J-birds place

This post has absolutely nothing to do with habitat or my farm, but an event has happened that I was not sure would EVER happen in my lifetime. Brace yourself........

THE
CUBS
ARE
GOING
TO
THE
WORLD
SERIES!

I am a life long cubs fan, and so is my father and the misery and heat-break that has been the history of our team since 1908 is legendary in the sports world. Saturday the cubs advanced to a level in which that had not previously reached since 1945.....think about that....not since WWII have the cubs been in the world series...... We still have 4 games to win against a very good Cleveland Indians team, but you have to be there to win. All I have to say is "Go CUBS Go" & "Fly the W"!!!!!
cubs.jpg
 
j-bird said:
This post has absolutely nothing to do with habitat or my farm, but an event has happened that I was not sure would EVER happen in my lifetime. Brace yourself........

THE
CUBS
ARE
GOING
TO
THE
WORLD
SERIES!

I am a life long cubs fan, and so is my father and the misery and heat-break that has been the history of our team since 1908 is legendary in the sports world. Saturday the cubs advanced to a level in which that had not previously reached since 1945.....think about that....not since WWII have the cubs been in the world series...... We still have 4 games to win against a very good Cleveland Indians team, but you have to be there to win. All I have to say is "Go CUBS Go" & "Fly the W"!!!!!
View attachment 4105
Click to expand...

My wife's family are all from Chicago. Her aunt told us that Saturday was the first time she had my wife's grandfather cry. Super pumped. I can't imagine the feeling. We have our Cubs shirts on the way! Go Cubs!!!
 
Good looking bur. Amazing how those deer love those little water holes.
Good luck this season
Todd
 
Well I have spent some time in the stand without much luck. Weather here has been warm, but scrapes are showing up and that's a start.

180 pano View from stand Friday morning (took a vacation day):
friday.jpg

180 pano View from stand Saturday: This is overlooking my pawpaw. I'm not hunting here because of the pawpaw - this is a transition area of cover types that the deer like and a creek crossing.....the pawpaw just happen to be here.
pawpaw stand.jpg

Finally seeing some action on my scrape trees - I think going with the bigger trees has helped. These guys are not big by any means, but they are interested and that is a place to start. These are out in the open so I pretty much only expect activity in the dark. I have found a few scrapes in the woods and those may be of more particular interest from a hunting perspective. These are near food plots and stands, but seeing the buck traffic is nice.
N scrape buck.jpg

S scrape buck.jpg

Have to enjoy the view once in a while as well.
morning.jpg
 
Hey, better come down off that cloud with Harry Carey and get out in the stand in the morning.:p
 
Well I had an interesting weekend. I hunted friday evening and had a real eye opening experience. I was getting settled into my stand and the cable that supports the platform failed. I was thankfully already strapped to the tree and didn't fall, as the strap pulled tight and I was able to regain my balance, but the unsupported stand started to distort so I had to get to the ladder. I got to the ladder and collected myself. I liken the experience as like when your walking down stairs and you miss a step. I was pretty rattled being roughly 20 feet up. Without the tether I would have fallen and the result would not have been good. I got most of my gear out of the tree and I went home......I can take a hint!
broken stand.jpg
I have had that stand and 2 others for a few years, but I obviously lost confidence in them so I went and bought new ones and replaced those saturday. The others didn't seem to show any cause for concern, but I wasn't taking any more chances.

Once hunting resumed I had another reason for some thought. The chase is on at my place. I have seen bucks of all sizes chasing does like crazy. I saw a huge buck twice but never got a shot. However the activity caused me to make some interesting observations. I do all this habitat work, I spend all this money and spend all this time. Where was all the deer activity - just across the creek......on the neighbors! He does nothing but farm the place. I am considering a gross change in plans on my place. One essentially of walking away. I think my efforts are actually being counter productive. I think I may be making good progress from a habitat perspective, but I may be spending so much time doing it that it is keeping the deer at a distance......what good does that do me? I know the deer are around - I have seen an explosion of scrapes and frustration rubs, but the actual daytime activity remains low on my place. I think I may be reaching a point where "less is more".
new rubs.jpg
Again this is right next to a different neighbors place. I know the deer are bedding in there and this string of willows is near a small corn plot of mine. So I can see the evidence of my work making an impact, but if it's not when I can hunt - what good does it do me? This weekend appear like the deer traffic was purposely avoiding my property - which is really frustrating as the stand I was in was only the first and second times I have hunted that stand.

As of friday I am on vacation until after thanksgiving so I hope the deer find a reason to use my place. Our general firearms season opens soon and I am seeing great deer activity right now with cooler weather expected later in the week as well. Maybe I will get another crack at that buck yet. I just know the odds go down once the orange army hits the woods.
 
It really wasn't the stands fault - things don't last forever, and just because it worked last time doesn't mean it will work this time (I was just in that same stand 2 weeks prior when I hung it). I'm also not a little fella so there is that to consider as well (thought the stand was rated for my weight). I looked at the others I took down and they didn't show the same amount of wear for whatever reason, but I'm still not using them. Confidence is a big thing and you have to trust your equipment. I'm cheap, but replacing these stands helps put me at ease of getting back up in a tree, if not for me but for others that use those stands as well. I used a paint marker to put the date on the new ones and will more than likely start a obsolete plan to replace them after so long to avoid this again.

Folks tend to have the "it won't happen to me" mindset. Well, it can happen. When I was a kid we had a neighbor that fell from a stand and paralyzed him from the chest down. Yes they are a pain, yes they can be pricey, but your life is worth more. I have 4 kids and a wife that depend on me to come home in one piece. I posted on FB and it got shared and someone responded that they have never worn one like it was cool or something. I don't see it as "cool" I see it a foolish, and plain stupid. My boy responded to that comment "I have NEVER been in a tree without one". That was because I drilled it into his head!

I didn't pop a single thread in the tether strap - but just that little resistance allowed me enough time to regain my balance and quickly assess the situation. Without it - my hunting career would have ended with a "thud"! Please don't be a "thud"!!!!
 
How old was the stand, and had it remained in the field during the off season? I have a couple stands that are getting to be a few years old so I am starting to get concerned, though I do pull them in the off season.
 
gtlegs said:
How old was the stand, and had it remained in the field during the off season? I have a couple stands that are getting to be a few years old so I am starting to get concerned, though I do pull them in the off season.
Click to expand...
I pull all my stands every year - to keep them at limited exposure, but rust knows no bounds. The stand I would say where close to 5 years old or so. The others didn't look bad, so for some reason this one had a rougher life. All I will suggest is wear your safety gear and give them a real good look over when you put them back up. Strange things happen and that is why we use the harness!
 
j-bird said:
This isn't habitat related......but it is a MAJOR event in my life, so I need to celebrate a little bit!
View attachment 4364

I promise my next post will be habitat related......:D
Click to expand...
I've been hunting too much an not on here but didn't mean to not give out Kudos to the Cubs. They wanted it more and deserved the win, especially to do 3 games win in a row. Congrats, I guess:(

And wow, glad your ok with tree stand deal. Good luck with your season.
 
J-bird this thread has been awesome. I read it from the start yesterday and today. It really has "re-inspired" me to stay at the habitat improvement as I'm in the midst of a pretty rough hunting season as far as numbers of deer seen is concerned. Thank you! AND GLAD YOU'RE OK!
 
Glad youre ok jbird. Great reminder to check our gear. Im sure we all know someone who has taken a nasty fall and thats just stupid nowadays. Kudos to you for buckling up.

Stay with the habitat program, but give yourself and the deer a breather summer thru fall. I enjoy keeping up with your habitat work. Everything looks great to me.
 
Sam16 said:
J-bird this thread has been awesome. I read it from the start yesterday and today. It really has "re-inspired" me to stay at the habitat improvement as I'm in the midst of a pretty rough hunting season as far as numbers of deer seen is concerned. Thank you! AND GLAD YOU'RE OK!
Click to expand...
I'm glad you like it. We all have rough patches....I think I am going thru one myself in questioning my impact .....but I will survive. Sometimes we need a "curve" once in a while to wake us up and take a good look at what is going on.
 
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