I live in the prairie pothole region of North Dakota. Its tough country to be a traditional bowhunter. I have all the Wensel's books and all of Roger Rothhaar's stuff as well. I dream of hunting the type of country they write about. But where I live is different. Its home and I make due and we have whitetails... I have an 80 acre crop field that gets rented out. It has a couple of potholes that have water in the spring and one of them has a rough hill that they cant farm. All together its about a twenty acre patch of cover. I have hung a camera there since buying it and I get some random pics but nothing consistent. I have racked my brain for years trying to figure out how I can draw deer in more consistently. I live on an old railroad system that has old telegraph poles that the deer have rubbed for years. Some look like the classic hour glass after years of rubbing. This spring my neighbor cut down the remaining poles so his spray boom would clear. Something clicked in my head and I decided I would transplant one to my 80 acres. Did I mention there isn't a tree within 2 miles.... So this April I sank a pole in front of my camera and felt kind silly doing it. The first time I pulled the card I was pleasantly surprised. Every deer that came by checked out the post. [attachment=1,msg2931195][attachment=2,msg2931195][attachment=3,msg2931195]
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So as summer goes on it just keeps getting better and better. I should also mention the field was to wet to plant so it has a heavy cover of weeds. So one day Im going in to pull the card and a buck gets up that makes me swallow my tongue. I could tell he was good and I prayed I had pics of him. Couldn't get home fast enough. Yup he was on camera. [attachment=1]
shoulda put a longer one in, you could have hung a stand on it. :biglaugh:
really good thinking! :thumbsup:
Yeah never thought of that. :biglaugh: So now I have a buck I know i want to hunt Next step is to get a blind in there. Ive taken a few deer outa the bale blind so thats the way we are going. I also decided that I would hang a licking branch on the post for a little added pizazzzzz.[attachment=1]
Little smokeys deer lure and bingo bucks started hitting it immediately. The only thing that bothers me is that I was getting daylight pics and now he has gone nocturnal. Ive never set up back there so nothing was ready till I went in in mid august. Wish I would have had everything ready in may. My hope is that he will relax and start showing up again in daylight. Our season opened on the fourth and I sat it one night. I had a chance at the 4x4 but couldn't do it thinking the big guy was going to show. Ill keep hitting it when the wind is right, who knows its hunting no guarantees. Im just happy it worked better than I ever imagined. Did I mention Im a whitetail nut??? Good luck to everyone this fall. [attachment=1][attachment=2]
[attachment=1,msg2931204]Its crazy how many different bucks are hitting it....
Now that's thinking outside the box! That's usually what it takes to get it done !
Good luck !!!!!
Great idea! He will be back out in daylight as the rut gets closer. Does check the licking branches too so there will be deer there!!
Awesome idea, best of luck this season.
If it's any consolation I've noticed that at the end of August maybe the first week of September the bucks I've been getting on camera just disappear. I may not get another picture of them til November. That's been consistent for several years.
Daniel , I've seen same. A buddy with a plane watched two great bucks all summer. They moved 2 miles when the velvet came off. He flew til he found them , not to hunt them but to see how far they went...
Very sharp idea. :thumbsup:
I thought about building a big round bale /blind. But never got around to it. Good luck, Bryan. I haven't been out yet.
Great idea, best of luck....!!!
I have seen power poles with the same hour glass look in areas where there are plenty of suitable live trees to rub on. Maybe the creosote smell has something to do with it.
When I lived in North Dakota I was told that the state bird was the mosquito and the state tree was the telephone pole. Maybe there's something to that. :)
Here is a pic of the original pole behind my house. I had a camera on this for 15 years got some neat pics. It got so worn down that It was going to break. I pulled it out of the ground with intentions of using it on a pedestal mount some day. Sank another treated fence post in the same spot and they won't touch it. [attachment=1]
very creative, good luck :archer2: :coffee:
This is awesome. Good luck and keep us updated.
Beeman, that's a great pic of a nice NODAK buck!
Thanks for the comments guys. Felt like some of you might enjoy this story. Ill keep you posted on how it turns out. For now its hot and the wind is wrong constantly. Staying out till conditions improve.
Looks like you have some very good bucks in your area. Good luck hunting!
Out of the box thinking like that deserves results. Best of luck on that Buck.
[attachment=1,msg2934155]Well the good news is that there is a scrape under the licking branch. And they are rubbing the post hard. Bad news is its all Nocturnal...
He's still there [attachment=1]
Excellent work...
Well this is going to be a good news bad news update. The bad news is that somebody else got this buck. Its a Compound kill and I don't have permission to post pics so Ill just skip it. Rest assured I've seen the pics and its indeed the buck I was after. Oh well that's how it goes at times. It was fun while it lasted. Im hopeful that some of the other bucks make it and I can start to watch them develop. Now for the good news. I was able to take another buck that I was after on another farm. He came into seven yards and the little PCH Widow put a 2216 through the boiler room. Its always bittersweet when a buck you have followed is no longer out there. But happy to have had a good hunt and a short recovery. Nothing better than fresh venison....
Had pics of him throughout the summer. [attachment=1]
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[attachment=1]Did I mention Im a whitetail nut.....
You cant complain about that one Bryan. Nice buck .
Nice job man!! :bigsmyl:
Wow! That's a beautiful buck! I enjoyed following your story making a rubbing post. North Dakota is a very special place for my wife and me as we participate in a week long bicycle ride there each year.
Bernie
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:congratulations fine buck
fine looking buck, congratts! :thumbsup:
Great buck! Congratulations! :thumbsup:
Awesome buck!
Congrats!
Bisch
Great buck. Congrats
Awesome buck! Congrats. Those PCH's are deadly.
Beautiful buck. Congrats!!
Great buck!!!
Well Ive got a bunch of sits in at this spot but its just not working out yet. Ill sit it one day skip the next sit it again the next and find a buck was there the day I skipped. Arggh!!! The good news is the bucks just keep showing up and they are hitting the pole with a vengeance. They may have it out of the ground before its all over. And they are spinning it the licking branch is 90 degrees from where we started. Im not killing anything but its good entertainment. Might shoot this big necked devil just to see how big he is...If I get the chance.[attachment=1]
[attachment=1]I think there messing with me....
Finally had a buck come in that I wanted to shoot before dark. Its been a weird year with warm weather and strange wind conditions. December 12th we had colder temps with high humidity that produced fog and hoar frost. Ive had some great hunts in similar conditions in the past so I was pretty excited. First sit had a 5x5 come in that would not present the right shot angle. He goofed around for 5 minutes before turning broadside, by then it was to dark to pick a spot. Next day conditions were the same and ten minutes before dark here comes a nice 4x4 that I had made up my mind I would take if given the chance. The shot was good, the trail was short, and I have some fresh venison, don't get much better than that. Cant wait till next year.. Thanks for the kind words and following along. Good luck to everyone.
[attachment=1,msg2942866][attachment=2,msg2942866]The pole and licking branch have been hit hard. Going to have to redo everything next season.
:thumbsup: congratts! nice buck, :thumbsup:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Loved the story. Heck of a season!!
Try replacing the "treated post" with an untreated cedar post..
I was going to mention ASAT for ground grass hunting but I see you have that covered!
Also, there's First Lite makes a leafy suit top in 2 colors. It's another amazing Camo for ground hunting in or among shrubs like I see in the photos. I've head good luck. I use the head piece too.
Way to go Bryan!!!
Nice buck and great pic. Can't believe you don't have snow on the ground yet.
We do up North now. (Have some snow)
Congratulations Bryan !
Going to try to get out this weekend, if the powers that be let me.
Congratulations!
By Chance do you have a picture of your bale blind in place to this "rub post" in order to see what the area looks like? I know you said no trees around for miles.
Congratulations!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
[attachment=1,msg2943073]Here you go Kelly...
waiting and waiting and waiting :biglaugh:[attachment=1]
WOW, that really puts in perspective. Thanks
What are the specs on your PCH?
58" 60@30 shooting 30.5" easton xx75 2216's. Four fletch with 150gr three blade VPA. This is my short/light bow for ground blinds....
I am shooting a Black Widow PMAIII recurve, 50 @ 29. I have typically shot Gold Tip 400 carbon arrows, but I am curious about the Easton XX75 2215 and 2213 which are 11/32 shafts. I found some 2216 Carbon Express shafts at Walmart and I like the way they shoot. They don't have the weight tolerance that Easton does so there is some variance. I kinda like the 11/32 aluminum shafts and they seem to fly well, and for hunting arrows they seem to have the weight and mass. I'm curious if anyone else uses the larger diameter of aluminum hunting arrows the 11/32 shafts and what the pros and cons are compared to the 5/16 aluminum arrows like a 2018. I'm thinking of buying some Easton XX75 in either the 2213 or 2215. Anyone have some experience you can share with me. Thanks
Sorry late to reading this exciting story! Great job on figuring a solution to the problem. My Pastor would say "that's using your kidney" :bigsmyl:
Glad this was bought back to the top cause i missed it the first go round. Awesome story and creative thinking to outsmart those guys. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: