LIVE From The Woods 2021 Stories And Pictures Let's Have Em!

[DirtTime]

Calling it for today. 2 locations one dink spike.

[chrisw]

I hunted for 2 years out of a climber and I agree that I love their flexibility. They're also a little louder and sweatier, so they're not perfect. They also require a certain type of tree. 
I think when and where you use climbers is significantly impacted by where you hunt. When I used a climber it was a lot of open hardwoods. Where I hunt now is all heavy brush and thick. Sure I could shimmy up a tree, but I'd have no shot without clearing lanes. At the end of the day, I have 36 acres to hunt and right now there's a ground blind and 4 stands. I'm putting in 2 more this weekend and next year will probably add even more. There's also no reason to use a climber when you can install hang ons. Heck I even used a climber last year because it was my first year hunting the property and didn't want to put the effort installing stands when I wasn't sure where the best places would be. Now that I have a better feel, i can be more "permanent".
There are no definitive rules. Do what works best for your situation. 

Whatever works for you. I'd much rather sit in my climber than any hang on. I can sit comfortably all day in my Summit, I can't in a hang on. I never clear anything, if it's too thick to shoot I just do what I can. The spot I've been hunting is pretty thick. With practice you can be all but silent in a climber also. When I left this morning I climbed down, packed up and left with 2 deer 75-80 yds away and never spooked them. Rarely can I not find a tree within 20 yds of where I want to be. Climber works best for me.

Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk

[Jeremy K]

28 minutes ago, Belo said:

So my situation is odd. I leased property a week before the season which game me access to some areas that i didn't have in the past. 

I guess I pride myself in getting the work done early and leaving the areas alone, that's the why. Of course to your point, like any "game" you need to adjust and to not adjust your stands based on cam data or sign is like continuing to run the ball when it's not working. 

Like I said, I'm doing it, but generally I like to be prepared and low impact. Putting up a stand or 2 can be low impact on a field edge, but could be a little messier if there is long approach trails or cutting. It'll be nice if it rains saturday night like they're saying.

Run a chainsaw while you're putting the stands up ,if there one thing deer will tolerate its chainsaw noise.

[Five Seasons]

4 minutes ago, phade said:

That is the exact recipe for "just out of range" results.

People at work, mostly white collar guys, will come tell me that they saw a big buck just out of range at the same spot several times this week like a badge of honor. When I asked them what happened when they moved in for the kill, they all have the same result. No shot and didn't move. Didn't want to scare the deer.

It's not about high or low impact; it's about the right impact at the right time. Doing all of one and none of the other...well that's just tunnel vision.

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I'm not the "just out of range" guy. My setups rarely have this happen. What I'm talking about is a previously unhuntable 20 acres now becoming huntable. As you know, it's important to leave some area alone too. While I don't have enough land to have a sanctuary, I do have enough to leave some bedding area that I don't hunt at all, or only hit once or twice under perfect conditions.

Point is, for high pressure areas I can kill smaller deer and doe without much effort. But the mature bucks will go nocturnal quick. Hacking a trail through a bedding area in November isn't a great strategy and you can't convince me otherwise. Moving a stand 100' to the east is a different story.

I'm also an obsessive planner and prepper, which is to say if timing was different I would have done all this hacking, slashing and trimming in the spring or early September. But that's not the cards I was dealt and I was just sort of talking out loud regarding how it wasn't ideal. that's all. 

[phade]

1 minute ago, Jeremy K said:

Run a chainsaw while you're putting the stands up ,if there one thing deer will tolerate its chainsaw noise.

We pulled down a 25 ft tree with an F350, had two wheels off the ground. Killed a 4.5 yo within feet of that carnage 72 hours later.

Deer are smart, but we give them too much credit sometime for fear of action.

[Five Seasons]

5 minutes ago, chrisw said:

Whatever works for you. I'd much rather sit in my climber than any hang on. I can sit comfortably all day in my Summit, I can't in a hang on. I never clear anything, if it's too thick to shoot I just do what I can. The spot I've been hunting is pretty thick. With practice you can be all but silent in a climber also. When I left this morning I climbed down, packed up and left with 2 deer 75-80 yds away and never spooked them. Rarely can I not find a tree within 20 yds of where I want to be. Climber works best for me.

Sent from my moto g fast using Tapatalk
 

100% agree on comfort. Nothing beats my viper sd. Only time it was ever an issue was when I misjudged the tree width and had it at too great an angle or not far or close enough to the seat. I agree that I became a really good climber hunter, but it takes practice. I still used it last year and still use it bear hunting. I stand by my feelings of not carrying 20 pounds is better

[Five Seasons]

2 minutes ago, phade said:

We pulled down a 25 ft tree with an F350, had two wheels off the ground. Killed a 4.5 yo within feet of that carnage 72 hours later.

Deer are smart, but we give them too much credit sometime for fear of action.

well from your stories, i think you and i hunt different "types" of properties. And I never said one shouldn't and couldn't do mid-season work. Just that if it could be avoided, that would be ideal.

i think we've both said our peace. 

[phade]

1 minute ago, Belo said:

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. I'm not the "just out of range" guy. My setups rarely have this happen. What I'm talking about is a previously unhuntable 20 acres now becoming huntable. As you know, it's important to leave some area alone too. While I don't have enough land to have a sanctuary, I do have enough to leave some bedding area that I don't hunt at all, or only hit once or twice under perfect conditions.

Point is, for high pressure areas I can kill smaller deer and doe without much effort. But the mature bucks will go nocturnal quick. Hacking a trail through a bedding area in November isn't a great strategy and you can't convince me otherwise. Moving a stand 100' to the east is a different story.

I'm also an obsessive planner and prepper, which is to say if timing was different I would have done all this hacking, slashing and trimming in the spring or early September. But that's not the cards I was dealt and I was just sort of talking out loud regarding how it wasn't ideal. that's all. 

I can't disagree more. I simply can't. That's the exact time when you do, do stuff like that, and get hyper aggressive.

[phade]

5 minutes ago, Belo said:

well from your stories, i think you and i hunt different "types" of properties. And I never said one shouldn't and couldn't do mid-season work. Just that if it could be avoided, that would be ideal.

i think we've both said our peace. 

I bet you might be surprised. I hunt postage stamps with high pressure. Opening day of 2018, I saw five other hunters all on their own properties, from my stand platform.

[moog5050]

I would not hesitate to move a ladder stand midseason and hunt it that day.  Did it last year and killed a PY the next day.  I had another stand within 50 yards but it would not have worked to kill that deer.  I really think we tend to get way to conservative about spooking deer.   Be loud and not sneaky when doing it too.  Just my experience.  

[ncountry]

4 minutes ago, phade said:

I can't disagree more. I simply can't. That's the exact time when you do, do stuff like that, and get hyper aggressive.

Interesting discussion.. I tend to agree with you Phade, but do you think if this was your only piece of property you might play it safe a little longer?

I have hunted many areas that if you were aggressive and failed , you might as well move on because the odds of being successful dropped dramatically.. 

 

[moog5050]

2 minutes ago, ncountry said:

Interesting discussion.. I tend to agree with you Phade, but do you think if this was your only piece of property you might play it safe a little longer?

I have hunted many areas that if you were aggressive and failed , you might as well move on because the odds of being successful dropped dramatically.. 

 

I moved a stand 15yrds last year and sat it immediately.   Almost killed the 9 I was chasing that day too but he came in as I was walking to the truck (based on cell).  He still came through a few more times after the move, but when I was not hunting. I would roll the dice even on a single parcel and will do so this year if a move is warranted.

[ncountry]

2 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

. I would roll the dice even on a single parcel and will do so this year if a move is warranted.

Yea. Me too. But I have 10 of thousands of public land less than 1/2 hr away ,so I'm never really out of options. They may not be scouted  yet is all.

[BowmanMike]

46 minutes ago, Belo said:

100% agree on comfort. Nothing beats my viper sd. Only time it was ever an issue was when I misjudged the tree width and had it at too great an angle or not far or close enough to the seat. I agree that I became a really good climber hunter, but it takes practice. I still used it last year and still use it bear hunting. I stand by my feelings of not carrying 20 pounds is better

20#? I guess you have the aluminum version like a smart person...

[phade]

24 minutes ago, ncountry said:

Interesting discussion.. I tend to agree with you Phade, but do you think if this was your only piece of property you might play it safe a little longer?

I have hunted many areas that if you were aggressive and failed , you might as well move on because the odds of being successful dropped dramatically.. 

 

Ten years ago, I'd treat a single property with kid gloves; now, absolutely not. That was a huge mistake and cost me more bucks than I want to think back on. I'm not saying be overly aggressive all of the time, but matching the right impact at the right time. That rule applies whether hunting one small property or many properties or large properties.

I'm no expert at all, and I am sure there are people that have much more impressive walls than me that do things different than I do. But I can't recall someone who is successful at killing mature bucks in high pressure, small parcels or even public that play it safe per say. The only safe play people I know that kill big bucks are those with the means to have alot of targets and land access and they control too much of the environment to make it applicable for real world hunters.

 

[moog5050]

25 minutes ago, ncountry said:

Yea. Me too. But I have 10 of thousands of public land less than 1/2 hr away ,so I'm never really out of options. They may not be scouted  yet is all.

I only have 40 acres with probably 20 plus stands, but still not scared to try to put myself in the right position if I need to make a move.  I would be more frustrated watching a buck pass me out of range if knew that I could have moved but didn't.  But to each his own.  I don't find moving a ladder stand too difficult or frankly noisy either.

[ncountry]

6 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

I only have 40 acres with probably 20 plus stands, but still not scared to try to put myself in the right position if I need to make a move.  I would be more frustrated watching a buck pass me out of range if knew that I could have moved but didn't.  But to each his own.  I don't find moving a ladder stand too difficult or frankly noisy either.

Dang! 1 stand for every 2 acres. Now that gives a guy options. I like it.. And still, one has to move a stand to be in a better spot. Crazy deer.

[SilentStalker]

As a relatively new bowhunter in his 4th year, I hunt a 60 acre piece. My experiences thus far.

Year one and two (2018-2019), my setups were more or less gun setups and while I saw deer, they were within gun range rather than bow range...Nothing harvested in 2018.  I was lucky to harvest a mature buck in early November 2019, but my hours on stand that first year and observations in 2019 told me I was still being way to cautious and not in the game as they say.

Year three (2020), moved my setups a little closer to known travel routes to and from bedding/food and a couple into "rut" stands where does would travel when escaping a chasing buck. These stands were based upon the 2019 observations and 4 cams on the property over the last two years. Saw more up close and personal activity within bow range. Shot a 2.5 but had several encounters with 2 different mature bucks that I know are at least 4.5 based upon camera captures over the years on the property.  On November 17, I was in a "rut" stand where deer had been observed in the 30-40 yard range all through the first part of November. This distance is out of my comfort zone and I told myself often that I needed to move 15-20 yards in. I didn't because of some laziness and I didn't want to "blow up" the area... Big mistake. One of the two target bucks that I have had a two year battle with (see pics) came through that morning and followed the same trail that was out of my comfort zone. It would have been a 15 yard BS shot had I just moved... I was so mad at myself that I moved it that very day. Obviously no opportunity presented itself again with that deer, but hard lesson learned. I will make moves to where the action is without hesitation this year, especially come the rut.       

Edited October 7, 2021 by SilentStalker
grammar

[SilentStalker]

I probably should have started a new thread, my fault.

[The_Real_TCIII]

1 hour ago, Belo said:

100% agree on comfort. Nothing beats my viper sd. Only time it was ever an issue was when I misjudged the tree width and had it at too great an angle or not far or close enough to the seat. I agree that I became a really good climber hunter, but it takes practice. I still used it last year and still use it bear hunting. I stand by my feelings of not carrying 20 pounds is better

My feet were pointed down yesterday, in a tree I've hunted out of 50 times lol. I really need to take notes

[moog5050]

21 minutes ago, ncountry said:

Dang! 1 stand for every 2 acres. Now that gives a guy options. I like it.. And still, one has to move a stand to be in a better spot. Crazy deer.

In fairness, its not the typical 40 acres.  Mix of hardwoods, wetland and field edges so plenty of transition lines and cover.   Not like an open 40 acres at all.   Hunts much bigger.  

[moog5050]

2 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

My feet were pointed down yesterday, in a tree I've hunted out of 50 times lol. I really need to take notes

At your height, I imagine you only need to pull your feet up and reset 3-4 times to hit 20'.   lol

[The_Real_TCIII]

Just now, moog5050 said:

At your height, I imagine you only need to pull your feet up and reset 3-4 times to hit 20'.   lol

Going back down is never an option lol, I have so much anxiety in the woods until Im settled in a stand I really think I need a sports psychologist

[DirtTime]

20 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Going back down is never an option lol, I have so much anxiety in the woods until Im settled in a stand I really think I need a sports psychologist

I'll be accepting new patients in November, reserve a place soon because I book up fast.

[Five Seasons]

1 hour ago, BowmanMike said:

20#? I guess you have the aluminum version like a smart person...

yeah worth every penny for the lighter one. I used to hike a mile or more round trip through the national forest in mississippi. It may not seem like much until you've been hiking for a bit, even 20 will take its toll. (i know some military guys are probably laughing at that) haha.