Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Zradix on October 08, 2012, 09:58:00 AM
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(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/brokenarrow.jpg)
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The best kinda broken arrow... :thumbsup:
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Congrats!!
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Looks like you got some sort of red goo all over it too.
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First off I'd like to thank the members of Tradgang for being the prime source for all of my Trad archery knowledge.
Without this site and it's members, I'd be completely lost.
I've had a good time trad hunting the last 4 years…but no deer.
I've missed a few over the years…so at least there was some excitement..but not bringing home some meat was getting a little frustrating..lol
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Did you step on it , did it fall out of your treestand and hit a rock , how did it get broken...
,,,,Sam,,,,
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:thumbsup:
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:campfire:
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I've been having to look for new spots to hunt lately.
Some private land was sold…can't hunt there now.
One public spot has been blocked off..grrr
and I had to come to the hard realization that some public land I had been hunting is just too far to drive. $13 in gas there and back…just can't be doing that.
So I starting searching again.
Found a nice little public spot about 8 mins from the house.
I wasn't able to scout it a lot. But I was able to find a few decent trails.
The hardest part was finding a spot that didn't look to be "claimed" already.
I picked a spot and built myself a little blind.
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0028.jpg)
View to the hopeful trail. Arrows are about 15yds away.
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0025.jpg)
View from the trail to the blind..had my orange vest hanging the blind just to see if I'd be concealed well enough..
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0022.jpg)
I was able to hunt it all day the first couple days of the season ( Oct 1,2)
Didn't see anything except birds and squirrels.
The second day I decided to spend from noon till 3 scouting for another place to set up.
Found one nice spot that had some good trails and quite a few rubs.
I decided to sit there for 45mins and get a feel for the the place.
..lol...While sitting there, I watched 2 separate groups of 3 people come right to the trail and talk about how they're going to set up "in that tree" next weekend.
I didn't feel like adding wood to that fire and figured I'd better keep scouting.....
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I headed out down the road a little farther.
Found quite a stand of mature planted red pine…rows and rows of telephone poles..lol
They were on some nice rolling hills with some scrubby oaks here and there.
So I figured "why not see what's over in there".
Went back in a few hundred yards and started finding pretty decent, recently used trails all over the place.
Followed a few to see where they went and found a nice little bedding area with a lot of ferns in a really pretty little valley…hmmm
I didn't see any "smoothed out" trees for climbers.
So the hunt was on for a spot with some cover to try to make a blind on one of the trails radiating out from the beds.
I normally don't particularly like hunting pines.
They're so darn quiet.
I'd prefer to be able to hear the deer walking around.
I have had my best luck hunting in pines however…go figure..lol.
Now at this point, it was about 4pm.
If I was going to make a blind I had to do it quick.
The tricky part was trying to find a spot with a couple trees to sit against that were the the right distance apart so I could have 2 people hunting in the blind….and some cover around the spot in these barren pines.
There really are a lot of criss-crossing trails out there.
I was going round and round / back and forth …kinda going out of my mind.
…"this is the best trail..but there is NO cover", " lots of trails over there..with some cover, but my range will limit me to only one trail anyway..just can't get in the middle of them"….HELP
So I decided to pick a spot with the best cover that happened to have two good trees to sit against and also had 2 sorta 3 decent trails within range.
Figured there's no reason to sit on the best trail just to get blown as soon as I twitch from there not being any cover.
So the the hunt changed gears to finding brush and limbs…
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There sure wasn't much in the way of deadfall to scrounge up.
I found a few "poles" and lashed them up for a horizontal bar to lean my meager findings on to make my blind.
Never did get a good pic of this blind…it isn't much anyway.
But luckily I have some little expandable turkey blinds I carry with me.
They fill in the gaps pretty good.
At about 5 a called it good enough and sat down for the evening.
I was going to be pretty surprised if I saw anything after stinking up the area during my search for a spot and wood.
No surprises that night.
But hey, It was only the second day of the season (tues) and I had a new, fairly promising looking spot.
So I packed out….looking forward to that coming Sunday (yesterday) that would be my next chance to get in the woods.
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wed,thurs,fri,sat(grrr) goes by at work.
My goodness weekdays are looooong during the season...
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come out with it :)
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:banghead: :coffee:
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Whats up with all these broken arrows,I cant find any thing to break them on. :laughing:
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:campfire:
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The plan was to for my hunting buddy and I to meet up at place we could park at 6am Sun.
...hoped I gave him good enough directions.
Sure enough, 6am on the dot he was there.
The morning was kinda miserable weather really.
Rainy and low/mid forties.
In a couple months those temps will feel like a heat wave, but I'm not used to it yet so it feels a bit cold.
We said our hello's and talked about whether to set up the pop up somewhere or sit in the drizzling weather in the new blind.
After hemming and hawing, we decided to sit in the ground blind for a while.
If it got too miserable we'd go with plan B and sit in the pop up.
Neither of us particularly like the enclosed feeling of a pop-up.....
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:campfire: :coffee:
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We headed into the the pitch black, moonless, cloudy, wet morning.
Trying to walk quietly without tripping over the stumps and basically unfamiliar terrain….at least the ground was damp and quiet…lol
To my surprise, I led us straight to the blind without a waiver of uncertainty.
…at least that's how it appeared..lol
We got our legs over the top of the makeshift blind and quickly decided which tree(seat) would be who's.
Then just to keep the peace, we always decide which shooting directions belong to who.
So we put up the little turkey blinds around the perimeter and got comfortable for the wait to sunrise.
We would chuckle a bit as the rain would start coming down harder from time to time…both of us thinking "this could be better…do I want to be the wimp who brings up the pop-up?"
Then the all too familiar feeling of the cool down just before dawn was felt.
Seemed to be a little more of a drop in temps than normal do to our damp condition.
I was welcoming some light.
Knowing we were in pines and that the deer would scarcely make a sound my ears were in overdrive.
All the drops hitting the leaves and the occasional sound of a falling leaf was making my imagination paint vivid pictures of old mossy horns just out of sight in the shadows.
Just as the light was finally giving us relief we both saw some movement…
Both of us peering into the pre-dawn with whatever form of night vision we could muster…
turned out to be a skunk.
We laughed a bit.."At least we didn't get skunked in the new blind etc"..lol..
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:campfire:
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:coffee:
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After a few sips of coffee the rays of sunlight started to trickle through the trees and branches.
Have to admit, I do like the look of the little "gems" of water drops still clinging to the pine nettles just as the sun comes up.
We sat there about an hour after dawn.
We were just talking about whether this would be a good morning spot..or maybe evening….or maybe not at all..lol.
Our hopes would be to catch them coming out of bed, on their way to the small pond just out of our reach on private land.
At just about 8:30 my buddy's eyes got big…I knew something was up.
I could see him trying to burn a hole through the brush with his eyes just over my left shoulder….
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He lips to me.."don't move"
..tension is mounting a bit..boy it's hard not to turn a bit to see what's going on..lol
…then is see him whisper/lip to me.." turn and get ready now!"
So I quickly go from sitting on the ground to my knees.
All the while trying to keep as low as possible, concealing myself as best as possible with the blind.
I peek over the blind.
out of the corner of my left eye I see something slipping through the trees.
…looks big..wouldn't be the first time he's got me worked up over a coon though..lol….
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:pray:
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It moves a couple more feet…ALAS!
It's a doe!
….WAIT!….there's more behind her.
ok,ok..keep it cool John…don't rush it…you've only been waiting for a trad deer four years..no pressure..no buddy teases you for switching from compounds and not having meat in the freezer..lol
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:campfire: :campfire: :coffee:
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I watch her slowly walk down the intended trail.
Nosing the ground as she goes..
She seems to be pretty calm…tail wagging a bit.
I can see the heads of the two behind her after a few looong seconds.
The rear two are younger.
Plenty old enough to make it through the winter without mom.
..So my attention moves to the older doe.
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She looks square in my direction…stay calm..don't blink..don't tremble…can she hear my heart?!
ok..what's the plan here?
When am I going to draw with the least chance of spooking her?
She hasn't really walked far enough to get to the area a need her to be in.
I still can't twist my torso far enough to get a good draw on her….
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:campfire:
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..ok..if she just more or less follows the trail, she should go 7-8 more steps.
Then she'll be right behind that pine tree…perfect time to draw.
Hopefully the others will let me too…
I just needed her to go from the left of the picture, and on the far side of the pine in the center of the pic.
I let her walk to the red spot.
She was about 17-18 yds when she stood at that spot.
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/viewofshot.jpg)
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She did as I hoped.
When her head when behind that pine I drew as smooth as a could.
Things just happened in my favor and the other two didn't pay me any mind.
…
I focused intently on the spot I wanted to hit…
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0057.jpg)
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You must still be writing this story,,,,, :coffee: :coffee:
sure is a good one....
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Awesome story telling!
Suspenseful, that's for sure.
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:campfire:
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Loving this!...
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:campfire: :coffee:
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….and release…
I watched my arrow fly straight and true.
It was flying a bit high though…uh oh.
Just before the razor sharp VPA met her hair she ducked an inch or two.
I watched my arrow bury through her with only the bright green feathers left to see.
She took off with haste and was gone from view in seconds.
I knew the shot was high..more than a little disappointed…but still excitedly hopeful.
Normally I'd like to wait at least an hour on a shot like that.
But the rain was really forcing my hand….any trail would be dissolving away after too much time...
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:campfire: There's only one way for this one to end!
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here's a pic of my buddy Lauro right after the shot..
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0058-1.jpg)
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We waited 30 mins to start the tracking.
All looked pretty good at first...
Found this within 10 yds..
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0064.jpg)
then more and more..
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0065.jpg)
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0066.jpg)
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I absolutely love it! Can't wait for the conclusion.
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:bigsmyl: :campfire:
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Then things really started to look bad..
A drop here and a drop there.. (http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0063.jpg)
We ended up tracking that doe for a solid hour.
I'm thankful it decided to run through some very thick growth.
It was a real bear to walk through...but at least there was vegetation that would wipe off some blood.
Just as we'd go 30-40 yds following not much more than a drop here and there..we'd get a reassuring splash.
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..then..
lookie what I found....
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0067.jpg)
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congrats, glad it turned out well.
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Relief at last!
My first Trad deer was on the ground!
YYYEEEEE HHHAAAWWW!
As it ends up, Between my shooting a bit high and her ducking a bit..the arrow didn't hit lung at all.
This was a pure liver kill.
Somehow missed the stomach stuff.
The VPA head slid through the ribs nicely.
Just chipping/carving off a bit off one on the way in and cutting quite a slot in one on the way out.
I'm thankful for the nice sized hole to let the most blood out possible from this marginal shot.
I'm not stretching the skin here.
just laying my hand there for scale.
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0072.jpg)
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Nice story, had me all afternoon and into the night!! Congrats on a great deer!!
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Great story! Congrats on your first! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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I did it!
I got one!
The work has paid off.
Confidence is back baby!..lol
Now...I just have to see if I can do it again.
For those who like this stuff..
45# 62"whip HS
450 grain total arrow weight using a 175 grain VPA 3 blade.
about a 17yd shot.
Thank you Tradgang!
(http://i748.photobucket.com/albums/xx121/Zradix/Hunting%202012/SANY0070.jpg)
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Originally posted by bow_man_66:
Nice story, had me all afternoon and into the night!! Congrats on a great deer!!
X2!
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It sure is great, don't you think? Congratulations on your first.
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Congrats!!!!!!
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Congratulations on a nice fat doe! Great story telling to boot! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Congrats on your first trad deer! I'll bet you are really hooked now, huh?
Bisch
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Great story. Congratulations!
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Congrats! Great story! :clapper:
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Congrats on your first trad deer! I'm sure it will be the first of many to come.
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Congrats buddy, and thanks for the info you gave me on sharpening the 3 blade vpa's. They are shaving sharp now my friend.
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Congratulations! I really enjoyed the story!
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Great deer!! :thumbsup:
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Very nice.
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Congrats!! Good story too. Thanks!! :clapper: :clapper:
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Congrats! Great story telling!
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Good story, Congrats on a fine doe.
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Very nice deer, congratulations :thumbsup:
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Way to go John! Glad you put that VPA to good use! :thumbsup:
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Great story! Thanks for taking us along.
Good lookin doe...Congratulations!
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Originally posted by hitman:
It sure is great, don't you think? Congratulations on your first.
Sure is!
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Originally posted by Bisch:
Congrats on your first trad deer! I'll bet you are really hooked now, huh?
Bisch
if I wasn't before..I sure am now!
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Originally posted by jshperdue:
Congrats buddy, and thanks for the info you gave me on sharpening the 3 blade vpa's. They are shaving sharp now my friend.
Awesome! Really happy I could help.
Having confidence in your equipment is a big part of the equation in my mind at least. And knowing your head is SHARP really helps.
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Originally posted by Boomerang:
Way to go John! Glad you put that VPA to good use! :thumbsup:
Thank you for making a great head!
It's sharpened up and back in the quiver...ready for more!
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Thank you for the kind words guys.
This really is a great feeling!
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Congrats!
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Boy, you tell a good story! I was on the edge of my chair throughout your whole hunt! Congratulations on your first trad deer! That's a nice sized doe, and you'll have plenty of good eating! :clapper:
Bernie Bjorklund
NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin
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Well done brother!
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Congrats Zradix! :archer:
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Good Shoot'n!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/Iflytrout/Pictures/buzzards.gif)
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Now that's the way to GETTER DONE. Great story also, John. Thanks for the telling. :clapper:
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Great story and doe! Congrats.
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Nice doe. Congrats on your first!!
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nice job and great story! i love to read this stuff!
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That is so cool!
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Sausage!!!! Way to go!
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Congrats!!!!!!!
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Congrats! Great story. :thumbsup:
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Nice Shot!Ground Hunting with a bow is a blast.
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congrats!
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:thumbsup: Congrats!!