Deer Hunting 2022 - Preview while its still warm!

It's been a busy fall and as such more difficult to get things organized for the late November Extended Family Deer Hunt.  We think we'll have five or six hunters, assorted non hunting people, and two or three dogs on hand.

Deer numbers appear to be sufficient.  My major contribution to the pre-season has been frequent walks near - but usually not stomping right through - areas we are planning on hunting.  On a recent fall day I took two overlapping walks.  Total game count was 19 deer, 8 turkeys, four grouse.  One of the deer strolled by as I quietly sat at the base of a tree.  At a range of perhaps 30 yards it would have been an easy shot with a bow.

And in fact one of our party does have a bow license so we are technically allowed to put up stands now that the archery season is open.

This should be my view on Opening Day.  One area of public land we will be on has some quirky rules.  Anything non natural has to be taken down at the end of the day.  Also, there is no access for ATVs, so anybody hunting there has a quarter mile to haul themselves in, and hopefully a deer out.  I think I'll have it to myself.  This photo is from a natural blind that three generations of us built on a fine autumn day.  My grand daughter contributed lots of milkweed fluff; it grows all over the place.  I'll have to bring my trusty lawn chair and some blaze orange fabric panels.

Looks like pretty effective camo.  Hope I am sneaky enough to get there without stepping on every dry stick for a quarter of a mile.

We have a couple of circumstances where it would be useful to have two hunters working in close proximity.  This is a new set up for us.  Obviously safety belts and meticulous firearms safety will be necessary here.  I went up there once to tighten a bolt on the upper stand.  Once was enough.

I prefer a tree stand that is closer to terra firma and way more stable.  Back where I saw the clueless deer at 30 yards I put up this stand.  Oddly the area is crawling with deer most evenings but you seldom see one any other time.  Deer night club I guess.

To the experienced eye this stand looks very stable.  Wedged between two diverging trunks and held on with both strap and safety chain.  It also looks a bit improvised.  I'm not the inveterate dumpster diver I once was, but when you get a tree stand really cheap but with a torn canvas seat you have to be creative.  The leather straps are off a fifty year old Duluth pack I used to take on trips to the Boundary Waters Canoe area.  Back in the days when - despite far less on board padding - it was realistic to sleep on the ground.

Unlike that prospect the comfort level of this set up is quite acceptable.