[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Things That Happen Out There #45844

I like it!

I was 16 and skipping school with a couple friends for the first day of trout season. We were fishing the north fork of the Tye river, like half of the state it seemed…

There was a beautiful pool that nobody had fished because getting to it was impossible. The flow into and out of the pool was impossible to walk. The banks on both sides were sheer cliffs 100 feet high. Right in the middle of all that impossibility was a clear glassy pool that stretched 100 feet and seemed to cry to be fished…

Half way up the cliff on the inside bank was a shelf 6 inches wide that ran at an angle down to within 5 feet of the sand bank that surely no man had stood on for 1000 years.

So after talking amongst our teenage selves we resolved to walk that ledge to fishing paradise.

about 10 yards into this face-against-the-wall, arms stretched out, hands holding fishing pole and tackle box and still scrabbling for a hold, things almost went south.

Somehow I ended up leaning back over the void looking into the wide eyes of one of my buds. Nothing between me and the rocks below but my heels on the ledge.

And somehow, against the laws of physics it seems, I leaned back into the rock and reattached myself to the wall.

That’s the closest I’ve come to winking out, that I recall.

The rest of the shuffle was uneventful. We fished that pool for an hour and got not a bite. We floated down stream rather than return by the wall. 🙄

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: First Big Game with Trad Equipment #27228

She looks tasty! Enjoy the sweet taste of success…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Hunting 2016 #21420

Ptaylor wrote: … That’s a fair assessment. But I am going to try and prove you wrong…

It’s not hard to do…. My wife does it several times a day 😳 🙄 😆

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Hunting 2016 #10645

Ptaylor wrote: … Steve, you obviously have more experience hunting white-tailed deer than me. I’ve hunted them all of 12 days on one hunt. But we rattled in a buck, and I sat over a scrape that a buck came to!…

I guess that’s what makes the wiley buck so fun to hunt 😀 All I can say is in my experience, hunting scrapes and using calls are low probability methods. But there have been articles in TBM written by guys that call in 4 or 5 deer with rattling every year. Go figure? Could be just my bad luck. There have been people that won the lottery twice in two weeks. Not me.

The fellow that shot the biggest buck in our group this year in VA stepped out of the truck at the end of the logging road on the first morning, took 1 step in the woods and shot a nice 8 pointer. I spent the week in the woods and saw nothing but does.

For the sake of argument though… lets say rattling and grunting are very successful ways of getting bucks to come. When they do come, I think we can agree that they are on high alert. This is ok for a gun hunter, or someone in a tree stand. But if you are hunting with a trad bow from the ground, you gonna get busted 😳 😀

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Hunting 2016 #55795

Nice Fish!

I can second what R2 has observed. Every part of the country is different, but there are some general trends and Ralph got ’em right.

In my experience (in the south) there is a window of about 1 hour a year that a buck will respond to rattling or grunting. In other parts of the country it may be a bit longer, don’t know.

Grumpy, some may disagree with me, but I believe you are suffering from the tail end of gadgetitis. The gadget folks make us believe we can’t hunt without an assortment of calls and rattles. Don’t worry, you will get over it.

If you can make a bleat sound with your mouth, you are good to go. When a buck (or doe) walks by and you want it to stop, just make an eeeeeehh sound. I’ve blindly called in exactly 1 buck in my life after 10 years of religious calling (get the joke?). I’ve shot who knows how many stopping them with a bleat.

Once the rut starts, the bucks don’t tend scrapes. Look for new rubs. Look for lines in the woods like fences or changes in tree populations (edge of pine thicket for example). Deer are creatures of the edge. No matter what else is going on, they walk the edges.

And, gulp, tree stands and blinds are way more effective than still hunting if you want to kill a white tail deer.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Hunting 2016 #55319

I’m headed up to VA for a week of black powder hunting in the mountains of the George Washington National Forest with my old boyhood chums. No computer service.

Keep things running smoothly whilst I’m away 😀

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Big Boy! #55225

Dang, that thing looks like a giant tick with antlers 😯

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Getting Up in the Morning #55215

I say no worries. The deer aren’t going anywhere. I’ve killed way more deer after 8:30 am then before, so take a little extra snooze.

I have also found that a snooze in the woods is almost unavoidable. Nothing like sleeping in followed by a nice mid morning nap.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Back to Basics #43357

I’ve skimmed the magazine. It’s open to the interview with Jason Wesbrock right now. This hot weather has me too agitated to spend much time reading. Cool autumn weather and brightly colored leaves falling around me is my tonic to get through the rest of the year. Looks like I’ll have to go without this year 😥

Going up to mid 80’s again today…

Gonna shoot my bow this morning before the sun gets too high. Kids are home for a long weekend so I’m gonna enjoy that. My boy and I are going to early voting this am. His first vote. Then I take my girl to the DMV for her drivers license test. Dang, what happened? Just yesterday they would easily fit in one arm as I carried them through the woods…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: a little sad today. #21081

You have made a fair assessment I think.

Reminds me of a story…

Shot a buck once. Hit him high in the back (backstraps) and the arrow passed through. I expected I would not find him, but gave him a few hours and then went to look.

Back wounds usually don’t bleed much in my experience, but this one bled some and I followed the deer for quite a way. At the end of the blood trail was the deer. When I approached he got up and out of there. I knew he would be fine. It was a Saturday.

I went home and sharpened my arrow up and returned it to my quiver.

The following Saturday morning I was in my stand and here comes a deer at the exact same time as the deer the previous week. Looking closely, I could see a hairless patch of skin on his back about where I had shot the buck the previous Saturday.

This deer gave me an opportunity, and I resolved not to shoot high. I shot the deer with the same arrow I used the previous week. This time the arrow passed through the lungs and the deer went 30 yards or so.

Upon examination, I found that this was indeed the same buck I had shot the previous week at almost the very same minute. The wound was almost completely healed. New hair was even starting to grow back.

Redemption never tasted so good 😀

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Hunting 2016 #20999

🙁 🙁

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Not at all like- Deliverance #20975

There was an interview not long ago on NPR with the toothsome banjo player of whom you speak.

He is now employed at the waffle house along interstate 81.

Ding didle ling da ding ding ding…

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Using footings to tune/make a shaft stiffer #12740

I’ve used both brass and aluminum inserts. I’ve never had either one fail on me. I have had steel broadhead inserts bend when screwed into aluminum arrow inserts a number of times. So go figure.

I quit using brass inserts ’cause they cost more and I have to special order them. Aluminum ones come free with the arrows 😀

The best most durable carbon arrow setup I made was to use an aluminum insert with a 1 1/2 inch aluminum arrow section glued onto the shaft. Glue the insert in first. Then, if required, sand the insert down so it’s diameter matches the arrow, then slide the arrow section over the shaft and have it come flush with the face of the insert. After the glue dries, sand the face smooth so the insert and aluminum arrow section make a uniform face.

IF you want to get fancy, bevel what will be the back side of the aluminum section so that it blends well with the shaft to make removal from targets easier.

That said, I switched back to wood arrows a few years ago and doubt I’ll ever stray from them again.

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Hunting 2016 #9343

I have found that the less dense the deer herd, the less predictable are the patterns.

In general, scrapes are made and visited mostly at night. While they look like a great opportunity, generally they present a low probability option.

If I find a rub line that’s well worked, that’s what I like to hang around. Bucks rub their antlers all the time. So if you find 10 or 15 rubs in a line, you know he’s coming through regularly.

I’ve even heard it claimed that you can make a fake rub and the bucks will come to it. Supposedly they smell the fresh wood and think somebody else is working their woods. I’ve never tried that one.

I have found that the best way to find a deer in your “spot” is to arrive there late and in a hurry. Surely you will see his parting wave as you arrive 😳 🙄 😆

[Stephen Graf]

in reply to: Treestands #9272

As Matt said, everyone likes something different. In that regard, I just haven’ been able to make friends with climbing stands.

For me, rails or other things sticking out get in the way of shooting. I shoot an ASL so that may be part of it.

I like to put my stands in a clump of vegetation in a gnarly tree. Can’t do that with a climber. A climber needs a straight clean tree. To make them effective you have to go higher or else the deer make you out. This is particularly true on a steep slope, like you mentioned. I never go up more than 12 to 14 feet. I get nosebleeds up there 😳

I like to put my stand up before hand. That way, when it comes time to hunt I just slip quietly up the tree with no fuss. Climbers make noise and take time to get you where you are going – which reminds me of a story….

When I was young, I like the Lock-On Wind Walker hang on stand. Five pounds and super sturdy. Best stand I ever had, but it had a small platform and a not so comfy seat. Didn’t bother my resilient young flesh. When I passed into my fourth decade, not so much.

One thing for sure though, no matter what type you choose to use you will have more luck with the more cautious deer like white tail and coues deer

[Author]

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