2nd guessing what stand to hunt

[hydrasport205]

I  know we have all been through this but just wondering if any of ya out there planned on hunting a certain stand and get out to the woods and all of a suddend change your mind not because of wind direction or anything like that  but just because you 2nd guessed yourself  and it paid off.. would love to hear your stories

[bozara]

Thanksgiving day, 1993:  I have a friend who owned a river bottom ranch that had quality whitetails and an elk herd.  He is a heart surgeon and a wannabe hunter who didn't have the patience to put in the time or effort to be successful.

He asked me to take him with me to see if he could shoot something...with a bow, no less.  Pre-dawn we crossed a channel of the river to an island where I had a stand set up.  I carried a second stand and some screw in steps for my use.  I got him up his tree and made sure he was belted in, then went about 40 yards away (knowing this guy I felt I needed to keep tabs on him) and took ten or so minutes installing myself in another tree.  By this time it was pink light and about an hour before the usual movement of the elk from one side of the river, across the island to their bedding area.

I look over at Doc and he's talking on his cell phone!  Fifteen minutes later, I see him climbing down and he comes over under me and says, "Looks like nothing moving today...let's go."

The week of Thanksgiving has always been good to me during the whitetail rut, but due to family and work obligations, I'm typically limited to only a few opportunities to hunt.  So, I'm (quietly) steaming on the wade and walk back to the house.  It's 9 o'clock and I've had all of 5 quiet minutes on stand.

I have another property 2 miles from Doc's that has no elk but good whitetails (in '89 I shot a 151" buck there.)  So, I half-heartedly head for that place, figuring I'll hang a stand near a scrape that I discovered a couple of weeks prior.  

Upon entering the trees, I bust about four does and a shooter buck right out of the scrape and they high tail it out of there.  I decide to hang the stand anyway and see what happens...maybe there are two shooters around.  It's 10:00 or so before I'm settled.

Within 3 minutes I hear shuffling pine needles and see the same buck walking through the scrape and heading up a trail that will take him past my stand at 18 yards!  Grab the bow, nock an arrow, draw and release.  All within 3 1/2 minutes of setting the stand.  The shot looks to be a little back, so I stay in the stand for 30 long minutes then head for where I last saw him and jump him not 60 yards from the stand.  

To make a long story shorter, I went home and came back 5 hours later to find a drop of blood every 10-15 yards, eventually crossing the river.  I cross without waders (November in Montana) and jump him again, so I backed out again.  Found him the next day, back on the original side of the river, not 2 feet from the water.  

In my haste to draw and shoot, I had confirmed he was a mature buck, but had not noticed he had a broken G-3.  Given more time to look him over, I would have passed and hoped for a shot the next year.  He would have scored 139 and change if he could have found that missing tine.
IMG]http://i375.photobucket.com/albums/oo195/m0r3land/145.jpg[/IMG]

[Maxflight]

A few years ago I was headed to a stand for an evening hunt. It's about 200yds back from a field edge and about 300yds over a knob from the bedding area. As I was walking in I noticed nice, big cumulus clouds and thought that it probably will be a terrific sunset that evening. I opted to move to another location, where I had a ground blind over looking the intersection of two trails, that faced west.

Not minutes after getting settled in I saw movement down on the lower trail. A real nice 6 pt. (14" spread) was slowly working his way toward me, nibbling on the flora, scratching his ear, shaking the flies of his coat. I got ready but still was not decided on whether I would shoot (there were bigger buck around and it was early in the season). He past by me at 8 yds and then stopped about 12 yards away, perfectly quartered away, watching something down the path in front of him. I realized that all the circumstances were so right and that this is the situation archers dream about.

It still amazes me that is seemed to take forever for that arrow to travel 12 yards, but it was heading right for the spot I was aiming and then disappeared into that spot.

After a short recovery then dressing the buck for transport, I pulled out a flask reserved only for such an occasion and enjoyed that sunset far more than I originally imagined. Cheap whiskey never tasted so good.

[ron w]

Always go with the wind in your face and your gut feelings....you a predator you have to think like one.

[Whip]

On my hunting property I have lots of stands in place and plenty of options to sit.  When I have friends up to hunt I make them pick first and take the second choice myself.  It started as me trying to be a gracious host, but it has become more of a game. It frustrates them to no end that invariably they make the wrong choice.  

Once I make my decision on where to sit I generally stick with it if the wind is right.  But very often the wind at the stand is different than it is at the cabin, so I do quite often go to a plan B.

[Maxflight]

Couldn't have said it better myself RonW

[Bonebuster]

Cool thread.

With experience comes the ability to recognize that "gut" feeling. Sometimes it is indeed telling you where to go, you need only to listen.