I get no respect

[briandg]

maybe you could point out the absolute futility of trying to stalk a deer on foot in that layer of brittle, crunchy oak leaves.

Those old stories about injuns sneaking up on and whomping a deer on the head with a rock are mostly bullcrap. some areas of this country you couldn't sneak up on a scarecrow.

You get a 6 inch layer of that stuff on the ground, and you either step on it or move it, and either way, it is loud.


Fifteen years ago, PETA ordered 25,000 realtree patterned whoopie cushions, and they spent weeks spreading them through the forests in august and september, before the leaves fell and covered them. the plan was for hunters to be stalking through the forest, stepping on whoopie cushions every few minutes, and driving off any game that might be nearby.

The hunters never even noticed them. Isn't that sound heard from one end of the world to the other all through deer season? the deer, on the other hand, enjoyed them. hundreds of hunters reported hormonally challenged bucks standing in the forest, stomping on whoopie cushions and laughing. it must have been just like a week at delta house. the hunters would follow the sound of what they thought to be a flatulent, snorting buck.

The harvest of bucks was phenomenal, although it was mostly the less mature ones brought to the table. peta sued the maker of the whoopie cushions for fraud, because there was no warning label on them relating that deer found fart sounds to be amusing. the case was thrown out with prejudice because, in the judges words,

"this is not a case of protecting the consumer from poor product design or a faulty product. The plaintiff ordered the product with clear intent to use it in a manner not supported by the designers. The packaging instructions clearly state 'people love the classic whoopie cushion!' Omission of labels warning that immature, horny young bucks also like woopie cushions is not to be constituted as either a flaw in product, or deceit."

[jimbob86]

the absolute futility of trying to stalk a deer on foot in that layer of brittle, crunchy oak leaves.

The cottonwood, elm and box elder leaves are no less noisy in Nebraskan Novembers ......

Windy days help ..... I have also used a turkey call ..... if you have ever heard a flock of young turkeys approaching in the fall..... a crowd of teenagers full of mountain dew and no-doz would be quieter...... terrain masking..... there are all kinds of tricks......

[Art Eatman]

The only time I ever tried to walk up on a buck was on a drizzly day when all the leaves and grass were wet. Being quiet was easy. Got to within about ten feet of him and tossed a small rock onto his rump. Rodeo time! Hair sticking out, eyes rolled back, nose stuck way out in front. I don't think my raucous laughter did much for his nervous system, though. But he gave a whole new meaning to the word "acceleration".

Generally, in sneaky-snaking around in woods, the deal is not as much about absolute silence as it is about avoiding being rhythmic in your moving. Critters don't march the way people do. They take a step, nibble, take another step or two, nibble, pause and look around...So, always pause after every two or three steps.

I pause and look down and ahead, quickly figuring where my next three or four steps will go. When I move, I'm not looking at my feet, I'm looking around to see whatever is out there. Don't need to step on rolling rocks or on sticks. Flick a glance, walk, flick a glance, walk. It does take practice, though.

[buck460XVR]

Windy days help ..... I have also used a turkey call ..... if you have ever heard a flock of young turkeys approaching in the fall..... a crowd of teenagers full of mountain dew and no-doz would be quieter...... terrain masking..... there are all kinds of tricks......
__________________

yep, one reason I LOVE huntin' in the rain. Hard rain and wind, bucks will lay with the wind to their back towards heavy cover and lookin' out into the open. You got a 50/50 chance of comin' up behind them while workin' crosswind. Sometimes they will look at you like "what the 'ell", as if they can't believe a human would be out in this crap. Other times they will burst like a grouse and if you're lucky, they give you one GOOD quick shot. Crunchy icy snow and leaves, walk the creeks, if it's been cold enough the ice. I like walkin' 3-400 yards behind folks on public land. If they're lost all the better. Bucks will let them pass and then head to where they came from, thinkin' they are safe. Days when those silver dollar size snow flakes are fallin' and the woods is quiet, the big flakes stick to the trees making it difficult for deer to see very far. Those big flakes suck up sound and scent and altho they don't melt on the deers back, their sides and heads stick out like sore thumbs. Blaze orange in a deer's eyes, blends right in. Problem is, days that favor the hunter are few and you gotta be there when they are. Somedays you get lucky, somedays you just get a good days walk.

I'm fortunate. I've got some good private land to hunt with few rules other than safety and being considerate of others there. What you pull the trigger on is your choice and we all share in the feast. I also have plenty of big woods public land close by that in my older years, I never get to see the same trails twice in a season. After opening weekend there are many places I can walk all day and never see another hunter. Many is the day I wish there were more hunters out moving the deer. Problem is, most of those other hunters that once shared those trails with me are now gone. Either dead or hung it up. The new age hunters want to sit in boxes with Mr Heaters over food plots and bait piles and wait for mature bucks instead of trapesin' thru knee deep water just to jump shoot a scrub horn. They can't find their way outta a 20 acre woods without a GPS and a 4 wheeler. They never find next year's stand by followin' someone elses blood trail thru thick cover to a place they've never been before. They'll never know what they're missin'.



Sorry 'bout the rant.

[603Country]

Why does it always come back to somebody saying that if you aren't hunting the hard way, then you aren't hunting. Well, I'm not sure what a "new age hunter" really is, but I have a Mr Heater in most of my box blinds. My ladder stands haven't been used in years. I might be an older version of a New Age Hunter, but I've hunted for about 52 years and I earned my stripes the hard way in the first 35 or so years of hunting deer, and I can hunt with my Mr Heater now and feel no shame. My hunting predates 4wheelers and 3wheelers. Way back when, when I walked a mile or a half a mile in Louisiana gumbo mud and shot a deer, I dragged him the same distance back through the same unbelievable mud. And I walked 2 miles down the gravel road just to get to where the mile of mud started. I've had to use my Grandfather's WWII KaBar to chip my backside out of the ice that froze me to the metal topped ladder stand. My first tree stands were just trees. I climbed the tree and sat on a limb. I shot a big Louisiana buck once and dragged him about a mile to the bayou, where I wrestled his dead body into the flat bottom boat, paddled the boat across and dragged him (about 200 pounds) up the other side of the bayou and 1/4 mile to the truck. I've hunted hard in decades past with my Grandfather and my Father and I have the scars and great memories, and by now I think I can sit next to my Mr Heater if I want to. And I love my ATV. And I guess I'm ranting right back at ya, but no offense intended. I'm just happy that I can hunt. This evening was a perfect day. Blue sky. 40 degrees. hardly any wind. Didn't even light the Mr Heater. 5 does out in front of me. Of course the deer season is over, but I was hunting pigs and coyotes.

[warbirdlover]

603Country,

I'm with you! I've put in the same hard work for over 50 years dragging deer through swamps, crossing swamps with a frozen sheet of ice on them with the water almost chest high (wadders) in below zero weather. (You've got to try that sometime). I'm old now and tired and the old body is falling apart. I'll sit on my bar stool in my warm box blind and feel no guilt either. And someday so will these guys blabbing about how to hunt.

[mapsjanhere]

While I'd love to have your blind for deer season, I can't let this go unchallenged

I don't think it gets to -30º F. in NM does it? Ever have to walk on snow shoes in 3' level snow with 6' drifts? Maybe mountains?

Wisconsin - Highest point Timms Hill 1,951 ft (595 m)
New Mexico - Lowest point Red Bluff Reservoir 2,844 ft (867 m)

Our altitude mean as a state is 5700 feet, aka mile high, so a lot of New Mexico is mountain, gets a lot of snow, and gets cold. So mostly we're lucky for deer season as we typically don't get much early snow. Having said that, this year the northern areas had solid snow cover by Nov. 1st.

[603Country]

Warbirdlover, I'll pass on chest high water with ice on top, though I might have been dumb enough to do it when I was in my teens. But I did do dumb things, the worst I ever did was try to take a shortcut home from the blind by wading directly across a slime and algae covered Louisiana slough/swamp at dusk. It was deeper than I thought, and a much slower wade. And I had not considered the alligators. And I forgot my flashlight and my compass. It was pretty much dark when I was half way to the other side, but I finally got there. That was just about the creepiest hour of my life, and I remember thinking that in the worst case nobody would ever find my body.

Anyway...I'm way off topic. And that is a nice blind, though it does look a bit like an upscale south Louisiana Burger joint I once saw, except you don't have much of a parking lot.

[warbirdlover]

mapsjanhere, I hear ya on the mountains.

603Country, I wouldn't like wading in alligator swamps with no flashlight or even WITH a flashlight! Of course I wouldn't like walking to my stand (almost a mile) in the dark without a flashlight either because of the wolves and this year a cougar on the land. I was in my 40's when I waded through that ice covered swamp but had been taking Karate for five years under a retired marine sargeant major so was in pretty good shape. Now I'd have a heart attack....

[markj]

Warbirdlover, you ride a goldwing? Take pics of war planes? the name is familiar.

[buck460XVR]

603Country, warbirdlover....like it or not, hunting in a box, sittin' next to a Mr. Heater IS "new age hunting". Same with sittin' over bait. 45 years years ago there was no such thing as a Mr. Heater, nor did folks build big box stands to sit in. One was lucky to be able to keep their hands warm for an extra hour or two with one of those lighter fluid hand warmers, if you could stand the smell. 45 years ago folks didn't consider baiting ethical, nor was it even legal in most states for hunting deer. I remember in the old days when a "salt lick" was a dirty word in hunting camps. Nowadays comfy hunting blinds with heat and even TV sittin' over a bait pile or food plot is the norm. Gotta pour a coupla gallons of "C'meer Deer" or "Deer CoCain" on the ground just for good measure. While it is still considered hunting for many, if you two really did hunt the way you claim in your "old days", you know it does not compare as far as quality of hunt. It is more of a shoot. IMHO, Hunting is actively seeking your prey....not teaching it to come to you. Have you earned the right to hunt like that? Sure you have, so have I, but it don't mean I don't still try to get in some time hunting the old fashioned way. Us old farts can sit in our plywood boxes and reminisce about wading thru the swamps and catching a buck sleeping on a little patch of highground. Unfortunately many younger hunters will never experience this, as box hunting is all they've ever done. Same is why they can't find their way outta the woods without a GPS, cause they never have had to. Same reason they don't think they can make it into their box 200 yards into the woods without a 4 wheeler. Sheese...... that's a long way to walk, much less drag a deer! Hunting using skills as opposed to bait and high tech feeders and game cams is a lost art to most.....and it's sad. That was my rant.

[BIGR]

Warbirdlover, you ride a goldwing? Take pics of war planes? the name is familiar.

No, I think he would ride a Harley.

Back on subject here. buck460XVR, made a good point about how hunting has changed with time. Such as the time most of us older guys just wore blue jeans and the only camo we had at the time was woodland camo. We had climbing tree stands and other than a built wooden ladder stand we had never seen a metal ladder stand. We hunted off of the ground, did alot of walking and we endured the bitter cold. At times our feet got so cold and we swore that we were not hunting the next day. We seemed to forget all about that after it warmed up some or when shot our deer. For the last 2 or 3 years my brother in law and I have been talking about building some box blinds that we can hunt out of, especially on wet and cold days. Well, we have been slack and talk that stuff every year. Seems like when deer season ends we seem to forget about it or get busy down on the farm. I am hoping this year we get some built and maybe later during the deer season we can enjoy a warm dry box blind on a cold rainy day. I might just invest in one of those Mr. Heaters to go in the blind. Somehow all of that seems to be cheating, but I guess we have to change with the times. When we get older I suppose we must make things a little simpler and easier on ourselves.

[603Country]

Buck460 and BigR do have some good points about hunting the old way and the new way. Still, my 'way' of hunting is basically the same as it was. I've always taken the time to see where the deer are moving to and from, and where the best acorns are (White Oak acorns are sweeter). If I know those things, I'll know where the doe are and that will tell me where the bucks will eventually be. With that information, killing deer is pretty simple. Over the years, I've probably killed 300 or so. Killing one more isn't so very important to me these days, but the hunting part (being in the woods) is time well spent. I hunt on my own place these days, and with the deer movement data I have, I suppose I could sit on a stool or a ladder stand to take the shot, or I could just sit up against a tree. That's what I used to do, and my old camo hunting stool is still in the barn. But, I have box blinds in most of the places where I'd put the stool. And let's face it, a shot from a stool, ladder stand, or from the ground is no more or less of a challenge than a shot from a box blind. So I'll hunt my way and Buck460 can hunt his way. And that statement he made to Warbirdlover and me questioning if we had really done the things we said we did was insulting. I did what I said I did, and I don't see that Warbird and I deserved that cheap shot.

[TXGunNut]

When I started hunting & camping my tent (rolled up) was about the size of a loaf of bread and all my gear fit nicely in the back of a small car. A couple of dozen years have passed and it takes a full-sized pickup to haul the gear I "need" these days, I'm a big fan of being comfortable even in primitive conditions. I've done very little box blind hunting but after my last hunt I'm a big fan of them. Warm, dry, comfortable concealment is a very good thing.

[columbia_shotguneer]

Hunting is not supposed to be uncomfortable unless you make it that way, IMO. These are just a few examples: if it's just too darn uncomfortable for me, I will come out of my stand and head back to camp on my 4 wheeler. I go hunting alot and have too many better hunts ahead of me in a season. Hunting doesn't have to be a gruesome, unbearable, miseable time, I choose to enjoy my hunting time. The thing about hunting is to have fun, have all the best things to enjoy your hunt and spending time with the outdoors, with friends and family being safe is most important. Before someone may rant, how many of these superhunters have hunted without a scope? I can remember when I killed many of deer walking with just a lever action 30-30 with iron sights running full blast through palmettos out to 150 yards, maybe I was lucky hitting them in the vitals almost every shot but I can say I don't miss them days one bit, haha. I enjoy my box stand with a heater and a interesting new hunting magazine to read much better, oh and I have a scope now that I like on my high powered hunting rifle, I am not embarrassed, I've done well over the years with been there and do something easier now. On a further note: I do like walking nowadays with a beaded shotgun loaded with buckshot if I get the urge, brings back old memories, but I know that is limited to a close range event.

[warbirdlover]

Warbirdlover, you ride a goldwing? Take pics of war planes? the name is familiar.

No, I love WWII fighter planes. My father-in-law (deceased) flew P-38's in the Pacific theatre in WWII and I used to design and sell them for use in Microsoft's Flight Simulator 2004. Here's a couple I built along with our team. The guy who paints them is from Crete, Greece. The guy that makes the flight model is in the aerospace industry. The guy that makes the sounds is an acoustical engineer for Caterpillar. I did the Cad model and animated it. The Aerospace guy designed and animated the P-51. Also made a website in honor of my FIL....

http://secure.simmarket.com/cwdt-f6f-hellcat.phtml

http://secure.simmarket.com/cwdt-the...hirlwind.phtml

http://secure.simmarket.com/cwdt-p-51d-mustang.phtml

http://www.members.tripod.com/warbirdlover/index.htm

[homesick]

Warbird I think your stand is awesome your kids have shown you no respect LOL!
I have hunted Minn. for 45 plus years and the hunting has changed, We used to still hunt / make drives / etc. now you can't do that. The no trespass laws / along with leases / and posted land have put a halt to all that. So now we too sit in stands its just the way it is. At this time in my life I don't think I could make it thru some of the swamps we used to hunt.
I have hunted the western states and it is very different hunting there compared to the woods hunting. We used to hunt Montana on 20,000 plus acres for a bottle of JD and a roll of snuff. Now that rancher wants a grand to hunt his land. Times have changed for sure.
We (wife) drove thru Wis this fall on my way hunting my gosh for road kills , I could not believe it, we stopped counting around 50.
THE ONLY WAY TO GAIN RESPECT FROM YOUR KIDS IS CUT THEM OUT OF YOUR WILL

[warbirdlover]

I have nothing to put in a will, and they know it!!

[shortwave]

^^^ Ooooh, but you do^^^

That fine stand.

[Art Eatman]

I go wandering along, sneaky-snaking, and decide to sit for a while on a hillside, backed up to a boulder, a tree or some brush. How is that different from climbing up into a tree, whether or not there is a stand in the tree? Or different from climbing into a box blind to watch for a while?

But if I'm in country where sneaky-snaking is well-nigh impossible--and there are several million acres of that, just in Texas, much less Florida--why should I not opt for comfort?

I've never understood the apparent belief on the part of some people that extreme discomfort or hardship somehow gets one closer to God. I'll refrain from pointing out that avoidance of comfort might well be related to a lack of intellectual competence.

More coffee...

[603Country]

Maybe the hard core guys are like my much respected cousin. He was a rifle hunter for many years, but it got too easy for him, so he got longer range rifles and shot deer from further away. That lost its charm eventually and he went to blackpowder hunting. Then on to bow hunting, where he is now. When I see him up a tree, buck nekkid, with a spear, I'll know that he has finally gone nuts. He is a great hunter.

[shortwave]

I'll refrain from pointing out that avoidance of comfort might well be the lack of intellectual competence

Kinda like riding your motorcycle every day back and forth to work all winter long in 10 to 20 degree weather, freezing in the sleet and snow when you have a nice, warm car setting in the garage right next to the bike. Just so you could say you did it.

Guess who used to do that many years ago?

I don't think freezing to death made me any more of a motorcycle rider than what I am today, a decent weather rider.
Just maybe, a little smarter...
....but to some today, I'm sure I'm not considered 'a true bike rider'.

A couple younger guys I often ride with will call me up in the middle of a torrential downpour and want to go riding.
When I tell them, "No, if I'm out on the bike and it starts raining, that's one thing, but I'm not gonna blast off from the house in the rain". They tell me, I'm nothing but a fair weather rider.

But they both know I have more miles backing bikes up then they have traveling time.

[johnwilliamson062]

I think it looks great. I am thinking about building one myself. Probably smaller with bigger/lower windows so I can sit in it.
I got my first deer outside a drive Saturday from a chair blind. First time I hunted from it. I was warm, could move my arms without worrying about movement, and very comfortable. I am done with the other gimmicks, blinds for me from now on.

I may get one that is a little bigger.
...And a buddy heater

[shortwave]

I may get one that is a little bigger.
...And a buddy heater

Me too!
I will also add an attached 'garage' sort of construction to it. Gotta park the quad somewhere.

[warbirdlover]

The windows are high but I sit in my stand. I've got a swiveling barstool with a footrest and is very comfortable. I put the windows high so I could shoot sitting or standing. That was my "plan"...