Splish splash morning

Saturday morning I went to my 80 acre patch of land that a friend lets me hunt. The drop off from the shoulder of the road to the gate is kind of steep and without 4 wheel drive I actually had concerns about getting back onto the road before I went down the short but steep grade to the gate. Once inside the gate I knew I wasn't going to drive any further so I backed up side ways to the road to provide an easy turn around to get back out after the mornings hunt.

As I stepped out of the truck it was obvious to me that the swampy ground I was on was relatively dry compared to the next quarter mile to my stand. To get to that stand I'd have to walk to the stand through often standing water particularly in the low-lying area that had a small creek in it. I knew walking was not that big of a deal but I also thought man I do not want to drag a deer through that wet muddy mess if I did kill one.

Knowing both of my ladder stands were now out of the question I got my torque seat out of the truck storage box and planned to hunt from the ground a whole lot closer to the truck. This is an older picture but wanted to show what it looks like. It is really easy to make, set up and highly mobile.

Attachment 320577

Last week as I walked from the truck I had only gone about 50 yards when I saw a buck cruising on my side of the creek. I had just shot a buck a week before so I decided to let him keep on going. My hunt would have been over 5 minutes after parking the truck and what fun would that be? Now with the swampy mess I now faced I began thinking if I can get this buck this morning I'd be really close to the truck.

I had to wade through boot deep water in the bottoms near the creek but I made it to the bridge and didn't actually have to get my feet wet to cross the creek. Once on the other side I found a bit of high ground and set my torque seat up. It would be getting light in minutes and things were looking good. As dark turned to light I began seeing a bunch of squirrels in the treetops and though hmmm after deer season I need to come back down here with my still in training squirrel dog. If I did manage to get a deer I was maybe 200 yards from the truck. That was a drag I could do much easier than the quarter mile from the tree stand I can normally drive up to.

At 7am I heard the splish splash of a deer coming up from behind me. When it got straight off from my left shoulder I slowly turned my head. Low and behold maybe 30 yards away was the same buck I had walked up on the week before. The torque seat is great but it's only flaw is any movement on your part can't be hidden without proper brushing in. As I slowly turned my head the buck almost instantly picked up my movement. He turned around to head back but stopped and turned back around to take another look at me before making his escape. The old Winchester 94 boomed and the 50/50 ww and pure lead NOE 311165 was on the way. I knew it was a good hit and watched him fall after running about 40 yards.

The bullet went in at the shoulder and came out on the back ribs. He was dead in maybe 5 seconds. Since I watched him fall there was no need to blood trail him but I did to see what kind of blood trail the NOE had caused. Easy to follow about like all the others with the exception of two that were a bit harder to track due to high hits while I was sitting on the ground. Didn't recover the bullet as it kept on going.

Now that I am tagged out on bucks. I'll be going to some public land next week on doe patrol.

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Nice buck and story.

Hey Pac , that's a dandy buck . I've been using that tourqe seat of yours for few years , it's my go to public land seat/stand . ? I have ,do you air cool your hunting boolits with that alloy .

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Well done.

Great story, Very nice deer!! -06

Excellent story and end results. Pretty buck and rifle. 30/30?

That is a Torges Seat, designed by Dean Torges. His name is held in high esteem in the primitive and all wood traditional archery circles. An incredible craftsman, teacher and author of self and laminated bows before his passing a few years ago. I've made a number of those seats, as well, and can attest that they make for a handy setup.

I water quench the ww/scrap target bullets but air cool the 50/50 lead and ww hunting bullets. I read an article some years back that the torque seat was actually named after a fellow. I remeber in the story he moved locations because of wind shift and then killed a big buck. I built my first one after seeing one a guy built on a trad hunt I did in Ohio. I couldn't remember the name so wrote it like it sounded.

Shout out to Larry Gibson for his help for the 50/50 mix. He told me about it when I first began hunting with cast and it hasn't let me down yet. Thanks Larry.

I need to build one of those seats for the times I don't hunt in one of my fixed stands. Thanks for the story and the idea!
Take care,
Rick

Great deer!

Congratulations!

Nice buck and carbine! Thanks for the information on the Torges seat, I'll have to make one. Is that a rope or cable that goes around the tree? Thanks.

man aint that a hoot
good job on the buck nice looking deer to boot

Rope. Do not use a rope like a water ski rope (poly)? It will stretch and squeak. The cotton type feeling rope will not make any noise.

Friends call me Pac, the guys name was Dean Torges. He has passed. I only met him once at ETAR. One of the finest gentlemen I have ever met.

Cool all the way around. That seat looks easier to pack than a folding chair and I use an old Alice pack like yours though I still have the frame in it.