Arrow Archery

Deer Apple Corn Block

Last night, I dropped a deer apple/corn block in the woods behind my house. I have some game cameras set up back there, and like to give the wildlife in the area an incentive to pose in front of my cameras on a frequent basis. I used one of these last year, and the deer flat out destroyed it.
I typically place corn out in front of my cameras. It definitely brings the deer in, but also raccoons, rabbits, birds, and squirrels too. It does drive me crazy when I sort through my game camera pictures, and half of them are squirrel pics.
I started weighing out the economics of using shelled corn over apple/corn blocks like this. I paid $8.50 for this 25 pound deer block, and $7.40 for a 50 pound bag of corn. If I lay the corn out on the ground, it will be gone in a matter of days. I know ... I should be using a feeder with a dusk and dawn timer so I can control the output of corn. Well, I have a couple, but I still need to get batteries for one, and the other is out of commission. Squirrels chewed the funnel cone that leads from the bucket to the spreader, and it is gone. A deer block like this will last for weeks though. I'm marking my calendar to see exactly how long it lasts.
In the mean time, I think I'm going to pick up some more of these blocks. I should hopefully have some new pics to post soon.

Back in the Winter of 2008, I moved to a new home in a neighborhood that borders a section of woods. The neighborhood is on the edge of a populated county, but it is out on the edge of the county. My home border the edge of the woods, and my property actually extends about 30 yards back into the wooded area. It is a nice area with a lot of affluent neighbors.
The woods was a big draw for me when I selected the property to build on. I love the outdoors, and this lot gave me the best of both worlds. My wife is happy since we don't live too far away from civilization, and I'm happy, because I feel like I am in 'the country'. These long wood runs extend for miles. They may only be a few hundred yards wide, since they border neighboring subdivisions. But they are loaded with deer and other wildlife. There is very little hunting pressure in the area, so I have seen some quality bucks frequently. I keep a couple of game cameras back there, and even hung a stand for the last days of this past season.
Once I hung this stand, I did have a big concern with the legality of hunting near a populated area. I posted some questions in some popular hunting forums, and the consensus response I got was "if it is your land, and there are not state or regional laws against hunting on it, then by all means ... hunt it".
I was happy with this response and checked the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife hunting guides. While there may be some local ordinances against discharging firearms in the area, there is nothing that would restrict me from bow hunting the land. Since I am an avid bow hunter, that made me VERY HAPPY.
This past Spring, I learned from a neighbor that the block watch captain in the neighborhood discovered a deer stand in a section of woods near his home. My neighbor knew I was planning on hunting my land, so he brought me this news ASAP. The block watch captain went on the war path. He is apparently against the whole concept of hunting, and called the state capital to complain. I was happy to hear that they told him that if it was bow hunting occurring on the area, and the individuals were hunting on their own land, that there was nothing he could do to stop it. This confirmed the information that I had gathered from my own research, and again I was happy to hear this news.
My only concern now has to do with pissing off my other neighbors. This block watch captain's home is close to mine, and I am concerned that I could still have issues with him if he discovers that I am hunting back there. I will obviously do my best to keep a low profile, and not offend anyone, but I'm still worried about it. My big worry is that this individual will instate a neighborhood ordinance restricting hunting for residents.
This whole situation rubs me the wrong way. What makes a person with an opposing view of hunting think that they can dictate what others do? I have always considered myself to be a respectable hunter, and don't want a conflict situation. But I AM going to hunt my property. Every year, I donate several deer to needy families. It helps to keep the population down, it helps families in need, and it helps me spend more time in the woods hunting, which I enjoy.
I'd be interested in hearing what you think of this situation. Have you ever encountered issues hunting near populated areas?

Have you ever been disappointed when you have harvested a nice buck?  I have.  It was back in the late 1990's when I was hunting some leased property in Nelson County Kentucky.  I was on the lease with several other guys who loved to gun hunt.  At that time, I didn't own a deer rifle, but I had my trusty Jennings Buckmaster bow with me.

The night before the opening day of gun season, we all met up at the deer camp.  Everyone talked about where they would be hunting and who had laid claim to which areas.  I already had a stand hung up on the side of one of the knob ranges.  It was rough land, but the kind of land that the better bucks seemed to like.  I didn't mind the uphill hike to get to the stand, because I had been seeing good deer in the area throughout the bow season.  None of them had been close enough for me to take a comfortable shot though.

I told the guys that I would be bow hunting on the back of the property, and they were shocked to hear that I would pick up my bow instead of a rifle.  I didn't own a rifle, so it was an easy choice.  I had a couple of guys offer me their extra rifles, and I declined.

With my bow in hand, I sat through the morning hunt, and saw several deer.  I passed on several shots on smaller bucks.  I even passed on a shot on one of the biggest bodied does I had ever seen on that land.  I heard several shots that I knew came from our lease.  I was pretty sure that my partners were scoring.  After sitting in the stand for longer than planned, I got down and went back to the camp.  They had four bucks hanging when I pulled into camp on the Arctic Cat.  None of them bigger than a 6 pointer.

After a rest and some lunch, everyone got ready to head back out to get on stand until dark.  Again, I was hit with the pressure to take a rifle.  "You're gonna see that buck of a lifetime, but it is going to be just out of range of that bow.  How will you feel then?" The  pressure got to me, and Charlie gave me a quick once over on his extra Remington model 700.  It was a .270 and a flat shooter.  A good gun for whitetails in Kentucky.

I saw little action until about an hour before dark.  Several does moved through and I saw a couple of small 6 pointers.  I let them walk in hopes of seeing a larger buck.  Soon after, I looked over my left shoulder and saw a decent buck.  He was an 8 pointer whose rack was outside its ears.  A pretty decent buck that I'd be happy to shoot.  He was coming straight towards me and was at about 40 yards when I decided to take the shot.  I raised the gun up layed the crosshairs on him, and he turned about 30 yards out.  I pulled the trigger and the buck covered about 40 yards before he crashed.

Now this is where I will probably offend some people, but that isn't my intention.  I felt kind of let down after that shot, even disappointed.  It was too easy.  I had only been bow hunting up to that point, and I just didn't feel the rush killing that deer with a rifle like I would from killing a deer with a bow.  It was at this point that I knew I was a bow hunter at heart.

Every year, I see tons of new products that catch my eye and have me thinking how ingenious they are. It happened again last night when I saw the bicycle bow holder from Pacific.
You see, a couple of years ago during turkey season, I discovered the benefits of taking my mountain bike with me on my hunts, and leaving my ATV behind at the camp. The property I was hunting had a lot of established trails and logging roads. I had a lot of ground to cover though, so I typically used my ATV to cover the distance more quickly. I can't tell you how many times I would see deer and turkey running off as I approached on my four wheeler.
I decided to take my mountain bike with me for some hunts, and saw several benefits:

1. I could cover a lot of ground quickly.
2. I could do it quietly.
3. I was consistently seeing more game.

It was easy to strap my shot gun on my back before hopping on my mountain bike, but I never had that option for my bow.  The bow is definitely much more fragile.  You need to be concerned about breaking fiberoptic pins, and knocking your rest or sights out of alignment.  It just didn't make sense to try taking my bow on the bike.

But then I saw the Pacific Bow Locker/Holder, which calmed all my concerns.  What a great idea.  It has a univeral coupler that will fit almost any mountain bike.  It is rubber dipped to protect your bow for damage, and it is adjustable to ensure that any size or style of bow will fit snugly.

I am definitely ready for the bow season to get here.  September 5 is opening day in Kentucky.  While I am eager to get in the stand, it can be tough hunting on those early days of the season due to the heat.

It isn't uncommon to see days in the 90's still in early September.  It gets so hot, that not much of anything moves during the day.  It seems the only good time to be in a stand is for that first hour after sunrise, and that last hour before sunset.  That is typically when all the action is.

It can be tough to keep you scent down this time of year.  You break a sweat just walking into the woods, especially if you are carrying any gear.  You can be dripping sweat by the time you climb the tree to get into a stand, especially if you are using a climber.  For early season hunts, I definitely prefer having a hang-on stand ready and waiting for my.  Some screw in steps, or ladder sticks are ideal.  I like to hunt high this time of year to keep my scent from being as much of a factor.  With all the foliage still on the trees, I typically end up having to cut some shooting lanes.  The higher up you hunt, the more of an issue that canopy becomes.

I have to admit that I am sometimes hesitant to shoot in the hotter weather.  You have to rush to field dress your game, and get it to the processor as quickly as possible to minimize the chances of spoilage.  Bags of ice in the body cavity can buy you more time.

While I definitely look forward to the bow season opening, what I really look forward to is the cooler weather coming in.  The deer start moving more, and you aren't so rushed to keep you game from spoiling.  Either way, I'll be happy to see it get here.