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WonderMonkey

Hunting Season Has Arrived

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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.

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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. 

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Leaving shortly for 15 days at the hunting shack looking for ruffed grouse. As usual it rained most of the night to insure everything gets muddy hauling in. Our wheelers are our mode of transportation while we're there. Over 400 square miles to hunt.

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We've rode 145 miles so far. Some light rain first day and a half. Been all over different terrain. Come across a fair amount of grouse so far plus lots of exploring. Have only seen 2 people since Friday. 4 more days remaining.

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I could help to notice , her string seems a little loose , LOL 

 

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9 hours ago, PROV said:

We've rode 145 miles so far. Some light rain first day and a half. Been all over different terrain. Come across a fair amount of grouse so far plus lots of exploring. Have only seen 2 people since Friday. 4 more days remaining.

 

 

How much fuel do you carry on these trips?

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11 minutes ago, WonderMonkey said:

 

How much fuel do you carry on these trips?

I don't usually carry any on a day ride. The Rubi can go 100 miles on a tank. 

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Got my first antelope on Monday morning.


Opening day just had many hunters. i felt unsafe after hearing some shots twang around me. had to figure out how to hunt this piece of public land. It’s a canyon about 4 square miles—one way in. Hunters everywhere; saw a buck and doe at 149 yards. shot twice and missed.

second day saw nothing but hiked further afield where i saw the two goats and tried some perches. No trees to hide behind just cactus. 
third day i started hiking out at 530 heading SouthWest for 2 miles. 30 minutes later i see this truck about 1000 yards to my left—I’m heading South onto private prop!!! Corrected my trail but never got to where i wanted to be by shooting light. No goats anywhere i could see, so this was gonna be another scout, right?
Found the perfect hide and figured I would sit there all day. Then another hunter shows up and walks a big circle around me. Argh!
i pick up on a herd of 8 goats that popped out of the canyon onto the east rim but it’s right in line with the highway and a mile. Then a rancher shows up to feed his cattle they’re all crowded around the fence between me and the goats. This second hunter walks past the rancher, stirs up all the cows and pushes the goats into the canyon.

So i start hiking northeast around the knob I’m on to the rim of the canyon. I crawl to the ridge and see those goats at the bottom about 500 yards and 200 feet below me. I think this other hunter is gonna spook em so i set up for a shot.
i set my bipod as low as it will go, take my chest pack off and use my backpack as a gunstock rest. I crawl to the rim, avoiding cactus, and set up my shot. 534 yards I have to account for 35 inches of drop. 

I see this beautiful buck and his harem. Not taking a long shot at the buck—don’t want to ruin his looks. So I pick out a large doe and take her.  First shot is high on the shoulder; I’m saving that scapula. second shot is between the eye and ear.

 I had to drag that goat, my rifle and my pack 2.5 miles back to the truck! I got 12 pounds of great looking steaks, 10 pounds of sirloin roasts and the remaining 25 pounds for grind. The two little steaks at the bottom are from the shoulder blade—flat irons. My fave.

 

 

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Edited by Goober
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1 hour ago, PROV said:

I don't usually carry any on a day ride. The Rubi can go 100 miles on a tank. 

 

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!

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1 hour ago, Goober said:

Got my first antelope on Monday morning.


Opening day just had many hunters. i felt unsafe after hearing some shots twang around me. had to figure out how to hunt this piece of public land. It’s a canyon about 4 square miles—one way in. Hunters everywhere; saw a buck and doe at 149 yards. shot twice and missed.

second day saw nothing but hiked further afield where i saw the two goats and tried some perches. No trees to hide behind just cactus. 
third day i started hiking out at 530 heading SouthWest for 2 miles. 30 minutes later i see this truck about 1000 yards to my left—I’m heading South onto private prop!!! Corrected my trail but never got to where i wanted to be by shooting light. No goats anywhere i could see, so this was gonna be another scout, right?
Found the perfect hide and figured I would sit there all day. Then another hunter shows up and walks a big circle around me. Argh!
i pick up on a herd of 8 goats that popped out of the canyon onto the east rim but it’s right in line with the highway and a mile. Then a rancher shows up to feed his cattle they’re all crowded around the fence between me and the goats. This second hunter walks past the rancher, stirs up all the cows and pushes the goats into the canyon.

So i start hiking northeast around the knob I’m on to the rim of the canyon. I crawl to the ridge and see those goats at the bottom about 500 yards and 200 feet below me. I think this other hunter is gonna spook em so i set up for a shot.
i set my bipod as low as it will go, take my chest pack off and use my backpack as a gunstock rest. I crawl to the rim, avoiding cactus, and set up my shot. 534 yards I have to account for 35 inches of drop. 

I see this beautiful buck and his harem. Not taking a long shot at the buck—don’t want to ruin his looks. So I pick out a large doe and take her.  First shot is high on the shoulder; I’m saving that scapula. second shot is between the eye and ear.

 I had to drag that goat, my rifle and my pack 2.5 miles back to the truck! I got 12 pounds of great looking steaks, 10 pounds of sirloin roasts and the remaining 25 pounds for grind. The two little steaks at the bottom are from the shoulder blade—flat irons. My fave.

 

 

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.

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Good question thanks mine is more of a bino harness

I use a Gen 1 (front opening) bino harness in ATACS AUX from T&K Hunting Gear. It’s coupled with a range finder pouch (Vortex Ranger 1800) and bear spray pack (Protec 1400 LED flashlight). It’s secured with magnets; this could be a problem if you’re not careful with the flaps and the magnets come crashing together.

Tyler designed a Gen 2 harness with rear opener and hook closure—much improved—but I’ll stick with my G1.

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10 minutes ago, Goober said:

Good question thanks mine is more of a bino harness

I use a Gen 1 (front opening) bino harness in ATACS AUX from T&K Hunting Gear. It’s coupled with a range finder pouch (Vortex Ranger 1800) and bear spray pack (Protec 1400 LED flashlight). It’s secured with magnets; this could be a problem if you’re not careful with the flaps and the magnets come crashing together.

Tyler designed a Gen 2 harness with rear opener and hook closure—much improved—but I’ll stick with my G1.

 

 

 

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.

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1 hour ago, WonderMonkey said:

 

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.

I’m too clumsy and fidgety to hunt from a stand, so I adopted the ninja stalk. I don’t call yet but i have a bunch of calls. 

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10 minutes ago, Goober said:

I’m too clumsy and fidgety to hunt from a stand, so I adopted the ninja stalk. I don’t call yet but i have a bunch of calls. 

 

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 !.

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12 hours ago, Fishfiles said:

I could help to notice , her string seems a little loose , LOL 

 

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are these gonna be in the woods ?, if so ?, i'm taking a few months off !..rofl.

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On 10/6/2021 at 9:53 AM, WonderMonkey said:

 

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!

I have a hunting shack in the middle of nowhere that I started when I was 21. Have generator and wood stove. About 500 yards in from our trucks. A slice of heaven. Rode 55 miles today.

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I was out for our long week end & got home last nite… had great time, but no luck. Seen 2 does Sat & 3 does Sun. Put a lot of miles on the 300…

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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.

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Checking in with a fatty doe, shot Halloween evening. 45ish yards with my Scorpyd  Deathstalker. Double lung and a short sprint. 2 more tags to fill......

 

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Our firearms deer season starts this Saturday. Heading to my camp tomorrow morning for 10 days. Not expecting much success. Tons of wolves up here and few deer. 

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gun season opens nov 13th here i believe ?, i'll be in the woods for a few days.

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I was out this afternoon. Seen 1 buck, but he was too fast as I was driving. Then 14 more deer in private land in way home..

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I like hunting season cause I have a lot of friends that give me processed deer that is really good.  This past week had some borritos that were off the hook.  Got some hot tamales I might eat today.  
 

why buy a cow when you get the milk free 

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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/

 

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I think @retro has a pretty sweet crossbow setup.  @wheelsquad does as well, but he hasn't been on much lately.

 

 

I picked up a couple of Walmart specials on clearance, but haven't gotten around to shooting them yet.  Bear Pledge compound and a Barnett Whitetail II.   They were too cheap to pass up, so I snagged them when I came across them.

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