground level). For those that have never shot a deer at ground level with minimal cover its hard to describe the thrill of it, but what a rush!
Anyways, because of the mobility of the saddle I was able to sneak around unencumbered and reset in a good ambush position that provided an opportunity on an unsuspecting deer. The other trailing deer had no idea what had just happened and followed the shot deer out of the field. I may try to set up on that inside corner the next time I'm out.
