ButchA

Hey there...

I took yesterday afternoon off from work and went to Fort AP Hill (military base here in Virginia). The base is loaded with deer too. [8D]

I had a great location too. I was along side a trail that lead away from a fishing pond/dirt parking lot and diagonal from a small meadow. I was on top of a knoll a ways in, about 10 yards in from the actual trail with my Ameristep Grizzly climber situated nicely in a tree about 15 feet up. I had a slender pine tree within a few feet from me, which I hung my bow on.

Sounds great, huh?.... Well, I positioned my stand so I could both view the woods and the trail with myself looking back towards where I came in (the fishing pond/parking lot).

Within an hour or so after getting setup, I hear crunching in the woods. But it was coming from over my left shoulder (about 7:00 high).... I froze in the stand and carefully looked over my left shoulder and saw a mother and daughter pair of does coming from behind me. They sensed something or heard something as they started sniffing the ground. When the older doe put her head down, I slowly reached over to get my bow. Dummy me let the bottom cam wheel tap the tree bark, and it sent a small piece of pine bark to the ground. (D' oh!!! [] ) That was my costly mistake.... The pair of does heard that and instead of coming closer to investigate, they turned around and left. So, my PSE bow and 125gr Thunderheads and XX-75 arrows didn' t get a shot off. [:' (]

Lesson learned: Be QUIET when retrieving your bow from an adjoining tree!! [][:' (] Any other lessons I could have learned from this?

Butch

JeramyK

I' ve always been leary hanging my bow on the tree. I bought one of the adjustable arms to hang my bow on but only use it on very cold days so I can keep my hands in my pockets for warmth. On most days I just keep the bow on my lap. I' ve found this works best for me.

NorthernHunter

Had simialr things like that happen to me. For the past several years I have always kept the bow in my hands. I can hold the upper cam with my hand and place the bottom cam in the tongue of by right foot boot. It fits in their nicely and i end up keeping it like that for my entire hunt. This way, i always have my bow in hand and never have to reach for it. Only thing I have to do is raise the bow and shoot.

I also make a habit of checking my 360 degrees from the stand by slowly turning my head ever soooo slowly. I take a scan of my surroundings like once every minute or two. This way, I tend to avoid deer sneaking up from my blind spots.

ButchA

Thanks.... This is my first time up in a tree stand. I' ve always hunted from a ground blind or natural blind (hunkered down in a fallen oak tree), but always hated getting winded and/or busted).

Butch