Well it's time I think to finally Hunt!
 

If anyone read my post awhile back about buying my first hang on tree stand well I took it back and bought a ladder stand. As I mentioned I have enough permanant stands built out of pressure treated wood that will hold 2 people comfortably, this stand was to be used to move quick and set up on fresh sign as needed.
I know a-lot of you are already ML Hunting, our rifle season does'nt start untill Nov 17th but our Bow Season started on Oct 1st this year 2 weeks earlier than usuall.
I went with my buddy today and we set up our ladder stand near a 50 acre corn field where we hunt, we have permanent stands there but we had 2 good places in mind where the bucks have a run just inside the woods from the corn field where they scent check the does from there. Our stands are up and ready to hunt.
As I write the were still getting a-lot of rain from Hurricane Sandy, the creek in my woods accross the street is a raging river, it's been bone dry all summer.
This is where my Thread starts and as most know I write a-lot.......A-lot of you's must be thinking what kind of a hunter am I to not have hunted once since our bow season opened 31 days ago?
Like I said our bow season started 2 weeks early, in years gone by I used to hunt from day 1 wich used to be Oct 15th and by the time the RUT started all the deer in the area knew where my stands were and had me pegged, especially the Big Bucks, they were gone untill dark.
One year our Grape Harvest was late and we did'nt finish picking Grapes untill Nov 5th, right in the middle of the Rut. When we finally hit our stands it was like Heaven, Bucks in Rut Everywhere! We had Great Success!
So now me and my buddy WAIT untill the Rut begins befor we hunt our stands, it's hard to do but it's well worth the wait. We also have pieces of property that we dont hunt untill opening day of gun season, we dont even bow hunt them. Among our group of hunting buddies we have 5 different big pieces of property we hunt all owned by us and we only hunt them. So if we hunt one piece opening day and a day or so after that, then we go to the next piece of property and hunt that for a few days and so forth. Meanwhile the first spot we hunted does'nt get any pressure untill we get done with our 5th piece of hunting property and it's like opening day each time we hunt a new spot.
Sometimes we hunt them a little longer and a little less depending on the sign or deer taken. I know Im lucky to be able to do this but do any of you wait untill the best times to hunt your stands?
Im excited this year as many of you can remember last hunting season, it was warm and not any snow here in the north, the rut was non existant. We all got deer but many lived especially a-lot of big bucks. We've already spotted a-lot of great bucks and many many does and fawns, our trail camers are loaded with hope.
So it's Bow for me from now untill Nov 17th when I can finally break out the Accura. The cold weather is finally here, snows in the forecast on the hill and the rut has just started.
(BP)

That's a mighty nice situation Breechplug, being able to control hunting pressure on your hunting areas like that. Wish I had that option.

I don't get too excited until the last week of October here. I went out 3 times this year and two were the last week of October and got my buck on the third time out. My brother in law went out a BUNCH from when season started and he ended up getting his buck on the same day I got mine. I make sure I know where the does are and set-up during rut and get ready.

I was in the city the other day and looked at a real nice ladder stand. It held 300 pounds, and weighed 42 pounds and was 15 feet up. Where I live that is all that is needed. Best of all was the ladder get off platform. It had rails to grip and spin into the seat. Very handy for old knees when they have to turn on snow covered platforms. It was under $200.00 and looked nice. I could even picture the tree to put it in. But these new ground blinds I bought after season are so nice to just put up and sit.

Good luck to you in the part of the season you decide to hunt. And if your area is like mine, even though its posted land.. better chain that thing down good.

seen a swivel seat ladder platform stand a couple days ago...looks pretty fancy...thinkin i may go that route next year.think its a rivers edge..cadillac..

maybe this crazy weather and wind will die down for the mornin so i can go sit in the tree for once...geeesh!!

On our land pretty much all we use are ladder stands - most of them 15 - 17 feet high, and we have one we call the "Cadillac Stand" that is 20 feet high and comfortable enough to sit up in it all day, nap, etc. I believe we have 5 ladder stands right now plus 1 clip-on. If you have your own land, they are the way to go IMO. I would agree about chaining them down too - even though our land is posted, we had one ladder stand mysteriously walk away on its own one year...

First, Semi, Yes Im very lucky. Me and My Buddies take our Deer Hunting very seriously, we live for November.
Cayugad, I bought this "Ameristep" 16' ladder stand at Wal-Mart for $89. It also hold uo to 300lbs and is very well build. It has a moveable shooting rail and is easy to get into, included is a harness so you can be safe while in it. It's a 16'er and plenty high enough for me and weighs only 48lbs so I can set it up myself if needed.
I live in a small town and everyone knows everyone. They also know who owns what and what can be hunted and not and more importand where they cant go. I did buy a lock and cable for it but I really dont need it as most know not to mess with Big Ron because I will find out. Plus we have a good relationship with the Game Wardens and my Cousin is a Sargeant with the local police and I bow shoot with them and know them all very well.
Plus I dremmel Tooled my name in the rails of the stand and took these Pics of it befor Connie told me I better get the %$&*(^@ thing out of the Den befor she kills me:eek2:
(BP)

Day 1 of my Hunt, Nov 1st......No Hunt! Still Pouring Rain from the remninents of Hurricane Sandy, BUMMER! I never seen it rain so much!
(BP)

+1000. Praying for some nice private land to fall in my lap. :)

Good luck, BP. And it is time to finally hunt. Season starts for me on Sat and I can't wait!

When is the rain supposed to die down? Would be a good time to be in the woods when it starts to let up. Even still, with it raining for so long, might be an excellent opportunity to still hunt. I doubt the deer are staying bedded for days on end.

Yea Im fortunate to have good friends who own a-lot of good hunting land. This just is'nt your ordinary sneek and peek still hunt rain it's a all out Downpour! I just checked the weather and were suppos-to get rain untill Saturday with some Snow on the hill. One of my buddies owns a piece of land up in hill country about 15 minutes away so mabey when the rain changes to snow there it'll be a good place to go. I refuse to Bow Hunt in the pouring rain, even with a good shot the blood trail can be washed away in minutes. But I agree once the rain stops every deer will be out and with the Rut just starting it should be good. I also was on the phone with a few of my hunting buddies and they have'nt seen any deer movement, the wind and rain is really keeping them bedded.
What season starts for you on Saturday?
(BP)

M/L starts here on Sat. I'm excited to get out, I've done ZERO bowhunting this year so far - which is a first for me in 30yrs. Just had too much going on, and the time has slipped away. Will be out Sat morning for sure, also Mon & Tues mornings also. Hopefully it will be good timing, this area usually heats up first two weeks of Nov. I'm hoping the deer will be moving well on the backside of this storm.

We made out pretty good in the storm, I was worried we might get hammered with all that snow - but we were just east enough that all we got was alot of rain and wind. The snow we did get was mixed with rain and didn't stick. No major damages thankfully. I can't imagine what the folks up north are going through. Haven't been out to check my stands, hopefully they made it through also.

Next time at Wal Mart, I am going to have to look into that stand. Or I can order it on line and have it delivered to the store for free. Be sure and let me know how well it sits and whether it is a wobble walker. I was in one ladder stand that scared the devil out of me when it walked about seven inches. I climbed out of that and buried the legs about eight inches in the ground, and took my drag rope and tied the ladder part to the tree. Then it was much better. Be sure and do that if the stand does not supply that feature. Tie that ladder to the tree too.

Good idea about scratching your name on the stand. I have an engraving pencil and do that to most everything I leave out. And I put it in two, sometimes three places. So that was smart thinking on your part.

Be sure and let me know how rock steady that stand it. I might have to get me one of them.

Well BP - when you do get out - I wish you luck the way you want it. (I say that because if you're like me you think about hunting all year long and then - boom- first hour out you fill your tag. you're happy until you realize that you're done! I'd rather go out and be able to enjoy nature for a few days watching the deer and other animals move about before I fill my tag.)

Dave the first thing I did when I put the stand up was to see how sturdy it was, it is. What I liked most about it is the ladder rails are solid and narrower than most wich makes them firmer and makes the climbing a-lot more steady. If you look at the pics I put on in the second pic is where you can see the ladder steps.
Yes you can order from wal-mart and have it shipped free (site to store) to your wal-mart. The only thing I did is the seat cushion is a tad noisy, the material makes a little nosie if you slide your butt on it so I took an old sweatshirt and put the seat cushion inside it, problem solved. The shooting rail cushion is made of the same material so I also wrapped a old towel around it to have a softer noise free rest. Just be sure to remove them if there's rain in the forecast, the seat and rail material will weather fine.
Also I try and engrave my name in everything that's made of metal or steel that's out of my sight, just to be sure. And I always do some of my own re-inforceing on any stand I put up, it seems you can always make them more sturdy with a extra piece of rope and a extra buckle strap. Im sure you'll enjoy this stand and the price cant be beat.
Wal-Mart also had a 2 Man Ladder Stand just like this one and only $10 more, but the darn sucker weighs like 70lbs, it looks well built but is too darn heavy for 1 person to put up themselves. If you have help and want a bigger ladder stand look at this one also.
(BP)

I have several 15' two man ladder stands, got most of them from Sportsmans guide for less than $100 shipped. Agree, you need two people to set them up. If you have a location that you can leave them, they are great. And all the ones I've had are solid as a rock (I believe its all in how you set them up). FWIW, they aren't really two man stands - unless its an adult and young/smaller kid. I personally prefer the two man over one man, even though we rarely use them with two folks. Just gives some extra room.

Agreed bronco.
Im lucky to have 2 buck and 3 doe tags. One buck and one doe tag is for MLer Season or Bow Season. Many years I pass on nice bucks during bow season just to save my tag for MLer season. If I dont get a shot at a decent Mler buck I'll take a smaller one and wont regret taking one of the bigger ones I saw during archery season. Then I also have my buck tag for rifle season, if it goes unfilled with a nice buck I can also use it for late Mler season. So I have many options to find the right buck I want or even take a smaller one and hold out the rest of the season for a Big One.
I also have had opening days of bow season and rifle season where I saw a good buck but passed because in no way was I going to shoot a nice buck when I have all season ahead of me and you never know what you'll see. I'd rather pass on a good buck on opening day and hunt all season and not get one then to shoot one opening day and not be able to search out that Great Buck for the rest of the season.
Now all this changes if on opening day I see a 150-170 class buck:wink:
I have more fun Hunting than Harvesting.
(BP)