If not for the HuntStand app and one motivated hunter, this reclusive PA buck might still be roaming the Keystone State forests.
After you’ve been deer hunting a while it doesn’t take long to realize the substantial difference between simply hunting hard—blindly putting in long hours on stand regardless of conditions— and hunting smart. The HuntStand App ensures every bit of your hard hunting is smart hunting by helping you decide the right time, and the right place to hunt; just as critical is learning when to avoid your hottest spots to avoid burning them out.
Last fall the amazing hunt of Pennsylvania’s Ben Borlie offered a nearly textbook example of showing proper restraint, and acting quickly when conditions were ideal. Here is Borlie’s HuntStand Success Story:
“I first saw [the buck above] while bird hunting in Cambria County on Oct. 23, 2016; while doing some scouting in the area a day later I found what I believed was his bedding area, as well as a good-looking travel corridor the buck just had to be using,” Borlie recalled.
“My first hunt for this specific buck was on Halloween day: Oct. 31, 2016; a check of my HuntStand app showed that the wind direction was off that day to hunt my bedding area stand, so I sat a few hundred yards away, but had no luck.
“During the evening of Nov. 1, I was staying late at work and did not think I had time to get in the woods, but I checked the HuntStand app and saw the wind direction was perfect for my bedding area stand! I knew I had to hunt that bedding area so I finally left work and snuck into the stand, just one and a half hours before sundown.
“Up in my stand things came together nicely,” Borlie remembered. “I could see the buck as it suddenly ran out of the bedding area with about 45 minutes of light left; he was chasing a hot doe followed by another buck, a smaller 8 point. About 10 minutes later the doe ran under my stand, followed closely by ‘my’ buck. The shot was just 10 yards, and the rest is history. He has 11 scorable points and measured 154 inches green, with a live weight of 220 pounds.
“If I hadn’t checked my HuntStand app I would not have gone hunting that evening! I owe this buck to HuntStand, and the awesome ScentCone feature!”
Congrats Ben on one brute of a PA buck, and thanks for sharing your experience that proves the deadly effectiveness of the HuntStand app, some never-say-never motivation, and a well-laid hunt plan. For sharing his HuntStand app success story, Borlie will receive a pair of Arctic Ice cooler packs: One Tundra Series X-Large cooler pack (complete Tundra Series set shown above) and one Chillin’ Brew X-Large cooler pack, a $60 total value.
VIDEO: Arctic Ice Improves Your Cooler’s Performance
Arctic Ice reusable cooler packs are tailor-made for sportsmen, both hunters and fishermen, who want to keep fish, game meat and food/provisions cold or frozen longer, while avoiding the hassle and expense of dry and standard ice. Arctic Ice Chillin’ Brew cooler packs (available in four sizes, Small to X-Large) have been shown to keep coolers under 32°F for days, and can also be used with ice to keep ice frozen up to 50 percent longer than an equal weight of ice would last alone. Tundra Series cooler packs have been shown to maintain frozen temperatures in coolers for days; they’re great for keeping frozen food or frozen game in perfect shape without the need for freezers or dry ice.