Slappy

  That sounds good!  and I am glad yall are putting a blind like that together! 

Yeah I dont know what SSS means either.  I agree of trying to report it first and contact the Warden.  We spend a lot of time, effort and money to fuel the passion we have for the outdoors.  We eliminate the predators on our property to increase our prey.  Don't get caught though or they may burn your place down or vandalize your property.  

Haha, I let him use my Remington 700 .270 After that hunt he went and got a Savage 243. I told him to get the 95gr Winchester Ballistic Silvertips for that. So I imagine that will be the next device we use! And you are right, I was 100 times more excited to watch him get that deer than I was on the last deer I shot!

I have grown to be pretty close friends to a buddy of mine who has mobility issues.     As I have gotten to know him over the past few months, he has mentioned how much he would like to have the ability to be outdoors and to hunt.  I have been blessed access to prime hunting property and saw this as a great opportunity to help fulfill some wishes of his.  I do not see him as a charity project, I am just a friend helping a friend as I get a lot out of our friendship too.      Well 2 weekends ago, when it was nice and rainy.  We set out to do an afternoon hunt out at the land.  There were a lot of logistical challenges in getting set up because once he is in a chair, he cant get out without a great deal of effort from the both of us.  But we managed to get him set up over a 30 acre harvested soybean field where deer come out fairly regularly.    The rains came down and the floods came up!  I set us up in a low spot and by the time we finished the hunt, we were in about 3 inches of water!  Lesson learned! Anyways, once we were all set in the hunting blind.  We saw a massive flock of turkeys come out to feed.  We counted 24.  Then a few minutes later, another flock of turkeys came out to make the total of 41 turkeys that we were watching!  Both of us enjoy being outdoors wether we see anything or not, but seeing things is always so much more fun!  Our hunt was off to a great start!   After about 3 hours, I hear him say, "I see a deer!!  Its a buck!"  Sure enough, there was a 2.5yr old 8 point out about 80 yards from us.  He asked if he was a shooter and I said heck yeah he is!  The nerves were pumping.  Heart was racing. Lungs were hyperventilating.  And those were just mine!!!  I wasn't even the one shooting!  haha   I helped him get the gun up and rested correctly on the Bog Pod and after he had the crosshairs set he asked me if I was ready for him to shoot.  My buddy dropped that deer in his tracks!  I really thought that guy was going to jump out of his chair, he was so excited!  I threw the blind off of us as we hugged, shook hands and laughed ourselves silly.  What a great experience for the both of us!   I ran and drug the deer back to him for a few photos and afterwords, he said something that really touched my heart.  He said that he didnt know he could get excited like that anymore.  I really didn't have a response at the time other than to say I am glad he had a good time.  But we will get more opportunities to hunt and I expect him to get excited again with his first turkey this coming season!    I hope to build some better blinds with good ramps on them in the future for him and I hope to one day be able to help provide opportunities to those with illnesses and physical challenges.          

CCI Stingers have run 100% in all of my auto 22's.  

Thanks for posting this. I will order one tonight.

I fell asleep in my deer stand as a kid once. My dad was halfway up the ladder yelling at me before I woke up. I tried to convince him I was sleeping lightly in case a deer came by. He obviously didnt believe me.

Well I got my tickets. I never buy them but figured id jump on the bandwagon.

I would notify the TWRA for sure. That's not normal.

$8,000 an acre?! Where are you hunting...Destin, Florida?

[quote name='reed1285' timestamp='1353507463' post='849090'] You guys in other units that can kill does during gun season are lucky. Ive only got a week to bag a doe with a rifle during my units non quota antlerless hunt. I had to buy a type 094 license on top my licenses i already have also. But thats gonna be my main chance at putting meat in the freezer. Congrats to all you guys gettin deer! [/quote] That sucks. I forget how lucky we are to bag as many does as we are able to. The property I hunt we saw 15 deer on opening day so it definelty needs a few does taken out. Balancing buck to doe ratios improve the health of the herd and make the rut more intense and bucks more visible.

[quote name='sigbrown1297' timestamp='1353506299' post='849086'] First time out this morning and just landed me a doe. Pictures to come Two other ones were too small and even though try we're handing out after the shot, i decided to pass on them. [/quote] There you go!! Great job man!! Please do share pictures! To answer your question from above, I would say you should have it field dressed within and hour or two. I think a lot of that though depends on temperature and where you shot it. You don't want to wait too long though.

[quote name='w0lfattack' timestamp='1353381833' post='848596'] I told myself I've given up the idea. After purchasing a new bolt action rifle, my desires have changed. I would like to know about hunting deer. Do I need to take a hunter education class to hunt on private land? If I AM required to take the class will I learn everything I need to know as far as rules and regulations? If answered yes to both questions, I'll take it from there. Thanks! [/quote] Likely yes and mostly yes. Born on or after January 1st 1969 then you arnt required to take the course...although you should. You will learn a ton!

[quote name='sigbrown1297' timestamp='1353371218' post='848484'] Looking for a processor near Nashville for WHEN get my deer I would like to do some summer sausage, and jerky as well. Much appreciated. [/quote] Cant help you with the processor but I just want to point out that attitude has a lot to do with having a successful deer hunt! When you get discouraged, your hunts become miserable, you get tired, you fall asleep, and you leave your stand early. Maintain a positive attitude and you will find yourself seeing a lot more deer. I get my deer processed at Jeff Kings off Highway 72 in Mississippi. Prices are like $55 for a whole deer. They do everything but link sausage. Happens to be one of the best and he is on my way to my land.

[quote name='Hunting101' timestamp='1353298885' post='848009'] I figure if I keep at it then they will slip up......I hope lol. [/quote] This may help us both! http://www.qdma.com/articles/to-kill-mature-bucks-go-somewhere-else To Kill Mature Bucks...Go Somewhere Else I had an interesting phone conversation with deer researcher Dr. Mark Conner while I was working on an article for [i]Quality Whitetails[/i]. Mark, who works in Maryland, has led a number of recent groundbreaking studies of buck movements and home-range characteristics using GPS tracking collars placed on deer. We were talking about “sanctuaries,” and Mark told me about two distinct areas on his study site that have developed into safe zones with no hunting pressure, and how these two areas ended up being the core areas for several of the adult bucks being tracked. These sanctuaries weren’t created on purpose, Mark said. Hunting guides tried to place guests in or near these areas because cover is heavy and they knew mature bucks frequented these zones. But the guests often objected. They tended to want to be somewhere they could see a long way, so they could “see more deer.” Stuck in a stand in heavy cover, they were unhappy. So, the guides altogether quit using these areas as stand sites, which further enhanced the sanctuary effect. The irony here, of course, is that hunters equated seeing farther with seeing more deer, including mature bucks. Yet, as the researchers learned, these hunters stood a far greater chance of actually encountering a mature buck in the thicket, where they couldn’t see very far. This brought to mind related stories that always crop up whenever I’m thinking about hunting strategy and mature bucks. Several years ago, before I worked at QDMA, I interviewed a teen-aged hunter who had killed an outstanding buck. His story also had an ironic twist. Hunting as a guest of his dad’s club, the teenager had his heart set on a particular stand. When he rose before dawn the next morning, he hurried to the sign-in board to put a pin on the map, reserving the stand he wanted. But a club member appeared and pulled rank, removing the boy’s “guest” pin and taking the stand for himself, as the rules allowed. The boy’s father couldn’t do anything about it, and there were no other “good” stands available. In frustration, the boy picked a random spot on the map, just outside of camp, and jabbed his pin into the board. Then he grabbed his climbing stand and rifle, straggled off into the dark into a tangled cutover bordering camp, and climbed the first large tree he came to. Shortly after sunup, a monstrous buck rose miraculously out of the cutover where it had been bedding, only a stone’s throw outside camp. Ah, sweet justice. You’ve heard stories like this, I’m sure. The big bucks that get killed the first time a new stand is hunted. The hunter who gets lost and kills the best buck of his career. Or the “lucky” hunter who consistently kills mature bucks but doesn’t fit in with his hunting peers because he doesn’t hunt like they do. The common thread is hunters who think they know the best places to hunt, and they’re wrong. Either they choose sites that aren’t as good as they think they are, or they turn the best places into the worst places by hunting them – over and over again. As hunters, we make all kinds of judgement errors in choosing where to hunt: Some of us think seeing a long way equates to seeing more deer (sometimes it does, but not always). Some of us think food plots are the best place to be (sometimes they are, but not always). Some of us think a productive stand is bound to be just as productive tomorrow. This is just plain wrong, in my opinion. Consistently successful hunters agree: The chances of seeing a mature buck at a given stand decrease exponentially each time you hunt there without giving the site a lengthy rest. And some of us look at cutovers, thickets, swamps or thorns and turn the other direction, toward that comfortable condo stand at the end of a four-wheeler trail. The main mistake is in thinking we know what kind of landscape mature bucks prefer. Mainly, mature bucks prefer to be where we [i]aren’t[/i]. They do have their weaknesses, and if it wasn’t for the rut, significantly fewer hunters would ever see adult bucks; but to consistently increase your chances of seeing them, identify your favorite stand – and go somewhere else.

[quote name='Hunting101' timestamp='1353282735' post='847842'] I'm seeing deer both does and little bucks. Seen a spike this morning. His right tine was about 8 or 9 inches long and the left tine was only 3 or 4. He was chasing a doe around. I still haven't seen any of my big deer. I'm kinda getting frustrated so I'm hitting some other properties this week. Maybe that will help out. I seen 1 little doe this evening. [/quote] Yeah its funny how you see a bunch of nice deer on game cameras and then when you go hunt them they are non existent. Guess thats why they call it hunting!

[IMG]http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee326/jtv14/hunting.jpg[/IMG] Well we had a hunt to remember for a lifetime! I hunted with wind and ended up seeing 7 deer (doe and fawn) but elected not to shoot. However, 2 other members of our crew BOTH got their first deer on their FIRST hunt. I told them they were spoiled and they agreed. Normally, I would be upset if someone shot a spike, but I also think it is wrong to tell a new hunter what he cant shoot. We had a great time and are looking forward to many more hunts! Between the 4 of us, we saw over 15 deer.

Well, I think I will play the wind this time. Yall are right though, bucks will be less cautious this time of year, but I dont want to educate them either. I am a QDMA member and make my best efforts to manage quality game. I will not be shooting any buck under 3.5yrs old. I look less at the size of the rack, and more at the age of the deer to make my harvests. We also have a bet going on on who can get the first deer so I dont think I will wait to see if Mr. Buck will come out!

[quote name='sigbrown1297' timestamp='1352942247' post='845826'] i know nothing about deer hunting. All i know is that they taste great and i would like to get a couple deer to fill a freezer. My brother in law has a little bit of land where he said i could hunt. I know you have to have a license and looked at the TWRA website and saw the info about limits and all. I don't want to invest in a lot of money in equipment and camo, and stands. What the best way to go about this. Also i don't know how to field dress a deer so I'm a little worry about what I do after it shoot one. [/quote] I have been mentoring a few family members of mine that wanted to get into hunting this year. Part of my mentoring them was writing up a few e-mails that explain a lot of things from what to wear and why, to what to do after the deer is down. PM me your e-mail and I will forward them to you. You can also e-mail me any specific questions not answered in the e-mails.

[quote name='Batman' timestamp='1352864773' post='845249'] I would do this, or better yet use a portable climber. It's opening morning, and the deer are probably in their normal routine unless there has been a lot of scouting or Muzzleloader/bow hunting. [/quote] That's how I am leaning. I just don't really like either option. Haha

Another exciting chapter in every hunting season is coming up this Saturday, gun season! I have been blessed with access to a couple family farms and I cant wait. One of the farms was purchased a few months ago, so other than a part leased out to a farmer we have no food planted. We put up a ladder stand over the food source and the only wind you wouldnt want to hunt it in is a North wind, well as my luck would have it, Saturday looks like it will have a North wind. So in your experience, would you still hunt when the wind is bad, or set up a new ground blind somewhere, not giving the deer a chance to get used to it, but play the wind right. I cant decide what to do. I have also been mentoring a few new hunters this year and am looking forward to putting blood on their faces. Good luck to everyone! Use your guns, not your cars as would seem to be the trend here lately! Anyone else going out there Saturday??

After hours, on a public road, in a licensed vehicle, without an approved hunting device, no hunting license, no hunters saftey card, and she was spotlighting?! Game warden will not like this! :-) All kidding aside, I am very glad she is ok!

My only complaint is that it is really heavy for a deer stand and with it fully extended with the bow platform attached it makes it super hard to get the leverage necessary to ascend and descend.

I bought a Tree Lounge a few years before they went out of business. That is the most comfortable and safe treestand I have ever used. Excellent for letting deer walk buy while sawing logs. The bow platform is really nice to stand up and stretch the legs a little.

Once again, I am up entirely too late getting my gear ready. 3:30am is coming fast! I will be out there tomorrow with bow in hand! Good luck to everyone.