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From the Stand 2021 Version

15K views 157 replies 27 participants last post by  bankfish 
#1 ·
OK it’s time to get this one started again, What are you seeing, observations on mast, any fresh rubs or scrapes or anything else you want to chime in on!
 
#73 ·
This season has been so busy with work and a new house, that this last Thursday and Friday were my first real times hunting so far. We've been building a new house so over the summer I spent some time trying to get access to some properties near by. Fortunately I was able to score a farm about a half mile down the road from the new house. I figured I'd give that spot a sit Friday evening.
Around 4:30 someone walked up to my stand and started a conversation. He left by 5 and I figured my hunt was done. But within a few minutes I looked to my right and here's this guy standing no more than 10 yards below my stand. I had about a 10" hole to shoot through between all the branches and ended up hitting lower than I hoped, nicking the bottom of the lungs. He ran into the field in front of me and stood still for about 5 minutes. Of course my mind is racing wondering if I hit him at all, swearing I had seen blood pouring out of him when he first ran, but he looks fine... what's going on?!?!

And then... finally... he wobbled and fell over. He wasn't dead yet but couldn't stay on his feet. He tried getting up a few times but kept falling back down. When he fell in a direction facing away from me, I was able to get out of my stand and sneak over to get a 2nd arrow in him (which is what you see in the picture).

I took him to the taxidermist today who scored him at 143" and aged him at 5.5 yrs old. I know he's not a record breaker by any means, but he's got such a unique rack, I still feel he's worth mounting. It's the first time I've had a buck mounted, so the next 8 month wait is going to be a bit tough. But, it'll be nice hanging on the wall in my new house;)

Trophy hunting Hunting Deer hunting Deer Jaw
 
#79 ·
This season has been so busy with work and a new house, that this last Thursday and Friday were my first real times hunting so far. We've been building a new house so over the summer I spent some time trying to get access to some properties near by. Fortunately I was able to score a farm about a half mile down the road from the new house. I figured I'd give that spot a sit Friday evening.
Around 4:30 someone walked up to my stand and started a conversation. He left by 5 and I figured my hunt was done. But within a few minutes I looked to my right and here's this guy standing no more than 10 yards below my stand. I had about a 10" hole to shoot through between all the branches and ended up hitting lower than I hoped, nicking the bottom of the lungs. He ran into the field in front of me and stood still for about 5 minutes. Of course my mind is racing wondering if I hit him at all, swearing I had seen blood pouring out of him when he first ran, but he looks fine... what's going on?!?!

And then... finally... he wobbled and fell over. He wasn't dead yet but couldn't stay on his feet. He tried getting up a few times but kept falling back down. When he fell in a direction facing away from me, I was able to get out of my stand and sneak over to get a 2nd arrow in him (which is what you see in the picture).

I took him to the taxidermist today who scored him at 143" and aged him at 5.5 yrs old. I know he's not a record breaker by any means, but he's got such a unique rack, I still feel he's worth mounting. It's the first time I've had a buck mounted, so the next 8 month wait is going to be a bit tough. But, it'll be nice hanging on the wall in my new house;)

View attachment 55486
Congratulations ! The November rut causes another patriarch to make a mistake and fall !
 
#81 ·
I went out with the crossbow this morning. South wind. As usual VERY light wind prior to sunrise. Depending on if the wind was just off of south to the west or just off of south to the east would dictate my stand choice. I threw milkweed into the air a few spots on the way out. Every time it went south and a little west. I chose my spot. Around 8:30 the wind was picking up and didn't seem right. I threw some milk weed. Going south with a HUGE easterly flow as well. Right into bedding. I might have cried a little. Bailed from my spot and did a little walkabout looking for tracks in the snow. Yes we have snow on the ground. I'm back at the house now and making a plan for the afternoon.

Oh and by 10am I had heard only about 5 or 6 shots all morning from youth hunters and nothing even remotely close to where I am. The weather is nice and dry today and tomorrow is 90% chance of rain so I'm surprised I didn't hear more shooting. It was kind of chilly this morning so maybe more kids will be out this afternoon when it is a little warmer. At 10am it was still below freezing but supposed to be in the low 40s later on.
 
#86 ·
That sounds like PA's rifle season that started yesterday, my shot was the first one I heard at 6:58am the next one wasn't till about 9:02 and was a mile away, I only heard about 5 shots total and some of them may not have been shots, all barely audible ! I had a deer blow behind me before starting time and could barely detect a white tail waving in the dark, as light came I kept glassing in the direction that deer ran hoping it would sneak back trying to see what caused it to run, as it got lighter I finally spotted what looked like a good buck bedded down looking straight at me at 161 yards. I thought somebody could come close and scare it any moment and decided to try the face on laying shot with my 300 Winchester Magnum

I had about the same kind of day yesterday our first day of the 2021 pa rifle season. The first shot I heard was my own at 6:58am and not another shot until 9:02 and I only heard 5 shots until 11:30 when I called it quits, and wasn't sure they were all shots, all faint distant pops or bangs, sometimes the wind plays tricks with my hearing aid that makes it sound like distant shots. Anyway I got into my stand before daylight and it wasn't long I heard a deer blow behind me, I turned and could faintly make out a white tail waving goodby. As it got lighter out I kept glassing the area I thought it headed for and as I got good light I spotted what looked like a good buck bedded down at 161 yards up close to where I thought the deer ran to in this clearcut. I thought that at any moment another hunter would be working his way through this clearcut so I decided to take a face one neck shot at this bedded buck before someone spooked it. I tried to get the best rest I could in the pine tree my ladder stand was in, but knew I was still moving some, so I tightened my grip on the rifle and it seemed I was still moving some but able to stay somewhere near the center of the bucks neck and started my trigger squeeze, "BANG" ! I never saw anything move, nothing running. The buck was bedded in front of some pines and I knew if I missed he had to of run back through them or I would have seen him. I waited 15 minutes and started getting my gear together when I saw a deer to the right of where he had been bedded, I grabbed my glasses and looked, it looked like the same nice buck and I thought I had missed. I grabbed my rifle again and when I raised it I only saw the bucks rear end go behind another pine and into the thick laurel. I gathered my stuff and started up to see if I had any hair or blood where he was bedded, before I got there I saw a happy site a nice antler sticking up in the air ! Glad I didn't have time to shoot at what I thought was the same buck, I could have easily ended up with two. I had a doe tag but never saw another deer and there were no close shots to me. He ended up only being a 7 point, but a large deer, they seem to get heavier every year. Maybe it's because I am 69 and getting older each year. A pic of him

Elk Deer Trophy hunting Fawn Terrestrial animal
 
#102 ·
I have the notion to quite also, but I want to scout some area's I got into this year that had a lot of sign from early fall, but they weren't there in rifle season. So tomorrow is the first day of Pa's late archery and flintlock season, but I think I will hold of for a few days until we get some tracking snow, then I can hunt and scout at the same time. Wouldn't mind adding a couple more back straps to the freezer, I always seem to run out of them ! The rest I would give to friends and family that love venison also ! You learn more from scouting one day with snow then you can a couple weeks or more without it.
 
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