Don’t Be Afraid! Changing with the animals…..

1/1/2011
HHG

Sticking to the same old hunting tactics you have used all season doesn’t always put late season game in the cooler. Sometimes you have to change with the animals to increase your odds for success.

This last week I hunted our place as a last hurrah for deer season. I had several other family members there as well that “didn’t see anything”. As it ends up, they just weren’t looking in the right places.

The first evening I arrived late (last minute decision). Everyone was in the stands when I arrived, so I took one of my bow stands in the very back of the property. Accepting that this was probably where I was going to hunt the next day (because of the other hunters), I needed to make the most of it.

Now, I hunt over a feeder that barely works and no one helps to maintain or fill. But what I do is use PHD (Post Hole Diggers) to keep my area active. It works well for me and I don’t have to worry about anyone trying to sit in my tree stand when I’m not there because it doesn’t look very inviting under the feeder.

That evening I observed a fair amount of game (and especially hogs) galavanting around and crossing the road about 125 yds up wind of me… I decided to do something about this the following day…

After sitting in a warm blind the next morning and watching 5 of our young bucks play around my feeder for more than an hour, I set in to correcting my lack of meat in the cooler.

I knew the animals crossed the road regularly. I’ve watched them do it most of the time all season. So, I decided to sprinkle some corn with a heavy dose of hog wild onto the road at their crossing locations. This would surely stop something as they crossed. I also set up a make shift blind on the side of the road next to the fence at the top of the hill (opposite from my tree stand and feeder at the bottom of the hill).

The results from this little change were HUGELY successful! I put 300# of meat in the cooler in less than 24 hrs!

The smallest change made this possible. I moved my “stand” location and changed the “feeding” area slightly. All of a sudden I wasn’t watching for game…I was hunting them.

So, as I sat there, I thought this was a great topic for this month’s letter. Don’t be afraid to adjust your set up. The hogs have seen it all year. Sometimes you will need to hunt outside the box to get things done. When you do, and your timing is right… you’ll be the lucky SOB that “always” gets something…

Works for me

Good Luck!

HHG

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