Shot a nice doe tonight out of my tree stand. First der in a long time, first one ever out of a stand.

Too lazy to be an actual "sportsman" and hunt huh?

Can't say I'm reeeel surprised.

Barb ,,, you wouldn't know "sportsman" if it was to bite you in the ass . so don't even claim you do or act surprised .

What, precisely, do you mean? What atrocity do you infer from his brief post that I've somehow missed? How, exactly, does an actual sportsman conduct business?

Not by ambushing deer from a hidden firing position.

I've made the same point. 'Course...I make it under different circumstances. In order to show the folly of those "That guy ain't a real hunter" arguments.

And now here y'all have a real life example of someone who really does think that shooting a deer from a stand isn't really hunting.

But yes, I agree that Barb's explanation of how a real sportsman kills deer would be.....funny.

Going by her own hobby, one might think it would involve releasing a wolf with a healthy appetite into a cage containing a deer. Or forcing the deer into a wolf's cage. Whichever.

yes I hunted....I hunted for the best bow for the money...I hunted for the best arrow shaft and broadhead combination.....I hunted for the best release for me.....I hunted for the property.....I hunted for the best spot to put the stand......now what did I miss?


BTW barb it wasn't as easy as it seems....here is what transpired


I had been in this stand 4 different times and had not seen the first deer yet. I am very careful with scent control but I was having NO luck getting anything to come around. I read on ARCHERY TALK about smoking your hunting clothes ( and yourself) to remove odors. I made a crude smoker and put all the clothes in it and got em all smokey smelling. Went to the stand at about 5:30- 6:00......Just before dark a big and a small doe came up behind me( looked like mom and last years fawn) . I keep my bow in a holder on the stand and they got on me before I could get it out of the holder so I had to wait for them to look away to ease it out. I was setting down and can shoot well that way except this stand has a rail around it so you HAVE to stand up to shoot. The bigger doe was staring right at me and trying to catch me moving. She kept lowering her head then raising it up really fast and winding the air trying to smell me. She was trying hard but the smoke worked perfectly. I couldn't stand up to get the shot because she was looking right at me so I waited and waited.....finally the smaller doe went around my stand into the corn field to my right and when she did the big doe walked behind a tree. I stood up and drew the bow waiting on her to come back out from behind the tree on the right side. When I stood up the small doe saw me and trotted back towards the bigger doe which spooked the bigger doe a bit. Instead of coming out behind the tree she turned and came back out on the same side she went in on. As she stepped out I put the pin behind her shoulder and let the shot go.........Two things transpired that caused me to make a bad shot...I did not allow for being 15 feet up in a stand, and she stepped right as I shot so I hit her high and back. She dropped in her tracks cause the rage 2 blade broad head buried in her spine. She tried to run but couldn't BUT she did manage to roll down a VERY Steep bank into some black swamp muck....I climbed down outta the stand and put a finishing arrow through her lungs. She is a BIG BIG doe, I had to call for help to drag her up the hill. She is skinned and gutted and hanging outside. I am getting ready to go cut her up and put her in the freezer.


I'd love to hear what barb defines as being a true sportsman.

I love hunting stories, Steve. And this one is well along to a happy ending.

yep had the first batch of deer chilli..MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

From a friend's backyard. Question tho, this was taken with momma deer, but now the fawns have been on their own it seems for days. She's thinking momma got killed. Do they look old enough to be on their own?

I dunno, Grace. We'd have to check their I.D's.

Oh dear. rut rut rut.

Any fawns this time of year really aren't fawns anymore grace...they are plenty old enough to be on their own. That is why season is when it is. It keeps does with babies from being killed. Those 3 deer ( if does) will likely be bred soon. The doe I killed had a smalle rone with her, and I assume it waslast years fawn...I had the option of the two and took the bigger one for more meat.......and good news for you, I got busted this morning. I went into the woods at about 6:30...got sat down ( ground hunting) and suddenly a few yards away I hear WHOOF WHOOF A deer was blowing at me. I saw a buck while I was driving to the woods...a doe at around 8:30 and a buck on the way home. The doe I saw while hunting was completely on the other end of the woods WAY WAY too far for a shot. I got so damned cold I had to go home.....funny thing is I am STILL chilled.

Well that's good news all around.

Deer meat is the trophy. The antlers are just bragging rights & bonus points. I could care less about bragging rights and bonus points. Get the frying pan out. Some farmers could care less about the meat as they want deer shot as pests . All subjectivity is colored by personal views.

For those who think it is unsporting to hunt from a stand, or rather who think it is simply waiting a few minutes and BLAM here lays a dead deer.....today I was in my stand at 5:30 AM.....saw two does at 7:15 AM, too far away and moving ...not a good shot so I passed......sat there calling until 7:00PM and saw nothing....13.5 hours straight in a stand.....yeah easy and quick no hassle just set down and shoot em as they march by.

Not always difficult either. From my observations, a good stand can reliably produce a quick kill year after year.

Of course, I'm betting that those who malign stand hunting have never had the pleasure of sliding 20 feet down a tree with a fifty pound "climbing" stand attached to their feet. I once lost a great deal of belly skin. It ain't all giggles and laughter.

Hey Steve, I saw something interesting you wrote over at the other place. Interesting to me at least. You said you get "a little antsy in the woods after dark." What did you mean?

Donnie, good points and good to see you around again.

I am afeared of haints and spooks and the boogeyman!!! I don't know really RF.. I walked across a plowed field into a new woods the other morning..pitch black in a woods I had never even been in before... I just get a bit uneasy when I can't see very well. Not terrible but some.

Well like the guy said, I don't believe in haints and spooks and boogymen.....but I'm afeard of 'em anyway.

Seriously, I lose my logic too. I've never been really comfortable nightfishing alone on the river. I guess maybe I'm a little ashamed of it too. But I like when I see someone else admit to unease out alone in the woods and such. I'm thinking that maybe it's a lot more widespread of a thing than I suspect. Maybe alot of other people just don't like to admit it.

Or then again, maybe we're just uncommon pussies.

I've done a bit of hiking, and a whole lot of walking to either tree stands or places where I want to listen for turkeys, in the dark. It's been very seldom that I've been the least bit spooked. But weather that's bravery or stupidity is debatable.

As a matter of fact, I'd say it's mostly stupidity. The unknown factor is generally the most frightening in most situations.




My observations too. I've got a couple of, what's the slang, "honey holes" that I frequent. Which isn't to say that I climb in and bag a big one automatically. But I can head there with zero scouting. If I stick it out a couple of mornings and evenings I'm likly going to have a chance.




Amen.

Over the years I've aquired a handfull of stands and steps and put them up ahead of time so I can go wherever's convient to hunt. It's why people use climbers... but steps aint any fun. Trying to keep a good hold on the tree, start the step, and screw the thing in always seems to require more arms than I have at my disposal. And that's just putting them in. Climbing those little fuckers in the dark with a nice layer of ice on them is tons of fun.

Okay, here's the thing.

Walking in the dark doesn't usually bother me.

But sitting quietly is where the unease sets in. Oh, and going down in our basement after 10 o'clock or so.

Oh, and I don't (usually) get so spooked that I run screaming from the woods like a B movie heroine in a footrace with a chain saw slasher. I persevere despite my uneasiness. So it ain't that I'm scared. I'm actually demonstrating considerable bravery.

So I'm not so ashamed of it after all. In fact, I probably deserve some kind of award or something.

same here RF...except I generally have a .38 or a .45 in my pocket...now if you wanna see me pull the b movie heroine scream....point me to a spider..I actually shivered just typing that.....I will grab a live coon or groundhog or opossum but a spider turns me into my 10 year old neice. Had a good friend one time who thought it would be funny to throw a spider on me.. I asked him if he thought he could whip my ass..he said no way.. I said well when you throw that thing on me I am gonna beat the shit outta you. he put it down.

We don't have concealed carry here...and I seriously doubt we ever will. That doesn't stop me from having something handy though, when I'm out nightfishing. I've got two .45s, but my little Bersa .22 fits in my tacklebox nicely.

Now granted, I don't think guns work on whatever the hell it is that makes me uneasy. But they work to make me less uneasy.

Criminy, am I the the only one around who's comfortable walkiing around the woods unarmed?

The last time I felt compelled to carry concealed everywhere I went I was in college in the Fan District of Richmond. Now, not so much.

Our deer seasons are short here because they're split into two weekends. There are usually a lot of people out hunting the first day or two. So a good strategy is to at least stick it out in your stand until after lunchtime. Somewhere around noon, a lot of people will give up for the day, take a lunch break etc. and they'll move the deer.

Seriously though, I believe we have so many deer that any reasonable effort at all will likely provide success.

That's some fucked up shit right there.

I remember the good old days when I could disappear and hunt for two weeks solid. (Sundays excluded, of course. This state is still governed by people with buckles on their hats)

The state's seasons havn't changed, but my availability has.

Hey don't blame us that he came from here. Oh wait....this ain't the politics thread.

In this state you can use your choice of a pistol, shotgun or muzzle loader during gun season. And bow season is quite a bit longer. Also, usually very late winter there is a special pistol only season for a few extra days.



I said having a gun makes me less uneasy alone at night on the river. Not comfortable.

Let me get this straight. You've got two days or so to bag a deer and these are your choices? Hmmmmm The kick in the balls or the turd sandwich? Tough choice.

Hell, we have two prolonged muzzleloader seasons. The first of which coincides with bow season.

Okay Mr Macho...I fucking get it.

You know, testosterone poisoned guys like you and your "I ain't afraid of the dark and my dick is bigger besides" rhetoric are what leads to us more sensitive individuals repressing our inner natures and developing deep feelings of inadequecy.

I can't speak for Steve (and I think you might have run him off already), but see if I fucking open up again on this forum.



No, it's like three or four days in each gun season. They always conincide with weekends.

Bow season is seperate, but much longer. It's been in for a few weeks now and will last until January I believe. Or at least going by previous years; I haven't looked it up for this year. However, bow hunting is suspended during the gun hunts.

But if you think that's fucked up, we've got a thing called a Firearm Owner Identification Card here. You can't even hold a gun in your hands without possessing that card.

I suspect that the rest of y'all might become aquainted with a concept like that in the next few years.

I aint laughing

Well I for one welcome our new messianic overlord and intend to fully cooperate with all the necessary change that y'all will be forced to endure.

...that is if he wins....I still predict he loses...and substantially....wishful thinking maybe...but a gut feeling.

This is odd.

I love being in the woods at night....night-hiking is some of the most fun one can have, I've found.

But I suspect it's a matter of where one is doing this. If it were Alaskan kodiak bear country or the african wild, I might not find it quite so cool.

RF

He saw The Blair Witch Project.

actually I did.... I was all hyped up to watch it.....I was extremely disappointed. ANYONE who has spent even a small amount of time in the woods could tell it was poorly done.....at one point I am sure I even saw a pole light in the background of a night scene........

That movie was dreadfully disappointing. I think we have a worst movie of all time thread somewhere; surely it got a vote or two.

It did, from you.

If you ever discover girls you might change your mind, Junior.

Frankie was right about you.

Frankie's right about pretty much everything.

RF ,,, don't worry . i've been in the woods all my life and there has been a couple of times i've been really spooked .

i had some thing fallow me out one night , never knew what it was . it was heavy though . when i got out of the trees and walked down the tree line it stayed in the woods walking the same way i was . always thought it was a dog . i have had wild or throw away dogs do this before . course they never done it twice ,, that i know of

i had something groaning near me one night . i have never heard any thing like it before or since .

What? Are you married?

It was a sasquatch Frankie. Damnit, you're lucky you made it out alive.

Okay, I missed this post before. But if the Alabama Deerslayer has been spooked in the woods before and admits it; I don't feel so bad now.

Only twice have I ever been spooked bad enough that I panicked and ran strategically withdrew. Both times were in Kentucky.

RF thats what i did . i knew the field would give me more light to see by . if what ever it was had came into the field , i'd killed it .

See Grace....Frankie and I both believe in Hoodoos and Boogie Monsters.

I'm not saying I am askeered...I do however have either a 38 or a 45 on me when I go to the woods now...especially going in well before daylight..........I was squirrel hunting one morning early, setting against a tree when right behind me I hear "GROOOAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!" It was close enough it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I SWEAR it sounded like a bear but being where I am at, thats pretty close to impossible. I still have no idea what it was. You guys will laugh but just now typing that I got a shiver down my spine. ....... I may have posted this already , if I did I apologize but the absolute most scared I can ever recall being ANYWHERE was deer hunting one morning. I was in a ground blind and blew my grunt call WAY too early. It was the peak of the rut and when I hit that grunt a big buck musta been standing 50 feet away cause he was INSTANTLY PISSED OFF. I couldn't see shit but I heard him grunt and come running right at my blind. he was snorting and grunting and I was shakin like a dog shittin razor blades. I peeked up over the edge of the blind and all I could see was a silhouette about ten yards away. I literally held my breath hoping he wouldn't see or hear me. he eventually trotted off and freshened his scrape I was hunting by and left. I checked my watch and (I SWEAR THIS IS TRUE) 15 minutes later my knees were still shaking so bad I bet I couldn't have stood up....3 days later I put a 125 grain muzzy through him and he didn't even know he was dead till he dropped.

Correction...Frankie and Steve and I believe in Hoodoos and Boogie Monsters.

lol....yeah maybe.

Come on now. What, exactly, is out there at night that ain't there in the day? Really. This is superstitious nonsense.

Fuck. You're right.

Now I'll be uneasy in the day too.

ROFL. You make me laugh.

Ok, I'll tell you guys what's in those woods. Only cause I like y'all. But please don't let it get past this board. Just keep being ascared out there and play along.




Fuck happened to my picture? It was a sabboteur.