So at this point, its 31 Dec. Mid day. I have sat 4 times in 3 stands. Have seen 6 bucks, one of them a decent 9 pointer, one button buck and 4 dinky fork horns. I have seen 11 ish hogs, almost had a shot at a couple last evening but it just never felt right. And i have killed one large doe, with Chris's Randy Mornin Hi-Breed.
After our lunch break, around 2:30 ish, Jeff, Izzy, Danny and I headed out with our guide Robert. As we were approaching our hunting areas Robert asked us if we were all here to hunt bucks. I totally knew what he was getting at. He said, If we wanted to hunt bucks he would put us in particular stands. If we wanted to just shoot a doe or a hog, he would adjust our placement accordingly. He didn't want to blow a good buck hunting area if we were going to shoot a doe or hog.
We all basically said we were buck hunting. Cept Izzy. Izzy honestly answered that he was happy no matter what and was having a great time. ( On a side note, Izzy hadn't shot his buck as of this time in my story).
I was up first. When we arrived at the stand, it was a couple of large old oaks sitting on the edge of a field. Robert told me Jeff had killed a nice buck out of this tree a couple of years ago. Robert gave me the low down on where the deer come from and dropped me at the tree. Robert was kind enough to feed a little corn closer to the stand also.
The weather was decent. I was wearing a long sleeve capaline top, t-shirt, my Sitka kelvin vest and a long sleeve shirt over top. I didn't think i was going to really need my Wooltimate jacket but just in case I draped it over my legs. Kinda like a lap blanket. This gives my legs extra warmth and allows me to move my feet more freely. One thing I have learned is that I should get everything on I need before getting settled into the stand. By the time you sit for awhile and its gets chilly, you may have deer under you. Its to late to add layers then. As you have heard, these deer are wound tight.
Getting settled into the stand also meant getting my gear into a place that would not cause problems, I hung my Arrowmaster quiver to my right and my day pack was placed on the stand platform to my left. I also drew my bow a couple of times to stretch the muscles and figure out a shooting position. Good thing I did. I was shooting a longbow and the bottom limb was bumping into a few little tree limbs to my lower left. A quick prune job and I was set.
I settled in around 3 ish and waited for the feeder to go off at 4 pm. As you can see from the pics, the view is fairly obscured. I sat quietly, patiently, and most importantly motionless for the next hour. I day dreamed of big bucks, shooting straight and my family. When the feeder went off I was deep in thought and about jumped off the stand. After my heart slowed down I intensified my concentration. Anticipating the deer to arrive. The feeders act like dinner bells in some locations and I was expecting lots of guests.
Topic: Solana Ranch -What a ride into the New Year (Read 60619 times)
