Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

[Walt Francis]

Charlie, this is a good one!  
I'm stuck in Pinedale for another three weeks without either time or tags, so I have to live vicariously until October....Keep it coming.

[joekeith]

Sounds like you got your scent under control, at least while hunting.      And your seein' some critters    ,pretty soon huh?

[Arkansaslongbow]

My dad taught me to ALWAYS be truthful, no matter what; I never heard of Mr. Charlie until I starting reading this thread but I have learned since, that I truly missed out on a legend; I have read every word...twice....and catch myself wanting to hear more; for those who have known this gentleman for a period of time, consider yourself extremely blessed; I can only hope to meet Mr.Charlie and share a camp with him;

Mr. Charlie Lamb, thank you for a wonderful thread, for a great story and look forward to a successful end; I sir, am very thankful to meet you(even if it's through a computer) and am waiting for more, a lot more, from you; God bless......arkansaslongbow..........  

[Charlie Lamb]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Walt... if I had to be stuck somewhere, I can think of nowhere I'd rather be. Too bad about the time and tags thing.

Keith... I got to thinking about the previous night while on stand last night and it came to me that I'd been taking chlorophyll religiously for the last month, increasing the dosage as time went by.
I'm sure now that it had a lot to do with those deer not winding me. I'm not sure they ever were straight down wind from me...nothin fixes that!
But given the "pooling" effect of low wind and sitting in the same spot, I'm sure it helped lessen my human odor.

Barry.... you are too kind my friend. If you just have to read more and I'm not writing fast enough... I never seem to write that fast... you can check out the "Classic Hunts" (or whatever it's called) on the drop down list. I've got a few long stories on there.

[Charlie Lamb]

As mentioned before, I slept in yesterday morning. That gave the new place a chance to air out a little.

Around noon I pulled my truck down by the lake and retrieved the ladder stand I had down there. I'd decided that would be a good choice for the new spot.... it's on the perimeter of the property and might be subject to thieves.
They might still get it, but it's old and cheap and weighs a ton. If they are that ambitious I won't be out that much.

Most thieves seem to be to lazy to work, but not too lazy to steal... unless it involves work.

I did a quick scout around to see if I could make sense of why the deer I'd seen the night before were where they were.
Walking directly behind where I'd been hiding on the ground I found another trail. It angled slightly away from it's intersection with the first trail I'd found.
It passed within 20 yards of my first ambush spot.

I'd noticed that all three of the deer appeared to feed their way along with noses to the ground, breaking away from the trail and then back to it. But what were they feeding on. Lots of hickories dropping nuts (enough that you'd want to watch what tree you sat in or under)...that shouldn't be it. Lots of maples, but they weren't dropping any leaves and left nothing else on the ground that deer might like.

Finally I saw what I had been looking for all along. I big white oak stood less than 20 yards from the trail. That settled it.

A nice big maple whose trunk split into two equal size trunks about 10 feet up stood in just the right spot to be within shooting range of the new trail, the oak and the original trail. That's where the ladder stand would go.

In no time the stand was up and I'd done some prudent trimming in likely spots, using the leafy branches to camoflage the stand from the eyes of humans.

Even up at the level of the platform the trunks were almost as wide as my shoulders. That would give me great cover. The two trunks added more concealment potential...deer can't seem to tell that the trunk with the arms and legs is something to be afraid of.

[Charlie Lamb]

I headed to the house to help the wife finish up a batch of apple butter and to take care of some other projects around home.

Just before 4 p.m. I took my bow out in the yard and shot a dozen arrows. My fingers have improved a lot in just the last week and my shots were on the money from 10 yards to 30. I was ready as I'd ever be.

Within 15 minutes after shooting I was in my stand and cursing the things I'd forgotten.
I'd remembered my binoculars and they hung securely around my neck on their harness... I tuck them into the top of my bibs to keep them out of the way of my bowstring and out of the weather should there be any.

My Thermocell had ridden to the stand in my pocket and it now sat on the back of my stand. I had ONE mosquito buzz me while I was there and I never even turned the darned thing on... go figure!! Oh well, every minute without insect repellent on is happiness.

There was enough wind that I could tell where it was coming from... even though I had a pocket full of milk weed "floaters" to play with.

The only thing I didn't have with me was the bow hanger I'd bought last winter. I couldn't figure where I'd left it.
I mean I'd set it out. Thought I'd put it in the truck. Even looked for it before I got out of the truck.
I had to hold my bow most of the time I was on stand. That's not a totally bad thing.

I had a spare piece of rope in the stand so I tied it around the trunk of the tree beside me and let one end hang with a big old knot in the end of it.
I could put that knot between the bowstring and bow limb and the bow would hang nicely in easy reach. It would also lift off the rope easily with no noise or extra motion.

Time passed slowly with little activity from even the smaller denizens of the forest.
Remember, I said "little activity". Somewhere around two hours after I settled in, I was started by a sudden commotion behind me.

Suppressing the urge to snap my head around I slowly turned to see two gray squirrels playing ring around the hickory.
Twice around and they zoomed up the tree into the upper limbs and just as quickly were tumbling toward the ground in a clinch.
About 10 feet off the ground a small bunch of leaves and limbs seemed to partially arrest there momentum and split them up at the same time.

They hit the ground with two resounding "plops" and were off to the races again. It about knocked the wind out of me just watching.

The rest of the evening was very uneventful and I found myself at home eating supper just after dark. I'd give it another go on Friday.

(cont.)

[Robert Honaker]

[Charlie Lamb]

4:30 in the morning, not a soul in sight, cities looking like a ghost town on a cold and rainy night... and the thunder rolled.

I don't know who else it might be a blessing for. I'm sure there are many for whom it's a day lost due to weather... and that's a shame for them.

For me it IS a blessing. I've needed just this kind of hard pounding down pour to clear the ground of old sign.
When it quits every thing will be new and that, of course, will help.

I've focused on the new spot I found on nearby property. I guess the amount of sign sucked me in. At least enough to make me put a stand near by.

At this point I have two evenings and a morning stand under my belt from that position. That means I'm about to go off to the other end of the property for a while and see what's going on there.
Too much time in the same spot and every critter on the place will know not to go there. Some have probably already picked up on it.

I saw nothing the night before last and the same yesterday morning. And while I hated to do it, I knew it needed to search the area a little more.
Without having the luxury of scouting last winter, I had no choice. I got down from my morning perch and made a big semi circle around my stand.

The foray proved to be educational. I found yet another trail that had been unknown to me and this one was dotted with rubs... old and new. I found them all along the heavily torn up trail that parallels the ridge top.

You see, the spot is a corridor between mature maple with little under story and a steep drop off into very brushy cover.

[Charlie Lamb]

This new trail followed a side hill flat and as yet I don't know where it goes or what other secrets it might reveal... it is on the agenda.

But patience is key. I'm trying to learn the area without totally disrupting the habits of it inhabitants and take some backstaps from it at the same time.
I'll be able to hunt it smarter and more successfully next year when my stands will have already been placed and the best approach to them considered.

For now I'm staying in one spot longer for the simple purpose of observation. If a prime candidate for an arrow walks by then so be it.

Anyway, last night I got into place quietly, noting the wind would be favorable for both my approach to the stand and for sitting there.

I took the wayward bow hanger in with me... it had been laying on the console the entire time I'd looked for it the day before...somebody slap me please!

It's a very handy gadget on a tree that has no convenient limbs for hanging bows. I can see that it does have a small learning curve. Getting it in just the right spot so the bow is out of the way and instantly available will take some experimentation.

[Charlie Lamb]

It was a very quiet evening in the woods. That seemed odd to me, but I had no knowledge of the storm front that was approaching.

Even the squirrels and little birds that seem to always be out and around were still.
But as the witching hour approached,activity increased. A squirrel here, a squirrel there, a flock of Chickadees passing through the area... I remained absolutely still as they came. They are always inquisitive and make all kinds of racket when they find you sitting there in peace. Each member of the flock in it's turn coming to inspect and chatter about the new comer in the woods.

With an hour left I paid increasing attention to the new trail down the hill. A deer could easily pass along it and not be seen through the intervening brush if one was not attentive.

My vigilance was rewarded when I spotted the dark form of a deer some forty yards distant. In the gathering gloom it's coat seemed almost black.

A quick check with my binoculars proved it to be a very small fork horned buck. I'm almost positive it was the buck of a couple of days previous. He wasn't legal by state standards and certainly not something I'd shoot in September if he was.

I watched him feed along. He spent long periods of time with his head down feeding... the white oak acorns.

Finally he fed off to who knows where and I returned to being more aware of my surroundings.
A few minutes later a quick glance over my shoulder revealed a doe far behind me. She stared for a long time in my direction, but a quick check of the wind confirmed that it wasn't me she was interested in.

Whatever it was never revealed itself to me and the rest of the evening passed uneventfully.

When I finally pulled into the driveway the distant roll of thunder came to my ears and lightning flashes lit up billowing clouds from within. I'd had no clue this was coming, but I was happy about it and hoped deep inside that it would pass by morning so I could get out again.

At this writing it is still raining and if it will let up a little, I'll put on the rain coat and go scouting.
Nothing like a cleansing rain to remove all traces of man's passing in the great forest realm of the whitetail deer.

[Charlie Lamb]

My plan at this point is to not hunt this evening. I've got appointments tomorrow which would make taking care of meat difficult if I was successful and I'll be leaving town on Tuesday for an extended deer hunting trip to Kansas.

[Bill Carlsen]

I love bow hangers. Better yet is a tree stand that you can sit on so your legs are parallel to the ground so you can just rest your bow on your lap.

[Guru]

Charlie, I know for a fact you have some great hunting ahead of you this week in Kansas!

Best of luck to you, Tracy, and his boys!!  

Hope you guys do a lot of "bone collecting" this week    

[Charlie Lamb]

Thanks Curt! I am looking forward to my Kansas trip big time. I expect the action to heat up considerably.

I'm gonna put this one to rest... may have to revisit it later, but lots of new adventures lie ahead.  

[Arkansaslongbow]

Charlie;

Good luck in Kansas and hope you have a safe and successful week there; the other property will be a new world in a couple of months when mother nature puts all of the trees to sleep for the winter; a lot of good stories forthcoming for sure;

Be safe and kill a big one.........