Page 6 of 11

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 8:20 pm
by stumper
Captainkirk wrote: Wed Oct 09, 2019 8:19 pm Thanks, Dave and Dale. Wish you were here.
I would like that very much.

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 2019 11:25 pm
by Grizzly
Glad you got to see something. I wonder if it was a young button buck that momma ran off. They seem to do the dumbest things unlike the female fawns who benefit from staying with their mother much longer.

Years ago i found some plans in a magazine for making wooden ladder stands. Those things lasted me over 10 years of hard use before I finally abandoned them. They didn't cost much to build and the metal was all scrap i put to use. If one of those would disappear overnight it wouldn't hurt like loosing a metal store bought that would most likely be stolen. I think that all I had in them was some 2x4's that I split in half for the uprights and a bunch of maybe 1 by 4s? I cut up for rungs and braces along with a 3/4" plywood platform. The plans are still here if anyone is interested. The 12' was the handiest and could be moved fairly easily. The taller ones could get a bit bendier, but I never felt unsafe in them. Well maybe, like the time I was strapping myself into the tallest one in the pitch black and rattled around just enough to bother a screech owl nearby. That bird startled me enough that I almost fell out of the tree.

Glad you are enjoying your hunt.

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 4:33 am
by Greg Felty
Sounds like a great evening.Thanks for letting us share your hunt.

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:25 am
by White Falcon
Thanks!

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 6:12 am
by Nock
That’s cool to hear the other guy was waiting to see you come out ok.

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:21 pm
by Captainkirk
Day 3

Meh. Yesterday had ended on a high note, what with seeing the little 'puppy-deer' and the walk out in the moonlight with the hoot-owl, etc. I figured I would try to get out in the morning, break about mid-morning, then finish up with the evening hunt before the rain moved in around 8 pm. Things don't always work out the way you intend. Pay attention here, you new hunters. There are a few kernels of wisdom sprinkled herein.
I didn't get to bed until 11:30, which should have been my first clue to scrub the mission, but I was bound and determined to be in my blind by sunrise. Well, even though it was dark as pitch when I got up, between showering, eating breakfast and getting dressed before the wife got up, well...let's just say that by the time I was walking in, the Sun King was peering over the horizon and greeting me with a cheery hello. Maybe I would have taken the King of the Forest had I been there an hour earlier, who knows? All I know is that absolutely NOTHING happened between 7 am and 11, when I decided to pack it in, get some lunch and do a few chores before venturing back out for the evening sit. You must remember, this wasn't strictly a vacation for deer hunting, but also to get a few things done around the house. For example; Our neighbors with the eternally draining pool must have finally had the water magically drain below the level of the 3 foot rip in the liner, and I could finally walk back in my target area behind the garage without hip waders and a snorkel for the mower. And since rain was on the menu for this evening, I figured I'd better get it mowed before their 'reservoir' got topped off by the heavy, low-hanging clouds.
So, I sat; I saw nothing. The skeeters would have been deadly today, but there was a fairly stiff, cool breeze off Lake Michigan that kept them at bay; enough so that I only got a half-dozen bites or so without having to break out the Thermacell. One time, around 10-ish, I thought perhaps I heard a grunt, but it could have been a creaking branch, another hunter (though the parking lot was empty except for my lonesome, rusty Dodge Dakota), or even the puppy-deer looking for mama. I grunted back several times but heard nothing more. Since nothing was happening, I decided to cut out, cut my losses, and return in the evening. I briefly considered not carrying out my portable stool, but simply leave it by the trees; it would make life easier, and besides, I'd be back in a couple hours, right? (hint: here's one of them kernels). Welp, no, I decided. Plans can change, and if for some unknown reason I didn't make it back out, the stool and cushion would be out in the rain tonight. So I hoisted up the backpack and stool and trekked on back to the truck.
I got the lawn mowed, alright. Sorta like giving a buzz haircut to a hippie, if you get my drift. After a nice big lunch (I was famished at this point) I was getting ready to wash the sweat off me and get back out there a-hunting, so I checked the weather. Oops...what's this, then? "Rain starting in 110 minutes". Why, that means I'll just about get out to my blind, get settled in and...have to leave or get soaked. Since wet feather fletchings aren't known for their accuracy, the little C.O. (commanding officer) in my head was screaming "NOW HEAR THIS....SCRUB THE MISSION!" Here's your second kernel...always listen to the CO.
110 minutes later, it was raining. Not *hard*, but enough to get everything darn good and wet! As I type, my stool and cushion are in my truck, warm and snug...AND DRY. Always trust your gut. And quite frankly, I'm beat tonight. Supposed to rain all night and probably all afternoon on and off. So, sleeping in is definitely a GO for the morning. We'll see if evening brings a clearing, but even so, I'm betting my money that the skeeters will be positively vicious and bloodthirsty...unless the cold front coming kicks their little buzzy keisters. We'll play it by ear, because the temps should drop dramatically tomorrow night and the weekend looks like it could be good. Time will tell.

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:32 pm
by Graps
A little hint; I have shot several deer in the past between 11:00 AM and 2:00PM. ;)
That's when other hunters are going home for lunch and coming back out for the afternoon. 8-)
But Ol' Graps can't sit all day in the same spot anymore. :|

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:38 pm
by Captainkirk
Graps wrote: Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:32 pm A little hint; I have shot several deer in the past between 11:00 AM and 2:00PM. ;)
That's when other hunters are going home for lunch and coming back out for the afternoon. 8-)
But Ol' Graps can't sit all day in the same spot anymore. :|
Nor can the Captain.
I'm happy with a good three hour sit, Dale. My son chewed me out for not spending 12 hours in stand each and every day. I told him that I can't do that any more. You might recall I gave away my spot last year at the beach because my back and sciatica were really bad; I couldn't sit in one spot for more than 20 minutes.

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 9:55 pm
by stumper
I have seen more nay in fact every deer that I have seen on the WMA I hunt has been between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Re: Captainkirk's 2019 Hunting Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 10:04 pm
by stumper
I'm gonna take a hint on my next hunt... since I'm always out early and see nothing I'll be in the woods for 10 on next tuesday for my first ground hunt in over a year. Its funny... I see deer when I dont see other hunters and I dont see other hunters midday.