November 17, 2006
Think he was rutting?
Richie Griffin of Roanoke sent me this shot of a nice eight-pointer he killed in Floyd County earlier this week. If you have any question about whether bucks are rutting, a look at this thing's neck should answer that. It is huge.
One other thing about Richie's story really caught my attention. He was discussing his dilemma about where to put a stand in a promising area. He ended up improvising, and it paid off. The point is, if you find a good spot, figure out a way to hunt it. Here's what he did, in his words:
"I had not hunted this particular part of our farm very hard in the past several years. There have been some nice bucks killed there so I know the travel routes were used by the bucks. I tried to find what I thought would be a good spot during the upcoming rut but I just could not feel good about anything that I had tried. I was looking around several days and I finally happened upon a spot that had several good rubbed trees. I was looking for a place to use my climbing stand among some oaks. I found a great looking spot but I just couldn't find the right tree.
What I did find was three oaks that had grown together out of one trunk and that looked very inviting. What I decided to do was pretty unconventional. I went and got a climbing stick and then I used a ratchet strap to secure my climbing platform in place as a fixed position stand. I just would have to raise and lower my seat platform as needed to get into and out of the stand. The climbing stand seat is very adjustable and allows me the comfort to sit all day if I want to."
His instincts were right. In addition to the buck, he also killed a nice doe out of the stand.
I haven't hunted since Tuesday evening. I hoped to hunt this morning but decided to work to try to free up some time early next week, when the weather looks really good (cold). I am going to get out for a short hunt this afternoon with my friend Freddy McGuire. I've got to watch my kids but Freddy's wife, Amy, has agreed to watch them -- they'll play with their daughter -- so Freddy and I can slip out for a couple of hours.
Last time we teamed up I got video of Freddy killing a doe and an eight-pointer. This time he's agreed to carry the camera. However, he's also taking along his muzzleloader. So if we see a good buck but it doesn't look like I'll get a bow shot, he'll try to shoot it with his muzzleloader. It may be an ambitious plan but it's worth a try.
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