justsomedude
Well-Known Member
Opening day. High of 90. I was able to get out for a quick evening hunt. No scouting, but a property I know pretty well.
I quickly sharpened THREE BROADHEADS and packed up and left (you know where this is going).
I picked a spot where three major trails converge and lead to an opening to pastures. There's always scrapes and rubs lining these trails. Lots of Oaks and persimmon...and only a couple hundred yards from the car. The wind was blowing southwest. Perfect
The best tree for cover and position was LEANING. And it was a slick large bark mature Persimmon. It was perfect for the wind direction and averaged 15-30 yards from each trail and had good cover from 15-20' with a few shooting lanes. I decided to deal with it.
I did an aider only climb. Was set up in about 10 minutes. My Platform strap was clearly not going to like this bark! I set up about a foot higher than I needed it.
I set up on the low side of the lean with the knot on the high side. My platform was slipping if I walked around the tree. Bummer.
At 5:00 I heard a lot of rustling leaves and could tell it wasn't squirrels. I got my bow in hand (recurve bow was hanging on the stopper knot and a grayling arrow holder on the arrow).
It was TURKEYS. 10 of them or so. They were a little far out and lots of obstructions. I think Turkey make deer feel safe, so I decided to let them 'decoy' for me.
Then I decided to practice getin in shooting position with the Kestrel. I moved around the tree and they hadn't seen me. I got a clean shot at a male at about 25 yards uphill (didn't Range it). I drew and held until it was looking away.
Arrow hit RIGHT at his feet and he jumped. They still hadn't seen me...went back to scratching.
About 20 minutes later, they had circled around to the other side and were approaching a shooting lane that was a little farther out. At the last second they went slightly farther out and walked into the clearing. I decided i might as well shoot....AGAIN right at his feet. I later found out that was 35 yards and not 30.
Then it started to rain. My platform was pretty low and I decided i needed to tighten it up.
I climbed down the Aider to work on it and knocked my arrow off the rest! Last arrow... it was 6:00 and sunset was at 6:45. I decided to bail...climbed down and packed up.
But at least I got to miss twice on opening day!
I quickly sharpened THREE BROADHEADS and packed up and left (you know where this is going).
I picked a spot where three major trails converge and lead to an opening to pastures. There's always scrapes and rubs lining these trails. Lots of Oaks and persimmon...and only a couple hundred yards from the car. The wind was blowing southwest. Perfect
The best tree for cover and position was LEANING. And it was a slick large bark mature Persimmon. It was perfect for the wind direction and averaged 15-30 yards from each trail and had good cover from 15-20' with a few shooting lanes. I decided to deal with it.
I did an aider only climb. Was set up in about 10 minutes. My Platform strap was clearly not going to like this bark! I set up about a foot higher than I needed it.
I set up on the low side of the lean with the knot on the high side. My platform was slipping if I walked around the tree. Bummer.
At 5:00 I heard a lot of rustling leaves and could tell it wasn't squirrels. I got my bow in hand (recurve bow was hanging on the stopper knot and a grayling arrow holder on the arrow).
It was TURKEYS. 10 of them or so. They were a little far out and lots of obstructions. I think Turkey make deer feel safe, so I decided to let them 'decoy' for me.
Then I decided to practice getin in shooting position with the Kestrel. I moved around the tree and they hadn't seen me. I got a clean shot at a male at about 25 yards uphill (didn't Range it). I drew and held until it was looking away.
Arrow hit RIGHT at his feet and he jumped. They still hadn't seen me...went back to scratching.
About 20 minutes later, they had circled around to the other side and were approaching a shooting lane that was a little farther out. At the last second they went slightly farther out and walked into the clearing. I decided i might as well shoot....AGAIN right at his feet. I later found out that was 35 yards and not 30.
Then it started to rain. My platform was pretty low and I decided i needed to tighten it up.
I climbed down the Aider to work on it and knocked my arrow off the rest! Last arrow... it was 6:00 and sunset was at 6:45. I decided to bail...climbed down and packed up.
But at least I got to miss twice on opening day!
