The Perfect Stand
| I
had located an area on an old overgrown meadow
where I felt a nice buck had been hanging out.
This
particular ladder stand placed me up 14 feet in
the air along the edge of an over-grown fence
line..
Having done
some scouting between morning and evening watch,
I had located a number of rubs left by a buck
using the area. |
 |
It was 5am when the
alarm went off and it didn’t take long to get ready. I
wanted to get into this stand long before daylight in
order not to spook any deer in the area. After making
coffee for my go mug I headed for the area by
flashlight.
Six am found me in the
stand sipping coffee and waiting for daylight to come.
It was an over cast day and consisted of mixed rain and
snow. Finally daylight started to emerge and there I was
with my trusty pair of binoculars peering into the field
for any movement.
Seven thirty off to my
left in the hardwoods I could hear branches crunching
and the rustling of leaves. The first sighting was just
the ear of a deer along the edge of the field. It looked
as though the deer was checking out the field before
making the crossing. Out emerged a doe with a fawn in
tow headed for the other side of the field where a
bedding area was. I watched them carefully looking for a
possible buck to follow.
I had a deer
management tag but decided that the rut had started and
would hold out for a buck today. About an hour later a
doe with twin fawns walked right under my stand and out
into the meadow. They seemed to be headed in the same
direction across the field as the first two deer.
This was a great stand
location in that I could cover a lot ground. In one
direction you could see 300 plus yards and be able to
see anything that tried to cross the open ground. I
still felt confident that the buck would cross the
field.
Ten thirty came and no
sign of the buck, I had just started to unload my gun to
get out of the stand when I caught movement way up in
the corner of the field. Using the binoculars I could
tell it was a good sized deer but it kept its head down
as it made its way through the tall grass.
This deer was about
300 yards away and well out of contort zone of making a
good clean kill. The deer continued along the outer
fence line making its way toward the direction of where
the earlier does had disappeared into the bedding area.
At this point the deer had now closed the gap to around
150 yards well within shooting range, but continued to
keep its head down.
The deer disappeared
into the hardwoods and my heart dropped thinking this
was probably the buck a I was after. The deer stopped
and seemed to be listening for any sounds. With this I
pulled out my buck grunt call and gave two loud grunts.
The deer turned and walked down to the edge of the field
looking for the other buck. I could now make out part of
an antler but the deer’s body was obstructed by brush.
The buck looked back
in the direction of where the does disappeared trying to
decide which direction to head in. This gave me a chance
to give another grunt call without giving my location
away.
The buck stepped into
the field now looking intently for the other buck. He
finally turned broadside and with that I touched off a
round with my model 7400 Remington 30-06. The buck
crumpled and dropped in his tracks. He was not the
dominate buck of the area that I had been looking for
but would make for good eating in camp.
Having confidence in
the stand you decide to sit in is very important. This
will keep you alert and allow you to stay put for longer
hours waiting for the deer to appear. Look for major
travel corridors, take into consideration the wind
direction and try to stay put as long as possible.
The New York Hunter
