Alright so am I alone or what? Couple years ago a buddy got me into waterfowl hunting, I love it way more than I wish I did because I truly love to be in a bow stand. Between family and trying to partake In some waterfowling my bow time seems more and more thin. Although it does look like I'm headed to Missouri for 2 weeks in Nov. This year for some bow hunting! Anybody else out there with seriously conflicting passions? I know most of you are die hard bow hunters and I get that! I need help balancing my life! Real life problems right here haha
I have really got into duck hunting the last couple years and have the conflicting hobbies problem too! Luckily our archery season starts September 15 and duck season isn't until around February so that gives me plenty of time to deer hunt before duck season gets here and I still get in a few deer hunts.
This past year was my first year of getting into it seriously. I deer hunted till I tagged out on bucks (Nov. 18th) then duck hunted mornings and deer hunted nights. That is one advantage is that come late season when duck season is also in, mornings aren't as good at least for me.
Definitely conflicting for me! Nice thing for me is I farm so I can scout my deer land in the tractor. I usually plan to bowhunt on my open days and have all my waterfowl buddies scouting for geese. A phone call is all I need to determine if my open day changes to geese!
I gave up water fowling for deer hunting,turkey,and pheasant hunting, oh and I've got three daughters a wife and two dogs a full time job and work part time doing simple auto repairs on friend and family cars/trucks. It's tough to try and do everything i want to do when everything else is vying for my time, sometimes you just have to choose what the thing you want to do the most with what little time you have. I hate watching my bird dogs whine and paw at the kennel door when I'm leaving to deer hunt, but when I'm bird hunting and see other deer hunters being successful makes me wish I had brought a bow and climber stand along. Lugging decoys in the dark and laying in frozen cornfields watching flocks of geese or ducks circle 1,2,3 times then decide they don't like my setup and move on made my decision for me. It's just not for me.
Duck hunting???? No body does that anymore.... Prefer it over deer anyday!!!! Love that you cant duck hunt in Nov. in my state, that's when I get my deer hunting in lol
I just try an get a deer or two down before duck season opens here. I love when my boat looks like this. Nothing compares to duck hunting IMO. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk
Ive got the duck hunting bug as well. Just picked up a boat to finally do my own sea duck hunting here on the Maine coast. It's a blast to be out on the salt!
All of your pictures just made me itch for it even more!!! Damn you guys! I'm glad I'm not the only one. Our early nuisance goose season starts the first week of September and goes for a few weeks, then Regular goose starts a week or two into oct. Then Duck starts, goose goes trough nov. And duck most of the way through dec. there is never that good break that's is just deer time. Besides the first week of oct... But that doesn't give me much time to bow hunt with my schedule!
On rainy days I go duck/goose hunting...liking it more and more lately. Michigan duck numbers are at an all time high. In MI we have an early goose season Sept 1-15, but can't bow hunt until Oct 1.
Dates are out, get to shoot some geese sept 2! Bow doesn't start till oct 1 so I'll be busy blowing a call for a month!
I'm fortunate to get to enjoy both. I bow hunt a duck club. So if the deer are not moving and the shotguns are sounding off I get out of my tree and crawl into the duck blinds.
Really, the gun activity doesn't push deer out? I've always wondered as I have permission to bow hunt some farms that I know will be good goose spots as well but I can hunt birds in many places that I can't get permission to hunt deer so I didn't want to blow them out.
In VA, Goose Season from September 1-25, September Teal 17-30, bow season starts Oct 4. Then early duck oct 10-13, november 15-30 and december 17-jan 25. Will probably duck hunt mornings during deer season. Goose comes in and out in nov and dec-jan too. Can't wait. Planning on goose hunting next Monday September 1.
I deer hunt till the end of deer season on January 31st. I switch to ducks between deer and turkey season. You can hunt ducks on a fowl preserve in Alabama into March. I usually go a couple of times in February with some guys from my deer lease. We have a great time and it satisfies my desire to go duck hunting.
The gun shooting doesn't seem to bother or push the deer away. This weekend in MI I duck hunted a flooded picked wheat field. At 9.30 in the morning, after much shooting, we watch a decent buck work the far end of the field. A half hour later, 2 does make their way towards us.
Nice. Well I haven't had a chance to get the duck decoys wet but we have had a few good goose shoots. Figure I've got 12 or so in the freezer, killed 15 or so from 4 or 5 hunts. The Corn field next door to the house is loading up with them so i might sneak over Saturday morning and wake the neighbors. Getting ready to head to our lease in Missouri for bow hunting next Thursday so I'm pretty busy getting organized, working, spending time with the family and taking care of honey-do's. Once it starts to get cold and the little ponds freeze up my duck spots get good so when I get back from Missouri it should heat up around here!
