Getting ready

[wolc123]

One nice thing about crossbow not opening up until peak rut time, is that it gives us more time to get ready.  I moved a blind today, to a strategic location, about 30 yards from the intersection of corn, radish/turnip, and white clover plots.   
 

Hoprfully, the deer get accustomed to the new location (it was 100 yards further south) by opening Saturday.  I saw two young bucks on my way back from the move tonight (a 4 point and a spike).   They will be on my hit list on the second weekend but not on the first.

 

[The_Real_TCIII]

Buy a bow.


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[Gobbler Chaser]

Thats one hell of a blind

[wolc123]

8 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Buy a bow.


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I have a couple.  What I am lacking currently, is the time to maintain proficiency with it.  After the kids move out, and I retire, I may take it back up.   For now, I get by ok, thanks to the much greater efficiency of the crossbow.

[wolc123]

I put another stand up tonight. It is a used 2-man ladder (thanks goosifer)that I put up against a young red oak tree, at the front edge of our back wood lot.
 

I am glad the ladder came in three 5 ft sections, so that I could place it at the upper limit of my “comfort zone” of ten ft rather than the 15 ft it could reach with all three sections installed.  It was also a lot easier for me to put up that way by myself.

 The spot is overlooking a little hay field, with a good view down a maintained gas line right of way, that crosses our farm.  My first sighting of the large-bodied 4 point, the other night, was 15 yards from it.  
 

Next spring, I will plow a little of that hay sod under, and put in some corn and brassicas, to sweeten the location a little.  This year I will have to hope they come in for the acorns.

If the weather cooperates this weekend, I hope to get another old single ladder stand up over at my folks place, combined with a squirrel hunt and trimming a branch from the shooting lane from another new stand over there (my button buck special).

After that, all that will be left for me to do is check the zeros on my crossbows.  I still have a bit over a month to accomplish that, thanks to “no full inclusion”. 
 

Edited September 29, 2021 by wolc123

[ApexerER]

Beautiful property wolc....Good luck!

[Otto]

On 9/27/2021 at 9:34 PM, wolc123 said:

One nice thing about crossbow not opening up until peak rut time, is that it gives us more time to get ready.  I moved a blind today, to a strategic location, about 30 yards from the intersection of corn, radish/turnip, and white clover plots.   
 

Hoprfully, the deer get accustomed to the new location (it was 100 yards further south) by opening Saturday.  I saw two young bucks on my way back from the move tonight (a 4 point and a spike).   They will be on my hit list on the second weekend but not on the first.

 

Meateater has a calendar called "F-cked Up Old Deer Stands".  I think you would have qualified for it!  

https://store.themeateater.com/products/f-cked-up-old-deer-stands-calendar

[BizCT]

52 minutes ago, ApexerER said:

Beautiful property wolc....Good luck!

+1. Your property looks awesome

[loworange88]

Nice setups.  The last ladder stand I set up is on a hillside, it’s 18’ out of the box.  It was way too high so I did just what you did, removed one section and now it’s just right.  Good luck this season.

[Marion]

That stand is sick!

https://www.instagram.com/thejerkman

#JerkmanCustoms
#WeDemandUnlimitedLikes

[grampy]

Love your "redneck blind" wolc !!!

 

[wolc123]

16 minutes ago, loworange88 said:

Nice setups.  The last ladder stand I set up is on a hillside, it’s 18’ out of the box.  It was way too high so I did just what you did, removed one section and now it’s just right.  Good luck this season.

10 ft deck height is about the max for me.  I did not mind heights as much when I was younger.

The only thing I didn’t like about that ladder stand I put up last night, was that the front part of the safety/shooting rail is a bit flimsy.
 

  I posititioned the platform so that I can utilize the stouter, corner section of the rail, for long shots down the gas line.

Edited September 29, 2021 by wolc123

[Moho81]

That garage door truck cap blind is WILD 

[wolc123]

5 minutes ago, grampy said:

Love your "redneck blind" wolc !!!

 

My current step stool is a bit short for that one.   Looks like a good place for the extra 5 ft of steel ladder, that I had leftover from last nights ladder stand setup.

[wolc123]

1 minute ago, Moho81 said:

That garage door truck cap blind is WILD 

The best part was the material cost (free).  I had all the stuff laying around.  A neighbor threw away a fiberglass truck cap, which I used to replace that aluminum one on my pickup.  
 

That cap was my all time best garbage pick.   Second best was the power washer that has  saved me hundreds in taxidermy charges for euro mounts.

[Robhuntandfish]

If i lived close to you (wolc) i would still be over and put some bracing on that new tower you built though!  it bothers me .....

Edited September 29, 2021 by Robhuntandfish

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Robhuntandfish said:

If i lived close to you (wolc) i would still be over and put some bracing on that new tower you built though!  it bothers me .....

The two new tower blinds that I put up earlier this year, which use 8 ft. Home Depot landscape timber’s for front legs, are considerably more stable than the “new to me” ladder stand that I posted up above.  That is with just a single 2x4 brace tying the two legs together at the bottom.

They also have the nice solid 3ft barn wood wall to hide behind and for a very stable safety/shooting rail.  4 new stands or locations of old ones for me this year but I have only broken one in with a a kill so far.

I aim to get a fifth one up this weekend.   That one will be too close to a trailer park to use s gun from but will be great for crossbow.  No more locaI hunting for be until crossbow opens up though.
 

I am hoping that I can fill a tag or two up north with my ML’s before that happens.   I just ordered some chest waders from Amazon,  so that I can try sneaking up on them, in the creek bottom, with my little carbine sidelock ML.   

Edited September 29, 2021 by wolc123

[wolc123]

My plan for tomorrow is to head over to my folks place for a little early morning squirrel hunting, and to trim the branch that hid a big doe during the early antlerless gun season.  
 

After that, I am going to try to setup my old single ladder stand in a spot on the back side of a swamp over there. The strip of woods between the swamp and a trailer park is only about 400 ft wide.   That takes it out as a gun spot but I could hunt it legally with a crossbow. I have a primary and a backup plan to get that done.  

Main plan:  a look on “google maps” shows a dead end road thru the trailer park that ends close at my folks woods.   I will load my stand in my puckup, back up as close as I can on that road to the woods, and make the short carry over dry ground.

I have never been in the trailer park so I am not sure what to expect.  One of my old high school buddies is part owner of it so I will drop his name if anyone gives me any trouble.

Backup plan: If trouble still comes with the primary plan, my new chest waders arrived in the mail yesterday.  I will put them on and make the long carry, thru the “extra full” swamp.   That will take a lot longer but should be doable.

[wolc123]

The main plan worked out well for the stand setup.  I stayed out little too late playing cards last night, so didn’t get much squirrel hunting in this morning.   I only saw one red on a walk thru the woods. I passed on the shot with my .410 because they are too small for a good meal.

I drove my truck into the trailer park and found that The dead end road I noted on google maps satellite view ended about 10 feet from my parents woods.  There was even a nice little path, bordered by flowers, leading up into the woods.  It was an easy haul from my pickup parked there, to the tree I picked out.

I set the ladder (7 ft high platform, 9 ft high seat), on the  back edge of the swamp near a couple of trails.  I trimmed a few shooting lanes for shots up to about 35 yards.  The nearest  trailer is about 400 feet away.  Now I have a crossbow stand on the back edge of the swamp and a gun stand on the front.

The spot I picked out is on the west side of the swamp, very close to the spot where I had my first encounter with a 182 pound field dressed, 42 inch chest girth, busted up 3.5 year old 8 point, that I later killed with my shotgun back in 2017.  He was standing near the middle of the swamp, and I shot him from my gun stand on the east side.

The swamp was not as high as I was expecting, considering all the rain we had this summer.  I should be able to access the new stand from my parents side wearing ankle high rubber boots, which would be best anyhow, with the prevailing west wind. 

If a deer expires on the trailer park side of the swamp this year, I will use this dead end road for carcass recovery.  I have had enough of “swamp drags” after one last year and the one in 2017 when that fat horse dropped right in the middle.  My brother brought back a big plastic sled, which we used to float that hefty carcass out.

 

 

Edited October 2, 2021 by wolc123

[wolc123]

I ran into my old buddy, who is part owner of the trailer park, at a party last  night.  I asked him if it was ok if I backed up that dead end road for carcass recovery and he was good with that.  He said to just mention his name, If any of the elderly residents gives me any trouble.

My family has been paying taxes on a 7 acre block of hardwoods back there, for almost a hundred years, but we have never really used it for much. I was thinking that it would be a nice place to put up a little retirement home for my parents. 

it wouldn’t take much effort to slide a new, comfortable low-maintenance double-wide into those woods, right at the end of that dead end road.  One dump truck load of blacktop, half a day with a chainsaw, and I could have it done.  They would have easy access to gas,  water and electric. 
 

I mentioned that to my old buddy and he said just let him know when they are ready.   My dad still enjoys mowing acres of lawn around their big old house.  When he gets sick of that, now I know where they can go.
 

 

Edited October 9, 2021 by wolc123

[wolc123]

I am all ready for the November  6 southern zone crossbow opener now.  Both of my crossbows are dialed in.  The little Barnett Recruit took a little adjustment to raise the point of impact, but the Centerpoint Sniper 370 was right on.

On the Sniper, the top 3 scope lines are on at 20, 35, and 50 yards. I suppose the forth from the top might work at 60 plus but I won’t shoot over 50.  On the Recruit, the three dots are on at 20, 32, and 45 yards.  

The Recruit handles a lot easier          and would be way better for offhand shots or from hang on stands with no shooting rails.  The Sniper is very front-heavy and needs a shooting rail or sticks.  All but one of my stands are now equipped with those.

My corn plots are looking good this year and I might try still hunting thru them with the Recruit on a windy day.  It is so light and narrow, that it would be almost as good as a vertical bow for that duty. 

I also drove around out back with my tractor to fetch some milkweed pods, and check out my stands and plots.    I saw 3 buck scrapes on that ride.   
 

Edited October 9, 2021 by wolc123