simpzenith2

I have an old Warren & Sweat hang-on stand that weighs about 5 lbs. I've had it for years and would like to buy a new stand that is just as small and lightweight as I can carry it for miles with no problem. I hunt public land almost exclusively and by MN law, I have to carry it out with me every evening which is another reason that it must be light. Are there any companies today that make a stand like this anymore?

Selling a camo pattern is very difficult. I recently sold three patterns that I'd been trying to sell for years. I posted mine on a hunting website classified section and a year later, someone bought it) I imagine most camo companies staff their own designers and aren't actively seeking new patterns. If you want to produce it own your own, then be prepared to invest a lot of time and money. I used to work in the textile industry doing color separations on just about every design imaginable, from Disney to Martha Stewart and yes, even a few Realtree patterns, so I know a little about the process. The patterns were engraved on rotary print screens and then sent to print mills where they would print 1000s of yards an hour. I eventually moved into the digital printing industry where it's simply a matter of printing a design straight from a computer file. Each process has it's pros and cons and which one is used depends a lot on the end product (clothing, blinds, etc.) and how much printed material is needed. Preparing a pattern for the rotary print process is very expensive but printing with rotary screens is much cheaper than printing digitally. Depending on the complexity of the design, preparing a pattern for rotary printing is going to require at between 10 and 16 colors and cost you $200-$400/color for color separations, another $700-$1400/color for screen engraving and then there are test patterns to print, any adjustments to the pattern to achieve the desired look, and so on. You're looking at somewhere between $10,000-$30,000 just for print ready screens. Digital printing is just the opposite where the cost to prepare a pattern for digital printing is relatively cheap (maybe a couple hundred dollars) and actually printing onto fabric using this process is extremely expensive ($30-$50/yard of printed fabric). Digital printing would be your best bet for a small run but at some point the cost to print digitally out weighs the rotary print method. If it's something you would really like to pursue, then go after it!

I can tell you one thing. If there were deer there before, then there are deer there now. As long as the habitat is suitable, deer will find it and use it. They may have been more nocturnal or have been using areas away from your stands. Maybe try different stand locations or if there is a stream or creek flowing through the property, walk the length of it and you'll find crossings. Then find out where those trails come from or lead to. If there is good bedding near a creek crossing, I would hunt that crossing. You may catch a deer heading to water in the evening after rising from their bed, especially early in the season when the weather is still warm. Just some things to consider.

A friend of my told me that a hawk flew off with his foam decoy while he was hunting in eastern WI this year.

I had the opportunity to hunt in many different states this season. I started late March in Florida and finished up in WI at the end of May. Except for a few rare occasions, the gobblers always seemed to have plenty of hens with them. As the season progressed, I kept waiting for the hens to start setting and plenty of lonely toms would start running to my calls but it never happened. Maybe they just didn't like my calling. Anyway, did anyone else experience this or was it just my bad fortune?

Cool video. I didn't think she'd ever get the point that the decoy was not a threat.

Ok guys, you made your point. This was not my very first post as some continue to say was the reason for the ban but I will not mention anything about what I do or post videos of my hunts again. I will only discuss what others are discussing and add my 2 cents. Let's move on and I'm sorry if what I posted was in violation of the rules.

We're not speaking of my very first post since joining the forum almost a year ago. I made this post yesterday I think and this morning when I went to sign on the read the new topics, it said I was banned. Below is what I posted and please feel free to explain what is wrong with so I won't make the mistake of doing it again: If you're like me, you're already looking forward to next year. Well, I making a list of possible participants for the 2011 season and if you or someone you know is interested in participating in the 2011 season of Turkey Hunt Public Land then I would like to know. Send me an email to [email protected] with the state and a general idea of when you can hunt. Don't worry about lottery results as the schedule won't be set until after most states have drawn their tags. The number of spots are limited though and will fill quickly! Thank you! Here's the 2010 Outtake video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFmHwuBYklg

First of all, my primary reason is to discuss/share and read what others are discussing/sharing about hunting. Second, there was nothing wrong with my tone. I was simply stating my opinion that once the Mods discovered that I had signed back up after being banned, that my post would be deleted and I would be banned again. Are you saying that my earlier words were too harsh for this forum and they are cause for being banned? Like I said in my initial post, I would like to at least receive some notification or warning prior to being banned. Nothing in my post violated the rules and if such blind moderation is used, then it's likely some of the mods have, in the past, banned valuable contributors to the forum and will likely continue to do so in the future. Without them, you have no forum. Again it's not my intention to direct this to all Administrators as I have no idea who is responsible or the amount of irrelevant posts you guys have to filter out. I'm just little peeved that one person chose to do so. Who exactly mods the mods for poor decision making or is there such a thing?

Well I hope it was a fluke as I enjoy reading the content on here and adding my 2 cents from time to time. I'm sorry for implying that all the Admins were responsible as I don't know who was involved and I will continue to enjoy the forum if allowed. Maybe a post should be reviewed by more than one person before it is decided that it is indeed spam. Thanks. Shane

Logged on this morning only to find I had been banned as a spammer. I didn't receive a warning or any type of notification. I assume I was banned for posting a topic looking for other turkey hunters to video which contained a YouTube video of one of my hunts. Although my video does show the name of my site, it's a non profit site and does not compete with Realtree in any way. Nothing about my post was spam. I wear almost entirely Realtree camo because I agree, it is the most effective camo pattern but that's beside the point. This is a forum for hunters to discuss and share hunting and related items. The reason sites like Realtree.com include them is to draw traffic to increase business but the forum should remain open for hunters to do what they do, trade ideas, tips and tell of their hunts with other hunters. I'm sure this post won't be here long as they will probably delete it. They apparently only want certain hunters here and not all!