Sitka Saved Me Today
Whitetail Deer
Late season, after heavy rifle pressure all around.
In stand 15 minutes before shooting light. Located as close to a major bedding area as dare. 1 hour later no action until...
Here mama comes with twins trailing, right on the trail I needed for a SW wind. She was cautious, extremely. They are coming from behind me, at 15 yards when I slowly turn to check out the pattern in the leaves that doesn’t sound like a squirrel. I look, she looks directly at me. I don’t move. After 3-5 seconds she begins to walk again, her path to take her perfectly broadside.
I slowly reach for my bow, she stops and looks again right into my eyes.
After another 3-5 seconds she starts to walk again. Perfectly broadside now, a 12” tree is between us which I use to come to full draw. My bow squeaks slightly in the 25 degree chill, but at the same time one of the fawns lagging behind a little started to run to catch up in the dry liter, masking my bow noise.
You know that feeling, the one that keeps us out there. A deer you want to take, at less than 10 yards. You are at full draw, and the pin settles in the kill zone.
You know it’s a done deal, you just have to close it.
And then she jumped on you and bit the hell out of you with her razor sharp bottom teeth and if wasn't for the protection offered by Sitka she would have ripped your intestines out and stomped them. Whew! That was close!
At the release she bolts full speed away from the arrow’s impact. But in 25 yards her legs begin to betray the ending. She hits the ground violently, full cart wheels twice, then silence.
The silence leads to a thanks and a prayer. She is at most 70 yards away, her white belly pointing towards me almost as a sign of final surrender.
She is larger than average. I watch as half dozen deer walk up to smell and nudge her. Her fawns leave with the group after 10 or so minutes.
Without Sitka, would a mature doe who looked twice have allowed for a shot? Maybe, but I am convinced the Sitka helped.
And Lou, NJ was not used on this hunt, so credit must go to some extent to an outstanding camo system. ;-)
Buddy my lab weighs 85 lbs, and he is not long pawing.
Larger than average means what, like how long is a piece of string???
Sitka make a difference? Maybe or maybe not - will never know, but whatever makes you confident.
I have mature deer regularly come in down wind while I’m wearing wool and they pay no attention - is it the wool or is my scent somehow bending/diverting around them? Who knows... whatever gives you confidence. In my opinion camo is highly overrated and more for the hunters than the game animal.
Either way - congrats on the doe.
i thought this was another grizzly bear thread.
Me too! We need Thornton to settle this question..
Frank. Congrats. I have no idea on the camo. I don't wear any but I use the deer whisperer method
But I have to say Lou that was awesome and awesome timing I laughed pretty hard on that one
You're not seriously suggesting you killed that deer because of the camo you were wearing, are you? I mean, c'mon..... please tell me this was done tongue in cheek. Or, are you trying to get some sponsorship freebies?
Well after reading the grizzly Kuiu thread and now this Sitka testamonial, I don't Know. i was going to use any Christmas might I might get to order some Kuiu after that grizzly thread, but now this Sitka fool the deer thing. I might just stay with the stuff I got from the local farm and fleet supply store. I can vouch for one time wearing it sitting in my deer stand and a whole flock of black capped chickadees landed in the branches all around me. By the time they left I actually felt totally unharmed. So besides being effective camo it also protected me. Maybe I'll just use any money I get on Busch Light and Karkov vodka.
Yes men, it was a play on the Kuiu/grizzly thread. You know camo threads are almost a sure thing to bring out debate, a very close second to political threads.
I figured between the grizzly thread and Lou’s DoI thread this might help get the hit numbers up.
Frank we are not looking for numbers but honesty LMAO !
Congrats again on the Chile meat!
If you are a) warm and b) *quiet* I can see that the camo, pattern not withstanding, _helps_. I have warm-but-noisy clothing to burn. Warm-and-quiet is the grail, never mind pattern.
Being in Missouri I figured one them inbreds got a hold of you Frank. The only thing that kept you from squealing like a pig was they couldn't get your sitka fanatic bibs off you:)
Kuiu, Sitka, OK First Lite is up next....
Well I wore a first lite neck gaiter in public today maybe it saved my life from getting covid lol
I would have killed one one of the fawns, and none of them would have "looked" at me in my ASAT 3d outfit.
Lol way to hit the trigger
I figured this thread was a jab at the Kuiu post.
Not much gets past this group!......
It's a soliloquy you dolts
All Sitka, all the time.
There you go Scoot
PS: I knew it was fake news when you said the other deer came in to check out the dead doe. Never happened
Actually Charlie, that absolutely happened. She died next to the main path back to the bedding area. It was probably coincidental, but it happened.
Jac you had me rolling on your first post.
Well played Frank. Congrats!
Scrappy for the win...………….
Got 100 says they would of done the same thing if you would of been sitting in hot pink sleeping bag. And did not move .. anyhow congrats on the doe
So you guys think it is only the pattern that makes a difference. No sir, the comfort level and warmth allow a hunter to remain motionless for hours. Add the quiet factor in and there is no comparison. The pockets, OMG! (That’s for the young ones here.). Quality of stitching, everything else is just an imitation.
Scrappy, it was not cold enough for the bibs. Maybe a pansie like you needs them at 25 degrees, but I am a Marine. Though I walk thru the valleys of MO, the inbreeds fear me.
;-)
Keep your bibs on boys, just having some fun. I have shot a lot of deer with bow, only using Sitka the last two years. Obviously I must have been doing something right in that WM camo in the early years.
Again, this was just a little humor that started from reading a couple of other threads, I was not being serious. I am happy with my Sitka, but have no idea if the other top end camo is better, I can only afford one of them,
"I don't know. What do you think? Does this Sitka make my butt look fat?"
Von,
You bring up another great point I overlooked. Sitka tapering makes every user appear to be a Greek god along the lines of Hercules. Maybe that is why hunters who use Sitka have significantly higher success rates, the increased confidence leads to results?
Just like some states don’t allow certain gear as it does not conform to their definition of fair chase, I have heard through the Michael Moore grapevine that Sitka camo is the only one being considered for banning because it also may not be fair to our prey.
If they do, will guys turn it in along with their ARs? I know I am not, COs won’t be able to see me wearing it because it makes us invisible, so in all likelihood chances of getting caught are slim, slim like how Sitka makes one appear.
^^^^^^ “When they pry my cold dead fingers”
Of course that doesn’t apply if you’ve got Sitka gloves on....
Sorry, Frank, I know what you look like. Nothing short of liposuction will make you look slim, buddy. I know the feeling. ;-)
Matt
Matt,
I have to call Fake News here, you have never seen me in Sitka.
;-)
