Outdoorsman Thread

[Old Hunter]

Nice buck Mike, sounds like a great hunt! OH

[Old Hunter]

I enjoyed a nice deer hunt this morning in Wilson County; it was 43° most of the time I hunted (0650 to 0950). I saw one decent buck, he trotted by in the far field, then turned up the right side lane, browsing toward me until about 70 yards, then he turned into the woods, but showed up in my left lane. He came within 50 yards and we stared each other down for several minutes. After about ten minutes he picked up my scent and started blowing - he never ran, but blew his way across the woods and the field, heading for the RR mainline (about 140 yards west). These views look north. I didn't shoot him as he was nice, but his left antler was funky - I only shoot bucks if I'm willing to spend the money on mounting them. If you look to the center left side of the lane, right next to the woods, you can see the buck - look close and you can see he has a very tall rack. In the next picture he is behind the two pine saplings that are angling in the brush pile - he was staring right at me at this point. Lots of does around for me to put meat in the freezer, so no deer shot this morning. However, It was a fun morning; after the hunt we went into town for coffee and donuts, then came back out and trimmed shooting lanes and inspected stands for future hunts. We are in good shape here; note the mud on the stump behind my rifle, all was under water during the Hurricane Matthew flooding. OH
Ps The bottom picture is looking east at 0840 - a little fog had lifted and the sunlight gave it the sunbeam look - there was a large Bobcat looking at me down near the ditch at the far end of that lane.

[Old Hunter]

Here I am checking out one of the few remaining homebuilt ladder stands on the farm - this one must be 20 years old by now, but still solid. It looks out over a bean field that is about 150 yards straight across to a neighboring farm - they have sweet potatoes this year (deer seem to like them too). 100 yards to the west (my left) is the mainline of the CSX RR (originally the ACL RR that my wife's people worked for). I saw the Amtrak Auto Train today heading north to VA from FL - must have had a total of 25 cars - double decker passenger cars and double decker auto carriers. Not many dull moments hunting here - if you nod off one of the freights will wake you as the grade crossing is only about 600 yards south - man do they lay on the horn! OH

[Old Hunter]

I drove over to one of the Edgecombe County farms mid-afternoon to check stands, haven't been there since the hurricane. Had several stands down, but the red box stand, one of my favorites, is still up - it is about 800 yards from the Tar River. Everything you see on the ground is coated in a thin dry coat of mud - the water traveled that far and gained a good 20' of elevation from where I am standing to take the picture. Of course the river is within it's banks now, but still higher than normal for this time of year. OH

[TripleF]

Great stufff Bruce!! Thanks for sharing!

If I hunter whitetails I'd hunt for the meat! I likey some venison!!

[garddogg56]

Great looking areas OH Here are sum pics of the Days hunt ,productive but my Grandies will ware ya out my brother by laws deer was 120lbs 4pt,my Yote was 50lbs,them grandies add up ta 130lbs of devil,the boots indicate the end of a Great day in the woods of Maine ::groove::Very nice Buck Mike

[Old Hunter]

Thanks Scott - pretty much all I shoot anymore are does for the venison and to control the herd (it's getting out of control here). I only shoot mountable bucks nowadays and I don't plan to mount anymore unless it's the King of the Woods! Dogg, looks like you had a great day - good fixin's on the grill, grandkids entertaining themselves, another good 'yote for your Savage 99, and the old man getting enjoying the peace - what's not to love about a day like that! OH

[rangerbluedog]

Got a double today.
I was actually waiting on my son-in-law to arrive and we were going hunting together.
I was walking over to a shady area to take a short nap while I was waiting.
Buck #1 shows up, 20 yards away, six pointer, 114 pounds. Decent size around here. I figure I've just been given a gift.
I take a lung shot to see how it does, because all deer I've taken with the 6.8 thus far have been neck shots.
Bang! He takes off, running left to right. He gets just out of sight, having ran about 15 yards behind some brush.
I take a few deeps breaths, look at my watch to see the time, and I hear what I thought was my first deer coming back!
At exactly the same spot I saw the first deer, the second deer appears. I assumed I had missed, or only wounded the first
deer due to the lung shot, so I shot again - this time in the neck. He dropped immediately.
When I walked over to start dragging, I found that it was in fact two different deer! The second deer was 117 pounds and an eight pointer.
No doubt about it for me. The 6.8 SPC, and the 115 grain Federal Fusion are pretty good deer slayers.

My son-in-law got skunked. I keep telling him don't mess with the master.
He says I should play the lottery this week.

[Colonel26]

Good pictures and great stories guys. Gun season doesn't come in here until next weekend. Man has it been hot and humid here. But it's supposed to change big time this week, just in time for deer season!

[treefarmer]

Wow! I'm goin' to change my name to Treedog or somthin' with "dog" in it! Gdogg and rangerbluedog, y'all are having a great season, congratulations! Killin' two at a time is always a great feelin' . Got to wait till Thanksgiving Day in our part of the world, then it will be to try and get the grandsons a shot at Bambi. Just put my cameras out last week and there are 2 little bucks runnin' together. They showed at both sites and had their pictures taken.
Treefarmer

[garddogg56]

Thanks Scott - pretty much all I shoot anymore are does for the venison and to control the herd (it's getting out of control here). I only shoot mountable bucks nowadays and I don't plan to mount anymore unless it's the King of the Woods! Dogg, looks like you had a great day - good fixin's on the grill, grandkids entertaining themselves, another good 'yote for your Savage 99, and the old man getting enjoying the peace - what's not to love about a day like that! OH

It is why we hit the woods OH But MAN I wish I could hit two in one day good job Rangerblue ::tu::every Dog has his day Treefarmer

[rangerbluedog]

LOL.
"Cry havoc! and release the dogs of AAPK"

[SteelMyHeart85420]

Somewhat after the fact...but, there's a modded kitchen/ hunting knife in the pic, with a homemade sheath from Goodwill store moccasins!

[steve99f]

Great pictures guys, thanks for sharing your hunts!

[jerryd6818]

Wow! I'm goin' to change my name to Treedog or somthin' with "dog" in it! Treefarmer

Philip you already have a name with "dog" in it. "DEVIL DOG"

[treefarmer]

You're right, Jerry .
Semper Fi
Treefarmer

[kootenay joe]

313 Mike, i am 2 pages 'late' here but thanks for description of your hunt. Archery hunting although more challenging sounds like the way to hunt in your area. A 9 day rifle season must put a lot of hunters into the same area at the same time. If so then it is hard to relax and enjoy your hunt while hoping some impatient hunter is not thinking your movement is a deer.
kj

[kootenay joe]

I didn't know about hunting 'farms' with cleared shooting lanes. Are these set up by people who own a large piece of bush land not suitable for farming ? and then hunters pay to use a stand there ?
Do you have the option of going into 'wild' bush and hunt by slowly walking through the woods ? i.e. old style hunting.
kj

[CheckSix]

Great hunting stories by all!! Thanks for sharing. I always enjoy a day or 3 in the field, regardless of whether there was a harvest or not.

[Old Hunter]

Blue, let me add my congrats on two bucks down in one sitting! That will be a day to remember.

KJ, are you asking me a question concerning farms or are you asking anyone?

OH

[kootenay joe]

Asking you or anyone about the hunting 'farms'. I have never heard of these or seen land groomed into clear wide lanes separated by a row of trees, so i would like to know how it works.
kj

[zp4ja]

Great hunting stories, pictures and bucks Gents. Congratulations and thanks for sharing.
Jerry

[TripleF]

Knice job fellas.....Mike, GDOGG, Ricky!!!

[Old Hunter]

Asking you or anyone about the hunting 'farms'. I have never heard of these or seen land groomed into clear wide lanes separated by a row of trees, so i would like to know how it works.
kj

Our hunting grounds are just normal farms, the Wilson County club is small - 250 acres (really four adjacent farms owned by two families), the one in Edgecombe County is big at 2000 acres on three or four separate parcels - it is all owned by one family. These are working farms; crops rotate but include soybeans, feed corn, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and winter wheat. Depending on the market we see cotton and tobacco as well. Added to the mix of annual crops they also contain "tree farms" - fast growing stands of yellow pine that is planted on rows (what you saw in my picture) thinned every six or seven years, and cropped at 20 or 30 years depending on intended use (pulp or timber). I used to lease 250 acres of land from Weyerhauser - they own much timberland in the south (as does GaPac and IP). The farmers have several ways to make money and try to make a profit on their business - besides growing their crops and growing trees they also lease hunting rights on their land to individuals or clubs (as do the timber companies). Club members or individuals build and maintain their own stands and of course work with the landowner to stay within agreeable terms on location, time of use, etc. Mutual respect seems to work best. We hunt on our clubs and we invite guests to hunt on them - the deer are managed with advice from NC WRC and privately hired land managers. There are also hunting lodges in our areas that are identical (but bigger) - they offer semi-guided hunts on their land. Check out Thornbury Plantation and Lily Pond Creek Lodge on GOOGLE for a look at them - they are just north of us. OH

[treefarmer]

KJoe,
I'd like to add to Bruce's thoughts concerning my take on deer hunting, at least in our part of the world.
I suppose each area of the world has it's own particular quirks or differences compared to what each individual has learned or has grown up with.
In the South farm fields and pastures are hunted from elevated stands or towers. Hunting becomes a supplemental income for a lot of land owners, farmers, ranchers and timber companies. Hunting leases are big business and some areas demand very handsome prices depending on many factors.
A lot of the habitat is so thick that it is next to impossible to hunt "old style". I suppose that's where climbing a tree became a way to see game before it saw you. The old timers told us that the woods have changed greatly over the last century. Virgin pine timber was cut and the land regenerated itself with some pines, oaks, scrub oaks, gall berry bushes, palmettos, etc.. vegetation that at one time did not cover the landscape as it does now. When reforestation began, pines planted in rows, just like a crop of corn or soy beans, only wider rows of course, the under brush on these plantations makes a great place to hunt for a few years, then as the pine crop grows the understory is covered by shade and it effectively chokes out a lot of the browse deer thrive on. Thus the development of hunting strategies like open shooting lanes, food plots and such. Power line rights of way are a favorite site for stands and food plots.
When we look back, "old style" deer hunting in the South used to be done mostly with hounds, again because of the very thick vegetation, kinda' like rabbit hunting with a Beagle, but on a much grander scale. Due to the population explosion in Florida, hunting deer with dogs is not as wide spread as it used to be. Too many people, thus the style of hunting changed to what it is today on private lands, mostly stand hunting over food sources or standing known travel routes.
In Florida there are over 180 Wildlife Management Areas, encompassing over 5,000,000 acres for public use, with all this there are still usually waiting lists to get on a private lease. Not all of the 180+WMA allow deer hunting.
Treefarmer