Am I fortunate or what?
12-22-2020, 05:47 PM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 2,743
I agree a picture is a great thing to have, I also, have 40+ deer heads mounted for teh same reason, to remind me of hunts, NOT all are what some would consider a trophy, but they are to me
next there used to be a company that sold wooden Plaques for mounting antlers on, that had a cut out for a photo, back when I had my gun shop I bought about a 100 of them and took them to my hunting camop and for me at my places!
and found them great to keep a photo attached to a set of antlers
they were something like this,
https://www.walnuthollowcountry.com/...h-photo-frame/
but the photo section was recessed into things,
something else I have done too, on big game animals, is, I would also, add the empty casing for the plaque near the photo to also remind me what what weapon I used
on Archery kills i would normally add the whole arrow to the antlers, or sometimes just the broadhead
I would also, write on back of of the plaques a short description of the hunt, date time of kill, location, weather or other info!
I also always tried to save tags and keep attached to antlers as well!
I would imagine these plaques would be pretty easy to make if anyone wanted to, if they have basic wood working skills!
I can take some pictures of mine, and how there designed,
if asked!
next there used to be a company that sold wooden Plaques for mounting antlers on, that had a cut out for a photo, back when I had my gun shop I bought about a 100 of them and took them to my hunting camop and for me at my places!
and found them great to keep a photo attached to a set of antlers
they were something like this,
https://www.walnuthollowcountry.com/...h-photo-frame/
but the photo section was recessed into things,
something else I have done too, on big game animals, is, I would also, add the empty casing for the plaque near the photo to also remind me what what weapon I used
on Archery kills i would normally add the whole arrow to the antlers, or sometimes just the broadhead
I would also, write on back of of the plaques a short description of the hunt, date time of kill, location, weather or other info!
I also always tried to save tags and keep attached to antlers as well!
I would imagine these plaques would be pretty easy to make if anyone wanted to, if they have basic wood working skills!
I can take some pictures of mine, and how there designed,
if asked!
12-22-2020, 07:47 PM
#14
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
mrbb I sure am not bashing public land. What I was referring to was referring to private land where owners put in food plots in and hunt over them.
There's no such thing on the coal company ground I hunt on. And when I refer to roads I don't mean those accessible by vehicle (some are ATV accessible). What I am talking about are abandoned strip mine roads or old trolley trails. The only exception to this is the elk I shot this year that expired about 200 yards and uphill from a road.
But I tell you this public land hunting does not come easily. Scouting takes a lot of time. Starting in spring during turkey season my main focus is still on deer travel. Then walking learning the lay of the land and putting out trail cameras. And more hiking in the fall looking for rubs and fresh deer sign then more cameras out.
Even with all this effort there have been years where the only deer I saw was the one I harvested after many days of hunting.
A couple tricks I've learned just a few years ago that I will share with you guys.
1. If you're like me and have limited resources (stand locations) after several unsuccessful outings with no luck change your tactics. I shot one of the biggest bucks of my 55 year career by sleeping in because of a light rain and didn't go out until about 11:30 sneaking into my stand about 11:45 and putting my tag on him at 12:30 after rattling and grunting him in out of his bedding area and into bow range. He never expected anyone to be in that stand during the middle of the day.
2. Don't overlook areas close to the highway or main road that has good cover. Most hunters think they have to go far off the beaten path to get a deer. And while many times that is true it isn't always the case. During one of my scouting trips about 4 years ago I found an area within rock throwing distance of a highway (and at 67 years old I can't throw very far anymore!) that was just tore up with rubs and scrapes. This area was full of briars and huge boulders. I hunkered down on my knees between one of these boulders and a nice size tree downwind of a deer trail for an evening hunt and shot a nice 8 pointer as he came in and had his nose buried in a scrape.
Hunting public land can be a pain but it can also be awesome.
There's no such thing on the coal company ground I hunt on. And when I refer to roads I don't mean those accessible by vehicle (some are ATV accessible). What I am talking about are abandoned strip mine roads or old trolley trails. The only exception to this is the elk I shot this year that expired about 200 yards and uphill from a road.
But I tell you this public land hunting does not come easily. Scouting takes a lot of time. Starting in spring during turkey season my main focus is still on deer travel. Then walking learning the lay of the land and putting out trail cameras. And more hiking in the fall looking for rubs and fresh deer sign then more cameras out.
Even with all this effort there have been years where the only deer I saw was the one I harvested after many days of hunting.
A couple tricks I've learned just a few years ago that I will share with you guys.
1. If you're like me and have limited resources (stand locations) after several unsuccessful outings with no luck change your tactics. I shot one of the biggest bucks of my 55 year career by sleeping in because of a light rain and didn't go out until about 11:30 sneaking into my stand about 11:45 and putting my tag on him at 12:30 after rattling and grunting him in out of his bedding area and into bow range. He never expected anyone to be in that stand during the middle of the day.
2. Don't overlook areas close to the highway or main road that has good cover. Most hunters think they have to go far off the beaten path to get a deer. And while many times that is true it isn't always the case. During one of my scouting trips about 4 years ago I found an area within rock throwing distance of a highway (and at 67 years old I can't throw very far anymore!) that was just tore up with rubs and scrapes. This area was full of briars and huge boulders. I hunkered down on my knees between one of these boulders and a nice size tree downwind of a deer trail for an evening hunt and shot a nice 8 pointer as he came in and had his nose buried in a scrape.
Hunting public land can be a pain but it can also be awesome.
In some ways I have found the public land deer more predictable. They do what deer (prey) are supposed to do. Ive gotten on a few nice buck and one absolute monster that I had at 10 yards on the ground but couldn't get a shot through the thicket but I'm chasing the sign always one step behind them because I started late.
The monster I couldn't get a shot at seems to have a sense of humor. He has started doing this on the path I walk in on. I think he hides in the bushes with his buddies so he can see the look on my face when I see them
Now that I know where he is at I wish he would stop before other hunters find him
