First season archery hunting.

[ImBillT]

Lot of updates needed! I don’t have time to do a post that contains everything, but I need to post a few things before I forget it all.

None of the deer currently bedding where I can hunt are very good. Saturday morning I set up an ambush where they tend to cross a road to the neighbor’s on their way to bed. It was cloudy and raining lightly, so even 15 minutes into legal hours you could barely see 100yds. Almost 30 minutes into legal hours you could start to see a little more than shadows when glassing so I started scanning. First pass there is a decent buck heading straight toward me at 150-200yds. He’s tall, and has decent backs, but I really can’t tell much at all in the dim light, looking through binos with rain drops on them. I dropped behind a clump of sage brush expecting to hear him coming and be able to see antlers by the time he was within 50-60yds. Enough time passed that I really felt like he should have been there. I started scanning to my sides with my eyes. Nothing. I tried to get my binos out quietly and scan with them. Nothing. I decided I might as well stand slowly. I scanned from right to left, and darn it, 90 degrees to my LEFT(last place I could even look) he’s standing at 50yds and looking straight at me. My mistake had been dropping all the way down and assuming I’d be able to spot him again when he got closer. Had I only dropped low enough that I could still see his antler tips I could possibly have repositioned to my left to have a closer shot, and been hidden enough that he wasn’t alerted. After staring for a few seconds, he took a couple steps toward me, and as he did I eased back down low enough that I could barely see him through the brush. Then me made a side step to try to see me. The light rain was making just enough noise that I felt like I didn’t have to be silent, and the grass was a good 12”-18” tall, so I opted to crawl about 10yds to another small bush. At this point he’s about 35yds away. He keeps trying to get a better look at me and steps so that a fork in a mesquite is covering his face(perhaps he thinks I’m somewhere else), so I use this opportunity to make another 15yds to a new clump of sage brush without having to crawl. He’s broadside, 20yds, and facing me. 15-20yds from the road that he was headed toward. I’m pretty consistent at 18yds. I decide to draw, and as soon as I’m anchored at full draw to lean around the brush and let one fly. When I reach about half draw he turns 180, and starts stotting away, then goes across the road to where he beds on the neighbor’s. I’m pretty confident that he didn’t spook from hearing or seeing me draw, but rather because he had had more than enough of something he couldn’t quite get a good look at. Oh well. On my way out, I checked a camera that had never had pictures of anything but me for almost two months. It actually had quite a few deer on it, and one that was likely the one I almost got a shot at. He has good back forks, and they’re wide, but he actually has fairly narrow main beams and crab claws up front. He’d look very at home next to my other bucks, but this year was the year I was going to hold out for something better since A) I didn’t draw an out of state deer tag, and B) our season has gone from nine days of rifle in the past, to 35 days of archery plus 14 days of rifle. Seeing him in dim light, his back forks made me wanna drop him, but seeing him on camera, I’m glad I didn’t kill that one on day 8.

 

[ImBillT]

You do!! We have faith!!

Your faith is likely misplaced, but greatly appreciated.

 

[ImBillT]

Sunday I setup another ambush on a trail about 400yds west of Saturday morning, and about 100yds inside the road. About an hour into legal hunting I hadn’t seen a deer, but thought I may have heard a few before legal hours, so I decided to move and do some glassing at some different deer. I pulled up to my glassing spot, and immediately see that pulling in had spooked three bucks, and one is one of the ones I had thought was quite big. He’s a 3x3. By no means is he small. Possibly larger than any deer I’ve killed, however, he’s not what I thought he was. Maybe close. Getting such a good look at him for the first time was very helpful. I had seen him with two 4x4s prior, still in velvet, and always from behind. Once without any glass on me. I had felt like the 4x4s were at least as wide, probably wider, and had good forks on all four. The game cam that I checked Saturday, also had a wide 4x4 on it. Very symmetric, maybe 8” deep forks. Probably 150-160”. Doesn’t look old. I suspect this deer is one of the 4x4s I had seen with the big 3x3. Also, not what I was thinking he was. That leaves one deer unaccounted for. The other 4x4 I had seen pre-season had a kicker, and seemed larger than the one without a kicker. The one on the game cam with the wide 4x4 was tall, with good backs, but narrow in the front and had no kicker, also didn’t look terribly old. The large-ish 3x3 seems mature. He’s hanging out with what I believe to be a buck in his second year of decline, as I have pictures of him from last year also. Rather terrible antlers, very large body, a VERY Roman nose, this year his skin even seems to be saggy around his neck and jowls. So now I’m torn. I’d kinda like to see the wide 4x4 get a year older. He’d be very impressive if he lived a year or two. The narrow main beamed buck isn’t bad, but far from impressive. The 3x3 is the largest of any I’ve been able to get a really good look at, but he’s not as gigantic as I’d thought. His G4s kick out a little, and they do make him look wider than he is, especially at certain angles. I kinda decided that I’d be glad to shoot him if he gave me a shot, but I’d be glad not to rush it and see if I can turn up a larger buck. I have reason to believe that at least one larger buck exists.

 

[ImBillT]

After talking things over with a friend I decided to go elk hunting. I drew a very low point 1st rifle either-sex tag in CO. I had applied for it before they added the archery deer season at home. Based on a few glimpses at what I thought were some very large bucks I was going to return that tag and exchange it for an OTC bull tag. After hunting pretty heavily, and not turning up anything earth shattering(especially with 2 mediocre deer probably being 2 of the 3 bucks I had thought were large), I’d rather go hunt 1st rifle and have the option to shoot a cow than a later season and be at higher risk of not bringing home any elk meat. With that in mind, I had plenty of prep, and plenty of catching up on work to do in order to leave town for an elk hunt, and decided to take Monday off of hunting locally. Then, when putting my kids in my wife’s car I discovered there was a fog so thick that you could barely see 20yds. Had I known that was coming, I’d have been out hunting. I grabbed my hunting gear as quickly as possible and zipped out there. By the time I got there the fog was starting to lift and you could see 200-300yds. It didn’t take long for me to find the 3x3, the old buck, and 3 does feeding together. It would probably have been a lot easier to get close if there was only one deer. Waiting until all five of them had their heads down and most of them had their butts to me before moving was a rather slow process. Eventually, they had covered 400-500yds and I had closed the gap to 30-40yds. The does had fed over a little hump out of sight, and the two bucks where headed that way. Where I’m hunting is mostly grass. There are only a few patches of sage brush and mesquite. I became a bit concerned that if they went over that hump I could spend the next 2-3 hours waiting for a chance to get closer, and they would just feed across the west boundary(they have not been bedding here). Realistically, they could easily have fed 10yds closer to me had I sat there a while. There was another bush that would have put me in easy range, and I was only 3-4 steps from being in line with it. Without any rain or wind this morning I was concerned that crawling below grass level would be far too loud. I decided that if they both put their heads down, I would attempt to make four quiet steps to get in line with the next bush, and then I could quietly make my way up to it while being out of sight. On the very first step the old buck picked his head up. I just froze. He stared at me for quite a while. I was thinking that if he would just put his head back down, I’d drop back below the bush I had already been behind and see how things played out. He just wouldn’t stop staring. The 3x3 even picked his head up a few times. He never noticed me, or at least never acted like it. The old buck finally had enough, and trotted into the neighbor’s thicket. The 3x3 followed him, seemingly oblivious to my presence, but out of range. When it was over I was really kicking myself for being concerned that they would go 1/2 mile west to the other neighbor’s instead of coming back toward me. I was between them and their preferred bedding area, and it was only a few hundred yards away. While I have seen them go west and bed on the other neighbor’s, 9/10 times they go east and bed in the mesquite thicket(the boundary is an L shape, a different group goes south to the same thicket). I’ve heard people say that most of the time you have more time than you think. Monday morning was a time that I needed to be thinking that.

Tuesday I didn’t see anything on my side of the fence. I saw the 3x3 and the old buck feed about 1/2 mile down the fence line 50yds on the other side. That’s the last time I went out.

Pulling out of the driveway now for an elk hunt!

I have my eye on a couple different archery opportunities this year, so hopefully if it doesn’t work out on a mule deer here at home, I can still make something work. Luckily with a 35 day season, there will still be plenty left when I get back.

 

[ImBillT]

Second day hunting since I got back from my elk hunt(shot a cow).

TACTICAL ERRORS!!!!!!

I finally loosed an arrow. Got within 20-22yds of a bedded buck. Less than 20min of legal light left, and with cloud cover it’s minutes from being hard to see. He was bedded, broadside, and unaware of my presence. The only thing not covered by sage brush was his antlers and head. I needed him to stand and with only minutes left, making him aware of my presence seemed to be somewhat of a requirement. I wanted to shoot him while kneeling, but I needed him to stand and wasn’t thinking. I should have to come to full draw and made a sound. Instead, I decided to move closer, knowing that the incline would make me visible to him. I moved 1yd closer. He turned his head and look my direction, but the incline hadn’t been enough to expose me. He must have heard me. I cam to full draw and slowly stood. He’s looking right at me, and I can only see his head. I took a step toward him. He didn’t move a muscle. I came to half draw and took another step. Nothing. Another step. Nothing. Now had I just been at full draw, I think I’d have a dead buck. Instead I’m sitting there at half draw and he stands rather suddenly. I had time to draw and shoot, but my first thought was “crap you blew it”. Then I drew, but by the time I reached my anchor he was turned quartering hard and walking. I should not have shot, as he’s now moving and at probably 25-30yds, but the rifle hunter in me said “let him have it!” And I let it go. I’m pretty sure I missed high, but I lost sight of the arrow 3/4 of the way there. He walked a little, stopped, walked a little, stopped, looked back, didn’t seem 100%, walked a little more, then I couldn’t tell if he went over the little rise, or if he went down. It was just too dark. I had ditched my boots, and my catquiver, and my binos, all for making noise. I felt like I need boots to find my arrow, so I went back and gathered everything, then started looking. The headlamp I had with me is new, and totally inadequate. He was definitely not dead at the top of the little hill. No arrow found. I’d have looked harder if I felt like I hit him. After 45 minutes I figured it’s better to look tomorrow. 90% sure it was a miss on a shot I shouldn’t have taken anyway.

I think if I had just come to full draw while he was unaware at 20yds, and made a sound, I’d probably have a dead buck. Perhaps not. Oh well, he wasn’t a giant, but he wasn’t bad. I’m happy to see if I can turn up a bigger one. Somewhat to my surprise, I’ve only spotted a few bucks I thought were acceptable, and this is by far the closest I’ve gotten, so it seemed unwise to pass, even if he was on the low end of acceptable. Still, he wasn’t such a buck that I feel like I suffered a great loss. I plan to glass for a few hours in the morning, then look for my arrow. If I see him alive and well, that’s good, if not, I’ll need to find a blood free arrow, or do some serious searching.

 

[ImBillT]

Turned up the buck again this morning. He bedded with three smaller bucks out in the open. The grass is maybe 18”-24” tall but fairly sparse. I managed to get to 35yds, but lost track of the two smallest bucks. The one I shot at last night was facing away, and so was the medium buck. Then the medium buck stands up. I’m as low as I can get but the cover just isn’t thick enough for me to be completely hidden. That’s when I notice the two small bucks are standing and looking right at me. I assume they spotted me, and that’s why the medium buck stood. He’s broadside at 30yds. The one I want is still bedded, but at this point he’s starting to look around. The medium buck finally spotted me, and as soon as he saw me and realized that’s what the two small bucks were nervous about, he bolted. When he bolted, so did the buck was after. Once they blew out I went back to where I took the shot last night. It didn’t take long at all to find my arrow, and boy was it annoying to see in broad daylight just how close I was when he was bedded. If I’d gotten a shot off at that range I’d have had a very good chance. 18-20yds. Dang.

 

[Wallydeuce]

Sounds fun! They'll be back.
Good luck!

 

[ImBillT]

Sounds fun! They'll be back.
Good luck!

I’m probably calling it quits here for archery season. I’m not seeing the kind of deer I was hoping for. The three that have me slightly interested are not terribly exciting and are slipping onto the neighbor’s to bed there which pretty much talks stalking out of it and makes it an ambush situation. The one occasionally bedding here(that I missed last night) is probably a deer I’d wish I hadn’t shot.

There is some public land a few hours away with pretty limited access where I booked Nov 2-earlier this year. In order to make that trip I need to get caught up on work and family time. It’s big enough that I probably won’t have to worry about seeing bucks bed somewhere that I’m not allowed to stalk them. I talked to the manager last week and he said they had plenty of big bucks, but no one has managed to kill one yet.

 

[ImBillT]

I was tossing some elk bones in the garden and decided to shoot them. One got through a femur. One got through a scapula. One got through the bone below the femur and stopped in the scapula. One deflected off the bone below the femur and got stopped in the scapula. One barely stuck in the bone below the femur. And lastly, one stuck deeply knee end of the femur and split it. Both of the arrows that failed to fully penetrate the scapula hit a round bone first. Arrows are roughly 680gr. Bow is 61lbs at 31.5”. GrizzlyStik Ashby broadheads. Take all that for what you will.

 

[Wallydeuce]

You got within 20 yards of wild, alert game animals on your first archery hunt. I call that a success!

 

[ImBillT]

You got within 20 yards of wild, alert game animals on your first archery hunt. I call that a success!

And it’s not completely over. 6 days of season left. If I don’t spend the last 2-3 on the public land, I’ll spend some of that time here where I’ve been hunting. Tomorrow I plan to crane hunt in the morning. I’ll take the bow with me, and if I see a buck I want to stalk in a place I can stalk him I will.

 

[Btassin]

I’m going to attempt to shoot a mule deer with a bow this year for the very first time. I have shot bows before. I bought my wife a Hoyt compound for her birthday almost ten years ago, and had zero interest in archery prior to that. I quickly lost interest in compounds. They’re too mechanical. The sights and release are too much like a rifle. I wanted a stick bow. I made four from boards. The first was trash. The second and third were okay. The fourth was decent, but it’s not what I currently want. I longed(and still do) for a good limb or trunk to split some real staves from. Due to buying a home and changing jobs I just didn’t have the time to keep messing around with it and sort of put it on the list of things to do someday. I did, on a whim, about eight years ago carry my compound in the woods one afternoon in an archery only spot and had a few shot opportunities on some deer that weren’t legal, so this won’t technically my very first time to go hunting with a bow in my hand.

Why now? The main thing that has kept me from moving it from the “someday” list to the “this season” list has been the fact that attempting bow hunting would come with a fairly high cost in terms of bringing meat home. I like bringing meat home. In my home state, there were no archery only seasons on property that I could hunt that didn’t involve at least a 3hr drive, and until mid Oct, I’m essentially unable to take week days off work, and often work Saturdays as well(that’s also why my pronghorn applications are so limited. I only apply close to home for hunts that include the weekend). Our any weapon season was very short, and the three places that I hunt deer all get substantial pressure from other hunters(who even hunt from a moving vehicle on the piece of private that I can hunt), so taking a bow would be a big impediment to my success rate. As for hunting out of state, I haven’t really wanted to spend a ton of money on tags and fuel, and burn my limited time away from home, to almost certainly come back empty handed because I just don’t know anything at all about archery hunting Some people are willing to do so, and good on them, but I wanted to get some experience archery hunting before I burned my out of state time and budget on an archery hunt. THIS YEAR, my state game agency has added a month long archery season for my county! Essentially, I can hunt that entire season, and if I’m unsuccessful, I’ve lost nothing other than the time I spent gaining valuable experience as I can still hunt the any weapon season if I haven’t punched my tag! As a result, this is the year I’ll be diving headfirst into archery hunting!

If you are willing to invest the time to practice with your equipment and also sit patiently in an ambush scenario, you will be successful. Remember to always keep the wind in your favor.

 

[ImBillT]

If you are willing to invest the time to practice with your equipment and also sit patiently in an ambush scenario, you will be successful. Remember to always keep the wind in your favor.

Season is over. I spent most of my time looking for something better than anything I ever saw. I got one shot. I attempted an ambush a few mornings, and almost got it done on a buck I wasn’t sold on, but muffed it, so I didn’t have to decide.

I got the shot on an evening stalk. 18yds. All I could see was his head, and the light was minutes from being gone. I stood and drew, and he didn’t move, took a step, and he didn’t move. I took another step, and finally let down. As soon as I let down he blew out. I drew and let one fly as soon as he stopped at about 35yds. Shouldn’t have let it go, but at least I missed completely. I killed him first day of rifle season with a rifle. I had planned to wait the season out for something better, but the day before the rifle season opened, I was made aware of four extra hunters. That makes nine of us on three sections. Bit crowded for passing up a buck I flung an arrow at.

As far as investing money in the setup, I’m not sure a lot is necessary. I wanted a homemade longbow, and used one I made from a board. I’d like to make a few from good staves someday, but I don’t live in an area where it’s easy to get my hands on a reasonably straight log. I had some pecan at one time, but didn’t realize that I needed to debark it before splitting it. It pretty much all went to heck. Seems like Easton 6.5mm Bowhunter shafts are more than good enough for my purposes. I did buy GrizzlyStik Ashby broadheads, and some Grizzly broadheads. The GrizzlyStiks were worth the money being perfectly straight and razor sharp out of the box, however, with a little effort I felt like the cheap Grizzly broadheads were just as good.

I’ll be doing it again this fall. If a few of the bucks I wasn’t interested in made it through, there should be a few better ones this year. There is one that is at least 7.5yrs old(I have a picture of him where I believe he was 3.5, and one this fall, four years later) that will be a trophy of age if nothing else. Doesn’t mean I’ll manage to get him. The first picture is a month after season. I first saw him this year on the lasts day of rifle season, and he was around regularly till mid February, then disappeared.

 

[ImBillT]

I do have a bead on two archery hunts I can go on this fall, depending on how much I’ve spent away from my family. That would be in addition to the local hunt. Last fall was interesting enough that I’m not putting the bow down. Still not gonna make my only elk or deer hunt an archery hunt though. I like meat too much.

 

[Btassin]

Season is over. I spent most of my time looking for something better than anything I ever saw. I got one shot. I attempted an ambush a few mornings, and almost got it done on a buck I wasn’t sold on, but muffed it, so I didn’t have to decide.

I got the shot on an evening stalk. 18yds. All I could see was his head, and the light was minutes from being gone. I stood and drew, and he didn’t move, took a step, and he didn’t move. I took another step, and finally let down. As soon as I let down he blew out. I drew and let one fly as soon as he stopped at about 35yds. Shouldn’t have let it go, but at least I missed completely. I killed him first day of rifle season with a rifle. I had planned to wait the season out for something better, but the day before the rifle season opened, I was made aware of four extra hunters. That makes nine of us on three sections. Bit crowded for passing up a buck I flung an arrow at.

As far as investing money in the setup, I’m not sure a lot is necessary. I wanted a homemade longbow, and used one I made from a board. I’d like to make a few from good staves someday, but I don’t live in an area where it’s easy to get my hands on a reasonably straight log. I had some pecan at one time, but didn’t realize that I needed to debark it before splitting it. It pretty much all went to heck. Seems like Easton 6.5mm Bowhunter shafts are more than good enough for my purposes. I did buy GrizzlyStik Ashby broadheads, and some Grizzly broadheads. The GrizzlyStiks were worth the money being perfectly straight and razor sharp out of the box, however, with a little effort I felt like the cheap Grizzly broadheads were just as good.

I’ll be doing it again this fall. If a few of the bucks I wasn’t interested in made it through, there should be a few better ones this year. There is one that is at least 7.5yrs old(I have a picture of him where I believe he was 3.5, and one this fall, four years later) that will be a trophy of age if nothing else. Doesn’t mean I’ll manage to get him. The first picture is a month after season. I first saw him this year on the lasts day of rifle season, and he was around regularly till mid February, then disappeared.

Glad you got your buck that you shot at. I admire your willingness to take the challenge of creating your own longbow. To me the challenge in archery is the patience and maneuvering needed to get within good kill range of an animal with extraordinary senses such as an elk or a mature buck. I believe the vast majority of the archery equipment out there today is very good. I shoot Easton Black Eagle arrows and 125 grain Kudu broadheads. To me the Kudus fly similar to a field point which is important. I hate the thought of wounding & losing an animal I shoot. The attached photo is my 5x5 I got this last September and I was very fortunate as I did a shoulder shot with the Kudu @ 30 yards and he was on the edge of a canyon. The Bull jumped into the canyon as soon as my arrow hit him but he only went 30 - 35 yards before crashing.

 

[Mr Feeder]

You may be right about falling in love with archery hunting, but one of my bigger concerns has been hunting in the heat while the snakes are still out. I might decide that I like the cold, but around here, October is not cold enough. Even November can be a little warmer than I wish it was.

Hunting in the heat............I don't like it either but when you live in FL and archery season starts in September get ready for a really miserable day hunting, 90*+. Not to mention the speed at which it takes to get that kill gutted and on ice. But I still love to do it!