Treestand Set Up, Scouting and a Big Thank You

Truck full of a few stands ready for placement

My cousin and I spent last Friday and Saturday getting ready for the upcoming archery season.  Friday was spent talking to the farmers and landowners of the property we were interested in hunting this year.  I’m sure we all have those go to stands that we hunt year in and year out.  We spent Saturday hanging these stands.  Also, we walked new property we have gained access to, so we could just get acquainted with the lay of the land.  We wanted to see the food sources, terrain and habitat in this newly found hunting property.  We had seen some good sign in trails and scat, and also, surprisingly, saw a couple of early scrapes.

Checking out some new areas, I was sure to mark all the coordinates of promising spots

We started off the morning by walking a piece of property we had never been on before.  We found this property to be a relatively steep hillside with a decent bench about midway down. The deer seemed to be using the logging road on this bench as a travel route.  Over top of the wooded hillside, we found a strip cut which also looked like the deer were using.  We found a white oak stand and some old apple trees with no apples in them.  We marked a couple of areas we felt were decent stand sites on our GPS and will be back to see if  there is any buck sign around these areas at a later time.  Overall, the property had some potential, but it is too early to tell if we will hunt it heavily or not before a return trip.  It was nice to get on the property and just see what was up there.

Scrape under this tree already!

Next we went to set a stand on a farm we acquired access to last year.  We had already known where we were going to set this as the stand was good to us last year.  As we suspected, the sign around the stand site was excellent, with apples on the ground, deer scat, trails and even a little scrape, all within 30 yards of the stand.  We got this stand set up and went to another spot on this farm, which we had seen a few bucks from, and readied a tree for our climbers.  There was also good sign around here in many trails intersecting a little over 20 yards in a crab apple thicket in front of our stand site.  After, seeing this property, we are excited to return later in the year with our bows.
The next part of the day was about saying goodbye.  We had left a stand in a little creek bottom with apple trees that had been very good to us in the past.  I have taken a couple of doe and seen several bucks from this stand, and my cousin had taken a buck and seen several more deer/bucks (all archery deer).  This area, though not this particular stand, was where my cousin grew up hunting and had taken many bucks off of this probably 70 acres.  The stand was always a favorite of mine as it was just an enjoyable place to be, beside the fact that we had taken several deer from it.  Through the last couple of years, there is an asphalt company dynamiting and stripping the land over the hill from this stand, and as they were getting closer, the hunting and overall experience on this stand gradually declined.  The land owner understandably doesn’t want anyone back there hunting, as there is just too much going on with the asphalt company.  As I said, the hunting has declined with the increased activity.  Though it was hard to loose a great piece of hunting property such as this, the timing is right and there are many other places to hunt that offer great opportunity.  Generously, the landowner had given us access to another piece of his property to hunt away from the stripping.  Still, the mood was a little somber as we were taking down that stand and driving out of there.
Our next stop was to another farmer’s house that we weren’t able to contact on Friday.  After the OK to hunt a portion of his property, we were hanging another “yearly” stand which we have had some success at.  We see deer every year at this stand as it is a pinch point between the river hill and a big hay field.   After going in and seeing the normal good trails we hung the stand in the same position as last year.

Setting up

View from the stand

By this time of the day, we were both starting to feel the heat as well as a time crunch.  We went to my uncle’s property to hang a couple of his stands as well as one of our own.  When walking on the wooded portion of his property we really didn’t know what to think of the sign.  Though we saw some sign, and a really good amount of trails around one of his wild apple trees, there weren’t the trails that we had seen in years past.  My theory is that all of the corn on his property is holding the majority of the deer now.  We had hung our stands a little earlier this year, and the corn hasn’t been harvested yet.  I will be interested to see if the sign changes after the corn is harvested, as I suspect it will.   My uncle joined us in setting two of his stands and one of ours in the likely spots from previous years.   We had to leave this area before clearing out an entry way and checking out one more spot, but as I said, we were strapped for time and had an appointment to meet another farmer to see about some archery hunting access on his property.
To finish out our day, we were going to meet a farmer and a friend of my uncles from his church.  Driving back to his place, I was amazed at the farming and territory in which I had never known was there.  We had met him earlier, but we were going out so he could show us around, and so we could get to know each other a little better.  This will be archery only, buck only territory, and from what we saw, it was a very impressive farm as well as an impressive area.  We didn’t actually take a walk in the woods, but he took us around his property and camp and got us acquainted with the property he was permitting us to hunt on.  He gave us an aerial photo with an outline of the area we are permitted to hunt, and the photo also gives us an idea of the territory and terrain we will be hunting.  It was great having an opportunity to get to know him as well as getting familiar with his property.  This brought us to dusk and on the way out we saw many deer with the highlight being a group of 5 bucks (1 shooter) crossing the road in front of us.
To finish this entry, I would like to thank the generous people allowing us the opportunity to use their property.  A great positive to trying to gain access to property is the great people you meet and get to visit with every year.  I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity, and find this part of the archery season to be very enjoyable.  To me, this is what hunting is all about: family, making friends, the outdoors, and the sense of accomplishment that comes when all the hard work pays off.

Good luck to you in the upcoming hunting season, and be safe.

Views of Velvet & Antlers Abound!

Most of my evenings over the past week have been spent cruising the back roads around my house with the spotlight and video camera. I’ve seen a lot of nice bucks so far this year, but getting good footage of them has been difficult. I’m usually traveling alone, so holding the light, camera, and steering wheel without putting myself or other motorists in harm’s way is a real challenge. Even so, I’ve managed to capture a few nice bucks on film.

A tall-tined 8-point in Beaver County

I extracted these photos from my video footage. I apologize for the poor quality, but my camera budget isn’t what I’d like it to be, and it’s usually hard to find the big boys close to the road. Still, I think you can get a pretty good idea of what’s roaming around my neck of the woods.

A big 9-point in Allegheny County and a nice Beaver County 8-point

These two bucks sized each other up, but decided it was too early to do any fighting.

With all of the sightings of nice bucks, I was eager to get some treestands in place over the weekend. My hunting partner, AJ Johnson, and I spent most of Saturday morning hanging stands in some of our productive spots from last season. We knew it was going to be hot and humid, so we got an early start.

Our first set-up was in a dense stream bottom not far from where AJ harvested a nice 9-point last year. The site overlooks the intersection of three well-used trails and has great potential for funneling deer during the rut. We decided that hang-on stands were the best option due to the prevalence of small, crooked trees in the area. Luckily, we found a maple tree large enough to hang a stand and provide some good camouflage to conceal our presence from the deer below.

Safety harnesses were critical for keeping both hands free for installing the stands; A deer’s-eye view of our stand location near the thick stream crossing

AJ and I agreed that this should be one of our most promising spots this Fall, so we decided to put up two stands next to each other. The twin stands will allow us to attempt to capture some video footage of our hunts, as well as provide a great location for taking some young archers on their first bow hunt.

AJ peers down from 20 feet up in the maple; Our dual stands should produce some memorable hunts this season.

Before we left, we installed a trail camera to monitor the deer that are traveling the nearby trails. We’ve had good luck in the past getting some photos of bucks that we never knew were in the area. The new digital cameras on the market produce better image quality and have longer battery life than those of the past. And personally, I don’t believe these cameras alarm deer as long as the camera is not visited too frequently and human scent is kept to a minimum.

AJ makes sure all of the settings are correct on his trail camera; That’s me looking down from one of my favorite stand sites

Our final stop of the morning has been one of my most productive locations over the years. The spot is situated between a large bedding area and an oak ridge that overlooks a series of agricultural fields. The fields always contain rotated crops of alfalfa, clover, and corn and draw deer like a magnet. Because the stand site is a good distance from the fields, I can hunt it in the morning or evening depending on the wind direction. Plus, a small woodland pond nearby is often visited by deer on their way to the fields to feed in the evening or in the mornings before they bed down for the day.

I should also mention that my first field test of the Medalist Silvermax apparel was on Saturday while setting up the stands. Due to the hot weather, I figured it would be a good opportunity to experiment with the silk-weight crew. As most of you know, installing treestands is hard work, and with 90-degree temperatures, sweat was pouring off me most of the morning. However, I was impressed with how quickly the silk-weight fabric dried and I stayed relatively comfortable despite the daunting humidity. My first impression of the Medalist gear was that it’s a noticeable improvement over the cotton t-shirt I would have worn in the past.

Until next time, happy scouting!

Practice Makes Perfect

As most of you probably already know, we’re down to 6 weeks before the start of PA’s archery season (or 4 weeks if you’re planning to participate in the early 2B and 5C/5D hunts). And if you haven’t done so already, that doesn’t leave much time to get your bow tuned and make sure your arrows are hitting where you aim. My backyard shooting sessions usually continue from spring gobbler season, straight through the summer. But August and September are when I get serious about making sure my hunting setup is ready to perform in the treestand.

My homemade target stand is constructed of PVC pipe and a few things you can find at any hardware store.

I’d been thinking about it for quite a while, but this year I finally built myself a bona fide archery range, complete with yardage markers and a sturdy stand for my targets. If I’d have known how easy it was, I’d have done it a long time ago. I started by constructing the target stand out of 3” schedule 40 PVC pipe. I made the dimension of the frame 48”x54” with 36” legs. I wanted to be able to easily move the stand if I needed to mow around it or store it for the winter, so I cemented two 4” drain pipes into the ground (approx. 24” deep) that the legs of the stand slide into. I glued the two cross pieces to the pipe fittings, but left the vertical side pieces unglued in case I need to replace any of the sections in the future. Like most of you guys out there, I’m pretty sure I could never shoot so badly to hit the target frame, but I’m not completely ruling it out either. The bag target was attached to the frame with two screw-eyes and a couple of threaded chain links I had lying around the garage. After seeing how conspicuous the target stand was from the road in front of my house, I decided to spray paint it brown just in case a potential thief might decide the stand would look better in his yard.

A view of my range from the 20-yard marker and a look at my custom marker lids

After the target stand was in place, I was ready to install the yardage markers. I’ve tried all kinds of markers in the past, but I’ve found that the simplest (and easiest to avoid with the lawnmower) are plastic jar lids nailed into the ground. For most of my practicing, I set the markers at 20, 30, 40, and 50 yards. The longer distances are more than I’d ever attempt while hunting, but I’ve learned that I shoot much better at 20 and 30 yards when I’ve been practicing at 40 and 50 yards. Plus, most of the 3D shoots that I attend throughout the summer almost always have a few targets set at 40+ yards.

This time of year, I try to attend as many 3D shoots as I can because there’s just no substitute for shooting at life-sized animal targets at unknown yardages. Even though I’m pretty proficient in my backyard standing over yardage markers, it usually takes me several 3D shoots before I can accurately tell the difference between targets set at odd distances like 27 and 33 yards. Another reason I really like the 3D shoots is because the targets are often set on uneven terrain, with both uphill and downhill shots. Some 3D courses even have elevated platforms to simulate treestand shots.

This past weekend, I went with a friend to the annual Field Day at the Possum Hollow Sportsman’s Club in Wampum, PA. This was an excellent event that featured a variety of sponsors, tons of door prizes and raffles, and shooters from across PA, OH, and WV. The guys at Possum Hollow ran a great shoot and the trails and targets were very well maintained.

That’s me taking careful aim at a deer target 30 yards across a ravine; A contestant in the long-range novelty shoot sets his sights on an elk target over 80 yards away.

Some of the biggest attractions at the Possum Hollow event were the novelty shoots. Like most clubs, they had a long-range contest with a jackpot for hitting the bullseye on a target at an obscene distance. Their target was a 3” exploding dot on an 80+ yard elk target. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the skills to claim the prize, but I heard the tell-tale “boom” several times that morning after a lucky archer had drilled the bullseye.

Another popular novelty shoot was the ‘Dunk Tank’. I’ll admit up front that I was duped into this one by my shooting partner and the event staff. Anytime that I’ve been around dunk tanks, it’s been the person in the tank who gets wet. However, this time around, I experienced the drenching as a contestant as well. I thought the rules of the game were simple: I had three shots at 20 yards to pin a ping pong ball to a stack of hay bales. If I could do that, the lovely young volunteer (sarcasm emphasized) went for a swim. The part everyone failed to mention was that while I was trying to steady my pins on the swinging ball, the elevated lass would be busy splashing me with as much icy water as she could eject from the tank. And splash she did! Having not practiced under such stressful situations, I thought my chances were pretty slim for removing her from her perch. But with some serious concentration and a little luck, I managed to stick the ball to the hay and send the heckler into the frigid tank.

That’s me trying to endure a wall of water without losing sight of the swinging ping pong ball; A very cold and wet volunteer after I somehow managed to dunk her

Finally, the most unique novelty shoot was called ‘Soak Your Partner’. This contest involved an ingenious contraption that held water balloons over each contestant’s head. Suspended over the balloons were spiked boards that were attached with ropes and pulleys to two more water balloons in front of the target. The goal of the game was to shoot your balloon before your partner could shoot his. When you broke the balloon, the weight holding the spiked board was gone and it came crashing down on the balloon over your partner’s head, hence the name of the game. As you can guess, it wasn’t always the person who got his shot off first who won the contest.

A couple of archers prepare for the signal to draw at the ‘Soak Your Partner’ game; The victor (right) enjoys a good laugh after his soaked partner shot first and missed his balloon.

The Field Day was a great opportunity to get some good practice while having some fun and meeting new people. Most of the local clubs in my area hold their largest shoot of the year sometime in late August or September. Some groups also have a broadhead shoot where you can practice with your blades before heading out for opening day. If you’ve never been to a 3D shoot, I strongly recommend giving it a try before the season starts. I’m certain you won’t regret it!

Family, Friends and PA Outdoors

Hello fellow outdoorsmen.  My name is Michael Bell and I am from northwest Pennsylvania.  I’m looking forward to sharing and putting in writing my experiences in the outdoors this coming year.  My two passions in life are Family and the outdoor sports.  I am a husband and father of one 3 year old boy.

My two favorite outdoor activities are archery hunting and fishing the streams of PA.  That being said, I like anything dealing with the woods and or the water.  Unfortunately in the past, I haven’t kept a journal, but I will share some of my favorite photos from the recent past.  Again these are in no particular order but are some pictures of my favorite hunts and fishing trips.

Currently, I have been practicing with my bow almost daily and doing a little scouting for the upcoming archery season.  Pictured below is the weapon I will be using this season.  It will be the same as the previous two seasons:  a Matthews Switchback (05), Trophy Taker Shaky Hunter rest, G5 sight, Gold Tip Arrows, and a Scott Mongoose release.  The only thing I am going to change this year is that I will be trying the Slick Trick Magnum 4 blade broadheads.

Also I am tying flies to replace the ones I had lost on the tribs last year.  This is where I realize just how many thumbs I have.  Though I am not very fast or good at tying, I do enjoy it and the fish don’t seem to mind the lack of professionalism incorporated in these flies.  It is a great way to spend a few hours and will save you a few bucks in the long run.  Here is a pic of my current selection of steelhead flies, most of the egg patterns are my ties.

To finish up I would like to say I am excited to be able to contribute by writing journal entries on this great web sight.  Thanks to the owners for this opportunity and good luck to everyone on your outdoor ventures.  Until next time, good luck and be safe.
Mike Bell

Let Me Introduce Myself - Kyle

Greetings PA sportsmen and women! I’m assuming you’ve all been enjoying the PSP website and the excellent stories and photos from across the state. You may have read some of my earlier entries, but I thought it would be appropriate to tell you a little more about myself. The ’07 hunting season is quickly approaching and I’ve been busy getting ready for archery and the early waterfowl seasons. With the opener for Canadian geese on Sept. 1, my first hunt this fall with likely take place in an oats field or on a lake somewhere in Clarion County. The resident goose population is always plentiful in our area and provides excellent wing shooting opportunities.

A successful kayak trip on a high and muddy Clarion River and a productive field set-up with my dad last September.

Between goose hunts, I’ll spend my time shooting my bow and scouting for a nice buck to chase in October. If I’m lucky, he’ll be on a piece of property where I have permission to hunt and treestands are already in place. If not, I’ll start knocking on doors and looking for new stand locations. I try to get these chores done early because once the season starts, things get really busy. Between duck season, squirrel and grouse, early muzzleloader, rabbit and pheasant, and turkey season, there’s a new opening day starting every weekend in October. I usually spend most of my time in the deer stand, but I enjoy the other seasons as well, so I’m willing to trade some of my archery trips for outings with my family and friends who don’t bowhunt.

My first deer with a bow back in ’99; Three generations of my family with a fine harvest on the opening day of rifle season (the buck was a nice 10-point that eluded me during archery season, but my cousin connected from one of my stands overlooking a thick creek bottom).

If I still have unfilled deer tags after rifle season, and I almost always try to save one, I’ll be carrying my smoke pole in the flintlock season after Christmas. This is one of my favorite times to be in the woods, and at this time of the year, you can usually count on having the place to yourself. Plus, January almost always brings cold temperatures and good tracking snow that are often absent during PA’s other deer seasons.

A couple of deer that I’ve taken with my flintlock in the late seasons.

On alternating years, I also try to schedule time for a trip to one of the western states during elk season. These excursions are always ‘do-it-yourself’ hunts with close friends and family members. We camp in army tents and hunt public land without the aid of guides or outfitters. This method can be challenging, but helps keep costs down and is something I really enjoy. It’s an awesome feeling to be surrounded by wilderness as far as the eye can see and pursue elk that are also being hunted by wolves, mountain lions, and grizzlies. Realizing that you’re a part-time hunter in terrain filled with full-time predators and prey can be a humbling experience.

A view of the Colorado wilderness and our elk camp last November.

During my time out west, I’ve been fortunate to harvest this cow elk in Colorado and a 5x4 bull in Idaho.

If you’ve read my bio, you know that when I’m not hunting, I also enjoy fishing. My angling trips have taken me from the limestone streams of central PA to the trout rivers of Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon. Most times, I’ll be carrying my fly rod and trying to match the hatch, but I’m also quite content with swinging spinners and spoons with my ultralight gear. A couple of years back I took up ice fishing too, and found it’s a great way to ward off the cabin fever that usually sets in for me around February. Most of my hardwater efforts are focused on exploring Lake Arthur in Butler County and Kahle Lake in Clarion/Venango Counties.

A healthy rainbow from the San Juan River in northern New Mexico and a Lake Arthur largemouth I caught through the ice last February.

I also look forward to a trip that my family often takes to northern Quebec in June. It’s a long drive, but the fishing can be tremendous! The lake holds walleye, northern pike, and whitefish, but is too far north for bass or musky. We spend the mornings and evenings jigging for walleye and concentrate on the pike during the mid-day hours. The pike are my favorites and are the most aggressive fish I’ve ever encountered. They’ll strike at almost anything, but I’ve found that big weedless spoons usually bring the most hits.

A couple of nice pike that I caught in Quebec fishing the shallow weed beds.

I was truly flattered when the PSP owners asked me to join their field staff for the ’07 season. I know it’s going to be an exciting year, and I’m looking forward to sharing my adventures with the online community. I wish you all success this fall and hope you’ll get a chance to share your time afield with a young hunter. Good luck!