Close, but, no shot . . .

[sumner4991]

Grizz . . .I need to come over there and tame some bears.

Good idea Bluefish . . .but, my pocket knife was in my pocket.

I saw the same coyote this a.m., came within 5 yards. He never acted like he was scared at all and I'm fairly sure he looked me in the eyes. He has probably read the rule book.

I saw a bigtime buck in a guy's yard this morning at 5:30a.m. on the way over to the property. He was big, big, wide, and tall. I almost wrecked. There was another with him, but, I was so focused on the first one, I barely saw it.

[Grizzly Adam]

I saw a bigtime buck in a guy's yard this morning at 5:30a.m. on the way over to the property. He was big, big, wide, and tall. I almost wrecked.

Big racks are so distracting to men.

[sumner4991]

Grizz . . ."distracting" ,that's the understatement of the year. I swear I lost 15 seconds of my life. I've thought of nothing since. That rack was bigger than the Homecoming queen's my senior year. I'll never forget that one either.

How about those Ole Miss Rebels . . .they host the debate, then kick Florida in the teeth . . . ouch.

[DanO]

sumner: Over and over I read about the importance of surprize in deer hunting. Treestands soon get figured out if you make any mistakes with wind or movement. Sitting on the ground seems like a great way to be unpredictable and it's so portable. What do you sit on or behind? I'm assuming you found something fairly comfortable.

By the way any time your pulse races, I think it's a successful hunt.

[Grizzly Adam]

What do you sit on or behind? I'm assuming you found something fairly comfortable.

I use a Sportsman's Bucket (the square type) with the cheap seat taken off and replaced with a folding boat seat that swivels. I put backpack straps on it, and use it to carry my gear in. Call it the Sportsman's BarcaLounger!

Combined with my Poncho Blind (another Grizz specialty ), I can be nearly invisible and mostly comfortable ... anywhere, anytime.

Neither the Sportsman's BarcaLounger or the Poncho Blind do anything to discourage bears & snakes, though.

[Partikle]

Is that considered a successful hunt? I saw deer . . . . . .

Definitely. Every hunt you come away from safely is a successful hunt. Just being out in the wilderness defines a successful hunt to me. Even if you screw up on a nice buck, it’s a successful hunt if you learned from your mistake. I screwed up in 2006 and then again in the early season of 2007 for two different reasons. I moved an inch on the first one and got busted, then on the second one I tried shooting with twigs in the way and my arrow deflected into the ground. I remembered both mistakes and I did not make them the next time I saw a nice buck at the end of last season.


The only exception is if you fall out of your tree stand and get hurt, then it’s not a successful hunt.

Good Luck on your next successful hunt.

[sumner4991]

Dano . . .I usually find a tree that was a lot of brush immediately behind/beside it. I have very little obsticles in front of me in most cases. The idea is to break up my outline with the brush behind me. It works real well until the deer get within 15 yards. The closer they get, the better they see. Any adjustments I make, I try to do so before the deer get within 20 yards. Once they break that barrier, I freeze until they look the other way or get their head behind a tree or something. However, the set-up is everything . . .it's easy to get the wind in your face, the harder part is determining the direction from which the deer will be coming. However, this part is fairly easy too, you just get the occasional surprise. Like you said, hunting from the ground gives me a lot of advantages from a set-up stand point. Being on the ground leaves me open to being busted and I get a kick out of that challange. I travel lite . . .I only bring a pad to sit on. It's one of those dense foam things. Not very comfortable . . .my backside gets to hurting after a couple of hours. I start making more and more adjustments the longer I sit. I can tell how long I've been in the woods by how long I can sit still between adjustments. I have also found that pine trees are the best to sit under. They keep me dryer in a rain, the soil is softer, and the pine needles soften the noise. I like to be on higher ground when possible too. First thing I do is remove all the leaves from around my sitting area. It's safe to sleep and sometimes I do.

Particle . . .I'm with you buddy . . .I've experienced those mishaps. It's a continual learning experience. I figure if I'm hunting for deer and I see deer, then it's a successful hunt. However, if I go out to kill a deer and I do not, then it's unsuccessful. The hunt was successful, however, I also went out to bring one home. So, in reality it was both.

Ray . . .you asked if I was consistantly sucessful. Well, depends on your definition. I have averaged 5 deer per year for the last several years. I haven't went scoreless since my second year hunting, 30 years ago. So, I think that's consistantly successful. However, Mike P. would consider it a complete failure because I have not mounted anything that scores. However, I give the majority of the meat to the hungry. The families that get the meat are really excited when I call. . .that's a great feeling.