Im pretty sure most of us bowhunters are very depressed that the season ended. I know I am. It seems like October 1st will never roll around. I know to pass the offseason I will be scouting, shooting, shed hunting, planting foodplots, monitoring trail cams, bowfishing, etc. What will you be doing until next season?
Shed hunting, scouting, trail cams, bowfishing, getting new gear, bowfishing, preparing and buying gear for an Elk hunt, bowfishing ! Did I mention Bowfishing ? LOL
For me it's mainly trailcams. I run them year-round and when the ponds and lakes thaw it's time to get my favorite; waterfowl pics. But I too always long for October. Blessings.........Pastorjim
I'll scout and shed hunt for the a bit, and then start diving into food plots in May. I used to fish bass tourneys from March-September, but it doesn't look like my boat will be seeing much time on the water this year.
Checking trail cams, working my food plots. We're burning the property this year, well, part of it, in order to get some new growth. I'm training really hard for my mountain hunts. Running 1 mile 3x a week carrying my bow and 40lb backpack. And I'm also spending a lot of time thinking about hunting...and watching old episodes of Bow Hunt or Die. Is it September yet?....sigh...
I'll be doing a lot of scouting until spring green up along with cutting shooting lanes, then i'll stay out of the wood until right before season where I'll go and just check on my stands real quick. Once May gets here I'll be Turkey hunting and Walleye fishing. Also shooting bow all summer till season starts
I scout hard till green up, freshen mineral sites, get food plots ready, shoot my bow every day, try and find new ground to hunt, repair all my loc-ons if needed, squirrel hunt, shed hunt, pig hunt..
I shoot daily when the weather is nice enough, mainly because I enjoy it, not because I feel I need that much practice. I help my friend on his farm in Ohio a lot, I fly fish, and ride motorcycles (my wife rides her own bike with me quite often). All that keeps me pretty occupied. We run cameras in Ohio, I seldom do on the public land I hunt in Pa. I use old fashioned scouting for that, so that is another thing that takes up my time. Oh yeah, I started turkey hunting with my bow last year too. That was awesome and I will definitely be doing that again. Helps with my desire to bowhunt between deer seasons, plus it is a lot of fun.
Working with the brother in law to find some new hunting land with family friends of ours. Setting up trail cams, lots of practice... getting a 3D target. I'll be picking up a QAD Ultra-rest. Working on shooting form. Lots of scouting. Should be a fun offseason. 2015 I'll get my first bow kill. 9 more months...
Predator hunting, hog hunting, waiting for turkey season, land prep to the best of my ability, and a lot of target practice. I went home empty handed this year. I didn't get a single deer. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ice fishing is the biggest thing I do to pass the time. Once it becomes warmer I will move cams around, scout, hunt for sheds, and fish some more.
I have four months to get stuff done around the house before spring turkey season. Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2
Preparing honey hole food plots, shed hunting, freshening mineral sites, hinge cutting (if needed), scouting, running trail cameras to do herd inventory, cutting firewood, filling feeders. So much to do. But, by the time late July comes around I am going insane because the last few months always takes forever.
Shed hunting, turkey hunting, food plots, tail cams, working to afford everything, shooting, coyote hunting, weight lifting, etc.
What I've noticed in my area from my personal experience, they slow down a little near the end of the year because they're looking for actual sustenance (from what my trail cam pics show), but once mid/late February hits they really start hammering them again. From what I understand, the reason they slow down on the minerals is because the does no longer need to produce milk for their fawns and bucks testosterone drops and antlers become brittle at the pedicle (to shed) so there's not much need for minerals other than supplementing their regular food intake. Once late winter comes the deer know it's time to repeat the process for spring and summer and they nail the minerals because they need a lot more of it for birthing and growing antlers again.
