One of the hunting areas I have to hunt the ground cover is covered with palmettoes here is a ground view.
(http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p191/Kip_album/2006_1231Image0039.jpg) (http://s128.photobucket.com/user/Kip_album/media/2006_1231Image0039.jpg.html)
Here is a treestand view
(http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p191/Kip_album/DSCN1382.jpg) (http://s128.photobucket.com/user/Kip_album/media/DSCN1382.jpg.html)
Now lots of times deer eyes will be blocked by the large fans so you can get away with a little movement and if you make a good shot you also get very good blood trails like this one.
(http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p191/Kip_album/DSCN1387.jpg) (http://s128.photobucket.com/user/Kip_album/media/DSCN1387.jpg.html)
(http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p191/Kip_album/DSCN1386.jpg) (http://s128.photobucket.com/user/Kip_album/media/DSCN1386.jpg.html)
and success
(http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p191/Kip_album/DSCN1389.jpg) (http://s128.photobucket.com/user/Kip_album/media/DSCN1389.jpg.html)
But the devil kicks in if you make a bad shot unless you fool the devil and have a dog.
I would never have found this deer without the dog.He was so proud.
(http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p191/Kip_album/2010deer001.jpg) (http://s128.photobucket.com/user/Kip_album/media/2010deer001.jpg.html)
I guess the moral of this story is make good shots if you screw up keep looking and maybe have a dog or friend with one.Kip
I would love to have palmettos that sparce - they are usually too thick to get through around here ! :banghead:
Bad shots present tough tracking, no matter what the flora!
Dang, I feel kinda like "Friend" just typed that! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Bisch
Nice job Kip! Sometimes you just have to hunt them where they are traveling.
Great pictures Kip. Hunting those coonazz palm trees are tough.
Kip, that looks so alien to our woods up north, nice that you and your buddy teamed up to recover the deer....nice memory and job!
Way to Kip!!!!! Way to go pooch
Bisch. . . ;) :dunno:
ChuckC
Good stuff Kip! None to deal with where me and Mike are as you know!
nicely done Kip , congrats
Good job Kip! Looks like the woods I hunt in. I'm already looking forward to Oct 1st!!
Remember. . that works both ways. It also gives the predator a place to hide.
ChuckC
Congrats Kip!
Good shot. I have only hunted in palmetto once with no shot opportunity, but have shot a fair amount of 3D in it. If you are "hiding in the bushes", it can be great. If you are trying to line up a shot, it can be very challenging. Looks like Kip has worked out that little issue.
You can make a great ground blind with them, too. Covers both your outline and when the wind blows, covers any sound you might make, especially when they are dried.
Great pics. BTW...
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/bathtub1.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/charlie/TGreenwatch.jpg)
They are very hard to sneak through on a calm day. They make a great blind and good shade for the hogs. But after seeing a huge gator on the Savanna River I didn't like not being able to see my backside. Devil.
Sometimes I love them and sometimes I hate them. I love hearing bucks chasing through the palmettos and like you said, they're great when you have a decent blood trail. A lot of times you can pick up the deer's trail from the water splashed onto them as they ran. There's usually no scanning the woods for a white belly though. You could literally be just a few yards from your deer and not know it.
We don't have them in the swamp where I hunt. But I have hunted in them. If you ever need a dog my gyp is eager to blood trail. Congrats!