Back roads of our memories

A buck like this must be hunted properly without spooking him
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

Fishermen love their  "fishing memories," and continue going back time after time to the same old spot. Sometimes it works on deer, and sometime it doesn't, but memories often remain long after the size of the rack and the venison has disappeared.

Hunters often have the same problem. We develop a feeling for certain ground blinds or tree stands, and often this can be good. In many cases, if a particular stand was once good, it may still be good.

For three years I shared the same tree stand with a good friend. It probably produced a dozen nice bucks for us, and then it seemed to go dead. They didn't hunt it daily, and it may only have been hunted once or twice per week.

My buddy took a few nice 8-pointers there, as did I, and we still talk fondly about hunting that tree. However, as I make my rounds to study deer behavior and travel routes, it has become obvious that deer had quit moving past that tree.

That tree was on an elevated knob 15 feet above a great deer trail.

I've got several memories of favorite tree stands, and those thoughts often are built around having taken a really good buck from it or having seen a wide-racked buck nearby. In some cases, a new stand may reveal a great travel corridor than has been overlooked.

One particular stand sticks out because I had seen a heavy beamed 10-pointer there, and I noted the time he passed by. I was there the next night but he wasn't, and several deer were passed up because I didn't want to shoot a lesser buck if the big one may be nearby.

I went back to that stand periodically, and saw that buck on three occasions but he was either screened by heavy brush or just too far away. And this brings up a point: bow hunters should know what their maximum range is for making an accurate shot.

Shooting at a buck too far away usually results in a miss but a deer that is spooked by an irresponsible shot may never return. Even worse, a bad hit may be made, and that may result in a long tracking job and even then, the animal may never be found. Sportsmen must know their limitations, and strive not to exceed them.

Know your limitations and always hunt within them. Never take long shots.

Years ago, one of my favorite tree stands was in a crooked tree. If a back didn't hurt when they climbed in, it would be hurting when they climbed down. That stand, many years ago,  was positioned between a bedding area and nearby crop fields, and it produced quite a few bucks. It is no longer being hunted.

Another of my favorite locations was a dead elm, and it was located 15 yards from a hole in a fence between my land and a neighbors, and was positioned for a broadside shot once the deer came through. Many people do not realize that given the chance, a deer often prefers going through a hole in the fence rather jumping the wire.

The last time I came down out from that fence-hole stand I felt the tree shudder. I kept going and made it to the ground. The next day I drove down a wooded trail past that tree, and it was on the ground.

Hunting memories, my phrase for going back to tree stands that once produced shots at good whitetail bucks, is something that hunters do. Some of it is nostalgia, and some is to determine if that area is as good as it once was.

These memories are good for hunters. It helps us remember a stand that once led to the arrowing a nice buck, or a memorable miss, or a stand that just makes us feel good.

I'm willing to bet that all of us have such memories. A little thought can make them reappear on demand, and part of hunting's thrill is traveling down the back roads of our memories.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors