Mathews Inc.

 

Our thanks to Summit Treestands for their donation of a new Summit Viper SS Treestand

Like last year we had several thousand people participate in Treestand Challenge 4. Our thanks for helping make this game another success.

This property has been hunted since 1997 by Pat Lefemine, along with the landowner/farmer and his family. It is a great property because it is surrounded by water company land that can not be hunted and the field is mainly alfalfa and red clover which surrounds a small cornfield to the North. Despite the large number of deer, it is a very difficult property to hunt for a mature buck. The bucks cruise all over this property and because of heavy hunting pressure on nearby farms, human scent is not tolerated well. For that reason we are extremely careful to hunt the wind 'precisely' when hunting for a mature buck.

The correct answers for this competition

Morning = Stand 7 (7% chose this for the morning stand)

There are many good areas on this property, but the problem is its shape and inaccessibility given the prevailing wind. When the wind shifts, we can hunt different stands, but when the prevailing wind blows from the SW there are two stands that can consistently be hunted without disturbing deer that are already in the field -or coming off of it. For the morning, the best stand is 7 as it allows us to park at the barn and travel quietly through the woods in the pre-dawn darkness. The majority of deer move from the fields using the SW corner. They head through the cow pasture before they enter the woods on two or three main trails that lead to bedding areas. This allows me to intercept them without being winded. Because I am near the bedding area, there is also a good amount of late morning buck activity in this corner during the November rut.

Evening = Stand 5 (4% chose this for the evening stand)

It's basically the same thing, only in reverse. The deer stage at the edge of the cow pasture and will often provide a fantastic shot opportunity here as they emerge from the woods. I will wait for all the deer to move out of the pasture and into the field, then I exit my stand and sneak through the woods back to the truck. By hunting this stand in the evening, we are never seen and never winded (given prevailing winds).

The total percentage of people who got both answers correct was 1%


The other stands and why they were not the best choice

Stand 1 – The food plot is underutilized because the entire farm is basically a food plot. And it is very close to the road. It is also upwind of the deer coming off the fields in the AM, but also after they have entered the fields in the PM.

Stand 2 –A good stand however it's impossible to hunt here in the AM. The PM is good until a few deer get behind you in the field. Then they will begin blowing and alert other deer from entering the meadow.

Stand 3 – Some of the best buck sign is in this area. Bucks here just seem to like the swampy terrain. But getting in and out is all but impossible in this area.

Stand 4 –This stand is a terrible choice for both the morning and evening hunts. There is good activity here but you risk blowing everything out getting in and out..

Stand 6 – This is an excellent area with good trails however it's impossible to hunt in the morning or evening because you must travel through the deer to get to, and from it. You could get lucky here but it's more likely you will pollute the area.

Stand 8 – Too close to the barn. Good for does and small bucks, but the mature bucks avoid this area due to the commotion.

Stand 9 – For whatever reason the deer don't seem to use this area as much as others. It is also very difficult to get in and out of.

Stand 10 – Without transecting the field and blowing out the deer, it's hard to get to stand 10 in the morning. Evenings are good but like all of the other stands on the West side, you are gamblling here with the prevailing winds.

 

 

The winner of the new Summit Viper SS will be announced at the end of our Live Hunt

 
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