Trad Gang

This past weekend I got bit by the hunt'en bug and I got bit bad. The plan was to hunt as much as possible and try to follow Charlie Lamb's lead and and bring home some early season protein. The plan was to not sit the same stand twice, play the wind, of course, and try to keep the deer guessing as to where I might show up next.

Friday after work I got home a little late, quickly changed clothes and headed afield the destination, The Cradle stand. With a northwest wind I knew getting to The Cradle would be a little bit of a challenge and maybe a little risky since the stand sits in the southeast corner of our property but once the furthest southerly property line is reached the rest of the trek to the stand should be a breeze.

Upon cresting the rise of the hill in the pasture behind our house I was pleased to see the neighbor's beans were being cut. Perfect! That means all the crop within sight around my hunting grounds will be out. Picked corn to the east, beans being picked to the west, acorns, other natural browse and cover is sandwiched in between... things are shaping up and it is finally starting to look like fall.

My Route

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With over half of the bean field cut, I used that to my advantage and slipped through the field to stay below the rise to the east, hopefully giving my scent enough distance to ride the thermals and hide my approach. Through the dry field I tromped. The brittle bean stubble being crushed by rubber boots was barely audible over the roar of the huge green Deere chewing through the dried crop. The partly cloudy sky was tainted by the brown haze of dust that filled the air from the waste being ejected out the back of the machines. Once out of the bean field I skirted the back property line of the overgrown field and then entered the small block of timber in the southeast corner. In the timber a stealthy approach to the stand was impossible because of all the dried leaves that littered the woodland floor. So the objective was to get to the stand as quickly as possible creating the minimal amount of disturbance to the area as feasible. Before ascending the stand I strategically placed three vanilla soak cotton balls in a crescent shaped arch out in front of the stand. These are used as an attractant and a diversion. Once they're in place I scurried up the stand and the wait was on.

The evening's sit turned out uneventful for deer activity but the walk out was great. As I got back over to the west property line I pulled out my flashlight and passed the beam over the freshly cut bean field with hopes of catching a glimpse of curious deer exploring the changed surroundings, but the field was void of deer. By chance, I shined the light into our overgrown field, my hunting grounds, and to my surprise not more than 40 yds. away were two pair of green eyes reflecting back at me. "Probably coons" I silently thought, but I'll look at them through binoculars anyway. To my surprise, one pair of those eyes belonged to the buck I've named Half Rack. He and a smaller deer were bedded and unalarmed in a patch of goldenrod. Had I gone another three yards north I would have been up wind of him and spooked him from his bed. I got lucky! To try and keep from spooking him I headed west deep into the bean field and descending well below his elevation in hopes of exiting the area without alerting him to the predator that lurked nearby.

Half Rack

 (http://images.imagelinky.com/1319060680.jpg) (http://images.imagelinky.com/1319060680.jpg)

That's a strange rack for sure. Nice satellite pic.

Good luck next outing!

:campfire:

Great start Tom....I see the new avatar   :clapper:

Way to go, Tom! Looks like you are doing everything right!...really dig that hat you have on some of your pics! Good luck.

Kenny    :archer2:

Saturday morning was a stark change in temperature from the past weeks. It was our first real cold snap this fall. For this morning the southwest wind made it possible for me to sit the Osage Flat stand for the first time this season. This stand is located at the northeast end of our land. The stand is nestled amoung the branches of a very large Osage tree that grows a few yards west from the fence line. Behind the west facing stand is a small block of timber that descends to a row crop field of cut corn. The features that appeal to me around this stand are:
1.) most the ground to the west is broam pasture and this tree grows in the best edge cover along the field's eastern edge.
2.) this edge leads into thicker timber and a drainage to the south. To the north is a north facing scrub brush hill that never has any pressure.
3.) the east neighbor's small block of timber begins to fade out directly behind this tree
4.) there is a doe trail that comes off our east neighbor's ground and crosses onto ours behind the stand where the timber begins to fade. This year I have created a funnel from this trail to try and force any deer using that trail to walk out in front of the stand tree.
5.) the tree grows on a elevated flat spot which allows for a great view of the surrounding grounds and makes a great place for a buck to lay and scent check the timber to the south and the drainage to the southwest.

My route in for Saturday Morning

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The morning started out great. At 7:10 there was deer movement although it was several hundred yards away it was still fun to see. Fifteen minutes later another doe this one approximately 70 yards away. And thirty minutes after her another doe and fawn, but again way out of bow range. Dang you'd think they would be hugging the edge cover but they're walking right out in the open hay field and they are all headed north. Go figure?!

By 8:40 the deer action had been replaced with turkey movement. To my northwest, on the hill where I saw the first doe and fawn, there was a small flock of jakes feeding and by 9:40 they were feeding next to my tree! The lead jake was approximately 25 yds. away from his companions and 10 yds. behind me. Peeking around the trunk I spied on him as he approached the blockade that made up the funnel and he didn't like what he was seeing and his flock mates picked up on his uneasy body language. Crap! I could tell the gig was just about up. The lead jake froze in place as did the rest of the gang. My heart was thumping so hard in my chest I swear they could hear it. Standing at the ready with my hand on the string all I needed to do was raise the bow and draw the string to anchor and let it fly. My eyes darted around the limbs and branched that made up the screen that shielded my form from them. I was looking for an opening to send an arrow through. Any opening, the smallest of openings would do but that opening wasn't to be found. Dang-it! This was my first chance at ever shooting at a turkey and I couldn't find a hole to put an arrow through. The lead bird eventually gave the signal to the other birds "boy's I ain't liken what I'm see'en...let's get the heck out of here." And he, the lead bird, started to slowly walk northward away from me.

The next closest bird stood, as I estimated it from the stand, 22 – 25 yds away and he was quartering away from me. Looking through the twisted maze of interlocking limbs and branches I saw one hole and he just happen to line up perfectly with it. The voice in my head said "it isn't going to get any better than this!" So I raised the Morrison, Dakota, focused on the bird, tried to ignore that I was about to shoot through an 8" hole in the branches, drew to anchor and let the string slip from my gloved finger. "Thud" voiced the bow's string as the bow's limbs returned to their semi relaxed shape and "swish" sounded the arrow as it parted the grass and sunk the broadhead into the ground a couple of feet in front of the unsuspecting bird. With the arrival of the arrow the jake hops strait up and flaps his wings a couple of times and dances in a full circle trying to figure out what the hell just happen?

The arrows elevation was perfect, but the windage had a lot to be desired. Poop! The arrow hit about 12" to his right. Seeing that none of the birds had bolted and figuring I had nothing to lose, I eased another arrow from the quiver and slipped it onto the string all the while there were five alert heads bobbing, weaving and twisting in all directions with ten sharp eyes looking for trouble and still I was able to nock an arrow without blowing my cover. I love this tree!

The jakes continued putzing around the same area for another five minutes or so and I thought another shot opportunity was going to be presented, but the birds were leery of the area and they eventually fed north out of bow range and back to the hilltop where I first saw them. What a great morning!

My shot window

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Saturday evening's sit was dull. I sat a natural ground blind called The Cut. This is a pinch point and can be a place with a lot of action, but for that night all was quiet. The only other occupant in the area was a Barred Owl that sat on a low branch 10yds away from me.

Cool!!   :thumbsup:    :campfire:

Porter you tell a great story Bud!  :campfire:

This is good so far   :thumbsup:

:campfire:

Love the big patch of timber in the middle Tom!

I hate shootin thru holes ,really messes me up. 2' is way close compared to the ones I've taken!

Come on Tom Charlie taught you too good.I am enjoying your hunt a bunch.Kip

:campfire:

I always enjoy your stories !!!!

Nice Avatar !!!

Thank you everyone!

I'll finish up in the morning. I have a couple of pictures that I want to add but I don't have them with me at the moment.

I always enjoy reading these stories even when I've heard them before.

I was coaching my son's soccer team on Saturday while Tom was trying to thread the needle on the turkeys.  He sent me a text message of his morning activities.  Even through my phone I could tell Porter was having fun.  His final message was something along the line of "I love this stuff!"

Way to drag your feet and make guys like Kip come back for more   :D

Looking forward to more bud    :campfire:  

BTW..."Half Rack" is very cool!   I luv the funky bucks    :dunno:

Sunday morning I awoke and checked the outside thermometer it read 65 degrees. What! Dang that's a big swing from yesterday morning! The wind was coming out of the SSW and according to the forecast it would be shifting to the west by 08:00 and to the northwest by 0:900. So I had a very small window to hunt my favorite stand Trad Deer. The Trad Deer stand is the stand where I shot my first traditional deer from in 2007 and for that reason it will always be my favorite stand.

The stand is a hang-on stand that is in a medium-small spilt trunk Hackberry tree and it hangs about 20' up. To the right of the stand grows a medium sized walnut tree and to the left is the smaller trunk of the Hackberry tree's split trunk. Getting into the stand is a little tight because of the close proximity of the subordinate split trunk, but once in I feel tucked away. The trunk the stand hangs on is the furthest back of the three tree trunks and the two side trees provides nice side cover.

The terrain in front of the stand slopes to the tree, which is why the stand is 20' up. Behind the tree is a fairly deep wet weather water cut that flows from the south into a larger deeper cut that descends to the east into another deep cut. These eroded cuts make the ground to the northeast undesirable, for the most part, for deer travel which makes the stand a perfect place to sit during a southwest wind.

Out in front of the stand approximately 12 yds is a well used deer trail that leads to a mineral lick that is approximately 20 yds to the right (north). The timber is filled with Walnut, Osage, Hackberry, Locust, elm and a few young oaks. There are no fruit bearing trees that deer would be attracted to. The block of timber grows to the east of the bean field that was cut on Friday and is surrounded on three sides by overgrown old CRP fields. Other than the mineral lick, there are no attractants in this block of timber and the mineral lick has, by this time of year, lost its appeal to the deer. So when I sit this tree stand I'm hunting over this trail expecting to intercept deer that are still moving in their spring and summer travel patterns.

I arrived at the base of the tree at 06:30 and before climbing the ladder to the platform I put out a couple of vanilla soaked cotton balls on the up wind side of the trail. By 06:40 or so I receive a text from Chris Kinslow to tell me he is in the ground blind he is sitting called Ridgeline which is about 1/8 of a mile to my east. By 06:50, after some jacking around, I was finally settled in and the hunt was on.

My route in red and the location of Trad Deer
Chris' route in orange and the location of Ridgeline

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As the sun began to rise the timber came alive with bird songs and I chimed in to the symphony acting as the percussion section by clanking the antlers together that I brought along and at 07:05 the sounds of the clashing bones fill the air. I rattled them together for about 30 seconds and than sat back and waited. By 07:25, like clockwork deer sightings had started. I text Chris "Doe on west rise going NNE" (at the edge of the bean field) he at almost the same time sends me a text "Mid size buck moving through the cedars." "Cool! It looks like it's going to be a fun morning" I think to myself. Thirty minutes later I rattled again. Being mid October, I figure the false rut may be starting up so the rattling may pull one of the big boys in the area my way. The pictures of the known big boys in the area are shown below.

Gimp

  (http://images.imagelinky.com/1319116566.jpg) (http://images.imagelinky.com/1319116566.jpg)


New Kid (A drop tine buck)

  (http://images.imagelinky.com/1319116697.jpg) (http://images.imagelinky.com/1319116697.jpg)

At 07:50 Chris sent me a text that read "wind shifted now out of the west." As predicted the wind was changing. By 09:00 it will be out of the NW and I will need to be out of this stand so I don't burn it before the rut.

A short time later from my right (north) I hear the rhythmic sound of crunching leaves. I peek around the walnut tree to see two deer headed my way on the trail. I ease up from my seat, fold it against the tree and grab my bow in one fluid motion.  The walnut tree shields my movement. The first deer was 35+ yds out but closing in at a pretty good clip. "Two does" the voice in my head says! The first one, the smaller of the two, walks by the mineral lick and stands 15 yds broadside with her head behind a tree and her vitals perfectly exposed. I focus on her ribcage raise my bow and put tension on the string. My inner voice questions the taking of the doe. "Should I shoot this one or wait for the larger doe to offer me a shot?" I silently debate. Part of me argued for taking the smaller doe and being happy the other half wanted to wait and take the mature doe and be thrilled. The smaller doe gave me plenty of opportunity but the greedy side of me won out and she got a pass.

The smaller doe took back the perfect broadside opportunity that she offered and moved further out in front of me behind a young Chinquapin oak tree, whose leafed out crown hid her safe from my arrow. The big doe trotted through the mineral lick and then stopped suddenly quartering slightly to me with her gaze glued away from me and on the game camera that monitors the mineral lick. She visually examined it for a few seconds and then joined the smaller doe behind the oak's crown. The larger doe followed the same line of travel as the smaller doe but unlike the smaller doe she, the larger doe, didn't stop to offer me a shot. The two of them milled about behind the oak for quite a while and I knew they had picked up my ground scent. Dang-it! They had picked up where I had entered the timber. The Bigger doe got on to my path of entry and she started to move away from me. "You fool!" I silently chastised myself "you should have taken the shot at the smaller doe when you had it!"

Eventually the smaller doe, which is a respectable size, came out from behind the crown of the oak and broke from the main trail and got onto a secondary trail that breaks hard to the left. The larger doe sees this and begins to follow. At 10 yards the smaller doe briefly offers another slightly quartering away shot opportunity but this time she is on my left side. Great positioning for a right handed shooter but not so much for me a left handed shooter. Meanwhile, the larger doe is starting to close the gap.

Tom, I love your threads man. The planning, trail cam and the sat-pics add so much to the story. Can't wait for more   :campfire:

With my bow up and ready I slowly turn to follow her movement. I've stepped out to the far edge of the platform to allow the elbow of my string arm plenty of space to miss the stand tree's trunk and I could only hope the harness tether would not interfere with my elbow when I draw. The wind was holding steady out of the west and the smaller doe was directly to the south of the stand. My heart was racing! Showtime was just about on top of me! The larger doe stepped out from behind a tree that was covering her vitals where she stopped slightly quartering away at 10 yds. and the predator in me screamed NOW! All systems say GO! Bending at the waist, I feel the pressure of the string increase in the creases of my string fingers. All my focus is on the point where I have mentally drawn a line through the doe's chest to the elbow on her opposite side. I feel the newly purchased leather glove touch the corner of my mouth and the first joint of my thumb hook behind my jaw and with that the mental trigger release has been hit and I relaxed my string fingers.

With the release 56# of bow weight that I had pulled back rips from the split fingered grip that I had on the Morrison, Dakota longbow bowstring allowing the string and white fletched Carbon Express, Heritage 250 arrow to lurch forward. In a blur the entire arrow disappears into her smooth brown coat. The thump of the bowstring is masked by the sudden eruption of the rustling dry leaves and the breaking of deadfall as the doe uses her last seconds of energy to violently explode to the west out of the timber. Short of large tree trunks, nothing in her path is safe of being mowed over. In just milliseconds she has busted out of the timber and into the CRP field. Upon breaking through the tree line she makes an aggressive break south all the while continuing her hard low to the ground run. I follow her movement and catch the last of her broken form through the twisted maze of vegetation that makes up the southwest corner of this block of timber. In the morning sunlight that illuminates the CRP field I see a flash of white and some sporadic movement and I say in a low whisper "she's down!"

Shaking from the adrenalin rush I slowly slip my phone from the pack that is hanging from the subordinate trunk of the stand tree and awkwardly text Chris "Doe shot! Another doe still near     :thumbsup:

Congrats Tom! I really enjoy reading your stories and the pics. Thanks for sharring.

Way to go, Congrats Tom!!! Hope you get a shot at one of the big boys soon too! Nice doe.

Great story.  Thanks.

out standing

Good job with the hunt AND the story, Tom!  Congrats and thanks.

Love the story - except the texting part - but the hat more than makes up for that.    :thumbsup:

Great story.  I hope the scent from all us tag along hunters doesn't ruin your hunting area!

Good luck with those bucks this fall.  You've got some nice ones there.

Congrats Tom!   :bigsmyl:

Thanks for sharing and congrats on a fine animal.
Leland

Outstanding detail my friend...congrats!!

I have a question...in the trail cam pix....aren't the first two pix of "Gimp".  I know you labeled the 2nd one "Handsom", but he looks to be "Gimp" from the look of his leg in the pic?  What I can see of the rack, it also appears to be "Gimp"....just an observation, I could be mistaken though with having the capability to zoom in....

Anyway...awesome thread brother!    :notworthy:    :clapper:

Good job. Nicely presented and well told.
I like the aerial photos of your home/hunting grounds. Great looking cover.

quote:

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Originally posted by Guru:
Outstanding detail my friend...congrats!!

I have a question...in the trail cam pix....aren't the first two pix of "Gimp".  I know you labeled the 2nd one "Handsom", but he looks to be "Gimp" from the look of his leg in the pic?  What I can see of the rack, it also appears to be "Gimp"....just an observation, I could be mistaken though with having the capability to zoom in....

Anyway...awesome thread brother!     :knothead:


An interesting side note that may tie in with Gimp is, in 2008 I had a 1.5 year old buck walk in from of my stand and his front right leg was pretty banged up. He was really favoring the leg. I felt sorry for him and I contemplated shooting him but then decided to let him pass and figured I would watch for him and if he looked like he was getting worse I would end his suffering. I never saw him again all season or any sight of predation so I figured he was just passing through and probably looking for a home range to call his own. Now I'm getting pictures of this guy and looking at his body, I thinking Gimp might be the right age to be that little buck from 2008. This is the first year for getting pictures of this buck so it could be him. Of course this is totally speculation on my part, but I would like to think that the two are the same.

I'll check it out and get back with you in a PM.