Use of Flashlights
10-08-2009, 09:40 AM
#21
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 1,304
10-08-2009, 12:32 PM
#24
Spike
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Franklin, TX
Posts: 9
Light on my place is a must
I carry a light with me at all times on my place. I hunt 6000 acres of river bottom and we have no telling how many hogs. Last year I killed 67 myself and my son killed 17. Sometimes you can't get in the gate without seeing a pack. I was in a bowstand yesterday that is getting over-run with hogs at night. My plan was to bowhunt until dark then wait on my hogs to show up for some fun. I brought my AR-15 with 30round clip and Surefire pressure switch light with me and hung it in the tree next to me. (This may be illegal but I assure you I have no interest in shooting a deer out of season at 15yards with my AR). I got in my stand around 2:30PM and unfortunately my back couldn't take any more of the sitting so I climbed down about 10 mins before dark. As I started to walk out I watched a 250-300lb boar hog was coming across a creek towards me. As he went down in the creek I lost him and kneeled down to wait for him but was pretty sure he was headin to my feeder. Sure enough he wasted no time in the creek and was heading straight towards me. By the time he got within 20yds of me it was too dark to shoot my bow so he got nailed with the AR. So yeah I carry a light always. Sorry I didn't have a camera with me to take pictures of the hog I shot on the way out and did not feel like driving back to get some.
Last edited by teamluhnacy; 10-08-2009 at 12:35 PM.
10-08-2009, 07:28 PM
#25
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: IL
Posts: 6,575
finding a new stand you've never been in.... or first time each season can be tricky, but once you been there once or seen it, ya don't need a light.
Personally I'd rather use a green or red light though, and get in quietly, step over small branches etc... than to just walk in during the dark stepping on everything and having twigs poke me in the eyes.
Personally I'd rather use a green or red light though, and get in quietly, step over small branches etc... than to just walk in during the dark stepping on everything and having twigs poke me in the eyes.
10-09-2009, 12:55 PM
#26
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,462
I use one every time. Sorry that I like to hunt in the thick stuff and have downed trees, 2 foot deep puddles and frozen uneven ground. I guess its not manly since I don't want to break my ankle walking in. I apologize for though of us who like to work for our deer and not walk in 100 yards off the road to a fields edge and hang a stand there. I actually have to drag deer out instead of pulling your pickup truck 3 feet from the deer and having someone else load it for you. Congratulations though, you may have started the worst post so far this deer season!! I think the next post I am going to start is "How many of you still walk to your stand rather than get dropped off by helicopter" Walking to your deer stand in this day and age is so ancient, I can't believe anyone would do it!
10-09-2009, 06:52 PM
#27
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 1,526
I don't use a light for walking in or out of the woods, never have dont think I ever will. I hunt public land and often have a very long walk in and out.
Using a light blinds you to everything outside of the lights reach, hampering your vision more than anything, but it does make people feel a bit safer.
Now having said that I do carry a headlamp with me....it just doesn't get used unless I am quartering up an animal.
Using a light blinds you to everything outside of the lights reach, hampering your vision more than anything, but it does make people feel a bit safer.
Now having said that I do carry a headlamp with me....it just doesn't get used unless I am quartering up an animal.
10-10-2009, 10:02 AM
#29
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eagleville Missouri
Posts: 338
Ok, so there are good reasons to use lights and apparently they don't spook deer as much as I would have guessed. I too carry a light for emergencies, maybe signalling to rescuers after I've fallen in the dark and called for help. I don't have to worry about other hunters or bears, and my land isn't so big that I can go more than a mile without hitting a fence. Also someone mentioned going far enough to avoid other hunters, so I guess they haven't got a stand sight picked out, just looking for one.
I appreciate the serious answers. I had not thought of many of the problems encountered in different places and situations. I live in an area with small farms and it is unusual to cross a mile section with out encountering one or more fences a creek or field edge to follow. Now I know why all the people I take hunting from other states use lights, which seems silly to all the locals here.
I appreciate the serious answers. I had not thought of many of the problems encountered in different places and situations. I live in an area with small farms and it is unusual to cross a mile section with out encountering one or more fences a creek or field edge to follow. Now I know why all the people I take hunting from other states use lights, which seems silly to all the locals here.
Last edited by turkey guide; 10-10-2009 at 10:15 AM.