Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Which one....

That person's rifle should be taken and he should be retired to camp cook. Almost doesn't seem possible, given proximity/size. Maybe he hit timber?

Nope, he called it to the edge of a bog. 40 yards wide open. He came unglued. That was with a very accurate bolt action 06 also. Big target to miss but his hunting buddies are kind and never rub it in. His son...well.....

I'm in the opposite camp, I would want him to be the first person to have a crack at one. Redemption is a sweet gift and I bet he would give a lot to have another chance.

MM

Does one need to learn how to win, or does one need to win to learn how to win? Or does one need to fail to learn how to win or win to learn how not to fail?

Failure is an excellent instructor. Most learn how by failing first. See it in other sports all the time. Hope he has another opportunity.

While we're at it we could outlaw conservatives and have everyone vote for Democrats.

+1

I like my rifle to be as accurate as it can be, but walking up on a buck stirs me much more than working up a load that cloverleafs. Still hunting is my favorite, and if you have to make a "move" on a deer to get that shot... even if it's only 5 or 10 more steps that's even better. Poking holes indeed.

Placing your foot just right, lump in your throat kinda stuff. I'll take the ability to make that happen more often any day. Yep.

I didn't suggest outlawing tree stands. What I recall saying is that a lot of people wouldn't know how to hunt a deer if forced to do so on the ground. Or at least have no idea how to go about it.

I still believe that, having met quite a few.

A lot of people have learned to hunt from trees,but not from their feet, on the ground.

I'm different from many on this site as I get little satisfaction from shooting and experimenting with shooting equipment. Those are tools and I tend to pick something that works for me and move on. I get a far greater thrill from being in the woods, and seeing animals, be it in April when they break out of the yards or in November with a cross hair on his chest. Maybe if I lived in an area with higher numbers or I could shoot longer distances I'd feel different but I just plain love being in the woods and poking around. The days when there is 6 inches of snow on the ground and a light dusting is falling and you suddenly see a leg, nose, or out of place patch. Knowing that you beat him on his terms is pretty damned special because it doesn't happen all that often..

Well said and I'm not sure many realize how successful you can be just by poking around more than a little in the right places. Even doing so there are times to stick it out in one spot for a bit. For some, it beats sitting up in a perch for hours on end looking at the same piece of ground.

When I say thank god I don't live where I have to hunt out of stands, over plots, and being told what to shoot, it isn't a slight to those that do. To complete my education, I'd love to try that someday but being able to wander is what I like to do. None is easy and it is all good.

Have sat in ground blinds a few times with the Dog waiting for something to show up and it has been productive and fun.

Abby was the best. She could be sleeping, but when she picked her head up and stared at a particular area it was wise to take a line off her nose, for something was passing by or coming.

I'll still take the accurate gun.

And I typically hunt the smartest way there is to hunt, just makes sense to me mostly.

But I've gone through periods where I demanded to hunt only a specific way, or a specific weapon or such. They were also satisfying at the time. In the end, we ended up with meat, so the outcome always seemed to be the same.

As I age, time is more important, to many things going on, so I tend to take the easy way out around the house quite often.

But I'm hoping in a few years to semi retire and try to slow it all down work wise so we can spend more time out there..

Wife just bought a fly rod... I thought I'd never see that after she had a frustrating day in TN many years ago....there is always hope.

My thoughts too. Of all the deer I've shot, I think one was much over 100 yards away. I hunt in the woods, not out in the open where longer shots are the norm.

Almost everyone has had buck fever at some point. I had hell getting my first deer with a bow. I would be so excited, because deer were so close. With a bow you have to hold the pin on the target until arrow hits the target. I'm sure lots of guys jerk the trigger, because they are scared of recoil. I do best when I talk myself through the shot. I missed a giant bobcat two years ago cause I was excited. Hit right under him. It wouldn't be safe to wander around to hunt on the two leases I have. You can during the week. No way on the weekends.

I'm deathly afraid of heights. The couple of times I climbed into a tree stand I sat in a dizzying fog of terror, so I now keep my feet firmly planted on terra firma. On the same side of the coin, after 2-3 hours of staring at the same trees I find myself going batshit. At that point I get up and move, if even just a hundred yards to change my viewpoint, and it may take me twenty minutes to move that hundred yards. Or, I may get a wild hair and need to see if something is bedded down over the next hill and set off on a still hunting adventure. Being afraid of heights has an unintended consequence: it forces me into a mixed approach of standing and still hunting, and keeps me sane.

Of course, it all depends on my mood, weather, and whether or not the pretty barmaid I chatted up the night before is working the lunch shift.

Those who I really pity are those who build elaborate stands/huts and hold themselves captive in them every day of the season, staring at the same trees year after year. The deer they get are simply killed, not hunted. Not that I blame them if they do so on a tiny plot they own, and that is the only way to hunt the property short of marching around and around as if on guard duty. Rather, it's the guy who does so when there's 3000 acres of accessible land at their back, full of new things to see and deer waiting to give them a run for their money.

Have a rung let loose at 20 feet when you are climbing down isn't something you want to repeat.

Now as far as walking around vs sitting around, a nice stand does have its positives. Especially when you have good company and they are acting as an extra set of eyes. However, in this case, it was Squirrels, and there were more than a few. Some were even trying to get inside. Scratch, scratch, scratch. Then when he could see them on the other side of the window was really funny. A lot of whining was going on, but the Deer still showed up. Maybe it was curious in WTH was going on.




Then there used to be this one. On 1200 acres that eventually was sold and became posted. Chilly sit on a late winter evening. But the number of Deer that have been killed out of it? Well if it could tell stories it would take awhile.





And some of the people who have stands spend a lot of time, money and effort to make them productive.


Finding one while roaming around in here is always nice as long as the knees and back are holding up. That's a hot corner in this pic.




It's all good.

Yep, all good.