Post by hoosierdaddy on Nov 27, 2013 9:55:51 GMT -5
After reading the "Live from the Stand" thread, I thought I might relate a little story.
Some buddies of mine were in town camping the week before gun season. They hunted hard all week and barely seen a thing. I figured after hearing this that the deer were on lock down in the thickets breeding. I told some buddies at work that still hunting the thickets the first part of the season would probably be more productive than sitting and that was what I planned to do.
Opening day found me sitting in a side hollow with a pretty good view. I planned to sit until mid morning to give some time for most of the hunters to clear out of the woods before I started my stalk.
I left the hollow I had been sitting in at 10:00 am and hot footed it through the open woods to the down wind side of the thicket. I had seen 0 deer during my sit.
I almost immediately caught movement upon entering the thicket, a small 8 pointer was meandering through the thick stuff eating on sumac berries. I tucked in behind some brush and watched him for a few minutes until he finally wandered out of sight. I then continued my painstakingly slow stalk, easing through my scrubby surroundings like
molasses as I continually scanned every nook and cranny, always watching for something out of place or a small flicker of movement. I had just stopped to scan some upcoming brush that was a little thicker than that I had already covered when I caught some movement, a doe materialized out of the thicket as she made her way into some slightly more open pines that bordered the thicket. She paused to look behind her just as she entered the pines, that is when I caught the gleam of antler coming through the brush behind her. One glance and I knew it was a shooter, I went directly into go time mode. The doe entered the pines and kind of dropped down over a little roll
in the terrain with the buck in tow. Although I could still see the tops of their backs I had no shot. I quickly positioned a good sized pine between me and them and crawled about 10 yards closer. When I peeked around the tree the doe was looking my way, she had caught some movement, but not enough to spook her off. I now had her standing broadside in the wide open, but of course the buck needed to take about two more steps to be in the clear.
The doe soon lost interest in me and took the two steps forward I needed for her to bring the buck out in the clear. As the buck came up behind her he decided that as long as he had some forward momentum built up he would just go ahead and mount her.
Now I have caught $h!t from everyone I have told this to, but in my defense I did have a perfect broadside shot at 30 yards, and you know what they say about passing up the first good shot you have at a buck.
Needless to say I took action while he was getting action!
One well placed shot from my Marlin .44 lever gun dropped him in his tracks, er maybe her tracks now that I think about it, anyway, the moral of the story is, if you are not seeing any deer from a tree stand don't be afraid to get on the ground and try something new. I have had a lot of success doing this during lock down because when a buck is working a doe in those thickets like that they are so focused on each other that it usually makes it a lot easier to sneak in on them than at any other time.
Some buddies of mine were in town camping the week before gun season. They hunted hard all week and barely seen a thing. I figured after hearing this that the deer were on lock down in the thickets breeding. I told some buddies at work that still hunting the thickets the first part of the season would probably be more productive than sitting and that was what I planned to do.
Opening day found me sitting in a side hollow with a pretty good view. I planned to sit until mid morning to give some time for most of the hunters to clear out of the woods before I started my stalk.
I left the hollow I had been sitting in at 10:00 am and hot footed it through the open woods to the down wind side of the thicket. I had seen 0 deer during my sit.
I almost immediately caught movement upon entering the thicket, a small 8 pointer was meandering through the thick stuff eating on sumac berries. I tucked in behind some brush and watched him for a few minutes until he finally wandered out of sight. I then continued my painstakingly slow stalk, easing through my scrubby surroundings like
molasses as I continually scanned every nook and cranny, always watching for something out of place or a small flicker of movement. I had just stopped to scan some upcoming brush that was a little thicker than that I had already covered when I caught some movement, a doe materialized out of the thicket as she made her way into some slightly more open pines that bordered the thicket. She paused to look behind her just as she entered the pines, that is when I caught the gleam of antler coming through the brush behind her. One glance and I knew it was a shooter, I went directly into go time mode. The doe entered the pines and kind of dropped down over a little roll
in the terrain with the buck in tow. Although I could still see the tops of their backs I had no shot. I quickly positioned a good sized pine between me and them and crawled about 10 yards closer. When I peeked around the tree the doe was looking my way, she had caught some movement, but not enough to spook her off. I now had her standing broadside in the wide open, but of course the buck needed to take about two more steps to be in the clear.
The doe soon lost interest in me and took the two steps forward I needed for her to bring the buck out in the clear. As the buck came up behind her he decided that as long as he had some forward momentum built up he would just go ahead and mount her.
Now I have caught $h!t from everyone I have told this to, but in my defense I did have a perfect broadside shot at 30 yards, and you know what they say about passing up the first good shot you have at a buck.
Needless to say I took action while he was getting action!
One well placed shot from my Marlin .44 lever gun dropped him in his tracks, er maybe her tracks now that I think about it, anyway, the moral of the story is, if you are not seeing any deer from a tree stand don't be afraid to get on the ground and try something new. I have had a lot of success doing this during lock down because when a buck is working a doe in those thickets like that they are so focused on each other that it usually makes it a lot easier to sneak in on them than at any other time.
he does get a decent buck every 2 or 3 yrs..though so I guess it works for everyone...i'm heading for the woods..got a nice spot over by hemlock cliff on a dead end gravel road ..