If someone knows how to post a picture I can send pictures to their phone.
I got the Tower Stand finished in time. I hunted the Opening Day (12 November 2022) in it. Froze my tail off. We went from an early morning low in the 50's to 20 degrees and 1.5 inches of powder Snow pretty much over night. The day time temperature only got up to high 20's where we had been up in the high 70 Thursday. What a change.
I hunted with my new Nosler M48 in 6.5 Creedmoor. I am using a Harris Notch Leg Bench Rest Bipod on the front with two sizes of rear sand bags for under the butt. The bigger bag is in the window opening facing North beside the door. Shooting that direction the shot is a lot more down hill as well as close requiring a taller sand bag under the butt. The M48 Nosler has a Weaver Classic Extreme 2.5 - 10X rifle scope on it. I have it Zeroed at 100 yards. I stapled a Drop Chart over the window opening with Come-Ups in 25 yard increments to 400 yards, which is my maximum range I COULD shoot from this stand. This scope has finger turn knobs that are easy to finger dial.
Saturday Morning I did not see anything. I did sweep some of the 1.5 Inches of Snow out of the stand. Cleaned snow off the bench top, and got my small rugs on the bench top. No Hand Warmers or Toe Warmers. I fixed that problem about noon when we went to town. I did not deploy the Toe Warmers Saturday afternoon, however the Hand Warmers were nice in my pockets.
Saturday Evening. At 4.15 PM I had a nice buck come by. Not a wall hanger, but probably an average 5x5 for around here. He skirted around the grown up pasture on the South side of me about 40 feet back in the woods. That put him out approximately 150 yards from me. I had him in sight for 15 minutes. He stayed in the edge of the woods following the wooded dry creek bed all the way around the Hay Field all the way to the County Road where he crossed. He got out in the Hay Field for a few seconds 300 yards from me, but no shot.
At 4.45 I had a Spike Buck in the pasture on the West Side of the Stand. He was traveling South until he got even with my stand, then he angled away from me West. He got up on his hind legs and rubbed his antlers on an over head limb. I was surprised a spike would do that. He went into the hay field West of me, then circled back North and ended up going by my brothers stand. My brother let him go on by also.
It is Sunday Morning, and I am going to Church this morning. I will hunt this evening.
Bob R
