Pre-Season Prep

[rob-c]

1 hour ago, Lawdwaz said:

Not for nothing but, the best bowhunter I know hunts from a climber exclusively.    

 

Killed my best dear ever from my summit Goliath , I rotate it in with our ladder and ground blinds . 

[518BowSlayer]

I run 30 stands or so a year I start hanging them in july. And take them all down in February. 

Just curious, why take them all down every year?

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[G-Man]

6 hours ago, 518BowSlayer said:

Just curious, why take them all down every year?

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Usually 1 day maybe part of another. Have a party in February, bring out snowmobiles and ski busees,  bunch of guys down is easy .

Then have bonfire  snowshoe, ice fishing, skiing,sledding,lots of food, music the  next day.  Do it on presidents weekend 

lots of fun  and saves the stands from  wear and tear. They are then checked and cables , bolts ,straps replaced if need be before next season .I have stands from late 80s in use and are far superior to today's metal cheap stands as those were all welded aluminum. Mostly Loggy bayou, and api manufactures. 

Edited August 24, 2021 by G-Man

[Five Seasons]

15 hours ago, rob-c said:

Just picked up a new lease in July ,  we put  out 7 cameras a few weeks ago . Just hung up 6 ladder. stands this weekend , with 2 more and 8 ground blinds  planned for next weekend and bought 2 more cameras to put up as well. Very happy with our scouting and where  we hung and plan on putting up blinds. Fingers crossed it will be a good hunting season for us 3 this year . 

I'm surprised you're going with so many with only a month of summer scouting; or are there very obvious pinch points, fields, ag etc?

[rob-c]

5 minutes ago, Belo said:

I'm surprised you're going with so many with only a month of summer scouting; or are there very obvious pinch points, fields, ag etc?

The lease hasn’t been hunted  In  4 years and yes lots of obvious sign , theres 4 deer trails worn down to the dirt , inside field corners to woods, very prominent trails through out the property. 

 

Edited August 24, 2021 by rob-c

[phade]

We have a few deer bigger to chase than him thankfully but I kind of want this guy to be my focus. Half blind and Underhill can use the rest of his blind buck materials on him ha. Cool deer, definitely exhibiting a rack structure - the opposite side being messed up from his blind eye. Curious to see if it was an injury because that would make sense.

Going to need some luck. Entry and exit are not ideal but maybe we can get it done.

[Five Seasons]

16 hours ago, squirrelwhisperer said:

Finally, some hunting talk, lol. Thanks @Belo

I still have 3 stands to put up (will have a total of 5). I may only put up 2 and use the climber in the 3rd spot. This one is a  new to me spot, 10 minutes from work. Great for the "occasional" Saturday after work (every other). I've only been in there twice and have only a general idea of where to post, so I am thinking use the climber until I am more familiar with this spot. But this raises the problems of trimming and finding the "right" tree in the "right" spot, not to mention the sweating my calzones off after my climb.  

No cameras for me this year. I had them all over last year until 1 disappeared. Going back to doing it the "old fashioned" way.  

I liked using my climber on public land to hunt/scout. But you're absolutely right about noise, time and sweat. Eventually when you find a tree that you keep climbing, it's a good idea to just stick a ladder or hang on there. That's what I'm doing with one of my spots this year. 

[Five Seasons]

12 minutes ago, phade said:

We have a few deer bigger to chase than him thankfully but I kind of want this guy to be my focus. Half blind and Underhill can use the rest of his blind buck materials on him ha. Cool deer, definitely exhibiting a rack structure - the opposite side being messed up from his blind eye. Curious to see if it was an injury because that would make sense.

Going to need some luck. Entry and exit are not ideal but maybe we can get it done.

you'd have to imagine if he stays pretty nocturnal with only 1 eye but on the right day you certainty have an advantage on him if he's walking the right way haha.

[Five Seasons]

nvm

Edited August 24, 2021 by Belo

[phade]

3 minutes ago, Belo said:

you'd have to imagine if he stays pretty nocturnal with only 1 eye but on the right day you certainty have an advantage on him if he's walking the right way haha.

He is starting to show signs of weakness....he's been on cam between 5-530AM a few times this week. He cannot be far from bed.

I've not had encounters with half blind bucks let alone a mature one. I'd like to just see how he moves and acts in the woods. Fascinated by it. He is quite social at times - pics of him with a young buck but also another 3 or 4 year old, too. Lately he has been more solo in past week.

Edited August 24, 2021 by phade

[Five Seasons]

14 hours ago, BowmanMike said:

No sticks for me,I never used them. I use a rope to climb. If I go in the afternoon I use a throw ball to get the rope over a crotch,or if it is dark I am learning a way where you move the rope up as you climb.

I think whatever sticks you are comfortable with are good.

wait a second, are you f'n with us. You climb up the tree with a grappling hook style rope???

Edited August 24, 2021 by Belo

[BowmanMike]

15 minutes ago, Belo said:

wait a second, are you f'n with us. You climb u p the tree with a grappling hook style rope???

Nope,it is a variation of the jrb hitch climbing method. You tie the rope around the tree as high as you can reach,then climb up as high as you can and take a length of rope and tie it as high as you can again,switch to that and climb up. It uses foot loops.  You can bypass branches no problem and are tied in the whole time with a redundant bridge as well for safety and there never is any slack in the system. The guy has some videos on you tube. It takes some time to learn it,mostly the knots really.  But I like it for the safety. I one stick climbed with my platform with two aiders last year,but the safety factor of a linemans belt or a tether with slack in it is not great.  If anything happened you wouldn't fall to the ground but I am sure you would get seriously beat up by the tree trunk and your stick/platform.  

This method I could let go of everything at any point and I would not go anywhere. 

[Bolt action]

This past weekend I took a drive out to the farm to get some prep work done. I cleared shooting lanes around 4 stands and pulled cards for a few cameras that were soaking for 2+months. Haven't had a chance to look yet, but I probably have 1000's of pix of squirrels, raccoons, birds, branches, and maybe a few deer. I have 2 hang on stands in solid locations, but I find that I don't use them during the season. They're at the back of the property, so a longer walk in. I also just don't feel as secure in them for some reason. I may end up selling these in the near future. While I was out there I checked the zero on the two guns I'll be using this season, the .308 and the new .350. Both are shooting better than 1.5 inch groups at 75 yards. At this point I think I'm as ready as I'm going to be.