A good thing for this ol' fart is all I can say.
On top of the lower recoil angle I like this for another and much bigger reason....at least to me. Others have their own reasons to like or not. All good. Not one to say anyone has a "wrong" reason. Priorities and all that vary. No offense intended.
Such opens up areas TO ME that most would never dream of hunting.
Most will stick with their "in the thick stuff" stands but I'm switching to lightly hunted areas where I have seen deer traffic over the years.....were there aren't any hunters.
In my area the demand for huntable cover is insane. 6 hunters in a 13 acre woods in my "best" area and I've lived in this county six decades. There is easily another dozen in the same country block.
If you don't lease it or own it....you have company and lots of it. Some will mess with you on purpose just to get you out. Don't think they wont. Sliced tires, wipers ripped off the truck, stands stolen, steps stolen...I gave up on tree stands years ago because of just that.
I've actually taken years where I only hunted a few days due to such. I didn't hunt 2014 at all. First time since my first deer in 76. The hassle just over took what fun I could get out of it.
I'll take seeing less deer if it comes to that as long as I don't have hunters on top of me, walking by my stand, etc etc.
New and improved IMHO....all the way around.
2015, if this passes, will have me sitting in a picked rolling cornfield about 300 yards from anything big enough to sit IN but also an area I've sat and watched numerous bucks run does back and forth, back and forth.
The "junk" on the other side of the ditch running along the South border of the field gets hit and hit hard but 90 percent is "bedroom" stuff. 8-9 feet tall and when the hunters there pop one and go in after it? It looks like a covey of quail coming out......some with antlers. HA
A buddy hunts the property on the EAST end and popped a nice 10 point around 180lbs 35 minutes after the opening whistle...right after there were 5 shots (happens there a lot it seems??) in the junk area we can't hunt. There is 4 hunters in that small patch where he is.
It was one of 5 bucks he saw that opener by 10am, all under 125 yards and he shot two does too. He said he couldn't see the actual number or how many were bucks but "a bunch" ran across the field where I plan to sit a couple of times that morning.
With the 2015 regs (assuming this passes) I've got 3 spots pegged on a gps out in this field AND got the field tied up for "only me" with the farmer kind enough to allow such. Working on two other similar situations too.
The field is a sleeper. From either road on the two sides it has roads you can't see diddly half way across the field due to the rolling hills in it on the back half. I could park my truck out there within 300 yards of the road and no one would be able to see it, let alone just me.
As you can tell I'm a bit excited over this "new way" to hunt. I'm all over a method I can go hunt and relax. Having a good set of binocs will be fun just glassing what is on the other side and hoping they pop across the ditch. The field is mostly 20-25 feet higher in elevation from the junk too so shots will be safer downward angled shots where I can see what is behind the deer for a long, long ways. Big plus to me.
It's going to take a few seasons before some realize that using centerfires and with practice and knowing your distances and trajectory there is some awesome areas out there mostly only hunted on the fringes that will be reasonable to hunt and pretty much are not now.
Since I'm planning a ground stand I'm seriously thinking of taking TWO rifles. The one above on a bipod facing the junk down the hill and the 7x57 project now in beginning stages on a bipod sitting pointed parallel to the ditch for anything that comes across to the East. This field is big enough that some of those crossing to the East will still be out of sensible shot range, IMO but Ill have roughly 200 yards in one direction and 325 or so in another covered. West and North has the two roads so no shot options considered.
Sorry to ramble. As said, I'm all about this being added to yet another way for me to take deer. My next will be my 100th whitetail. Doing it "a different way" is as important to me as what it is I drop the hammer on.
God Bless
Steve
