Sorry been pretty quiet team…. As mentioned previously life super crazy for me right now and finally getting out for 3rd time this year haven’t seen anything so far but still early… now just gotta wake up my camera man Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
If there isn't bubbles in the blood, I agree with archbunk, looks like a possible muscle hit with that bright color.
Welp no dice… shot was low and forward… tracked her for almost a mile but never found her and lost blood. I know it’s part of hunting but I have had just some ****ty luck lately and this has me struggling Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Keep your head up. I’m sure we have all been there, I know I have more than I’d like to admit. Sounds like a good chance she will survive. Did you get the shot on video or was the camera man sleeping again, lol
It’s on camera… and when reviewing I thought it was low and forward but the blood right out of the gate looked really really good so figured it must have punched through into the heart. Gave it about an hour and started the track… 4 hours and about a mile later… lost blood Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Low brisket maybe? Sounds like muscle meat hit. I have had 2 of them and very similar to color of blood in your pic. Good blood at first but stopped bleeding with in hundred yards or so. Good chance she will survive from the sounds of it.
Hope so… doesn’t make it suck any less but season isn’t over yet Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Dang that sucks. Knock on wood, I have made it from my teens to almost 50 and I have never had it happen. At the same time, I have spent hours on my hands in the knees to find a speck of blood here and there until I was able to make the recovery. Reset and keep after'm!
What's everyone's favorite scents to use? What do you use for licking branches, scrapes, doe estrous.
I haven’t had much luck with scents myself. Have tried a few mock scrapes over the years using power scrape or something similar with little results. I use deer dander or ever calm just for a little cover scent but that’s about it anymore.
I've used Tink's Power Scrape and Buck Bomb Scrape Generator, both with very good success. The key is that you need to use a LOT of it. Neither one are very powerful scents so I used way more than instructed and always had the best results. Although, now that we're so close to the rut, I would switch to straight buck piss or doe in estrus for any scrapes I'm making or freshening up. Starting tomorrow, I will try and hunt every day until I can't drag my ass out of bed or I kill something. My current plan is to hunt tomorrow morning, both Thursday morning and afternoon, then head out to my lease with my son for him to hunt Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. Then we'll drive home, and I'll hunt local the rest of the weekend and Monday morning. We'll see how things are looking at that point and I'll start making decisions from there. @dcaldwell - sorry about that lost deer! I've been there too many times myself and I know how it feels. Archery is a purely mental game, so you have to keep on keepin' on. Make sure you're shooting your bow as much as you can to keep those confidence levels high. The season is FAR from over.
The wife calls me at 4 PM. "What are you doing?" Me: Yard work. Her: Do you think this is the last mow of the year? Me: I hope so. I have 130 hrs. on the mower just this year. Her: Well, that's not that much. Me: Well, you won't mind me hunting 130 hrs in November then? Her: I don't know, that sounds like a lot.... She pulls in the drive about 5:30. Her: What are you doing? It's a little early to be hanging the Christmas lights, isn't it? Me: IT IS NOW OR NEVER! Her" Big sigh, and she walks by me to go in the house. You can't make this stuff up!
Well, I had my #1 target in bow range this morning. Problem is that it was an hour before dark as I was walking into my stand. I was just about to the tree when I glanced up and saw a pair of eyes looking back at me from about 30 yards away. I grabbed my binos and could just make out that it was a buck. Figuring the gig was already up, I switched my headlamp to high beam, and there he was in all of his glory. Just standing there, watching me as I blinded him with my light. After a minute or two, he walked away like I wasn't even there. I waited 10 minutes to give him time to vacate the area, then climbed up and got set up. Didn't see him again, but did see two other smaller bucks out cruising. All in all, not a bad morning. It's my youngest son's birthday and we are doing family dinner at 6, so no hunting for me tonight. I'll be back after it tomorrow with this super fun East wind. Yay!