Live From M4Madness' Treestands 2011

Well, not exactly live, but a few hours old. I figured I'd start a thread again this year to post videos taken during my deer hunting exploits. Archery season opened today, and here is my video shot this morning:
































Last year's archived thread:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_10_12/639872_Live_From_M4Madness__Treestand___.html

Do they know you are hunting in the Zoo?

where is the salt lick at?

Nice shot, Details man, details!

Awesome man, Nice shot. I'd like to start getting some footage of my hunts this year.

What camera were you using?

I'm hunting the lion pen next weekend.



They're all heading for their beds on the adjoining property 400 yards away where no hunting is allowed.



Saw five does coming from the "wrong" direction (I was expecting them to come from the left). By the time I got the camera turned on, it was too late to shoot the first few. Then my safety harness tether got stuck, and I had to unsnag it. By the time I got drawn, the last doe was trotting to catch up with the others, and I had to mouth bleat a couple of times to stop her. I then had to fire off a split-second arrow, which hit a little back and center-punched the liver. I left the woods for a couple of hours, then my wife and I went back and found her dead. She was already stiffening, so she'd more than likely expired right after the shot.



http://www.amazon.com/Sanyo-VPC-FH1A-Video-Digital-Photos/dp/B002Q4VC9G

Well done... I'll have to try catching something on my camera this year.

Excellent shot!

Must be nice to hunt where there's deer.

Today's evening hunt (Sunday):

Wow. Bad ass. Both vids.

How high up are you? I would get caught in Texas 9 out of 10 times moving around like that if I was less than 30 feet off the ground. I've heard they were pretty oblivious to you 15 feet and up in the Northern states.

I couldnt get 30 ft off the ground here, I have been pretty invisible sitting on top of a 15 ft tall manure pile though.

Eh.. in my limited experience that isn't the case. I've only hunted a stationary stand once and the one deer that did pop into the clearing spotted me immediately even though I was stone still(heard her coming before she was in sight).

I've also seen deer get spooked and look all over the place towards the treetops instead of down at ground level. I've also heard stories completely opposite of that(completely oblivious to the guy in the stand no matter what he does).

Hell, those happen on the ground too. Last year I couldn't help but sneeze as a doe was coming towards me. She stopped, looked confused, then came towards me even faster with her ears perked up as if I were a giant, sneezing acorn.

edit: also depends a LOT on the woods you're hunting in, types of trees, age ect. though I have NO experience or knowledge of stand hunting down south.

Congrats David

Nice job. It's too bad you don't have your stand in a location where there are more deer

awsome man! you had a good weekend!!!

Great job!


Oh, and thanks for sharing––that's really cool to watch.

Why does everyone shoot the little ones? Let them grow!!!!!!!!!!!








AWESOME!!!, Your bow was a lot more steady than mine would of been.
I would of looked like I just drank a pot of 5 hour energy drinks, and chased them with 5 espressos, and ended up doing a double gainer out of the stand testing the limits of my Hunter Safety System.

"Hees usinc da treis..."

Great videos, thanks for sharing! That first shot was fast and I applaud you! I probably wouldn't have even tried to draw and fire that quickly.

I was exactly 20 feet up in a lock-on stand in a very old and leafy white oak with more limbs than you could imagine. With that type of background, the sun behind me, and the wind running straight up the buck's backbone, it was a recipe for success.

I figured he would continue on his route from the right side of the screen to the left, so I positioned the camera accordingly. When he shifted directions, I still thought he would be in frame at the shot. I should have known that he would have turned, as I passed him up as a large-bodied 2 1/2 year old last year on the same path almost on the exact same date! From last year's deer journal:

Sounds like it.

Do they ever look in the trees up there? I'm not sure why Texas deer do, but on some hunting shows those guys who hunt everywhere allude to it about Texas deer making it seem like that is specific to here. It would seem like if they do it here, they would do it everywhere.

Oh yeah, they'll look right up at you here as well. The camera angle makes it appear that he was looking at me, while in reality, he was ambling on at a steady pace and focused on the field behind me. He came to a dead stop when he reached the field edge under me, so I didn't have to bleat him to a stop or anything.

Imagine a checkerboard consisting of four squares. Two diagonal squares (upper right and lower left) are woods, while the opposing ones are fields. My stand for the buck hunt is set up right at the intersection where those four squares meet –– an hourglass funnel of sorts. Deer either cross from one woodlot to the other right in front of me (staying in the sparse woods at that point), or they may gently cut the corner of the field. This buck was going to cut the corner of the field to enter the other woodlot.

I had a big old doe one time make me based upon a ladder stick. She came down the trail I was hunting, right on time, just perfect, fully calm and unalert. She needed two more steps before I could poke a hole in her but she stopped cold and looked at the ladder stick, followed it up to me, stared at me for a second, then quietly turned and walked back the way she came. I had even put the stick on the back side of the tree, but apparently not quite far enough. Her eyes were scanning side to side as she walked and when she caught sight of the stick she stopped like she had run into a wall. I already had her butchered in my mind.

That has happened to me a few times as well. Luckily it was during rifle season and I blasted her anyway.

Very cool..... Thanks for posting.

congrats david... your really burning the tags this yr... i need to step up my game a little..lol

Yep, I can't keep carrying you. You're getting a little heavy.

I wish you the best of luck this season.

i`m just letting you get a head start..thought i would at least have a week...

thanks the way it looking i`m going to need some luck...

Awesome thread, and good shooting.

From this morning's hunt:

Smoked another one, I get started next month, I will try and get some video.

Man dude you are lighting em up this season. Great footage. Save a few for me would you? I leave for indiana in 11days. Can't wait!!

David,

What broadheads are you using this year?

Slick Trick 85-grain.

Footage from this morning:

































Had 13 antlerless deer and two small bucks around me. Couldn't reposition the camera due to all of the eyes, but still thought that I had the deer in frame. :(

Check out the huge buttons on that button buck that comes through right before the doe!

This fellow was one of the bucks that came in this morning:

Do you have your camcorder shoulder high (when seated, or lower)? I got a vid. the other day, but i do not know how to post it. I have to try and zoom in a bit more to see the arrow impacts like yours. It is hard to run the bow and camera without being seen, but it is more fun trying to get it on film.

BTW, awesome quick shot on the first vid.

My camera is mounted about knee high. That way I can shoot over it if the need arises.

When I see deer coming in, I try to anticipate where they are going to be at the shot, and position the camera accordingly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Have you tried to zoom in real close yet, or do you pre zoom where you think the shot is? I think it's a fine balance between getting the shot in frame and zooming so you can see the arrow. How are you uploading your videos?

The first three videos have zero zoom. The last one (from this morning) I had zoomed somewhat, and it cost me the footage, as it was zoomed in too close and required repositioning which I was not able to render.



I connect the camera to my computer via a USB cable, then after the videos are on my hard drive, I upload them to Youtube.

Good shooting, great video, I like hunters that take does, good for the herd. I switched to slick tricks last year, worked well on the one doe I shot.

Awesome job David! I have yet to get in the woods.... I'm gonna do my best to get out when gun opens, but even that's iffy.

nice videos; seems you've scouted out the perfect location!

Those are three different properties –– the first doe from one, the buck from another, and the last three does from a third one.

Yep, a few seasons hunting on each has allowed me to fine-tune my set-up. This morning may have been my last hunt for this season. Firearms season opens next weekend, and I have no plans to go out at that time. I guess it depends on whether I can crawl out of bed tomorrow morning or not. This morning, I saw one small buck, a bunch of turkeys, and just as I was preparing to climb down for the day, had one tiny doe stop right in the perfect shooting lane. I couldn't bring myself to put an arrow in it.

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