Deer hunting BS thread

I need to go alone until I can hit a huge target.
I have no idea what happened; I was decent shot years ago (I would almost say I was good), then I took up bowhunting at age 23 and rarely fired a gun for 3 decades. I recently got this desire to pick up a few handguns....something changed in those 30 years because now I suck.
I flinch alot; I have absolutely no idea why because I grew up shooting much bigger guns than 9mm, I'm definitely not scared of guns...a couple of years ago I figured out I'm left eye dominant but right handed...I have no idea how the hell I've shot a bow right handed for this long. Apparently I kinda suck at that too.

But I've been reading/watching videos...I'll figure it out. And buying ammo, practice is key.

 

Yes, optics are allowed. As far as drawbacks and complications, there are a few. You need to be careful and very cautious when shooting crossbows, lots of people have lost a finger tip or two being careless. If I remember right, a guy that @StayinStock works with lost a finger tip.

 

I am also left eye dominant and right handed. You’re the first person I’ve heard is the same and continues to shoot right handed

the flinching I solved at the range with snap caps mixed intermittently in the magazine.

another big help for me was the reset of the trigger. Shooting slowly and only letting off the trigger enough to hear the reset click. Doing that slowly a bunch got me to where I could fire multiple rounds quickly without much movement of my hands throwing off my aim. Hopefully that makes some sense

 

True. He also admitted to being drunk at the time, he said it was 100% his fault.
Thankfully I deleted that picture from my phone.

 

It absolutely makes sense, and instead of being on TW all the time I should be dry firing and practicing the trigger reset.

My buddy that I hunt with is also right handed/left eye dominant, this year he switched to a crossbow but before that he sold his right handed bow and bought a left handed Bowtech, how he shot left handed I'll never know. I tried his bow and couldn't even come close to drawing it back.

 

yes tons of energy, that would be a bad day!! Very cool though!

 

I like it, looks super sweet! Fondle on!!

 

Truth be told I have a pretty nice bow (well it was once upon a time anyways) just don’t make the time, I’m not an expert but what I’ve collected through family and friends would be that archery requires more practice of course and even more time in the woods to be successful, the young kids makes it tough but I do hope to pursue it soon..

 

Good luck to you, I hope you find time, its well worth the effort.

 

As a person who picked it up about 4 years ago, I can attest to it being worth it. The level of “oh shit” adrenaline you get when you’re 20 yards from a deer and fully drawn is far superior to shooting one with a rifle.

that’s my experience at least

just know you’re gonna have to give yourself some grace early on. That shit is tough and harder than it seems lol

 

I do too! I guess it’s really just picking and choosing what’s important, one thing that makes it tough is kinda choosing how hard I want to salmon fish or deer hunt with a bow.. I spend a lot of time in August/September chasing fish, hard to also be in the woods. so I guess that’s my own fault..

 

I can kinda get that as I killed my deer this year from about 3-5 yards with a 20ga slug!! lol still not the same as an arrow I’d imagine though as you say..

Thank you, and yeah I know it’s a lot harder than it seems, why I haven’t pretended like I’m going to go do it without putting the time in.. mad respect for archery hunters..

 

Ohhhh you’re talking more about it being a time issue over anything else.

damn I get that. I invest most of my time and energy to one good hunt out west and one Texas hunt a year. Might get lucky and get one late season run in. Aside from that it’s making sure my business is running smoothly and running logistics for the kids and their extra curriculars lol. Then you sprinkle in some wood working and I’m tapped for time too.

as a person that hasn’t salmon fished but is an avid fly fisherman. I completely get where you’re stuck

 

that’s pretty much it, plus just practicing, if I was more comfortable with the bow I might be more inclined to kinda wing it if you will but I just haven’t shot enough..

And yeah the salmon run is obviously during a few short weeks as far as fall chinook, hard to pass on that given I live about 10 minutes to the boat launch on a pretty incredible/historic fishery.. (I live on the Columbia River about 50 miles from the mouth)

 

Not sure when the rut is out there but, here our best deer hunting is from late October through November.

 

WA has the rules as such that the peak rut is pretty much skipped. First few weeks of November usually.

you get bucks starting to heat up the last week of October which you can catch with modern firearm (usually Oct. 12-14th ish to about the 31st.. or “late buck” 14th-17th) or at the tail end of the rut you catch some out in about but the season for any weapon type pretty much brackets the rut as far as these blacktails go in my immediate vicinity… of course a numbers game and states effort to protect species etc.. I get it, but it’s vastly different it would seem from a place like you live.. seemingly you guys have numbers that are almost problematic in a sense..

archery is mainly September and then a late season for a weeks starting late November through December.. you can apply for a multi season permit but it’s a special draw. Still the same bag limit (1)

This all deer wise, elk to be pursued too but I haven’t purchased an elk tag in a few years.. the access to the woods a lot of people hunt is a whole thing on its own

 

is that a 9mm or 45 acp. I have the 45 that look just like that with a 4.25 inch barrel. If it doesn't straighten up and fly right soon, it's going back. Won't shoot any hollow point of my reloads with any reliability.

 

Its a 9mm. If it doesnt fly straight I'll keep it just because its purdy.