At least you were out to enjoy a beautiful morning. I bet when you woke up and seen the doe the old blood got to pumpin pretty good. What a way to wake up.

OK, so I went out this morning and redeemed myself

Well done! Call me when the pie comes out of the oven!

First blood on the new ILF rig? Good going.

What limbs do you have? Black Max?

God bless,

José

Them Sqacks is Big fat Ones you been Baiting ????

But you can let them wimen walk... 

God bless,

José

Well, todaY was a make-up day. I got serious about it again. Dodged between three pickup loads of deer/rabbit hunters, and went to the far end of public property on Brush creek. Shot this little buck at 10 yards when he interrupted my stalk on a gray squirrel. That'll larn 'im! After a 3/4 mile drag, it sure larnt me!
I'm gettin' too old for this schmidt  ps: the ILF bow did good

-- Edited by john nail on Sunday 6th of November 2011 12:30:30 PM

Nice job John...

Sounds like a deer hunt broke out in the middle of a squirrel hunt...

Jonathan

Dale, I wouldn't know how to hunt from a tree, it's been so long. 1980-something at least

Ha! I think I remember Dean Torges saying something like that once...

Gonna have to try that someday... although I sound like a buffalo in the woods... at least that was my dad's thoughts...

Congrats again!

Guess I'm going to need some lessons then... how about it ground "guru"... and I say that with utmost respect... I'd love to hear some of your thoughts in a seminar or something at the club...

Anybody else like to hear John's thoughts... I've hung in trees so long now... gotta check for a long tail when I come out

Shoot, I'd even buy lunch and meet you somewhere for some tutoring on a squirrel hunt or stump shoot, or whatever...

Asbell's book "stalking and stillhunting" is an excellent start. He learned it the same way Cowle's and I did (and about the same time and place) You must be ALWAYS aware of the wind---it is the Devil behind you. When to move and when to not, hunting the right cover......yada, yada. A good campfire subject for Janruary's club shoot.
Good luck

Jonathan, I'm sure you've read this in the past, but it kind of outlines my attitude about hunting deer on the ground. You just don't get this kind of "up close and personal" from a tree. Written a few years ago:

                     GROUND HUNTING

I own a good treestand, and I'll sit in it, if I have to. But it's my least favorite way to hunt deer. I love to get down "Among 'em"...


My friend, Paul Jalon (Elite arrows) says, "If Mother Nature offers a kiss, only a fool won't pucker up!"
I'm beginning to think he may be right. The second week of October, I had an opportunity to shoot a nice doe, broadside at about 20 yards. I hunt deer, and not horns, and I surely would have put her in the freezer, but she had a small fawn with her. The cute little rascal was just out of spots and dumb as a post. I knew if I shot her, he probably wouldn't make the Winter, so I let them walk. I Must have insulted Mom Nature by passing on her gift.

Having recieved a reprieve from work this morning, I was determined to go. No matter that it was raining and windy. The Red Gods must be served.
I put on my MTO-50 raingear and Muck boots, grabbed the recurve, and took off. At 7AM, I was oozing along a dry creek bed, still too dark to shoot, constantly amazed at how much noise a fat man in rubber boots can make, and how the expensive raingear that sounds fine in the kitchen at 6AM, suddenly sounds like a cheap shower curtain in the woods with a wind.

I came to a narrow spot where a picked cornfield joined a small bluff that fell down to the creek. I climbed up out of the creek and leaned against a little arm-sized tree with the hope of glassing a deer out in the field. I had just done a quick scan and put the glass back in my pocket, took 10 or 15 steps, when I noticed the Gray back of a deer behind a fallen log, maybe 25 yards ahead. I immediately knelt down in the weeds.
Rewind to where I compared the rain pants to a shower curtain. ..
The deer heard me and stood up. He was about 20 yards, but the vitals were behind the log. He decided to investigate and stepped out--looking right at me. He knew I wasn't Kosher, but couldn't decide what to make of me.

I s-l-o-w-l-y eased an arrow out of the side quiver and onto the string.....

The deer stood facing me. His rack was ample and well out past his ears. He had seen more than a few winters. I hoped he couldn't hear my heart beating--I sure could!......I became a statue.

And then things got stupid.

He came closer.

He eased around trying to catch my wind, but the bluff on one side and the creek on the other kept him from it. He did the usual stomping, head bob, and the fake look away with a quick "gotcha!"........I am like a nervous statue.

And then he came closer.

About 7 yards separate us now. He still has his front to me, and is watching me like you'd watch your young daughter's boyfriend. I have been squatted down here for maybe 10 minutes now, and my old body is beginning to quiver...I am like a statue in an earthquake.

And he comes closer!

I know the Jig is up. Even with the wind against him, that bloodhound nose will make me out any second. I could try for a frontal heart shot, but I've been in the game way too long for that.

At something less than 5 yards, I looked up into his eyes and said "You Win!" and he turned inside out and was gone, leaving me laughing in the rain like an idiot.

Folks, THAT'S WHY I LIKE TO HUNT ON THE GROUND!

-- Edited by john nail on Tuesday 8th of November 2011 02:47:10 PM

Wow ! What a story. Makes ya wanna git out there and go for the ground gusto.

Randy, open a photobucket.com account--it's free. Upload your pictures (hint-small ones upload quicker) then save them to your alkbum. Copy the code with IMG in it, and paste it here. The picture will show

[IMGhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v83/johnnail/005.jpg --  /IMG]

the code will look like the above, but without the two dashes. when pasted it will just show the picture, like this

-- Edited by john nail on Wednesday 9th of November 2011 12:48:37 PM

-- Edited by john nail on Wednesday 9th of November 2011 12:49:23 PM