Greetings loyal Rub Lines readers. Again I’ll apologize for not posting any new material recently. Not only has my work and school schedule been busy, Angela and I are on vacation this week. I found a small window of opportunity to write about the final stages of reconditioning my Summit climbing tree stand.

My stand after five years of rugged use was ready for some refurbishing.

First let me say that Summit is truly a leader in tree stand construction, design, and safety. In addition to providing quality products, they offer nice discounts for certified instructors like me who teach tree stand safety. I’ve taken advantage of this partnership several times and I have yet to have a problem with a Summit product. That being said, no matter what brand of equipment you use, eventually some maintenance will be needed. By the end of last season, my climbing stand was pretty beat up, and the cables were beginning to show through the protective shrink tubing. I made the decision to overhaul it for this season, which I did early last week.

I began by pressure washing the entire stand (thanks Junior for the use of your washer again), and then coating it with spray-on truck bed liner. I put two coats of liner on, which gives the stand a soft feel making it quieter and giving it some texture for footing. After a couple of days curing time, I sprayed two coats of light tan exterior paint over the entire stand, and then followed this by lightly dusting a dark gray paint over the entire surface. Doing this gives the stand a slightly darker color, while allowing some of the lighter color to show through giving it a very natural look. I finished up the paint job by borrowing one of my wife’s leaf stencils and stamping on dark brown oak leaves to give it a 3D effect. It looked great from a short distance, but the true test was how it would look at a distance and during different times of the day.

A close-up view of my homemade pattern. Note how my color choices matched the tree perfectly.

I put the stand on a tree at the end of the yard to dry and lose it new paint odor in time for the season. After hanging the stand, I viewed it from several different distances and at different angles to see how it fit in to the surroundings. I have to say that I am very pleased with the results, particularly in low light conditions when deer movement is the highest. I find that most tree stand manufacturers use too many solid colors, and they are typically a bit darker than they should be. I think my homemade pattern is a pretty solid improvement over the factory paint job.

This is how the stand looks in late afternoon light conditions from about 25 yards away.

I replaced the shrink tubing on my climbing cables after hitting them with a wire brush on my grinder to remove any surface rust and they now look just like they did when I first purchased the stand about five years ago. After the stand sits out for a couple of more weeks, I’ll replace the seat and arm pads, which are still in good shape.

This is how the stand looks in late afternoon light conditions from about 50 yards away.

For a little less than $50, I returned my stand to a like-new condition, which should last at least another five seasons when I’ll repeat the process. If you haven’t gone over your stands yet, there is still time to do so. Don’t find out about a broken weld during your first trip up a tree this season!

My ATV loaded up with treestands and gear is a typical sight for early to mid August.

Somehow it worked out that I got a week off from school so I am trying to take advantage by getting ready for the upcoming archery season. Normally my courses are back-to-back with no time in between, but I caught a break this time around! Although it was near 90 degrees yesterday, I hung a stand of my own while helping one of our co-owners, Jeff and his friend Zach get a couple of their stands set. Needless to say we were all soaked and exhausted, but with the rain coming in last night it was a good time to do the job knowing that much of our scent would be washed away.

Although it’s important to get your stands set as early as possible, it’s a difficult time to do it right now. Nothing looks now like it will in November, and the intense vegetation makes it hard to visualize how deer will approach the stand location. Even when you know a property inside and out it isn’t easy. This is why it’s important to scout and pick stand locations for the following season in early spring before it greens up, which is what I did this year.

Zach found this tree to his liking and promptly hung his stand despite the 90-degree heat.

During my excursion yesterday I met up with a nice black rat snake that was about five feet long. He was acting strangely and I eventually figured out why. His right eye was damaged so he could only see me if I was to his left. I have to admit that I had a little fun with him before he eventually grew tired of it and slid away. I’ve always enjoyed snakes and I just can’t help but handle them when I come across them. Unfortunately they’re one of the most misunderstood creatures and I continually hear stories about people coming across one and needing to kill it immediately. It’s too bad really.

The new friend I met along the way.

I plan to spend some time working on my climbing stand today. I’ve had it for several years now and it’s starting to show some wear and tear. Because a lot of the paint has chipped off I am planning to spray it down with truck bed liner material and then repaint it. This will help make the stand a bit quieter while protecting the aluminum. I will also be recoating my cables with new shrink tubing, which is a necessity about every three years or so. When all of that is taken care of, maybe I’ll get to fling a few arrows. The list of things I need to do is long!

I got this nice photo of a good-sized bear the other day. Will this be a more common occurance in my area in the coming years?

It used to be a big deal if someone saw a bear in the neighborhood. I can still remember as a kid when word would make it around that someone saw a bear, and what a ruckus is caused. Families would load up the car and start driving around the area where the bear was sighted in hopes of seeing it. It wasn’t until my late teens that I saw my first bear in the woods while archery hunting, and I remember how magical it seemed. Where I grew up in the center of Indiana County, there just weren’t many bears, and if you did see one it was likely just passing through. There were usually few bears shot in the county, and most of those came from the Rochester Mills area in the northern-most part of the county.

The best bear hunting in Pennsylvania is typically in Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Centre, and Clearfield counties, which lie within the northcentral part of the state. There were 295 bears taken in Clinton County last year, as compared to 33 in Indiana County. Although bears are much more common in the northcentral region, more seem to be turning up in areas where they historically haven’t been. For example, two years ago a hunter shot the first bear ever taken on the Saltsburg Sportsmen’s Club property, which lies in very southern Indiana County. On our property, which is just a couple of miles from the club, I would see tracks a couple of times per year, but never an actual bear until last archery season when I saw a bear on two occasions. I also got photos on one of my game cameras of a mother bear with two cubs, which was a first for me in this area.

I’m excited to see the bear population doing well, but at the same time it’s probably best that it not continue to grow. Bears require a large area of habitat to thrive, and the more bears there are the less habitat there is for them. Extended seasons are now being offered in some management units in the state and there is a relatively new archery bear season, all of which will help keep the population in line. For me, I’m thinking very seriously about buying a bear license this year and giving it a shot. Admittedly I have no clue what I’m doing, but I know where a decent population of bears are in the northern part of the county and just being in an area where bears are seems like a decent plan.

My only bear hunting experience was a guided one in the northern panhandle of Idaho. On a guided hunt I took a nice bear with my bow, and it was a tremendous experience. Still, I think a bruin from Pennsylvania would be a much greater trophy. I just may give it a try.

Despite all of the green leaves and underbrush now, I know what this area looks like in November, and I'm pretty excited to spend some time here for the first time this season.

I set my first stand for the year the other day, and although it was pretty hot and very green, I enjoyed getting my gear back out while getting some fresh air. When I got the stand in the tree, I sat there visualizing which way the deer may come, and where my shot might happen. It wasn’t easy with all of the leaves and brush, but I did my best to think about how the area will look in November after a few frosts. One of the things you need to be careful of when setting stands this early is not cutting away too many branches to create shooting lanes. I did cut some obvious branches, but I left most of the area as it was for now. I’ll easily be able to trim remaining problem limbs once the season begins, and I get a better understanding of how the stand sets up.

It looks like my fears about our really tough winter might be realized. I was concerned that there may not be a lot of great bucks running around this fall, and so far what I’m seeing supports that notion. I have photos of a couple of good bucks, but I’m pretty sure they’re ones that I have pictures of from last season, and their improvement isn’t looking too impressive. It’s still a little early to tell, but I think it may be a down year in terms of big bucks. I also haven’t seen many bucks, but I don’t get too worried about that this early because most of them don’t make it over to the property until later in the year. Right now they’re spending time in soybean and corn fields that are about a mile away, so if I want to see the deer that might be on our place later, I have to go there to see them. About a week ago I was traveling one of the remote roads in the area and saw what appeared to be a great buck munching soybeans along the woods line. His spread was well beyond his ears, and his body was mature. I wish I could have gotten a better look, but I know he was a good deer nonetheless.

Noting but hot and humid weather in the forecast. Archery season seems so far away right now, doesn’t it?

My team, the Indiana Blackhawks, captured the 2010 championship, which is our second in a row. After a 30-7 season, it's no wonder I'm exhausted. Learn more about the team at www.indianablackhawks.com.

Baseball season is over. We nailed down our second consecutive championship the other day, and other than storing away the gear and having our team picnic, it’s time to turn the page and begin the next chapter, which is vacation and getting ready for archery season. I have a lot to do to get ready, and now it’s just about getting motivated to make it happen.

My long list of hunting to do’s includes reorganizing my hunting room, ordering some new equipment, placing a couple of tree stands, shooting (a lot), checking trail cameras, and of course, firing up Rub Lines again. I’m sure there is more, but these are the things most on my mind at the moment. I’m still not fired up for the upcoming season as I come down off of the high from baseball season, but that should start to change soon. One thing that helped was getting my Illinois hunting license in the mail the other day. Knowing the type of bucks walking around out there is plenty of motivation to get focused!

Look for more regular updates of Rub Lines over the coming weeks. I’m still figuring out how to balance my graduate work with my personal life, so I appreciate your patience. Please check back often as I’m sure I’ll get on a roll again soon. In the meantime, share some of your trail camera photos with me and I’ll post a few on the site. Be sure to include a brief description.

I noticed an add for the Carbon Express F15 $50,000 broadhead giveaway on Facebook this morning and I thought I would share it with you. I have never used these broadheads so please don’t consider this an endorsement by me in any way. For a modest shipping fee, they’ll send you one free broadhead to try out. For a few bucks, I decided to put in my order and I’m anxious to get my hands on this interesting head.

I selected the fixed-blade head and I’ll be anxious to see how it flies. It would have been nice to get two heads for maybe a few more bucks because once you shoot it into your target you won’t be able to use it in a field situation. It would be nice to have one to sight in with and another to try in the field. That being said, I’m sure they want you to like what you see on the range, and then drop the $40 necessary for a three-pack.

Check out the video above and maybe take advantage of the offer. Who knows, you might just like them. My initial concern is that they would be tough to sharpen and reuse, making the $13+ a little much for a one-time use broadhead. I’ve always liked the performance of Muzzy’s 100 grain original broadheads, as well as the ability to reuse them either through sharpening or blade replacement. That being said, it never hurts to try something new.

Here is the link:  http://www.carbonexpressarrows.com/cms/content/f15dualblade.com

I finally had the opportunity to do some shooting the other day, and went to a 3D shoot near my home. I was surprised to see how many shooters there were there considering it was July 4. Needless to say, the pace was pretty slow so I took full advantage by playing around with my Blackberry camera.

As for the shooting, I was rather impressed with how well I did considering I hadn’t shot for quite a while. Not my best performance, but I’m sure I’m somewhere in the top 10 out of the 120+ shooters that were there. It was nice to get back at it and now maybe I’ll get back into a more regular practice routine. Enjoy my “goofing off” photos!

The first target is always the toughest, but I handled it well and started off with a solid 10.

I was about half-way through the course when this thing crossed my path! I immediately texted my wife and told her to keep the pets in the house (except our bad cat, Vinnie).

This was a little embarrassing for all involved, but I have to admit, I always wondered how bears relieved themselves.

Jerry Pepe with his 2009 Allegheny County, PA trophy 10-point.

Again, let me first apologize for my limited number of posts lately. Same reasons!

I had the opportunity to score a great buck taken by Jerry Pepe of Allegheny County, PA during the 2009 archery season. Upon first glance, I could see that it was a really nice 10-point with a uniform rack. It wasn’t until I put the tape on him that I realized just how uniform he was. Amazingly, the deer had just 4/8 of an inch of total deductions. That’s impressive for a small six-point that scores 50 inches, let alone a 158 7/8″ gross score rack! Of all of the deer I’ve measured, I can’t recall one that was as close to perfect as this one.

The main beams were just 1/8″ different in length with the longer one measuring 23 2/8″. The brow tines were responsible for the largest deduction, still just 2/8″ as the left one was slightly longer. The only other deduction was on the G-3s, which measured 9 5/8″ and 9 4/8″. The circumferences were perfectly matched on both sides.

Jerry had been hunting this buck for three seasons before finally connecting on November 7 last year. He told me that he thought the buck had been shot during the 2008 season because he hadn’t seen it yet in 2009 until that fateful day. He made a quick and clean kill, and now has a tremendous trophy to show for it. He also shared with me photos of another bruiser that’s hanging around his area, which he hopes to get a shot at this fall.

Putting my hands on a great deer might have been the motivation I needed to finally get at least a trail camera or two out there. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes. Congratulations on a great deer Jerry!

I thought I should put together a brief post to let my readers know that I’m still out here, despite my lack of new posts lately. I’m still trying to figure out the balance between work, baseball, and a master’s degree, while getting a bit of time here and there to do things like update Rub Lines.

Despite my swamped lifestyle, I have had to focus a bit on the upcoming archery season. Illinois out-of-state permit applications are due this month, as is my second payment to my outfitters. Talk about a reminder that hunting season really isn’t that far off! A big hit to the wallet will get your attention, let me tell you. Still, I know how much I’ll enjoy the trip when it comes around, and I think it’s well worth the investment.

I still haven’t found the time or energy to put out a few of my trail cameras. I truly think I’m going to go lighter on them this season, while generally trying to stay out of the woods more. Although I’ve gotten great pictures over the last few years, I’ve been seeing fewer mature bucks while hunting. Before cameras were popular, it seemed like I was seeing more of the big guys during hunting season, and it makes me wonder if it was because I wasn’t in the woods as much checking cameras. Who knows. We’ll never know, and I guess that’s what makes it so fun.

Although I need to dedicate a full post to the topic, I’ll just say that the BP oil leak (which seems like a ridiculous understatement) has me pretty upset, angry, etc. I don’t think the general public really understands what a tragedy this is, and from the people I’ve heard from who have been on the ground, BP seems to have total control of the area and is making it terribly difficult for volunteers to come in and do what they can to help. The death and suffering toll on the Gulf’s fish and wildlife is unfathomable. The expense to those who live along the Gulf as well as those who rely on it for survival (fishermen, etc.) is astronomical. Is it even possible to adequately punish a company for their negligence that led to so much pain and suffering?

The majority of the hens are sitting on nests right now, which gives hunters a late season opportunity to find a lonely gobbler.

This year more than any other, I dedicated a lot of time to turkey hunting. The bird I picked out prior to the season is still out there, and I’m down to one more week before having to pack away the gear until next year. One of the things I’ve learned this spring is sometimes it can be easy, meaning no matter what you do on the call, the bird is coming and will give you an opportunity. Another thing I’ve learned is sealing the deal can sometimes be the hard part. I used to think it was calling, but I’m changing my thinking on that. Finally, I figured out how how to turn frustration into enjoyment, which is a good thing when turkey hunting. Let me explain.

Yesterday I had a well though-out setup that included my blind in an area where I could see the birds coming in my direction from a good distance. I’ve been out enough days to know what their pattern is, so I figured I’d just cut them off along their route. Since the giant tom I’ve been flirting with is roosting further away, I decided I’d be willing to take a lesser bird if one presented itself. There are three gobblers in the group I’m watching, with two being jakes and the other somewhere in between. Just when it looked like things were going according to plan, I have to sit in the blind and listen to the “big guy” come through gobbling his head off as he walked through an area I had set up in many times previously! On top of that, the birds that normally stroll through where I was set up decided they would zig instead of zag, and walk through yet another area that I was using for an ambush location. This has been the story of my hunts over the last week or so, and in a strange way, it has been great!