Archery Talk

i dont think its that high.

 

I don't either, it may depend on what part of the country it is too. We see a lot of the same bucks from year to year.

 

It’s higher in the northern snowy states.

 

Id see about 6-8 deer skeletons in spring down low but they were mostly doe. Saw one buck that dropped his antlers dead but i didnt see a whole lot back in idaho. Around 1998 they had a bad winter and they lost 40% of the deer population and number just started to return from that in the last couple years

 

If I remember right that info came off of a doctoral thesis at Stephen F. Austin State University. The subject of the thesis was buck mortality and was based on extensive research. If I remember correctly it was at two locations in Texas and one in Mississippi. Hey, how about this East Texas buck! 202B&C. My college roommate. Back in 2017 on a very well managed ranch. There has been a 187 and a 207 killed within a mile of where I use to hunt in the Davy Crockett Natl Forest, but in all the years I hunted there I never saw anything anywhere near this big.

 

I think I found a decent spot. Fingers crossed for a bigger buck coming through next. This is one off of not the most exiting nights of hunting I have had for sure. First night back out as well.

 

Pardon me sir, do you have any corn?

 

Yes you found you a good spot there FOR SURE. Are you up in a treestand? Can you hunt through midday?

 

Hats off to you for hunting off the ground, I don't have the gonads to try it.

 

Just an evening sit. I was sitting in my tree saddle at ground level so basically standing on the ground I just had the option to lean back or sit in the saddle instead of standing for hours. I planned to get up in the tree but got to where my feet were about 8’ and couldn’t see anything much less get a shot off with all the branches. There was brush low to the ground so I couldn’t see if I sat on the ground so I did my best with what I had.

I didn’t have anything else come within range the rest of the night but had one blow at me from 175ish yards that I saw run off. Might set up over there tomorrow to check it out.

I think my issue might be I’m too close to where I just killed that buck because I checked a camera that has been in there a week and only had pictures of that big spike/small fork depending on who you ask and the buck I shot. Cant make out any pictures in the dark though because stealthcams are garbage.

 

Crossbow makes it easier most of the time. all the archery gatekeepers will get mad at me for being an able bodied man for hunting with a crossbow but oh well. It is definitely doable with a bow if you have the right cover and in some situations I would argue that it is easier with a bow but I digress.

This area is so thick with little trees unless you are on the edge of them shooting out you can’t get a shot off from above 6-7’ and if you are on the edge you are silhouetted bad because of the size of the trees. Makes it interesting if you get in one on a windy day for sure.

The other day I did come across an impressive blind area someone brushed in. Had two large windows and a big log across the middle of the inside for a seat. Could easily fit two people. I would be tempted to hunt it but there is only one weak trail going in front of it and you can’t see but 50 yards out of it. It is hard to even tell what it is in this picture.

 

The areas you hunt look alot like some of the areas I hunt.

 

It is different from everything else I have hunted but I really feel like the key for me has been get up in a tree to observe an area then go in for a kill on the ground. If you find the right tree you can see a good distance then set up the next day where you can get a shot on the ground. It doesn’t work if the deer don’t follow a pattern, which another hunter out there told me was the case in this area but I am pretty damn sure I saw the buck I killed do the same thing like 5 out of 7 nights I was out there so my guess is he might be wrong. Now I need to find a different bucks pattern to take advantage of

 

I appreciate your strategy, most places I'll hunt just once or twice a year....I like to bounce. Not neccessarily because of scent or worrying about over-hunting an area; I just like to look at different stuff. I should probably spend more time in areas and see what's up.

 

I feel like I am the opposite I always say I will bounce around and cover lots of ground but I feel like I can get a pretty good idea of where they will be by looking at maps (in Missouri terrain-I can’t do it with big woods I hunt in Mississippi). Two years ago first time I stepped foot on this tract of land I saw a nice buck first day bout couldn’t shoot through the brush then spent the rest of the week I could hunt trying to see him again but never did.

This year I saw a nice buck that I think I am finally deciding was the one I shot and not the true giant I made it out to be in my head on my first day out and saw a buck 5 of the 7 nights I was out there after that (took me 7 nights to finally get a good shot at him).

It is just impossible for me to move on when I keep seeing a shooter buck, and I’m not a good enough hunter get to kill them in less time haha. That being said I moved probably between 30 and 200 yards every time I set up slowly creeping to where he was coming from so I would see him earlier into the night each time. I ended up making a big U and killed him about 100 yards from where I was the first night.

Now I am faced with more of a dilemma becuase I think the area I hunted tonight was part of the core area of the buck I killed so I don’t know if there are any other bucks in there big enough that I would shoot them. To be fair I’m only maybe 300 yards away but I was hoping there would be more in there because there were 5 good ones in there after the 18-19 season was over. I’ll probably move another few hundred yards to similar terrain to see what’s up there when I get a good wind, and there is also a spot I spooked a lot of deer walking in and out on the levee that would be worth a shot soon.

I’m also really tempted to switch to a different parcel of public to force myself to learn a different area but we will see. There is always the drive a few hours out of the city option as well I guess.

 

Good hunting trait! That's what turns a hunt into an adventure. I remember few of the hunts I went on, but I remember many of the things that happened while "looking at different stuff". Never stop wanting to see more, going deeper. That is what makes lifetime memories, in addition to successful hunts. And I have camped in worse structures than that blind! That is impressive.

About being off the ground: I have a fear of heights. Somehow it does not come into play when I swing up into my climbing stand. Once I get my safety harness cinched around the tree I know I am not going to fall and I can inch my way up the tree. Once settled back into its seat and the woods quiets back down I enjoy my vigil in the woods much more from the elevated position. On public land I KNOW THAT I AM SAFER UP IN A TREE.

On hunting from the ground with a bow: I commend you. It stacks the scent odds in the deer's favor. That is about as fair chase as a hunter can be. It is the most challenging way to hunt and my hats off to a hunter that is good enough to do it successfully. If you score it means you have honed your hunt craft. Your family will never go hungry!

It is hard enough for me to score with a bow from up in a tree where my scent is less. My LAST ground hunt with a bow almost put me in a wheelchair. I was sitting cross-legged up against a big oak which hid my profile late one afternoon. Up comes a small 7-point subsistence buck and pauses about twenty yards out, sensing something wasn't right. I drew my Oneida TomCat and released, certain of my aim. What I WASN'T certain of, nor had I considered, was the bow's clearance of everything from that sitting, cross-legged position. If you know the Oneida limb configuration you know that each limb has two separate limb pieces. The outboard-most limb half pivots on a hinge located at the end of the innermost limb half: it hammers downward upon release. Well, it did indeed hammer downward, its pointed tip digging deep into my left knee. Instantly I was writhing on the ground, certain that I would NEVER hunt from the ground AGAIN with a bow. I have never felt pain like that. Think of how it would feel to sit in that position and allow someone to hit the inside of your knee with a ball peen hammer. I rolled around on the ground for a long while. About twenty or thirty seconds into my suffering my writhing and rolling and moaning my head is on the ground and I look in the direction of where the buck was. Surprisingly, he is still there, watching me suffer, dancing and stomping nervously and snorting, unsure of WTF just happened, or WTF that was on the ground over there screaming in pain, never seen a human do that, or what he should do next. He was probably laughing his ass off at me. My knee was messed up for months and my Oneida required re-timing. Almost a quarter century later I still have problems with the knee.

On a bow or a crossbow: You get old. Demands on your time prevent you from appropriating the proper due diligence in keeping your proficiency as high as it should be to effect a humane kill. My formal notice was delivered to me that it was time to transition to a crossbow when I began practice one year in my late 40's: I set up my 2' x 2' foam target in front of my canoe as I did each year, stepped back ONLY twenty yards as I normally do into the garage door of my shop. Within ten shots I had missed that huge target twice, shooting two holes in the canoe. Not that I had ever been William Tell with a bow. For me to call what I did with a bow archery was to do a great disservice to the sport. I did not belabor the issue: I went and bought a cheap TenPoint crossbow and haven't looked back since. When that day comes, when that realization sets in, when you are driving to buy your crossbow, please think of me and smile!

 

Talking a couple days off to do some work on my truck probably. I spooked some two days ago on my way out so I have a few more places to check into. Last night I sat in an area I spooked some out of last week and watched a couple does and their fawns feed for a while. I was in the ground sitting damn near out in the open on a lay down log and one of the does was not happy with me there but they still hung out at 30 yards for 10-15 minutes.

 

Them big does sure is smart!

 

first evening in this new blind an saw five deer. Nice buck about 60 yds out..couldn't get him in any closer with grunt call. The does were extremely wary of the blind.