During the recent par 3 contest last week at Augusta during the Masters, I watched golfing legend Jack Nicklaus shoot an amazing hole in one. That reminded me of a true story that a legend in our bowhunting world, Gene Wensel, told me one time.
Many years ago, when Gene was hunting and guiding for whitetails out on the Milk River in Montana, he would occasionally host Jack Nicklaus for a week of bowhunting. One morning as they headed out Gene said proudly, “Jack, I’m taking you to a tree stand I hung stand myself. You’re gonna shoot a monster buck there this morning.”
They arrived early in the pre-dawn gloom. Gene snuck around but couldn’t find the stand. He told Jack to sit tight. Gene tromped around for another hour. “Jack turned off his flashlight and I couldn’t find him, either,” he said. By the time it got light enough to see the stand in the tree, Gene had run all the deer out of that section of woods along the river.
“Had I cat-eyed the trail to the tree, I would’ve saved the spot and saved me a lot of embarrassment,” said Gene. “Jack didn’t shoot a deer, but he took it pretty well.”
Gene said that since that day he uses tacks or limb wraps that reflect a flashlight beam. “Space them about 20 yards apart and at eye level all way to your stand. You’ll save yourself a lot of frustration and potential embarrassment.”
So funny! I have done that same thing guiding. Prob in the same spot as Gene. Actually. I remember when Jack would come up and hunt. Total defintition of class act as was everyone he came with. His son Jackie is awesome- he hunted with trad equipment. Jack is just one of those natural ability guys (obviously)…he took my Dads longbow and within 3 shots he was hitting whatever he looked at. Amazing. He ordered like 3 Robertsons that day. Man, those were the day. Jack had a doe knock the arrow off his bow on a deer drive once. He asked if we could get them a little closer for a shot. Lol! Nothing but respect for that man. Gene and Barry are so dang funny too. What a deer camp that was.
Been using them for about 5 years. They were white and reflective, but really work well. Problem is others can follow em too. I have found that I will set them well on past my stand, or circle them back away to get other stand “claimers” to other spots instead of mine. Very handy though, and a must for hunting big tracts that you don’t get to very often.
Some Friday nights after a few rum and cokes, I need them to find my bed.
Haha I’ve done that same exact thing a time or two. It’s especially tough when hunting a stand you’ve just hung on a new piece of property. I feel like the farther the walk through the woods to the stand the tougher it is to judge exactly where it’s at in the dark because of how distance can be misjudged in the pitch black of an early morning. The old timers I used to hunt with in the south would cut up pieces of a coke can and then nail it to a tree so the aluminum would “flash” when their flashlight would hit it and it created a trail.