Post by Ron Kulas on Sept 19, 2010 20:13:23 GMT -6
Friday, Sept. 17
It's been many year since I hunted the opening weekend of the archery deer season but this year I got a thermacell and the itch to hunt the opener. I have not harvested an antlerless deer with a bow since 2006 and since then I have only taken one other deer (a buck with my homemade bow). I set my goal as a nice fat doe and hopefully a buck.
I drove up to my parents house on Friday night the 17th of Sept. Road construction delayed me a bit but I was in no real hurry. By the time I hit Stevens Point, it was raining. With all the rain they have had this summer, this is the last thing I wanted to see.
Saturday Sept. 18
The alarm went off at 5:00 and after dressing, I was out the door. It was a windy morning but at least it wasn't raining. I was in the stand at 6:17. The morning only produced a few grey squirrels. At 8:30, a light rain started and by 9:15, I was on my way out of the woods.
The rain didn’t last and after a late breakfast, I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on my Dad’s pontoon boat and trolling motor. At 3:30 I got dressed in camo and headed back to the woods. Last year, I was contacted by a friend who is making and marketing an attractant scent for deer and bear. I was not able to use it last year because I got it when the rut was already on and I was using the can call and rattling instead of scents but I looked forward to using it in the early season of this year. I had taken a piece of cheese cloth and tied a string to it and saturated the pad with the scent and hung it from the rough bark of a tree about 15 yards from my stand. I left the ziploc bag to the right of the tree, under a fallen branch.
At 4:00, I caught a bit of motion to my left which is surprising since the river is 30 yards to my left and in the evening, the deer tend to come from my right. The Movement was from a small fork horn buck.
He passed under my stand at only 10 yards. He was not the buck I was looking for so I shot him with my video camera instead. He was walking along and nibbling on whatever greenery caught his eye. He was up wind of me so he did not catch my scent or the scent of the attractant. Click the picture below to start the video.
Here is a perfect shot opportunity. He was looking away, broadside and upwind. Too bad he was not about 3 years older. Click the picture below to start the video.
He was so interested in what was on the other side of the river, I was able to switch between video and still photography to snap this picture of his head gear. No brow times and small forks.
It wasn't until I looked closely at the photos that I noticed the remnant of fawn spots on his back. I have seen this on other deer. It is very noticeable after skinning and with the hide laid flat.
The whole time I was in my stand, there were 2 red squirrels throwing stuff at me or actually dropping things on me. My stand is in a big hemlock and there two hard workers spent their time nipping off parts of the tree and dropping them to the ground, then they would climb down to gather and bury their treasures.
at about 5:15, I saw movement in the distance. I could see the legs of another deer approaching from straight down wind. I expected to hear the typical snort/blow sound of a deer that catches human scent. Instead, this deer would approach and stop and take a few more steps and stop. When it was about 70 yards away, I could see it was a lone doe. She would come forward a few steps and then turn and go back and come towards me and then turn and take a few steps back. It was like she was making a figure 6 pattern as she approached, each time getting a little closer. Each time, she would stick her nose high into the air. I was certain she was winding my but she kept approaching. I had my bow in hand because this was exactly the type of freezer trophy I was looking for.
This is a complete hunch on my part but it seemed as though she was smelling me but was drawn to the attractant with more pull than my scent was deterring her. She was clearly cautious but drawn towards the scent pad between her and I. When she reached the scent pad, her head was briefly behind the small tree with the pad which gave me little time to come to full draw. she stepped out along side the tree and was standing over the ziploc bag I left on the ground after hanging the scent pad.
She was 16 yards away and was very slightly quartering towards me. I settled the pin behind the shoulder and released. I was using a 2 blade Rage Broadhead and when the arrow struck her side, I made a very loud sound. Louder than any broadhead strike id ever heard.
She bolted and as she ran, I could see her until she hit some very thick river bottom. She really reacted to that arrow impact. When I lost sight of her. I checked my watch and then gave her ten minutes before climbing down to find my arrow. It was still quite early and I would have daylight to track and drag and get her out of the woods. I carried the arrow out to the open grass to take a photo.
This is the first deer I had taken with a rage head This image shows the exit wound side.
While processing, I took these photos.
This is a photo of the skin side of the entrance hole
The internal view shows a rib was completely severed by the blade.
This is a photo of the skin side of the exit hole.
The internal view shows another rib was completely severed by the blade.
My bow at that time was set at 61 pounds and shoots 275 FPS and develops 55 ft/Lbs of KE. I am impressed with the rage head for its wound channel but dislike the distance deer run because of the punch it delivers that really spooks the deer making them cover more distance before hitting the ground.
It's been many year since I hunted the opening weekend of the archery deer season but this year I got a thermacell and the itch to hunt the opener. I have not harvested an antlerless deer with a bow since 2006 and since then I have only taken one other deer (a buck with my homemade bow). I set my goal as a nice fat doe and hopefully a buck.
I drove up to my parents house on Friday night the 17th of Sept. Road construction delayed me a bit but I was in no real hurry. By the time I hit Stevens Point, it was raining. With all the rain they have had this summer, this is the last thing I wanted to see.
Saturday Sept. 18
The alarm went off at 5:00 and after dressing, I was out the door. It was a windy morning but at least it wasn't raining. I was in the stand at 6:17. The morning only produced a few grey squirrels. At 8:30, a light rain started and by 9:15, I was on my way out of the woods.
The rain didn’t last and after a late breakfast, I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on my Dad’s pontoon boat and trolling motor. At 3:30 I got dressed in camo and headed back to the woods. Last year, I was contacted by a friend who is making and marketing an attractant scent for deer and bear. I was not able to use it last year because I got it when the rut was already on and I was using the can call and rattling instead of scents but I looked forward to using it in the early season of this year. I had taken a piece of cheese cloth and tied a string to it and saturated the pad with the scent and hung it from the rough bark of a tree about 15 yards from my stand. I left the ziploc bag to the right of the tree, under a fallen branch.
At 4:00, I caught a bit of motion to my left which is surprising since the river is 30 yards to my left and in the evening, the deer tend to come from my right. The Movement was from a small fork horn buck.
He passed under my stand at only 10 yards. He was not the buck I was looking for so I shot him with my video camera instead. He was walking along and nibbling on whatever greenery caught his eye. He was up wind of me so he did not catch my scent or the scent of the attractant. Click the picture below to start the video.
Here is a perfect shot opportunity. He was looking away, broadside and upwind. Too bad he was not about 3 years older. Click the picture below to start the video.
He was so interested in what was on the other side of the river, I was able to switch between video and still photography to snap this picture of his head gear. No brow times and small forks.
It wasn't until I looked closely at the photos that I noticed the remnant of fawn spots on his back. I have seen this on other deer. It is very noticeable after skinning and with the hide laid flat.
The whole time I was in my stand, there were 2 red squirrels throwing stuff at me or actually dropping things on me. My stand is in a big hemlock and there two hard workers spent their time nipping off parts of the tree and dropping them to the ground, then they would climb down to gather and bury their treasures.
at about 5:15, I saw movement in the distance. I could see the legs of another deer approaching from straight down wind. I expected to hear the typical snort/blow sound of a deer that catches human scent. Instead, this deer would approach and stop and take a few more steps and stop. When it was about 70 yards away, I could see it was a lone doe. She would come forward a few steps and then turn and go back and come towards me and then turn and take a few steps back. It was like she was making a figure 6 pattern as she approached, each time getting a little closer. Each time, she would stick her nose high into the air. I was certain she was winding my but she kept approaching. I had my bow in hand because this was exactly the type of freezer trophy I was looking for.
This is a complete hunch on my part but it seemed as though she was smelling me but was drawn to the attractant with more pull than my scent was deterring her. She was clearly cautious but drawn towards the scent pad between her and I. When she reached the scent pad, her head was briefly behind the small tree with the pad which gave me little time to come to full draw. she stepped out along side the tree and was standing over the ziploc bag I left on the ground after hanging the scent pad.
She was 16 yards away and was very slightly quartering towards me. I settled the pin behind the shoulder and released. I was using a 2 blade Rage Broadhead and when the arrow struck her side, I made a very loud sound. Louder than any broadhead strike id ever heard.
She bolted and as she ran, I could see her until she hit some very thick river bottom. She really reacted to that arrow impact. When I lost sight of her. I checked my watch and then gave her ten minutes before climbing down to find my arrow. It was still quite early and I would have daylight to track and drag and get her out of the woods. I carried the arrow out to the open grass to take a photo.
This is the first deer I had taken with a rage head This image shows the exit wound side.
While processing, I took these photos.
This is a photo of the skin side of the entrance hole
The internal view shows a rib was completely severed by the blade.
This is a photo of the skin side of the exit hole.
The internal view shows another rib was completely severed by the blade.
My bow at that time was set at 61 pounds and shoots 275 FPS and develops 55 ft/Lbs of KE. I am impressed with the rage head for its wound channel but dislike the distance deer run because of the punch it delivers that really spooks the deer making them cover more distance before hitting the ground.