Saturday, April 29, 2006
In The Air Or On The Ground?
It seems to be a bow hunter’s biggest problem. They constantly worry whether they should be up in the air or on the ground.
For many, the problem is easily solved. They choose an elevated position and call it good enough. I love hunting from a tree stand or an elevated coop, but I would never hesitate to hunt from a ground blind.
Today, just for kicks, I’m going to introduce you to two different stands on my ranch, and give you the heads-up on why each one works. Both stands produce good bucks every fall.
The first is my Flagpole set. It is a narrow elevated coop attached to a tall tree. A ladder goes up the back side and is out of view in this photo, but this coop is surrounded on four sides by heavy cedar swamp, tag alder thickets, and some of the heaviest cover on my ranch.
Bucks come to the Flagpole from all directions. There are entrance and exit trails all around it, and the deer can be only 20 yards from this elevated stand and never be seen. It is a popular spot during the rut, and I often hear grunting all night as passionate bucks bird-dog the does back and forth through the swamp.
A trail leads into it and out of it, and I walk in one way one day and out the other, and the next time I will vary my routine if the wind direction is a factor. This stand is high enough so that an east wind isn’t a factor if the hunter can reach the stand without being seen or winded. It’s a great spot if someone will drop off the hunter, and come in with a truck or 4-wheeler to pick him up. That way the vehicle will spook off the deer rather than the hunter climbing down and walking out.
In many cases, one of the best things about the Flagpole set is the deer leave the heavy cover early, move past the stand as they begin their evening travels, and I often can walk out to my truck without being winded by deer once shooting time ends.
The other photo is of the Pyramid blind. It is a pit blind covered with a tiny wooden structure. The shooting hole is level with the ground, and is in the door where the hunter climbs in.
The pit blind is dug on the top of a knoll near a tall tree. An open rolling field lays to the west, and the shooting window faces northwest.
fifty yards to the north is a huckleberry marsh and tag alder swale, and to the south is open with rolling fields. Fields lay to the east with woods about 300 yards away.
This stand is really neat because bucks offer close shots. Many hunters don’t seem to know that bucks (and does) like knolls because they can see for several hundred yards to the south, west and east, and 50 yards to the north. This stand is not for the faint of heart because it’s possible to see bucks coming for 200 yards, and anyone subject to buck fever would have a fit here.
For the most part, the bucks come from south, west and north. Seldom will a buck come from the east, regardless of wind direction. The pit has a chair in the bottom, and the hunter must draw, aim and shoot while sitting down. It’s impossible to stand up in it.
The sides and the roof keep the rain off hunters, but late in the fall, water begins to gather in the bottom of the pit. Hunters here, and elsewhere on my ranch, wear tall rubber boots to avoid getting their feet wet and to prevent leaving scent behind as they walk in and out.
Regardless of where the bucks come from they tend to gather in front of the shooting window. A hunter who sits back in the blind, and doesn’t move around, can shoot a buck. In fact, on a bright sunny day, the setting sun will illuminate the inside of this pit blind. A face mask is handy, as are brown or black gloves.
A buddy shot a dandy 8-point there last year. He said the two bucks were so close they looked as big as elk. He made a perfect 15-yard shot, and the buck ran only 50 yards and dropped.
So, we repeat the question. In The Air Or On The Ground? Either one of these two stands will produce a good buck, and unless someone is really stubborn, there shouldn’t be much discussion. Both require a lack of noise and minimum movement. Do properly from either stand, and a buck is a certainty.—The Whitetail Wizard