The Way East.... another bowhunting journey.

[Charlie Lamb]

Chad had told me that I might have a little trouble getting in the tree he had in mind and I had some serious doubts about it as we headed into the woods not far from his house.

If worse came to worse I'd sit on the ground. That problem never materialized as he'd underestimated my climbing ability.
It was a pretty straight forward climb if you don't count "barber poling" around the tree, switching to another tree in mid climb and back onto the original as I got up to the stand.

With visions of Chad's buck fresh in my mind and new country being revealed as morning pulled back the veil of darkness that had surronded me, I sat ready and full of anticipation... and I wouldn't wait long.

Though Chad had given me the short course on what to expect and where to expect it, I still found my head swiveling from side to side.

During one glance down behind me along a little creek that eased through the timbered draw, I spotted a deer casually following it's course.
I expected him (it turned out to be a buck) to turn my direction and he did just that.

Before long he had come up along side my position and I got a good look at his head gear. Pretty small for the area and what I'd seen on Chad's trophy room wall... I'd wait.
 

[cjones]

This has me on the edge of my seat, and i already know what happens! Great story telling as always Mr. Lamb.

[Shaun]

You take some great pictures too Charlie.

[Charlie Lamb]

The morning was one of those typical November hunting mornings for me... except for the part where I saw 4 bucks within range of my stand.
The spot I was sitting was great and it seemed I was never long in waiting for another deer to show up.

They came from literally every direction of the compass.
As each one came along I would look them over good and with smug optimism let them walk on by.

Chad had told me that he mostly saw bucks from this stand. I found that hard to believe at first.
I mean, back home, you hardly ever saw "just" bucks and as a matter of fact, hardly saw a buck at all most times... but this wasn't back home and it was apparent that my buddy had a very special hunting spot.

It was just like I'd imagined it would be, but seldom ever experienced.

[Charlie Lamb]

Between deer sightings, I'd sit and listen to turkey talk. The big birds seemed to be everwhere and I wondered if this crossing I was on would also be a turkey crossing.

As it had turned out, I saw MANY birds leaving the roost not long after first light. Like the deer, they were spotted at every point of the compass and some quite close.... but nothing landed or walked anywhere near.

The first morning passed without loosing an arrow, but with a feeling of great anticipation of what was ahead.

As with any hunt, we would spend some time looking around for fresh sign trying to read what was going on in the area when we found it. There was no shortage of sign.

Here, Vance and Chad check out a scrape that showed up just down the field edge from the house... I'm talkin bow range from the house!
 

The woods seemed to be full of rubs. Big ones, small ones, old ones, new ones. They were everywhere. I was starting to get a feel for the property.
 

[Charlie Lamb]

We'd stand a new area for the evening hunt. The farm where Chad had taken his buck the night before.

For the moment at least, we'd visit more and take the edge off old muscles with a little shooting session while we waited the arrival of Dick "Rabbitman" Easter.

I'm here to tell you that Chad Jones can handle a bow!! It doesn't take a truck running over me to spot that, either!

He'd centered the spot on his buck he'd wanted to hit and our sessions at the bales just confirmed what I already knew.
 

[bayoulongbowman]

2nd cup of coffee this is good!!  

[Shaun]

Wow! that boy's got form. No wonder the buck had a hole in the imaginary 12 ring. Good tellin to start the day - whether you're in Louisiana or Iowa.

[beachbowhunter]

Chad has "Extreme"ly good taste in bows too..  :cool:

[JC]

Great pics....always adds to the feeling of being there.

[Guru]

Charlie...good stuff so far bud!!

 I wish Chad could have stayed and joined us in our shooting sessions in TX......Someday we'll all be together again shooting....I'm sure he handles a bow just fine with the bucks he kills!!!

[houseman]

Charlie,  I enjoy sharing in your adventures.  But,  Thanks for taking the time to impart your wisdom on a new to trad guy.  This is what,  For me is the best part of being a stick shooter.  Helping others.  That is the greatest thing one can do on this earth.  May god bless you all.  Jeff

[Charlie Lamb]

The afternoon came quickly and on the heels of Dick Easter's arrival. We suited up and headed for the "other" farm for our evening hunt.

Chad and Vance dropped me off at the end of a long field with instructions on where I'd find the stand, then slowly drove away.

I'd soon entered the fringe of brush along the field edge and found the stand. Without undo fanfare I was soon settled in for the evening.

The farm was a natural. It was high ground, with long fingers of pasture spreading across a summit like fingers on a hand. The sides of the fingers dropped off into more rugged country, heavilly wooded and brushy.
   

The evening was pretty uneventful except for a lone doe which sneaked along a brushy edge some fifty yards from my stand.

We all met at the barn where we'd parked at dark to compare notes. It had been pretty slow for everyone and Dick got the unexpected surprise of arriving to a missing stand.
Some scum bag had stolen one of Chad's stands and ladders.

Being the resourceful guy he is Dick had made the best of it with a hasty ground blind.

You need to keep in mind that my buddy Vance is a westerner from way back. All this whitetail huntin stuff is as foreign to him as branding parties are to most of the rest of us.

But after all he is a hunter and I watched with interest as he absorbed this strange new game.

He hadn't known going into it if he'd get along with tree stands or not and as it turns out he was most often more comfortable in his ghillie hiding on the ground close by a tree stand.

We did get him in a ladder stand one evening and I guess that was an eye opener for him. He seemed to enjoy it.

[Charlie Lamb]

The following morning I awoke to the sound of rain on the roof and was sorely tempted to role over and go back to sleep.

For nearly four months now, I'd been hunting almost daily and it was starting to catch up to me. I was bushed and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

But there was coffee on and the guys were assembling, so I slipped into my cammies and headed for the house.

That morning turned into a washout. It was just too wet and none of us really had any desire to go out and get soaked.

A quick run to town and a hearty breakfast took away some of our disappointment and a nice long nap on our return did wonders for my attitude and the weather.

It turned off nice in the afternoon, and we all suspected it would be a busy night in the woods... but it wasn't. Movement was very slow.

[Charlie Lamb]

Here's a pic of Vance doing a tree stand "assessment".  :D  
 

In this one he's probably saying something under his breath about dang eastern hunting practices.
 

[kojac]

dang, thats a nose bleeder and em-r-sum tall trees too. Uff-da I don't blame ya there vance.

good job guys, another GREAT adventure for sure.

thanks again!!!

[Guru]

Now those are two funny pix right there!!!!

[Charlie Lamb]

We hunted pretty hard all week. Up early, early, and off to the woods for several hours each morning.

We'd grab a bite, take a few practice shots, look over a promising spot and head for the woods again in the early afternoon.

The deer just weren't moving quite like we had hoped, but the weather was working against us. There was only one morning that could have been called cool and the afternoon stands were often made in long sleeve T shirts.
Not the optimum weather for hunting rutting whitetails... but you takes what you gets!    

Even with Chad's great knowledge of the deer in his area, we just weren't seeing them.
 

But that didn't keep my spirits down. I stayed keyed up from the time I arrived on stand until it was past time to get down.
I just knew that at any minute a huge old gagger of a buck would come strolling into view.

[Charlie Lamb]

Now remember, I said it wasn't as good as we hoped! I didn't say we were totally without adventures.

One evening I was in the stand by the little pond. It was a quiet evening and I was glad that the sun was setting.

I'd been getting my eyes full of the last bright rays of the setting orb and it was playing havoc with my vision into the darker places... Anyplace below the tree tops qualified for that description.

I'd been putting off rattling with the rattle bag I carried in my pack.
Rattling kind of goes against my grain anyway. I mean I'm not use to making all that noise in the woods.

Yeah, I've done my share, but with typically poor results around home, so it's not the first thing that comes to mind when I'm wanting to see a big buck... or any buck for that matter.

But it worked in Ohio. It was something that Chad and his buds did all the time with good results.

They also used grunt calls and can type calls at random times with equally good results.

So I waited until late evening, when I suspected the bucks were on their feet moving and I did a grunt, bleat, rattle sequence.

The bag is one of those big ones that they make now. Heavy and bulky but good sound and volume. I worked it pretty hard for thirty seconds or so then hung it up.

I stood stock still pressed up against the bole of the giant oak I was in and turned my head slowly, watching for movement.

I'd looked the ground in front of me over pretty well, sweeping my gaze off to my left where I'd seen a doe a couple nights before, as my eyes swept back I zeroed in on something out of place in the brush 30 yards away.

A still gray form stood shielded by a screen of light brush. An unmoving watcher in the woods.

As my eyes slowly focused out the brush and background color and zoomed in on the gray form, I could see it was a small buck.

It was obvious that he didn't arrive with the intent of getting his young butt kicked. He stood a long time before finally moving at an angle past my position.

He'd have been unshootable because of intervening limbs, but I had decided this hunt was a do or die trophy hunt and I'd eat my tag before I killed a little guy.

I'd had a pretty good season so far. I'd had my encounters with critters, filled some tags and put plenty of great protein in my freezer. There was no pressure to kill anything at this point.

[Shaun]

Oh boy, my evening story time. So good of you to share your hunt with us all.