I have hunted deer for more than half my life. Every season is different and I learn or observe new things all the time. It is how you get better and more proficient. This season, the lesson blew my mind and will stick with me for every hunting season to come. During the 2022 season, I shot a doe on opening morning of rifle season. Maine hunters’ ability to shoot both a buck and a doe has allowed me to be more strategic about how I hunt. I can focus on shooting a doe to put meat in the freezer and then hold out for a big buck. The first two weeks of the 2023 season were fantastic. It was during the third week of the season that I learned something new about my rifle and ammo. I grabbed three new 180 gain bullets as I headed out on...
After my incident last season, Dad decided that it would make more sense to be hidden in the woods and have more coverage than my treeseat gives me. This will help me get a better view of the more traveled deer trails and not rely on the deer to come my way. He wanted to build a permanent structure that would allow us to hunt in all weather conditions. So, Dad has been busy building T3. He constructed it in the barn to make sure all of the dimensions were right. Our first treestand was built 16 feet off the ground using a 12 foot ladder. Not ideal and clearly not built by hunters who knew what they were doing. The Sky Condo was considerably better with insulation and a tar papered roof. T3 is...
There is nothing better on a nice fall day then walking through the woods with Dad and checking the trail cam pictures. We headed out to check the camera by the Sky Condo and the camera by my tree seat. That big buck has been hanging around the Sky Condo but if it's the same deer as last year, he made a few trips past my seat and into the bog. After doing some logging on the property, Dad has decided that we will move my tree seat and build another permanent stand. The plan right now is to move closer to the bog and off to the left of where I sit currently. This will allow me to sit close to the bog and thickets and if it rains, I can still be around any deer that decide to move. I am naming my new stand...
While out on our snowmobile ride, we went down a stretch of powerline that was peppered with deer stands. I envision something like the Dunkin Donuts/snowplow commercial where one deer steps out and there are at least three hunters ready to take aim. I am glad that we hunt on private land! Here are the photos. Which one would YOU want to hunt...
Our first tree house. During the last two weekends of hunting season, we headed over to the spot where it all started! ~~~ While Hubby and Dad decided to still hunt on the mountain, I needed a place to sit. Dad said that our original tree house was still safe if I wanted to go there. He advised me that the roof (made of canvas) had caved in a bit and that could pose an issue. I hate to be on the ground and trying to hunt, so I figured I would take my chances. When I approached the stand the first time, it looked good. Not as good as it did when we first built it seven years ago, but stable and strong. When Dad and I built it, (this was our first attempt at a tree stand), we haphazardly nailed boards to the tree...
Deer season is approaching and it's almost time for Dad and I get our tree seats up. Blake Anderson at Huntertreestands.com offers this advice for the best places and types of tree stands to use to ensure you land that buck! Thanks Blake! The Sky Condo that Dad and I built. Optimized Tree-Stand Placement There are a lot of elements during hunting that are often out of your control, which can ultimately lead to an unsuccessful hunt. However if you optimize those components that are within your control, then you can quickly turn a disappointment into a great victory. Tree stand placement is one of those key rudimentary elements that will decide whether or not you end up empty handed, and there is more to it than just finding a...
A hunting license does not authorize you to enter private property without permission. Last week, my friend Robin and I got into a conversation about hunting on private vs public lands (and about hunting on Sundays, but that’s a different blog) and the lack of public land around to hunt on. IFW says 94% of land in Maine is privately owned which makes hunting hard if you do not own land to hunt on. I am fortunate. The three pieces of land that we hunt on make up about 430 acres and are owned by my parents and grandparents. We have allowed people to hunt on the land as long as they asked and did not use four-wheelers. I hunt in a small town where everyone knows everyone else and knows where they hunt/own. It is a community where the...
Folks, I need some advice. Dad put up a new tree seat in a new secret spot. Its fantastic. I climbed up there last weekend and sat for a few minutes. It's another pimped out seat with a bar that comes down over me like a ride at the fair. It's a little tighter of a fit than my other seat but it will work. Here is my concern: the open shooting lanes are on my right. I am right handed and right eye dominant. The tree is a little too close to my back and shoulder if I need to turn to the right to shoot. The last thing I want is for my gun to kick back and me not be able to go back with it. What should I do?
