Doc

If there is a firearms season for deer of any sort that is in progress, I where full length blaze orange or stay out of the woods (even my own woods). There is no doubt in my mind about the effectiveness of blaze orange in situations where you can be shot at from distances longer than a bow (or crossbow). I have seen instances of being able to catch a flash of orange (not even the complete outline of a hunter) from amazingly long distances. The stuff works in reduced daylight conditions also. No, it is not a cure-all, but who knows how many times that stuff has stopped someone from pulling the trigger on me or shooting in my direction. It also helps me keep track of who has snuck in to a distance that I consider unsafe. There has been more than a few times where some guy decided to post way too close for my comfort, and I had to move.

If you think that's bad, how would you like living in the country and having a 5-apartment building next door with tenants coming and going, dragging all their noisy irritating toys and city ideas with them....lol. At least with your arrangement you have new neighbors that probably intend to be there for a while and are more than likely interested in maintaining good neighbor relations. Tenants ....... not so much.

It really doesn't matter who came up with the idea. I am convinced that if you bury the electorate under enough volumes of data, the results will actually be opposite of what you are trying to achieve. I am not against guiding people into the political process, but once there, they have to show at least a minimum of native intelligence toward making informed decisions. I do not want to condition people to letting others do all their thinking for them. There is a bit too much of that already.

Oh, I think that battle has run it's course. No real point in imagining fictitious reactions to circumstances that haven't even happened yet.....lol.

Now that right there sounds like the best advice I've read on this thread so far.

Why would that happen? I don't understand.

Speaking of time and technology, I did have one great chuckle when My nephew (age 12 at the time) asked to use the phone. I pointed over to a big old ugly black phone in the livingroom and told him to help himself. He stood there looking at it totally unaware of how it worked. You see we have one old phone that is the circular dial type. There isn't a push-button on it anywhere .... lol. Kind of freaked him out. Yup, time and technology keeps on marching forward. I wonder how he would have reacted to the old wall phones that I grew up with. It had a coded system that would tell you if the call was for you or one of your neighbors. I think we were something like 4 longs and 3 short rings. It was not exactly the most private telephone system .... lol. And it didn't take any pictures either.

That is another stand type that I forgot to mention. I have a section adjacent to my lower yard that is huge goldenrod. There is a trail that come out of the thicket in front of our place and runs through the goldenrod and out into the mowed area. I have had some pretty good luck cutting a couple of shooting lanes that I can shoot over that are perpendicular to that trail. Instead of the 5 gallon pail, I have a folding camp stool .... lol. I use one of the shooting lanes as a spotting lane and the next one as a shooting lane. When the wind is right, that stand can be deadly.

The first deer I shot last year was at about 85 yards. A second one with it ran to me and stopped at about 15 yards. I shot that one too. The scope was set at 9X and the gun was zeroed in at 100 yards. Not really a problem, both deer folded up within a couple steps.

One of the things that has made this political forum even more active than usual is the fact that we have been slammed with a 2nd Amendment karate-chop from most of our own legislators. We have a political opportunity coming up to make our displeasure felt. This attack on gun owner's rights has brought on some related ideological discussions. Knowing human nature as I think I do, I believe it is just a matter of time before all of this subsides and everybody gets back to their old priorities. Some see that as good news for the forum, but others see that as bad news for our future. But no matter how you view it, there's no doubt in my mind that all the hub-bub about the political forum will fade away. So fear not .... We survived crossbows, and I have no doubt that the forum will survive this as well....lol.

I have not taken pictures of a whole lot of my stands but I will enclose a few of those that I maintain. They are basically a wall of logs built around some multi-trunked red oak trees. The pole-line stand #1: On top of the hill is an old pole line from the days when electricity was first put into rural NYS. The old road that they used to set up and maintain this line is 20 yards in front of the stand and used every year by deer. It looks more like a deer trail than a road now. It is lined with scrapes and rubs, and the normal prevailing west winds blow from the trail to the stand. This stand is heading for 30 years old and is seldom touched other than to replace an occasional log that has rotted and fallen away. It is a part of the woods. Farther along the road is another stand of similar construction. Basically they are a light-tight wall of logs and brush. I can stand behind all of that at full draw and when the deer walks out the other side .... release. That same basic construction is used on all my stands. This stand is 11 years old now. Down in the valley, I have stands of similar construction, hacked into the thickets years ago. This is a view looking out the right side of the stand (apple tree to the right side of picture). This is a view standing behind the stand and looking out the left side of the stand. This is a view of the stand as the deer would see it at 20 yards. The stand is in the center. These three stands are generally the same construction and they rely on age and seasoning to become part of the landscape. They all used existing trees for foundation and local woods debris to seal the movement and view. Basically, I could be doing jumping jacks behind them and the deer would never see it.....lol. They are arranged so that one sight opening detects them coming in, and the next sight opening is to shoot them as the come out the other side. Other stands can be simply some oversized tree or other natural feature. Once these stands have been in for a year or so, the deer accept them as simply a landscape feature. Generally they are built at some location where deer normally pass, or in the case of the last one pictured that is combined with a traditional food draw like the apple tree. Last count I had 110 different stand locations (some still in use, some not) so wind direction can always be accommodated. So, as crude as they all may look, the deer don't pay a bit of attention to them and I have had some incredibly close encounters with deer of all sizes and ages.

Ok, we do a lot of talking about treestand locations and set-ups, but seldom have anything to say about natural ground stand construction, site selection, and what we consider good features and bad features. So I thought I would start a thread that gets into that a bit. So what all goes through your mind in stand location, stand construction and features and considerations? Any pictures?

My first stop would be at the farmer's house for a brief conversation about what he has been seeing and where and when.

My .270 and my .223, and my 22 hornet are all sighted in at about an inch-and-a-half high at 100 yards. The 100 yard range is on top of the hill. I have another range down here in the valley behind the house that 80 yards long that I use for bow target practice, and the 30-30, .22, and shotgun are sighted in at about 2" high at 50 yards where I have set up a shooting bench.

Actually a lot of those are from personal experience. The people who bought our old farmhouse next door, renovated it and converted it to 5 apartments. There is a constantly changing bunch of tenants, and at one time or another they all decided that the entire hill is there for them to use as they see fit. So most of that list is from actual occurrences. It sure does make life interesting ... lol.

They will have 9 teenagers with each one equipped with a dirt bike. They will have 11 dogs that all run loose. They will be horseback riders who want to build riding trails on your property. They will have an army of friends and relatives who kind of like the looks of your property for hunting. Every one of them will have fence-wire cutters. They will consider it great sport to steal your posted signs and hide them. They will all appreciate the stands that you have constructed for them. You will have trail cams that come up missing. They will find some neat places on your property to grow pot. They will have constant wild all-night parties very near your lot line. They will build large quantities of treestands on your lot-line. all facing your property. Did I leave anything out?

I got it all figured out .... Time flies when you are having fun. The older you get, the more money you've got, and the more fun you are having. So if you want time to slow down, send all your money to me until you are broke and struggling, and you can't afford any recreation or toys. Time will instantly become a drag. I am willing to sacrifice and take all your money and watch my life blow by. That's because I am a nice guy.

So there is one of those reclusive, super intelligent, highly secretive, trophy bucks that I hear so much about. Apparently he hasn't been reading the bowhunting magazines.....lol.

I've had mine for decades, but it sure wasn't cheap. But, for all the use I've put it through, it doesn't owe me a cent.

First ones eh? Well, you're hooked now ..... lol. Off to a good start by the looks of things.

It is that vulnerability that puts some wild excitement into the hunt ..... basically the adrenaline punch that keeps me out there year after year. I enjoyed my treestand years, but when I finally came out of the trees, I learned what real hunting excitement was all about. It's a real kick!

I suppose it does kind of point out that there will eventually come a time when a complete sense and perception of time will come to a screeching halt. By the way, do you all remember the time when you were a kid that you wished away all that time so you could do all those "grown-up" things. Now there is something that really turned out to be a joke...lol.

Yeah, the little devils like to slip a few new items in there each year, and there are always things that get read but still fly completely over your head ... lol. Also a law degree wouldn't hurt, and then you have to learn how to interpret some of the more vague and ambiguous laws in the many ways that a J.P. or Encon officer might decide to interpret them.

“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time some of the people all of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.”

My Brother-in-law from Canada borrowed my Winchester model 94 30-30 last season and took out two does (open sights because of the top eject). Both dropped in their tracks. I'm a bolt action guy myself, but bought the Winchester 30 or 40 years ago simply because of its looks .... because I just wanted it. But I never used it on deer because we were always shotgun only until last year. So, he showed me how good it works ..... lol.