Well the weather finally broke and we got some sunshine. That coupled with me having a short day at work meant I was able to go do some stump'n this afternoon with my Horne T/D Brushbow.
I arrived at the area I planned to find some stumps and picked my way through the dense re-prod (Juvenile Fir Trees) heading for a ridge that had an opening. Once I came over the ridge, I was immediately overwhelmed by the plethora of stumps. Having had a slow deer season, I really wanted to be successful today and things were looking up.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm291/BlacktailBuck/DSCF2155.jpg)
As I gazed upon the beautiful stumps my pulse quickened, and I started to shake. I had to talk my self into concentrating on just one stump at a time. With a bad case of Stump Fever, I figured I should pick out a Stump that I could make a solid hit on the first time, so here she is.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm291/BlacktailBuck/DSCF2148.jpg)
Here is a large herd of smaller stumps that I passed on. I was looking for large, rotten trophy stumps that had more meat on them and were easier to penetrate.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm291/BlacktailBuck/DSCF2152.jpg)
After making some good shots on larger stumps, I decided to go for a little smaller target. What is interesting about this shot is that the first arrow hit and bounced out. I aimed for the same spot and the second arrow stuck in the same exact hole. These are 90 grain blunts and I needed more weight, so I screwed 70 grain sheet metal screws into the end. Hey it works.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm291/BlacktailBuck/DSCF2153.jpg)
I hate to wipe out a whole family, but daddy stump, momma stump, and juvenile stump were easy targets and I needed the practice. My arrow bounced out of Daddy stump, but momma and baby are sporting white fletches.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm291/BlacktailBuck/DSCF2156.jpg)
Now I gotta climb outta here.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm291/BlacktailBuck/DSCF2158.jpg)
It looks like Mr. Bear woke up from his winter nap
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm291/BlacktailBuck/DSCF2164.jpg)
I took this picture when I got back up on the ridge and was getting ready to leave. The sun was peeking through the clouds and you can just see the moon to the left of the sunny spot. This was mid afternoon and not even close to dark. The photo just turned out dark and I thought it looked pretty cool.
(http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm291/BlacktailBuck/DSCF2165.jpg)
Stumps get my blood pumping too. Nice shooting, cant wait to get out there myself.
Need more arrows :bigsmyl:
Nice shooting Paul.
Do you carry a side arm for protection when stumping? I would imagine a wounded stump could be awfully mean! I'd hate to find a whole herd of them where I hunt because it would mean I'd have further to walk looking for squirrels. We don't have an over abundance of ground squirrels in my part of the state.
Thanks for sharing! and be careful out there!
God bless,Mudd
Nice the last pic is great!
Looks like a great afternoon, thanks for sharing.
Beautiful area, and lots of targets. Yep!
Nice PAUL, THIS LOOKS LIKE THE AREA WE WENT TO THAT AFTERNOON AFTER WE GOT BACK FROM BURNS! YOU ARE NOW PROMOTED FROM GUTMASTER TO STUMPMASTER. :notworthy:
Barry,
That is the spot. It is about 5 miles as the crow flies from Wes Wallace's shop.
Paul
NO SNOW - awesome - nice shooting - stump panic I almost fell off my chair..thanks for that laugh this morning...I really enjoyed the commentary - and the the papa momma baby bear/stump - well that was priceless.
Jer Bear
Too Funny! Thanks for the laughs!!
Paul,
Thanks for the walk about! Good to see some ground without snow on it.
Wayne
P.S. Your old BW is enjoying West Virginia!
Thats ideal "stumpin" territory...nice going and any day out roving and stumpin is way better than work. Cool.... :thumbsup: :cool:
Great pictures.
Fantastic pictures.
I'm out the door right now. It's a beautiful day in Oregon!