"Official" 2014-2015 Somerville Thread

[Ballinonabudget]

At least somebody's getting lucky at nails!

[rem788]

HAHA!!!! Dang I should have taken a pic of the two bra's I found out there this morning. For you guys who have never hunted out there, it is not easy getting in and out of there. I was out there 6 1/2 hours and barely scratched the surface. It is overgrown and thick in there. I got home and spent almost an hour pulling cactus thorns out.

[Limbwalker]

Ah Rem, that was an easy day today! ha, ha. Sure had fun scouting with you though. I hope that spot we found pays off for you.

Duck, I took it easy on Rem. You and I covered a lot more ground. I didn't know you ever hunted that tree, but man did that look like a killer spot that day!

Rem and I are crossing in another spot I found not long after I took you around. It's a pretty reliable spot, and right now, he and I are the only two humans who know how to get in and out of there without getting lost or having the hide taken off of us!

I showed you a few secrets, and showed him one or two today. Maybe next year I'll show someone else another secret spot I have been keeping in my back pocket.

At any given time, I have at least 5 places in play, ready to hang a stand and I'm always looking for more. In the past 22 years, I've probably hung stands in 30 trees out there, and it never gets old. I still get just as excited when I make that last turn to the hunt area as I did back then.

Good luck guys! I hope you both have a great season.

John

[Duckthwacker]

Do you know what climber I am talking about across the creek limb???

Yeah I hunted that area quite a bit last year and learned a lot and it should be interesting this year.

[Duckthwacker]

Yeah iv crossed that creek many times without the use of a flashlight from the road. I walked my two guys last year when they has there flashlights going....... They never knew I passed them heheherhehehe

[Jäger]

HAHA!!!! Dang I should have taken a pic of the two bra's I found out there this morning. For you guys who have never hunted out there, it is not easy getting in and out of there. I was out there 6 1/2 hours and barely scratched the surface. It is overgrown and thick in there. I got home and spent almost an hour pulling cactus thorns out.

Man I saw those things too! Kinda creeped me out. My hats off to you guys who can find your way through that mess...I looked for a way through it for about 4hrs today and finally had to call it. But at least now I know which places won't work. Lol

[Limbwalker]

If you think it creeped you out, you should take your 13 year-old daughter out there scouting, and then have her see them and have to explain why they are there. That's pretty ****ty, and not funny at all.

As for finding our way through, it's so much easier than it used to be. When I first started hunting S'ville, not only did we not have google earth, we didn't have GPS or even the internet! LOL. So a topo map was about the best we could do in those days.

A good sense of direction is priceless in that jungle.

And knowing what places WON'T work is nearly as valuable as knowing which ones will.

[Jäger]

Question for the Sville veterans out there. Is it frequented much by Dove hunters? i saw a couple of old spent shells out there and was wondering if it was a heavily dove hunted area and if so how does that affect the deer come Sep. 27th? if i was a deer i know where id be if there were a bunch of shottys going off, and that doesn't bode well for bowhunters till after October.

[rem788]

Man I saw those things too! Kinda creeped me out. My hats off to you guys who can find your way through that mess...I looked for a way through it for about 4hrs today and finally had to call it. But at least now I know which places won't work. Lol

Funny you say that. I had my GPS out there and several spots were saved as NOGO which meant I couldnt get anywhere by going that way. I saw the spent shells as well but they were steel shot from the duck hunters.

Your'e right Limb. It wasn't that hard of a day but I am used to doing that daily although a couple times I looked up and you were gone. Man you move fast through there. Thanks again for the help. I'm really hoping for some good luck this season. I'm sure I have enough spots picked out now I'll have some success. If not then this season will be a good learning lesson for next year.

[rem788]

BTW who are your phone service providers? I have Tmobile right now and I had no service the entire time I was out there. I'm thinking my best bet is gonna be sharing my location and approximate times I'll be out there so if I don't check in they can get some help.

[down2hunt]

BTW who are your phone service providers? I have Tmobile right now and I had no service the entire time I was out there. I'm thinking my best bet is gonna be sharing my location and approximate times I'll be out there so if I don't check in they can get some help.

I have AT&T and it is spotty out there.

[Jäger]

Yeah AT&T is a no go, although with my iPhone I do have pretty good sat reception. Each time I've been out I've given the wife a map of where I'll be and let her know when I would check in by, and if I don't, call somebody.

[Limbwalker]

I have AT&T also, and sometimes I get it, and other times I don't. I may regret it someday, but I kinda like the fact that there are still places East of I-35 where you can't get cell phone coverage.

I also give my wife a map, and tell her which stand location I plan to hunt, and if not that one, the backup ones. And she knows if I don't call within an hour of sunset, she needs to call the GW. Aside from hunting with a buddy out there, that's really about all a person can do.

Texting seems to work better for me out there though. I've received texts in the stand when I had one or no bars. Also, being up in a tree usually helps my signal.

Jager, I'm sure some folks try to dove hunt out there, but honestly I'm not sure why when there are good APH dove properties within 20 minutes of the place.

The real shock to the system out there - aside from all the scouters like me who go out there and sweat like heck when it's 100 degrees - is when duck season opens. There is water in the ponds this year, so we can expect a lot of shooting during teal season, and again on the duck opener.

The deer get used to it pretty darn quickly however, and I've had deer under my stand when there were shotguns going off early in the morning, less than 1/3 mile away. Occasionally, they would look in that direction, but it really didn't seem to spook them at all.

If you know how the deer react to both the duck hunters going in and the other bowhunters going into the place, you can really use it to your advantage.

John

[rem788]

The private property I hunted for ten years had duck hunters there every weekend it was open. It was my BIL's doing the shooting. Sometimes deer were a little spooky but they still came it eventually. I would also sometimes bring my toe with my clothes so I could strip down after duck hunting to get scent free then walk to my stand. That was kinda fun too. Two hunts in one morning.

I'm thinking when I hunt out there I will get there early enough so that I go in as soon as it is legally permitted. I recall seeing times somewhere for entry and exit. I think it was 5:00 am to 9:00 pm. That may be a little early but I'd rather get in there early so hopefully I don't have a shadow following me. Maybe I'll get comfortable enough to do it with no light like some other people here. haha

You may be right Limb. I have been able to get a little signal so I could text once up in a tree some other places so that might work here as well. I think I will still give my coordinates to somebody an an approximate time to check in just in case.

[rem788]

I'm in the market for a lock on since I have switched where I'll be hunting now. What kinds do you guys have and how do you like them? I really like the one Limbwalker (gorilla stand) showed me however they are not produced anymore. So far I have looked at the Ameristep bone collector one which isn't very big. The one I liked the most is a new brand called Hawk. It looks super comfy with a memory foam seat and larger base than most and weighs in at 12 lbs. It's also $139 which is a good price from what I've been able to find.