A Day To Remember

As I have mentioned, the only thing I enjoy more than spending time outdoors is spending time with my family.  I absolutely love my wife and three month old daughter.  As passionate as I am about the outdoors, my wife knows my whole heart is with her and my daughter.  So this last Thursday, my goal was to take my wife hunting while she was on a two week break from work.  My wife has turned out to be quite the outdoors woman, she has out done me every hunting season we have been together. 

My one goal with this hunt was to get our baby dropped off with the baby sitter and get my wife and I in our stands by first light... (Anyone who has had a three month old may have just laughed when you read that...) Needless to say, we were cutting it pretty close due to dirty diapers and loading up all the baby and hunting gear.  Just for good luck, we dressed my daughter in her favorite Button Buck outfit.

 My wife and I both knew that we had to hurry to our stands once we arrived to our hunting area.  My wife, being a school teacher and new mom, was determined that today was the day she was going to get a deer because she really didn't have time to come out much more if she didn't get one... We talked on the hike into our stands about whether or not she would shoot a doe or wait to see if a buck came under her stand.  We determined that she had never shot a buck with her bow so she would love to shoot a buck, but if a good healthy doe was standing under her stand then she would get it.  I, being the gentleman that I am, walked my wife to her stand and waited until she was up in the tree and all set before I walked to mine.  It took me about 20 minutes for me to get into my stand because I was going super slow and trying to be as quiet as possible because it was slowly becoming light enough to see.  As soon as I got into my stand and all set up I checked my phone and I had a text message from my wife which said that there was a small buck in the clearing by her stand but that it had gone back into the trees.  I told her to stay still and that if she was lucky he would come back out... Sure enough, my wife has all the luck because shortly after I sent this text I got a phone call from my wife telling me that she shot a little two point white tail! She was super excited and I could hear in her voice how happy she was that she had taken her first buck with her bow.  My wife told me that she wasn't super sure about the shot placement, but knew that she hit him pretty good.  She told me, if for some reason he comes toward you, get another arrow in him to slow him down.

I can't tell you how proud I am/was of my wife.  I was sitting in my stand all smiles about how my wife had just got a small two point buck when I looked up and saw a little two point walking through the trees.  It stopped in a little opening just wide enough that I could see it had exactly the same size/description of horns my wife was talking about.  I thought to myself, "man if that buck gets away injured my wife is going to feel horrible".  I decided that I would try to squeeze an arrow through the trees and at least slow it down so that my wife could finish it off.  I pulled back and waited for a decent shot.  The deer took one step forward and gave me a chance to let my arrow fly.  Sure enough the arrow hit the deer behind the shoulder but a little higher than I had wanted.  I watched it run off about 15 yards and fall over kicking! My shot had gotten it right in the lungs and done its job.

The little two point under my stand

 I called my wife to tell her how her deer had made it over to my stand and that I had "slowed it down" for her.  By this point I had gotten out of my tree and wandered over to the deer I had seen drop, but noticed that it had only had one arrow wound.  I called my wife and asked her if she was sure that she had hit her deer... This is the reply that I got...

Yup, my arrow is covered with blood!

I kinda chuckled and told her that we may have shot two different deer.  I went over to her stand and helped her track her deer.  My wife took the lead and followed the blood trail until we got near a slough the deer often cross.  I told her that we would have to walk around to a fallen tree in order to cross and pick up the blood trail on the other side.  She sat there for a while and pointed out that her deer didn't make it across the slough, but had died right in the middle of it! My wife was super excited to see that she had made a good shot on her deer and that she had taken her first buck with her bow!

In the slough

Sarah's little buck

So we both ended up filling out buck tags for the year in one day.  I had a few mixed feelings about taking a small two point buck, but even though this may be one of smallest bucks I've ever taken it was by far one of the best!  It reiterated the point to me that a trophy does not have to be a wall hanger or some majestic animal, but more of the story behind the picture and who you share it with.  This was one of my proudest days as a hunter knowing that my wife and I had put in the time and effort through the off season to get our stands and ourselves ready for this hunt and both tag out on the same day!  It wouldn't have mattered if it was a little two point, a doe, or some great big monster buck, I enjoyed every second of this hunt because I was with my wife every step of the way! Great day, and great memories!

My wife and I with our two deer! Great day

Treestand Placement

Well once again, life got crazy and the blog got put on the back burner... For those who read my earlier posts I'll fill you in and let you know that my wife gave birth to our first child, a beautiful baby girl who we decided to name Hensley! I've had a blast learning how to be a dad and dressin her up in some Button Buck clothing we have for her!

My future hunting princess!

Now for the count down! Hunting season is coming up and I have had my hands full with trying to get ready for the season.  I do a lot of my hunting for white tail dear during archery season in a tree stand.  Because of this, I am required to do a lot of maintenance to make sure that my location is huntable when the season starts.  This work involves trimming trees and shrubs, scouting, and maintaining a good environment for the deer.

This summer I went down and did some trimming in two of my tree stands, and when I got go the third and final one that I have had the most success out of, this is what I found...

My tree fell down...

What this means is that I have to find a new tree to put up my tree stand.  I was a little upset, even though it was mother nature that decided half my tree needed to fall down, because the spot I had chosen had a lot of different qualities I look for when setting up a tree stand.  When all this happened I decided that it would make a good blog post to write about what to look for when picking a spot for a tree stand.  This is what I myself look for, but would love to hear what you all have found to be useful that may be able to help me!

#1 - Hunt deer not trees!!! - When searching for a tree to put your tree stand in, remember what you ultimate goal is.  If you find this great spot where you have all these great shooting lanes, great cover, but for some reason no deer then the spot is useless. This may sound like common sense, but I'll admit I have done this before and it was a waste of a season.  It is not good enough just to know that there is a food source to your right, a water source to your left, and a hunch that the deer will be traveling between the two.  You need to look for some good sign of deer.  Look for trails that are well worn down trails, rubs, scrapes, any other sign of deer.  After this find a tree near by that will present you with a shot where you see the sign.  With this being said, it may not be good for you to set a tree stand up where you find a lot of beds.  This will often work out that you will spook your animal before you even get a chance to get into your tree.  This leads right into point number two.

#2 - Accessibility - When possible find a location that you can access without walking through the same area that you are about to hunt.  This may not always be possible, but when you walk through your hunting area, or even on the same trail that the deer are traveling, you leave your scent behind you for the deer to find.  This is like playing hide-and-go-seek at night wearing a glow in the dark suit.  If this is not possible for your hunting area, some of the options you have is to use cover scent, scent killer, or deer urine.  Code Blue makes a good system if you find yourself using the same trail that deer use.  This system is simply is a drag system that you attach to yourself or drag behind you with doe urine on it leaving a scent that will hopefully mask your own and attract the deer to your stand.

#3 - Placement - You need to find a tree that will get you out of the sight and smell of the deer if possible.  One of the worst things you can do is find a great spot and then put your tree stand right in eye level or view of your deer.  Another thing is to pay attention to the weather in your area, visit the area often enough to know which direction the wind usually comes from at certain times of the day.  If possible find a tree that will place you up wind from your game and give you any advantage you can.  With placement I like to use something as simple as Google maps and take a topical view of my area.  I love to find areas that funnel animals into congregated areas.  Examples of this are rivers and streams that funnel deer into smaller sections of land that will make it more probable for me to see what I'm after.

This is only a brief summary of some of the things I look for when putting up a tree stand, but I would love to hear what you have to say because I'll be putting these skills into practice this weekend when I replace my tree stand!