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DIY Freelance hunts from the past

John Eberhart

Well-Known Member
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Apr 1, 2014
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For some odd reason it seems like quite a few bow hunters have pigeonholed saddle hunting to be DIY or what I term as Freelance hunting only where you take off with your saddle and bow, head into the field and search for a new location, set it up and hunt on the spur of the moment. While that is fine and a saddle is perfectly suited for DIY freelance hunting, saddles are superior for all hunting situations, pre-prepared or DIY.

I'm going to start this thread with one of my old freelance saddle hunting stories and picture and hope others will follow with one or more of theirs with a picture of the kill.


In February 1999 I was scouting a piece of property in northern Michigan for a friend that was going to let me bow hunt with him that fall. This was likely the strangest property, or should I say property situation I had ever seen. It was around 350 acres in total and was subdivided into 10 acre parcels and each 10 acres had a different owner, yet each owner had access to bow or gun hunt (most were gun hunters) on the entire 350 acres.

Each property owner or member could bring one relative or guest per hunt so when you do the math, it’s really pressured and most of the hunters shot any legal antlered buck with no restrictions.

Each property owner could have 2 permanent stands wherever they wanted as long as they didn’t infringe within 100 yards of another property owners stand. In a small clubhouse was a corkboard with a large aerial map of the property and once a stand was up they would put a pin with their name on it at the location. They would also note on the board if they were hunting on whatever days they were there so everyone would know to keep their distance.

Nobody could hunt in another owners stand without permission, but they could freelance to a 3rd or 4th location as long as they kept the 100 yard distance from other stands while they were being hunted. Each tree stand also had an identifiable marker on the base of the tree with the owners name on it.

The property was mostly comprised of mature poplars, maples, birch, oaks, black cherry and beech with some small patches of cedars interspersed throughout the property. Most of the timber area didn’t have much in the form of security understudy.

We spent most of the day looking over the main property and after scouting and preparing a location for my friend we scouted an area he hadn’t been before which was towards the NE corner of the property.

This area of timber narrowed down to a point as it headed east and near the point it was bordered to the north and east by a large wet/dry marsh with interspersed red brush and small saplings. Farther to the east was a neighboring lake and to the south of the timbers point was a river that meandered east to west through the 350 acre property and dumped into the lake to the east.

Just about every tree in the area of brush that separated the marsh from the timber had been rubbed on at some point in time, making this location a primary buck entrance and exit route into the marsh.

It was obvious to me that the large marsh was the main bedding area because it was the only location of any size that offered adequate bedding security cover where hunters wouldn’t go. There were no crops within 2 miles making the acorns in the timber the preferred food source, if they produced that is.

Strangely, although there were many old rubs, there were no signs of any old scrapes which made me believe that this would be a very good early season hunting location that would have little if any doe traffic.

I had seen this type of location before on some heavily timbered public lands where bucks would have a small secluded area with only a few oaks and the only deer I would see there while the acorns were dropping would be bucks and once the acorns were gone the location dried up because prior to the rut phases the bucks moved to areas where there was more doe traffic. Basically the does avoided the area because they didn’t want to deal with the subordinate bucks harassing them.

Had there been scrapes along the edge it would have meant the area received a lot of doe traffic and that the bucks would have been leaving their scrapes as territorial and dominance markers.

There was no time to prepare another location but I knew if I came back to hunt early in the season that I would freelance back to this area.

Our October opener rolled around and in the first few days I passed on a couple small bucks in some long time hunting spots. On October 7th I got a call to see if I was interested in hunting the location that evening and the next day.

There was a heavy red oak acorn mast that year and my plan was to go in and freelance the point for fresh rubs and the most suitable tree for them. With my saddle I could set up in about any tree no matter the diameter or lean.

Wearing my ScentLok so as not to leave any human odor with my entry or tree set up process, I went to the point and just as I thought there were fresh rubs along the edge and several runways coming into the point from the marsh to the east.

There was a large red oak within shooting distance of a runway that skirted along the edge of the marsh and it was also pretty much dead center of the 50 or so yard wide patch of hardwoods that pinched down into the marsh. Up the oak about 25 feet or so was a large crotch that would offer good cover and the main trunk was straight and that’s the side of the fork I set up on. That evening one small 4 point came out and fed on acorns and that was it so I pulled my steps, put them back in my fanny pack and left assuming I would hunt elsewhere the next morning.

We planned on hunting a couple other less invasive locations in the morning because we didn’t want to spook deer possibly feeding at the oaks with our before daylight entries. When I woke up there was a light drizzle and the fog was extremely thick, so thick that I couldn’t see much farther than 15 yards in front of my car as I was driving to the property. When we met up we altered our plans and headed to the same locations we had hunted the previous evening.

It was so foggy I struggled to see the reflective tacks I had left the previous day marking my route. I never bumped a deer with my entry and once the steps were placed again and I was perched it seemed to take forever for daybreak in the thick fog. It was at least half an hour past normal daybreak time before I could just see the ground.

Shortly after 8 o’clock I heard deer moving through the timber towards the marsh, but they were about eighty yards to the northwest and moving into the marsh to the northeast. I had no clue what they were but was certain that they were not coming in my direction, so I pulled out my rattle bag and performed a subtle sparring sequence to entice them in my direction if they were bucks. I gently clicked the sticks in the bag together for about 10 seconds and stopped.

That’s all it took as I heard the deer change directions and head towards me. As they moved through the tall ferns they periodically stopped and it was so quiet I could hear them munching on acorns. It took the deer about 5 minutes to get within 40 yards and even then all I could see was their legs below some leaf covered oak branches in the fog.

Before I could see what they were they lost interest and began moving northeast towards the marsh again. Or maybe they just couldn’t visualize the bucks that were supposed to be there sparring, and lost interest. Whatever the reason it was time to do something else and I still had no idea what they were.

My saddle elevation of 27 feet made it too risky for another sparring sequence with them being so close, as the sequence would take a few seconds and they would easily key in on the noise coming from high in a tree and know it wasn’t normal. They also wouldn’t be able to see any bucks sparring from such a close distance.

I carry an inhale and an exhale grunt call so I can perform different volume levels if needed, and I reached in and grabbed the inhale call from my pack, turned to the opposite side of the tree and made one short soft grunt.

This was an old turkey hunting trick. If a smart old Tom locks up too far away for a shot, I always turned away and made a soft yelp. The Tom would think the hen was farther away and would close the distance a bit more, putting him within killing range.

It worked to perfection and as though choreographed the deer turned again and came my way. Within a few steps they cleared the oak branch foliage and a nice 10 point followed by an 8 point came into view. As they closed the distance I got ready and when the 10 point got within range and turned his head back towards the 8 point, I came to full draw. They kept coming and when he was 15 yards and broadside I made a vocal doe matt and as usual they abruptly stopped. As my pin settled behind his shoulder I released the Carbon Express arrow from my Golden Eagle Evolution bow.

The shot felt good, but I did not see where the arrow entered. He turned and ran back through the timber in the direction from which he came and soon disappeared into the fog. While glad he ran back into the open timber, I certainly expected him to head into the more secure marsh.

Listening, I heard that unmistakable sound of a deer crashing to the ground. The hit must have been good and after 30 minutes I pulled my steps on the way down and walked over to where I heard the crash and there laid a perfectly symmetrical 10 point.

We ended up taking him out in my Versa cart and I’ve never hunted there since. This was a perfect example of a freelance hunt where I had some sense of the area by being there once before, but still had to choose and set up in the right tree according to the fresh sign on the spur of the moment.
 

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