Archery Talk

Congrats on a nice buck

 

My son got it done all on his own this year. 31-Oct-2017. Texted me a pic of the blood trail. Of course I had to go help.

 

Good Job! congrats! Meat in the freezer!!

 

Congrats to your son!

 

Nice morning here in MI! I'm hoping something walks by before I have to head to work

 

good luck!

 

Thanks, had a doe come through early and that was it. Going to try again this evening!

 

We only get one tag per season, we can get an extra tag for $301. sometimes its worth it sometimes its like nah I'll pass

 

Wow. Maybe I'm being too picky than, because up front you get two tags 1) 4+ restricted tag and 2) antlerless tag (small buck or doe). If you are on private land, you can get as many antlerless tags as you want up until the state quota.
I couldve shot the doe, but field dressing a deer before work is probably not the best idea. Now if it was a buck on my hit list I wouldve taken the morning off!!

 

Nah, if its not something you want to shoot then dont. Thats the way I look at it, I held out last year for a nice buck and got a nice 8pt. Nothing huge but Its nice wall hanger euro! I still think its a blast shooting a deer with a bow.

 

Some states are on crack.

All that does is encourage illegal hunting. I’m not paying $300 for a tag.

 

I agree. we should at least get 2, one buck and one doe tag would be nice.

 

Agreed!

 

You've heard it a thousand times before. Well, you're gonna hear it one thousand and one times.

Use a harness and life-line. Stay attached from ground to stand.

My son and I decided to hunt this afternoon in spite of the lousy weather. We got to our stands around 2pm and started to get ready to climb. The tree my stand is in is not the straightest and my climbing sticks follow the contour. Any how, I'm climbing and up to my third stick, next thing I know I'm swinging around the tree. My foot slipped of the step causing me to drop maybe 8-10". My right hand had already gripped the next step of my Muddy Climbing Sticks, but it wasn't near strong enough to stop me. The life-line did it's job, prusic knot tightened right up. I was able to turn around and face the tree and get my foot on one of the steps. I feared what my right hand looked like as the steps on the Muddy Sticks are really aggressive. My son came running over as I worked my way down the sticks. Blood was running from the base of the fingers on my right hand. After some clean-up with water and some paper towels I could see that I removed a lot of skin and lacerated the joints. Not deep, but hurts like hell to bend my fingers. Pulled some muscles in my arm as well. I was up about 12'. Needless to say, it was a sobering experience. And it happened so quick. No time at all to react.

Some take aways...

1. Use a lifeline. I do have several stands that have the shorter line at stand level to hook up to once up. They will be replaced with 30' lifelines I ordered on Amazon. 3-pak $77

$110 Hunter Safety System Lifeline for Tree-Stand Hunting Safety Harness, Reflective, 3-Pack

https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Safet...r=8-1&keywords=hunter+safety+system+life+line

2. Check how your sticks are positioned relative to the tree and ground level. When I looked closer it was evident the step was not parallel to the ground or perpendicular to the tree, but actually sloping down. Add in wet boots and it was an accident waiting to happen.

3. This goes without saying, wear a harness.

Fortunately this had a "good" ending. My hand is sore, arm hurt, oh yeah, forgot about the nice bruise on my stomach from steps. But, I should be ready for Friday and Saturday. Temps are supposed to drop considerably here in PA and I'm excited. Wiser as well.

Please, wear a harness, use a life-line. It's not a matter of "if" you fall, but when.

Stay safe all.

 

Glad to hear you are OK.

Have you had the hand checked out?

 

Thanks. And yes, I've had it checked out. Wifey is a nurse, so we did the whole clean it out, peroxide, alcohol wipes, scrub it, till I screamed like a girl....

 

Yeah hand injuries hurt like hell. No fun at all.

 

I just smoked a decent buck!!! Wife was in theother stand and watched the whole thing go down, pics to come!