Trad Gang

I blew a good one tonight. On a new piece of property (for me) where my son shot a biggun last year. Been ground hunting it the last few days. Decided to go in tonight and hang a Windwalker stand and hunt it. Deer haven't been moving until late so I went in at 3:00, scouted a bit and selected a tree. It was kind of crooked on bottom but straightened out about 6 foot up. I attached my bottom rapid rail, grabbed the second rapid rail, climbed up to the top step, and was just about to attach it when I looked up and spotted a nice 8 point about 30 yards away coming towards me. Thought about climbing down (my bow was leaning on the next tree over) but the deer was too close and getting closer. Decided to just wrap my arms around the tree and let him pass.He would have passed me at about 4 or 5 steps. Believe it or not I've done this before. LOL. Unfortunately the bottom rail I was standing on which was on the crooked part of the tree started sliding around to the low side, barber poling as it were and my feet were going out from under me. Only thing I could do was jump off. It was either that or fall off ha ha.  Needless to say the buck didn't like that all too much and took off flagging.All I could do is sit there on the ground and laugh.

You'll remember that hunt for a lot longer than if you had got him I bet. lol

At least you weren't hurt, that's the important thing. There'll be more chances & more bucks.

I guess the buck didn't like your squirrel imitation. Glad it wasn't the 4th rail you we standing on.

Ferret, I love reading your post! Glad you didnt get hurt. The best stories come from the hunts where you come home empty handed! Good luck to you tomorrow! Thats the best thing about deer hunting...there is always another day.

good to know somebody's out there keeping those deer entertained (besides me for a change)

Oh I only use 2 of them Boff. Don't like the nose bleed seats ha ha

Yea I'll be hunting behind my house in the morning and back over there tomorrow night. The landowner is kind of paranoid about people coming down his driveway. Has one of those driveway alarms that goes off everytime you drive in and out so I can only hunt it in the evening. It's a real honey hole though, 40 acres and it's thick thick thick. So thick it's actually kind of hard to hunt. Just laced with deep well worn deer trails. Good buck sign in there too.

Lowered my bow once on a rope and had a buck come in.  He stood and watched as I retrieved my bow, nocked an arrow, and put one through both lungs.  Then I dropped my bow off the side of the stand. SANS rope.  Forgot to re-attatch.  Hang in there weasel.  Things will get better. (Colton made me do it)

:goldtooth:    :biglaugh:    :biglaugh:

I needed a good laugh like that  :D

Bow hunting is awesome... you just never know what might happen!

Kevin.

"Now that's funny I don't keer who ye are!" And what Joel said.  Good read and better luck next time.  Bill

What I'd give to have that on video.......good luck tomorrow Mickey.


David

man, something very similar happened to me on Monday.  Sat in one place for a long time without seeing anything so I decided to change to another location along a nice rub line.  As I'm setting up a little forky was working his up the trail and my bow was still on the ground.  doh!

I've had that one happen to me, Mickey, only it was a nice 5 by 5....

I was only about 5 or 6 feet off the ground, hugging this big cottonwood for all I was worth as the big buck and his smaller buddy walked right under me, then he proceeded to rub a sapling 10 yards away for a few minutes before walking off.  He never saw me, and there was no chance to shoot clinging to the tree with my stand...but I'll never forget it.

Gentlemen and Ladies of the tradgang I ask,"Shall we change his nick to Oopsie The Clown?"
:bigsmyl:
Had you just walked in and found some cover and hunkered down there well may have been a different story to write, Ferret. Still Thanks for sharing.

Man I would have loved to watch that one play out! LMAO!!!

Thats when you whip out your longknife, drop down on his back and start stabbing.

Now that is funny lil buddy!LOL

Jake, Don't think your gonna get away with trying to blame it all on Colton!  :D

Mickey, it seems like deer have a habit of catching us with our pants down! Usually every year I move a stand or ground blind during the rut and I get caught giving a tree a hug as a nice buck walks past within spitting distance!  ;)

Now that buck will have a complex, he will think humans are  jumping out of trees to get him   :bigsmyl:

Mom Nature trying to tell you something: your ancestors came down out of the trees eons ago....

I'd hunt the ground now Mickey. That buck is going to get a sore neck from looking up all the time. Good luck buddy.

Gee, I usually just miss'em and its over.  You guys definately put alot more 'Here, hold my beer and watch THIS!' into your screw-ups.  Sweet.  

  :cool:    :eek:    :bigsmyl:

Mickey, I'd try the same spot again. You know he went back to get his buddies, shaking his head, saying "Hey guys, come here, you're never going to believe this"

Ferret, be careful. Aren't you strapped in as you climb-Prussic knot style?  :(  Jawge

QuoteOriginally posted by VTer:
Mickey, I'd try the same spot again. You know he went back to get his buddies, shaking his head, saying "Hey guys, come here, you're never going to believe this"

:biglaugh:    :biglaugh:  

David

Ferret,

Never figured you would end up being one of them there "tree huggers!"   :bigsmyl:

"Some of us are only one small jump out of the trees."

Read in local paper, "Ferret turns out ot be squirrel in disguise!"   :clapper:    :clapper:

Better luck next time. Hunt safe.

Been there, done that. I am glad to see I am not the only one. Good story Mickey.
Jack

ferret,how high do you go up?

I lowered my bow and cat quiver to the ground late one morning and started climbing down the screw in steps to the ground. I heard the patter of little feet and saw two bucks approaching my tree. A 4 point ended up standing on my bow and stepping over my quiver. He looked up at the idiot hanging by a safety belt on the side of the tree once, reached down for another acorn and casually walked away feeding.

I have a few theories on this type of thing over the years:
Mayhem seems to work from me.
Persistence and practice pays off, eventually.
It's better to be lucky than good.

First time - Mayhem:
I was about 18 feet up in my climber and just didn't like the way the bottom part of the climber was sitting in the tree. So while I was sitting I kind of put my feet under my legs and adjusted the bottom part of the stand. Well, we all know what happened then. The bottom part of the stand fell.
Thank goodness I attached a piece of cord to keep the bottom and top pieces of stand together in case something like this happened. So while I'm sitting there thinking this is a fine kettle of fish I notice a buck coming down the ridge. I lay my bow in branch of an adjoining tree and attached my pull up rope to it. I then reach down and try to pull up the bottom of the stand. It took me about 5 minutes but felt like 30 minutes. I then finally get the bottom of the stand secure and knock my bow out of the adjoining tree. As I'm watching the buck, my bow is swinging 15 feet below me. I'm thinking "I'm such an idiot". The buck is about 30 yards from me and knows something is going on with a big squirrel over there. I get my bow back, nock my arrow and stand up. At that point he pops up from a creek run and provides a shot. I harvest the deer.

Second time - Lucky -  I'm hunting a new area and used my climber in a promising location. I noticed a decent buck working a rub line in early season about 100 yards from me. I then realize my stand is not in a position to take a shot if he passes on the trail that I didn't notice until I got up into my stand. I decided to turn my stand to other side of the tree. I lower my bow on my pull up rope. I turn around and make sure I have both parts of my stand together. I then move to the other side of the tree. My bow is banging off a few saplings below and my buck thinks maybe there's another buck over there. He double times it towards me. I get situated and start pulling my bow up. I get my bow and he picks me off. He starts angling away. I manage to get a shot off but it is low. I hit him in the heart and out the brisket. I harvest the deer.

Third time - Persistence:
My second buck and my first deer with size. I found a buck with a doe during the rut the evening before. The plan was to sneak into the area and get a stand up before light. I sneak in about an hour before light. As I'm climbing my tree I drop my water bottle. If anybody goes in early they know how quiet the woods are before dawn. I get up and get situated. I'm freezing my butt off. Then at first light I see my buck. I hit the grunter and his doe comes running under my stand. The buck comes to 20 yards, I shoot - miss. I'm shaking.
The doe runs off a few yards. I nock another arrow and hit the grunter. The doe comes back. I knock another arrow. My buck comes in. I miss again at 15 yards. The doe stands lays down underneath me.
My tree sounds like jingle bells, I'm shaking so bad. My buck presents a slight quartering away shot at 15 yards and I connect. Persistence and luck.

Fourth time - Practice:
I had a buck pick my off during my draw. I see his head rising up as I'm focused on my spot. I let my arrow fly as he realizes what I am. My arrow finds his mark and I harvest him.

Fifth time - Lucky and persistence - I have had a few large deer wind me when they were with a doe and sometimes they really don't care. Just wait till they present an opportunity and focus.

Half of these situations were with a compound and the other half with the stick.
IMHO - the stick allows my to react faster during these mayhem situations.
Sometimes, Murphy gets me and sometimes I'm lucky.
The more time you spend in the woods, the more you see and the more that stuff just happens. You just need to put in the time and good things will eventually happen.

Bucky, not very high. 10 feet usually. I use 2 rapid rail sections and I think they are about 40" long each with maybe a 12" gap between them plus the step up to the first and the step up from the second to the stand maybe 15" each, thats what 122" or 10'.

Eric that's good. Never had one step on my bow before.

JD you are one lucky son of a gun   :biglaugh:

Yeah Mickey, I don't think I'd tell that story LOL!

Funny story for sure, Dang glad you were'nt hurt. You know us old farts don't heal so easy, and your way older than me.

I had a nice bear coming into my bait; and couldn't get a shot. At dark; I lowered my bow; and started climbing down. I heard a noise below me; and when I turned my headlight on it- it was the bear standing on my bow - looking up      :rolleyes:

Before I knew it was ok to pee near my tree/blind, I snuck about 20 yards away to pee on another tree. I look up from what I am doing and see the biggest buck ever, straight downwind, watching me pee. About 40 yards away. Of course he was shooting distance from where the blind was, but it didn't matter because my bow was in the blind. We just looked at each other until he turned and trotted away. I laughed right along with him for getting caught like that.    

Lesson was: pee close to yer setup and keep the bow close!

Now that we all know you survived without harm, i'd pay good money to see that whole thing unfold... Could ya do it again, Mick! On tape?

 :bigsmyl:    :thumbsup:    :rolleyes:

Lol - nice.  I think you get extra points if you can think of something comically droll to yell as you plummet from your tree.  

"Banzai" is nice because it's short, readily memorized and somewhat appropriate.  "Yikes" is ok, but any rookie tree faller might say that by accident and with no preparation.  "I'm king of the world" would be great but you have to say it too fast (unless you're falling out of a really tall tree).

Anyway, thanks for sharing and please let us know if you work any interesting aerial catch phrases into your act.

:-D

I can't help but wonder if the "Banzai" thing is something he picked up from his "Dumb Bunch" days/buddys -   :D  . Glad you came out OK, Mickey - real glad!

Mick...great stuff. I had to re-read the story twice and laughed out loud. We've all had some experience like yours one time or another.

Years ago I "wandered away" from one of my ground blinds on a Mother Nature call. It was around 11am so I left the bow in the blowdown.
Halfway back to the blind, all I could do was watch, as a nice buck chased 2 does past the blowdown, no more than 10 yds away.

Just another lesson learned....never go anywhere without your bow!

Bernie, now you know the stories were not masde up, only there weree 6 of us doing this kind of stuff. MAggie had PLENTY of material to work with

GK...I'm pretty sure I did say something witty on the way down. I believe it was Awww Crapppp

Joe that happened to my buddy Frog on a hunt in Texas. When a big buck came running past he never even slowed down if you know what I mean(frog that is) and made a giant wet half circle in the sand. See I told you Maggie had pleanty to work with.

So Mickey......YOU jumped the string?????

LOL - I believed it all - sorta (with a grain of salt).  ;)

Maggie had some good ones - I can't help recalling - remotly - one something about a fly fishing rig stashed in the back of a truck while bowhunting and the fly getting caught on something - perhaps a rural mailbox - while the truck took off down the road on some sudden, hurry up errand - reel screaming, and line peeling. Like I said, it's fuzzy but I could just see it happening, and Lord it was funny. I do recall I laughed 'til I cried.    :biglaugh:

I had one a few years ago where I had 'gotten bored' around 10am and had decided to climb down.  figured, before I climb down and pull out a judo and take a quick practice shot.  don't you know I get to about 3/4 draw and a buck steps over the rotten birch log I was gonna shoot at.  slowly, let down, take the judo off the string and slide it every so slowly back to the back quiver hanging on the tree.  start to pull out the 'right' arrow...and then he bags me.....


THEN  I hear my brother start laughing from the other side of the hollow....he watched the whole darned thing!