WonderMonkey

I was going to get a gun boot, but I was given grippers, so I'm using those. For hunting I don't travel off the old logging road so I don't worry about things grabbing my rifle. Of course I may go off-trail when going in to get a deer that ran a bit, but I'll deal with that. On the back of my atv I have a Plano Sportsman's trunk and use it to keep "stuff" that I may need.

Sounds fun! I have several Jerry cans that I could pack nicely for long range trips. On their side they lay nicely and things can be placed on top of them.

Thanks for those two links. I'm certainly not hung up on raw FPS, but I'll take whatever gets the job done, plus 1. From my normal rifle season stand I have my feeder to the left and deer come out behind it, and deer to my right on a large trail. With one of the advanced crossbows I could cover both areas, or I could go more moderately priced and put a stand nearer to one spot or the other. Of course it's always the conundrum of a hunter, where to put the stand to see what you need to see, at the right time of the year.

I'll go look for that thread. Thanks!

Somehow, somewhere, at some time, I developed a crack in my compound bow. It's old. I'm the third owner of the bow. Also, I sold my muzzleloader a bunch of years ago and have been using my bow during that season. With the recent (last x years) advances in crossbows, I may end up getting a nice crossbow instead of buying a reasonable crossbow AND a muzzleloader. My brother and another of our hunting party both have Ravin 29's. It has enough consistency and killing power to take a shot out to 100 yards, if you wanted to. https://ravincrossbows.com/product/r29-crossbow/

I judge from afar, and frequently.

It's muzzleloader opener this weekend. I'll ground blind bow instead. I was supposed to go hunt last weekend but I was called to a SAR instead. I'm looking forward to being in the woods.

I'm an old-fashioned procrastinator.

You need to sweep out your shop, it's unsightly. Let me know when you are done with that assigned chore.

You are missing out on one of the joys of hunting, which is a tree stand nap. I've stalked and also used a ground blind, but mostly I hunt from a stand. A story left for a campfire and a few beverages is when I ground stalked with just my fixed-blade knife, and came within just a step or two from making my move and having the deer kick my !.

Looks nice! I hunt from a stand normally and don't use a bino harness. I've thought about it, though and will keep the brand in mind.

Awesome! Send some my way! Myself and my group lease land to hunt on. It's an expense, but we don't run into the things that you did on public land. What kind of chest rig do you carry? I have a SAR V2 from Hill People Gear.

I go back and re-read your initial post but then I assume you base camp somewhere and have extra fuel there. Somehow I thought you were doing the entire trip from your atv. FYI your trip sounds like a bunch of fun!

How much fuel do you carry on these trips?

I can see how they would get hung up on passing "stuff". I have clear paths to my stand, but I'm not always guaranteed to go to that stand in the future.

Thanks, I was going to ask you which model. I like the boot over the cradle that I see all over on front racks. If I order it, I'll name it after you.

I've been chewing back and forth on how to carry my rifle from cabin to tree stand. It's not a difficult ride and I could always sling it cross body, but I'm going to hear how you feel yours travels and possibly pick one one. I've been eyeing those.

I doubt this firearm works. Want me to take it off your hands?

Sat in my stand for bow last weekend. I didn't take a bow as my stand is setup for rifle (distance, etc) but wanted to get a handle on the patterns for that time of the year. This is a new stand location for me so in the off-season I'll put up ANOTHER stand that is where I think it would be effective for bow. Both are focused on my feeder and salt block. You can see in the below photo that where I expect deer to emerge is too far of a shot for my compound bow. I would not be confident in placing a kill shot from that distance. My brother has a Ravin R29X crossbow and I think that would deliver accuracy and kill from there, but I haven't researched it enough to know for sure. Either way, I don't HAVE an R29X so I'll be watching and looking for a suitable bow spot for next year. Below is the view from my stand to my feeder, which is 103 yds away. Due to the surrounding terrain, I expect most deer to come from behind the feed or to the right towards the feeder. To the left in this photo and actually behind my stand is a river that borders part of the property. Here is a panorama from left to right from my stand. The photo makes it appear as if the field is in a "V" shape but it's actually straight .... one long field. On the right side of the field is a tree line and I expect deer to use that to travel. They could (and have) cross anywhere in that field but when the shooting starts I expect them to be more careful. Of course the rut makes them lunatics so all bets are off then that's occurring.

Nice looking buck. Not even filled out yet. In a year or two it's going to be large.

Is that where you have a salt block?

Well that's true. I'm all for having something just because you want/NEED it.

I used to have more calibers of this and that, but in the last 8 years or so I've been consolidating. Sure, you need certain classes of things for certain applications, but I have found comfort that I don't have to stock large amounts in five different handgun calibers and can just do two. My wife and I both use the same caliber for handgun and I use a different for a specialized pistol that I carry outdoors sometimes. It's been much easier keeping my stock where I like this way.

What IS proven, and goes along with what you are saying, is that a stressed deer has chemicals released into its blood. So if a deer doesn't die right away, or is being chased, etc. From one of the articles I found while looking for a more authoritative source: