My Accura V2 .45 dropped a 9 @ 9

[Ninering62]

Well done! I know what you mean about hauling deer out. They’re not all getting heavier but, at the tender age of 75, it sure as heck seems like it!

Thanks DB. I only hope I can still hunt & haul my own deer out when I'm your age. I'm 59 & it whoops my butt now.

 

[Ninering62]

I also use a viper bottom goliath top climber. My older brother had the bottom of his goliath buckle and it was cheaper to buy all new so I got his old upper and it gives me more room. I think the bottom dimentions are the same top is a little wider. I only hunt from a climber. I have a blind but haven't used it in many yrs.

Daggone, your brother buckled a Goliath bottom section, he must be a big feller. They're rated for 350lbs I think. The Summit self climbers are the best on the market across the board, hands down. I had friends that loved & swore by their Tree Lounges...... until I let them get up in a tree with my orig Viper. 4 guys in that group had tree lounges, after that day, 3 bought Vipers.

 

[Shorty]

Congrats Ninering62 on some fine shooting. I also have a summit viper, mine is about 10 years old. The piece in front of the chair can collapse if you want it out of the way for shooting my compound, or leave it in the uprite position for shooting my guns off. IMO they are the best made and most comfortable stand to carry and also to hunt from. Its easy to do an all day sit when you are in a new area that has had no human stink around the area. Mine is so comfortable that sometimes i even get my daily nap in also. Thanks for the great story..be careful on the drag out as we are not getting any younger..

 

[Ninering62]

Congrats Niner on your ML hunt. Nice deer. Virtual deer camp .
Bring it on up to WV . I’ve been making jerky and in the process of vacuum packing.
We start a 3 day “Heritage Season” today. Sidelocks and long bows today.
Go get another one friend.

Thanks brother. I cant even tell ya how much I'd love to come back to Wva & hangin out with you'd be bonus points. Cool you're makin jerky, I had an amazing recipe for the marinade & use to make a lot of it - until me & the exwife split & she took my dehydrator, jerky recipe & the vacuum pack rig. Enjoy the Heritage season & best of luck for a great hunt. I haven't deer hunted with a sidelock in a long long time, since TC came out with inlines. The father, me & my youngest brother all started out with .50 TC Hawkens & PRB's

 

[Ninering62]

Congrats Ninering62 on some fine shooting. I also have a summit viper, mine is about 10 years old. The piece in front of the chair can collapse if you want it out of the way for shooting my compound, or leave it in the uprite position for shooting my guns off. IMO they are the best made and most comfortable stand to carry and also to hunt from. Its easy to do an all day sit when you are in a new area that has had no human stink around the area. Mine is so comfortable that sometimes i even get my daily nap in also. Thanks for the great story..be careful on the drag out as we are not getting any younger..

Thanks a bunch Shorty.

 

[gman57]

Sounds like you had a great day and stand location, congrats on nice buck and great shot. I just put a mesh seat on my summit viper makes it lighter and easier to pack . I had a summit open shot I loved 14 lbs , got stolen.

 

[Ninering62]

Sounds like you had a great day and stand location, congrats on nice buck and great shot. I just put a mesh seat on my summit viper makes it lighter and easier to pack . I had a summit open shot I loved 14 lbs , got stolen.

Thank you very much gman. Yes, it was an awesome mornin in the woods. I normally see deer, but never very many & most I can't get a shot on. Movin that 25yds farther was a very good move. I'd have not seen the first deer I before 7am & would have not ever seen the buck that busted me reloading either from the last tree I was up in. Though I've killed 5 deer out of that tree, many more I saw I could never get a shot on. Thats why I dont mess around, as soon as I see a DRT shot I squeeze one off.
Ain't it a damn shame that ppl steal another mans treestand & game cameras from the woods. Just unbelievable & inconceivable to me.

 

[D55]

Daggone, your brother buckled a Goliath bottom section, he must be a big feller. They're rated for 350lbs I think. The Summit self climbers are the best on the market across the board, hands down. I had friends that loved & swore by their Tree Lounges...... until I let them get up in a tree with my orig Viper. 4 guys in that group had tree lounges, after that day, 3 bought Vipers.

He was under 300 at the time. I think it was the angle of the tree he went up. We are more carefull now as to the severity of angle on a tree. I prefer perfectly straight myself but I am not a carpenter and don't carry a level. LOL

 

[Ninering62]

He was under 300 at the time. I think it was the angle of the tree he went up. We are more carefull now as to the severity of angle on a tree. I prefer perfectly straight myself but I am not a carpenter and don't carry a level. LOL

LOL I've yet to include a level in my hunting gear either. I have strapped the viper onto a bowed or bent tree a time or two myself. If the best tree around where I want to be or need to be is not Georgia pine straight, then, let the games begin. lol

 

[GunisLoaded]

As long as we gots the harness all is good. I also try to remind myself to look up. I've seen a few widowmakers hanging loose and moved to another. If it don't feel right there's always another one. Rather be safe than Harold

 

[Ninering62]

As long as we gots the harness all is good. I also try to remind myself to look up. I've seen a few widowmakers hanging loose and moved to another. If it don't feel right there's always another one. Rather be safe than Harold

Harnesses do save lives. I've never worn one & hunted in treestands since I was 13. I've had a cpl close calls too. I do, however right from the beginning of gettin my first viper use a tiedown strap around my top section behind my seat & lock that tightly into the tree. I learned - immediately after - lol my bottom section dropped halfway down the tree when I was sitting in the seat & bumped it I guess wrong with my foot, to tie 2 lengths of paracord to both sections at the distance I want them apart. Now I get to elev & kick out the bottom so it falls to the right spot then put all my weight on the outside to seat it firmly into the tree. NO more O/S's with that. If I had any sense, I'd wear my dang harness too.

 

[mnoland30]

Congratulations. I always like to hear what load and bullet you were successful with. If I were you, I think I'd carry a small saw and do a little trimming to widen and lengthen my shooting lanes. Especially since it seems you have a great location.

I've dragged a couple of deer, and found it to way too hard where I hunt. Lot of up and down, no snow, lots of rock and cactus. I butcher my animals in the field. I can cut up an elk in 3 hours by myself. With a cheap gunshow pack I hauled out my spike elk'hind quarter, the backstrap, and the head in one trip. Of course it was less than 1/4 mile and all downhill, steep downhill. I'm 69, so you've got a few years on me. I don't know how far from the truck you hunt, but for me iit is much easier to make two or three trips than to drag out a deer. I've hauled elk as far as 5 miles (when I was a few years younger). I use plastic bags, but I've been told that garbage bags have a tint in them that isn't good for you, and now they add scent to lots of bags. I have a supply of clear bags that we used to use for recycling. I use frozen milk jugs to keep the meat cold. I kept the elk in my ice chest for a week while cutting and wrapping a bit each day.

 

[Ninering62]

Congratulations. I always like to hear what load and bullet you were successful with. If I were you, I think I'd carry a small saw and do a little trimming to widen and lengthen my shooting lanes. Especially since it seems you have a great location.

I've dragged a couple of deer, and found it to way too hard where I hunt. Lot of up and down, no snow, lots of rock and cactus. I butcher my animals in the field. I can cut up an elk in 3 hours by myself. With a cheap gunshow pack I hauled out my spike elk'hind quarter, the backstrap, and the head in one trip. Of course it was less than 1/4 mile and all downhill, steep downhill. I'm 69, so you've got a few years on me. I don't know how far from the truck you hunt, but for me iit is much easier to make two or three trips than to drag out a deer. I've hauled elk as far as 5 miles (when I was a few years younger). I use plastic bags, but I've been told that garbage bags have a tint in them that isn't good for you, and now they add scent to lots of bags. I have a supply of clear bags that we used to use for recycling. I use frozen milk jugs to keep the meat cold. I kept the elk in my ice chest for a week while cutting and wrapping a bit each day.

Thank you for your post.
I do have a Gerber folding saw with 2- 10" blades ( 1 for wood & 1 for bone ) that has a nylon belt case similar to a knife would have. I got that after I got my first Summit Viper self climber to cut all the tree branches off the tree I wanted to climb. I've used it with the bone blade to process my deer too - before I got a battery Sawzall that is. But where I am hunting is not my or my fams property, so I leave as little of a footprint as possible. So cutting some shooting lanes would be fantastic, but its just not possible. I choose my treestand locations with much forethought & strategy - like I quickly learned to do when I use to hunt western Md. Pa & Wva. My whole mindset is focused on - putting myself where deer are moving through & whats the easiest path to get it out. I've never butchered an animal in the woods to pack out. I have put floatation vests on deer to tie them to the back of a canoe to get them out of the swamp before though.
You have 9 yrs on me, but your health is prob still better than mine is right now.
This yr I can't hunt where I've been hunting bc its too much for me to get my deer out even with the cart I got. That cart gets caught up in briars & vines & gets stuck in holes from turtles & armadillos & it broke the first time I used it. I put my stand 120yds from the back door this yr. I have a garden cart on a riding mower & a tractor with a bucket. I don't have many opportunities nowadays to shoot a deer on the fams property, but its the only place I can still go hunt from my stand & take care of my deer by myself. I too remember the days of goin miles into the woods to hunt & how long & hard it was gettin a deer back out dragging it. Those days are loooong in the past
I use the large fishing coolers to put my deer in here in Fl. and process them into the freezer as fast as my body lets me. I've used 2ltr soda bottles frozen full of water too. Thats a great idea & they last a good while too.

 

[mnoland30]

We all will reach the age when we can't do the hunts we want to do. So my plan is to do as much as I can while I still can. I went on a NM ibex hunt last spring, and it kicked my butt. I won't put in for that hunt again. I fell once and bent my knee so my heel was touching my butt. I didn't know it could still bend that far, and I didn't know it could hurt that much. For a few minutes, I thought my hunt was going to be over before it started. Western hunting is much different than what you do, so I'm used to packing out meat. Years ago, I chased an elk herd 3 miles into the wilderness area, and shot a bull. When I walked up to it, I had no idea how I was going to get it back to camp. I had to cut it in half just to drag it into the shade. Fortuanately, some other hunters on horseback took pity on me and packed it out. Once I learned to de-bone them in the field, everything got much easier. In this country, dragging isn't a good option. Good luck on your near home hunt.