sounds like a good plan... ask lots of questions as well, lotsa guys about this place have some good knowledge about deer and how/why they move... what to look for, etc... I'm still learnin a lot myself cuz most of the things I "knew" while gun hunting don't mean nearly as much as when bow hunting because of the greater distances with a gun... i'm learning how to fine tune my skills a lot now, and I do a lot of what you are suggesting (when I have time of course)
That's wonderful man.. Glad you got somwhere to go...in Va land is hard to come by unless you are in a club. I would go with a climbing stand...once you learn it, it really makes hunting a lot easier on the go. Hang ons are good, but can be tricky to hang and dangerous to hang in my opinion. Let me know if I can help. "Gettin geared up" can take for ever. Just get what you need to kill a deer and make it fun for you...you don't need the entire Bass Pro in your bag. I think you will be hunting in no time..
Saint, it would be my pleasure to help you start hunting on Quantico Marine Base. It is only about 30 minutes south of Fairfax. I would be willing to take you out on the base to scout and look at the land. Then we could meet up for some hunts in October. No pressure, just an offer. Also, if it is hard for you to meet up, I will send you a map with some surefire places to see and kill deer in the early season. Brett
Another update, and more questions. Update: I joined a local archery club so I have access to their outdoor range 24/7. Finally, I can start to shoot over 20 yards, and in realistic conditions (rather than a well lighted basement range). I noticed right away that picking a spot on a 3D target in the shady woods is not all that easy. I've got lots of practice in my future. Update #2: I took a pilgrimage to the closest Cabela's to get some camo (wanted to try it on), and pick up a tree stand. I grabbed a bunch of affordable Realtree AP stuff (sans scent blocker) and a Summit Viper stand. OK, questions... If the archery club chronometer can be trusted, I'm shooting 255 fps with 325 grain arrows (47 ft/# KE). My intent is to hunt whitetail, and it's unlikely I'll be making any shots over 25 yards this season. Any recommendations on broadheads? Chisel or cut on contact? Number of blades? Should I avoid mechanicals at that KE? If you're alone, how do you handle the logistics of getting the deer out of the woods? I imagine myself in my climber stand with the deer running off into the woods, hopefully after making a good shot. How long do I wait? Should I pack all my gear and track the blood trail, or get to the deer first? After I field dress the animal and drag it back to my car, is it safe to just sling it on a cargo tray (we don't have a pickup)? I guess I've been focused on the archery side of things I haven't really thought about what happens after you actually kill the animal. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Cheers, StM
you're off to a great start my man!!!!! your initial thought about broadheads is the direction i'd go also (avoiding mechanicals)... I'm not going to recommend any particular brand/model, there are a ton of nice ones out there that will work great for you, everyone has their favorites and every one of them will punch a nice hole thru a deer, any of the mainstream heads are being sold for two reasons, they either work or they have a ton of marketing behind 'em... you'll see common design styles and etc... there's a reason for that i'm sure, certain designs just work and the slight variations on the theme is just to make one sound better than the other in the brochure... how long i'd wait would depend on how good the shot was, if the deer fell within site and was doin the kickin chicken right after he fell I'd give it about half an hour before i went over, if he took off and ran out of site I'd be more inclined to wait at least and hour or two just to be sure then track the blood... I wouldn't bring everything with me going after the deer, but I would take my bow just in case you need to stick him one more time... I'd also make sure I had the stuff I needed to dress/haul it out and during the wait time I'd use it to get my gear down and organized/packed... if you're draggin it out solo there are multiple techniques, some just grab an antler and start walkin, some folks use a rope from their pack, use your judgement on how you want to do that... i'd lean toward the rope technique myself if I was haulin the rest of my gear out at the same time...
Can anyone find the thread from HNI titled "After the shot" or something similar that Rob/PA started? I searched for it but cannot find it. If someone could post the link to that thread on here I believe Saint would find a ton of useful information. Saint, if someone does indeed find that thread, print out the information in that thread and take it with you into the field this fall.
Congrats on really trying to think things out before starting. Most just dive in. Cut on contact ALL the way. I highly recommend Magnus stingers, 2 or 4 blade, it doesn’t really matter. Get the same weight as the field points you’ve been practicing with. AVOID mechs at all costs with that low a KE. (even though some may say they’ll work, why tempt fate) Since you are new I’m going to give you this tracking advice erring on the side of caution. If you see the deer fall, still wait 20 minutes minimum. If you don’t see the deer fall…I want to say wait an hour, especially if you don’t really know exactly where you hit it. & sometimes even for experienced guys, you may THINK you know where you hit it, but you can be off some. This is VERY IMPORTANT…Do what ever it takes to mark the last spot you saw the deer. A stump, an odd tree, a rock, a compass reading along with some marker if you have to. It will look very different once you hit the ground. Once you are down, taking your gear back is probably a good idea, but a lot depends on the distance from your car & your physical ability to drag a deer & carry gear. It ain’t easy. Sometimes advancing your gear & then dragging the deer up to it, works fine. A gear tray will be fine, some also throw a tarp over it to protect it from road stones & such. Now on to tracking again. Go to the impact spot & hopefully you can inspect your arrow. With your KE it may not completely pass thru. If for any reason you feel the shot was not perfect, back out & wait 4 hours minimum. If you think it may be a gut shot, (smelly gunk on arrow & not much blood) back out for 8 hours, preferably 12. Now as you look for blood, always mark last blood. Try not to walk directly on the trail, sometimes you can mess up the sign if it’s not very prominent. Also don’t just look on the ground, sometimes blood will smear on leaves & trees a couple feet up. Sometimes you may need to follow tracks & tore up leaves/dirt if you don’t have much blood. Don’t go too fast or guess where the deer went, follow the sign in front of you, but be aware that a deer may take a sharp sudden turn for seemingly no reason. There are a million “deer will do this” situations, but I prefer to use those as starting points in a last resort search, because I’d rather a person just follow the sign that is in front of them instead of being pulled off the trail by a “deer do this when hit” generality. While tracking, move slowly, deliberately and quietly. Scan ahead for a downed deer (or one that may still be alive) and always have your bow with you while tracking (unless it is illegal to do so while tracking at night, check your state laws) Feel free to PM me with any other tracking questions you may have.
the toilet paper trick works good for tracking as well so you can see where you've been and will give you an idea or the direction the deer is heading...
Thanks for the advice. Here's another question... When the deer is down or bedded and I want to put another arrow into it to be sure, should I maneuver to a point where I can shoot up into its lungs, or can I shoot down into the same area from any direction? I figure I should try to make the same kind of deadly shot as I would if it was on its feet, but is it worth possibly bouncing the deer to get that shot?
Saint, sometimes when a deer is bedded down you can approach and shoot it again, but very rarely. Most of the time it is advisable to just let the deer bleed out and die, then come back later and recover it. I have shot deer that were severely wounded while they were bedded down, and was always surprised when the arrow did not strike the vitals the way I had intended. Let the deer bleed out and come back hours later and sometimes even the next morning to recover your deer.
Saint, These guys have pretty much helped me learn everything I know so far about archery. This site has a very helpful crew. Being pretty new to the sport myself, the only advice I think I can give you is about being in the field. The one area I could have used help on before my first kill was what to do after the shot. I think this can only be taught and learned in person. Watch some videos, at least, on youtube on how to skin a deer! Having someone explain it verbally is no comparison to seeing it done first hand. I wasted about half of the meat on my first goat from being uneducated and having a knife that was not razor sharp. I know this will still be a ways down the road for you, but just something to keep in mind. Hope everything goes good and you become just as crazy about the sport as most of us.
surveyers flagging tape to mark the blood trail if it's a long one. It helps to really determine the direction of travel. Back up and review the tape then go look for more blood.
Saint, you are a example of a perfect rookie. Not many come around with as much caution and insight into the sport like you. Most guys go out and buy a bow from the big box guys and just hit the woods. Then they end up making a bad shot on a deer and loose it. You are going about this the right way and are asking all the right questions and the best place you could IMO. Ive enjoyed reading your story from april until now and I hope this contiues into the future. Heck Ive even leared some things just from reading this thread. Keep asking questions! These guys on hear are some of the most knowledgable guys you will ever find and they are very willing to help you out as you can already see. Keep it up and youll be putting deer on the ground on a consistant basis. Good Luck to you! Nathan
Welcome to the forum, there is so much you can learn from this place alone... it's incredible. I don't know what else I can add right now, everyone has you pretty well covered.
Saint, here is the link to thread I talked about earlier. Read it and re-read it. Take it with you into the woods if need be. Best of luck. http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/bowhunting/259690-recovery-what-do-after-shot.html
Wow. April seems like a long time ago. With the regular hunting season starting in a week or so, here's another update: Legality: Last week I took the hunter safety course required by VA, and promptly purchased my hunting license. This past Saturday I went down to Quantico and got a separate license that allows me to hunt on base. I've got to take an eight hour archery safety course to hunt Fort Belvoir, which is somewhat closer to my house and which allows early and late season antlerless deer hunting. So, legally I'm good to go. Stand: I set up my climber stand in the woods and made sure I knew how to operate it. It's pretty comfortable. Broadheads: Although I was warned against it on this board, I'm going with the Trophy Ridge meat-seeker three blade mechanicals. This was at the advice of the folks at my pro shop. They haven't steered me wrong yet, so I'm going to stick with their advice. The broadheads fly almost exactly like my field points, other than a slight drift to the left (about an inch at 20 yards). Field Care: I've been watching a lot of videos about field dressing whitetail, though the methods and "instructors" are varied in their effectiveness. I think I've got the principles down, though. Scoped out two local butchers. Knives are a different issue, and I've been doing a lot of research. In the end, I'll probably punt and just get a bunch of different knives since, really, can you have too many knives? So, I guess I'm ready. I'll be out there opening day with the rest of you bleary eyed Virginia archers.
Great advice above, I wouldn't use a big box store either. They normally have some kid making minimum wage making descisions for you. You need someone at a reputable pro-shop that works on bows for a career helping you. Like someone said above, start with a budget somewhere between $500- $1500 for good equipment, fit your budget to what your comfortable with. The bow tech. should set up the bow you choose with sight, arrow rest, arrows ect. If you don't trust the person at your local shop, just write down what he tells you to buy and the price then bring your notes here and these guys will answer your ? honestlyu
