Second Hunt

I went out to Bass Pro Shops a few days before I hunted and picked up a tree stand.  After talking to a few different people I chose this over a ground blind.  I kept hearing stories that the deer are very observant and would notice a ground blind out of place and steer clear of them.  I was also told that they would be able to easily smell you from the ground blinds.  This directed me to make my decision on the tree stand.  I went with a King Kong HX Hang-On tree stand.

I took it home and played around with it.  This is my first experience with a tree stand of any sort so it was very unfamiliar to me.  It took me a few minutes to figure out the workings and how I planned on carrying it in and out of the hunting area and really didn't seem all that heavy.

The day came up a little quicker then I was ready for.  When I woke up it was about 4:30am, I showed with the Primos de-scent, sprayed down my clothes, and thew everything in my Jeep.  The morning air was very crisp and it was pretty dark outside.  It was a little awkward to be up and ready to go when it still felt like night.  I made my way to the sign in station at Silver Springs.  I was a little intimidated when I saw about 5 cars in the parking lot, after walking in I noticed they were all for pheasant hunting.  There was only one person signed in to B.

I dragged all my gear out of the Jeep and prepared myself to walk in.  After my tree stand, 2 small tree ladders, my day pack, and my bow, it was a little overwhelming.  I realized I should have geared up and practiced with everything before I got out here.  I was fumbling around trying to figure out the most comfortable and least noisy way to carry everything back.  I had a spot in mind of where I wanted to setup and found it.  I would have been in some trouble if it weren't for a headlamp a friend gave me this summer.  I put everything down next to the tree I had picked out.  I strapped the ladders to the tree and made sure they were stable.  I then realized how difficult it was going to be to climb them with a tree stand in one hand and secure it to the tree.  After a few frustrating minutes I was able to get everything all setup.  I also realized why the salesman at Bass Pro had suggested 3 ladders, I was not up as high as I had thought, but for my first time in a stand it was as high as I was comfortable.  By the time everything was good to hunt it was probably about 7:15 or 7:30 am.  Light had begun to peak over the hillside, which would have helped when I was setting up, but it seemed like I may have gotten in early enough.

I sat for quite some time with no movement.  It was a little cooler up in a tree then walking around on the ground.  My hands and feet took most of the punishment.  I found myself alternating a hand in each hunting jacket pocket and standing up from time to time to keep the blood flow through my feet.  I sprayed out some doe scent and did some calls throughout the 4 hours I was up there.  About an hour into the hunt I heard some rustling around behind me.  I got a little excited and turned to look.  Unfortunately it was a stupid squirrel.  I say stupid because it had me thinking that there was a deer walking up on me.  They did this a few times to me, running past and around the tree, through some leaves, but no sign of the deer.

I held out as long as I could up there and finally packed it in.  My feet were cold to the point where I could not feel them and my hands were getting there as well.  I think I am going to need some warmer gear.  I am planning to go back out on Tuesday and see what else this area has to offer.  I am thinking about checking out section C.  There is a lot more area and appears to have some good funnel points.  The pheasant hunting area is pretty close to so maybe they will be able to scare some deer my way.

Thanks for stopping by!