Hey guys if we could all shoot one of these this year, that’d be great! Lol. Congrats on that deer! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Checking-in. I feel like AOL Instant Messenger every year when I sign into the contest... "ASL" 33, Male, Indiana! Between a lot of fishing and golfing this summer my wife has still allowed me to put quite a bit of time in on my 70 acre lease in West Central, IN (Vigo Co.). One of my best friends who introduced me to hunting 12 years ago and I have been on this lease for the past 4 seasons. We've had quite a bit of success on this property and several others in the area - any property within about a 3 mile radius of us is money! This summer has not played out the same as seasons past - usually by now we've got three to five bucks in the area that we're very interested in. The land around the lease is very familiar to us as I own 15 acres a few miles away and we've leased other neighboring properties over the years. I have an idea where the big boys are at - but no idea why they're not hitting the same licks that they've hit every other year?! The crop rotation on our property doesn't rotate - it's a beans only property so the variables are the same. Last November I shot a big buck that was chasing a doe - unfortunately for me was unable to execute a good shot and we never recovered it for the second time in three years. I spend so much time setting up tree stands and putting in food plots that I admittedly haven't spent enough time shooting my bow in past seasons. I've already been working to change that this summer - quite frankly I'm tired of wounding beautiful bucks. I'm taking some clients on a 3 day 2 night outfitter hunt in Indiana on Oct. 18-21. I've seen some pretty impressive pictures from the outfitter website & I believe our group of 8 will be the first group hunting the property of the year. So it should be pretty decent for a few of us! Regardless of my past failures or success in the deer woods - I really just count my blessings to be able to live in a world where I can freely (relatively) hunt whitetail every year! To have the family, friends, job, house, food on and on that the Lord and this country has blessed me with over the years is beyond anything I probably deserve. I just can't wait to get into the tree stand and reflect on all that is good! I will keep ya'all posted throughout the season and I usually try and post some additional updates and photos on my twitter & ig accounts @sycamoretwitch sorry if social media bothers anyone. ha Good luck!
Sorry little late checking in from Wisconsin. I hunt a bunch of private land around my home. Been very formate to kill some Giants in the past. I really don't have much this year to go after. I have a mid 50s type deer that's killable. Then a 170s rut deer but that's about it for this year. I will be in Wyoming elk hunting end of September for a couple weeks. Here's a few from the past few years Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
early in (Jeff) checking in! Sorry for being a bit late, but it's been tough tearing myself away from chasing wild trout. Fly fishing can do this to ya. Been around here for a number of years, and I'm still hunting the same public land (bow hunting only) I've been hunting for 17 years now. I have 2 cams in the woods, one has been in for 3 weeks, and the other for 2 weeks. I'm checking them tomorrow, so I'll post anything of interest. Some of you guys have killed some amazing bucks! Glad we're on the same team.
Everyone is checked in! We need to decide upon a team captain and a team name. So far these are the suggested team names. Sound off on any other team name thoughts and are there any volunteers or nominations for team captain Dynamic Dozen Dirty Dozen Double Quiver Team Kill Archers Dozen 12 Ring Rack Masters
Looks like we have the following states covered WI, IN, MI, MN, OH, VA. NJ, VT, PA. If I missed any, my apologies. We also have some serious buck slayers on this team!
16 days till the NJ season opener for me! NJ is earn a buck the first two weeks of Fall Bow. I also need to shoot a doe in the County Park that I hunt before I can shoot a buck. And a second doe for Permit Bow. County Park and State Law rules. Soooo, first order of business for me September 14 is to put two does on the ground as soon as I can just in case a good buck walks by. I like the idea of holding out for a 140" deer or better but I also like the way the 120" deer look on the wall and I just really enjoy pulling the trigger on deer. SO, I'm often torn on what to do when the antlers walk by. I can pretty much guarantee that I wont shoot anything under 120 but cant guarantee that I'd hold out for a giant. The older I get though I seem content to fill the freezer with does and just watch the smaller bucks cruising around.
Ditto this for me. Gotta get a doe down as the first order of business. The bucks I'm after are 110 to upper 120s so if I can connect I should put up some decent points. I've been team captain before and don't mind doing it again but I'd also cast my vote for vermontwhitetail!! Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
I'd say we go ahead and lock in vermon anyone who goes to the trouble to list the states we have represented here has my vote every single time! Good stuff. I don't care about team name - or logo - it's kinda like naming bucks, I tried it for a season or two and it was just not really for me. I don't mind it on a TV show or something - it kinda helps create a narrative if you will.
I don't even know what to say about those deer. Impressive. They don't make bucks like that in VT. I have seen some like that in NJ, just not up close and personal.
He's a nice deer for sure - but probably not the best buck in the area. I'm just relieved to finally have one on camera - we've had a couple dinks but that's been about it. The best in the area was killed about a mile from here 4 years ago - a buck we hunted and had many trail camera photos of was killed by another hunter and scored 187". I think good for this particular area ranges from about 140"-160" in general. Usually a couple deer running around in that class - anything above that is few and far between - but that's probably typical for most of us not named WiP&Y
In VT two 140's are shot per year and one 150-160 is shot per year so not a lot of those running around here.
Vermont for captain. I think Drop Tine Dozen has a nice ring to it! Sent from my SM-N975U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
For conversation sake... Short answers will suffice - but genuinely curious what you all think about these 5 questions. 1. What is one thing you hope to do better/different in the deer woods this season? a) I already stated mine above - I need to execute a lethal shot. Simple as that. 2. What is one thing that you think you do well at each season in the deer woods? a) I think paying attention to weather conditions and relating that to my instincts in choosing the right stand at the right time. I pride myself on always being around deer and being able to put other people on deer. I think I've got a great feel for being able to put myself in a position to be successful. 3. What would you put your odds/% chance at you harvesting a buck this season? a) I'd say around 40%. I'm pretty selective for the most part. I know I can rattle in a couple 120" bucks in N0v. no problem but I usually let those guys walk. 4. What is your favorite thing about deer season? a) Sharing my hunting lease with one of my best friends and taking friends out hunting for the first time. Last year I took a friend and my brother-in-law who had never deer hunting. They didn't kill anything but I sat with them on the ground and we saw a lot of deer in both hunts. It was a beautiful thing! 5. What state are you from & how do you think state agencies are doing with whitetail laws and population management in your state? a) Indiana. I think Indiana is generally a sleeper state when it comes to Whitetail. I don't think Nationally it gets the credit it deserves which is just fine by most of us who reside here. IN DNR deserves a lot of credit for that. All that being said, I think hunters are more and more reluctant to harvest doe. Are population of doe is probably higher than it needs to be and increasing bag limits hasn't really helped that. I don't have a solution for this problem but it's a big issue for me.
1. Don't waste time on a unkillable buck. 2. Patterning a specific deer follow him all year/ multiple years. Find his weakness and kill him. Every deer has different tendocies. 3. 50% I haven't completely made my mind up if the deer I'm watching I want to kill. 4. Finally excute the plan. 5. My area is gone way down hill. Lucky to see a doe 2out of 10hunts. I'm in the kill anything that walks zone.cwd area. Numbers are ridiculously low. I hunt 10 private properties all to myself equalling close to 2000 and acres and I haven't killed a doe in past 10years. Numbers are just terrible. All that property and maybe 1 shooter pretty sad... Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
