Hello everyone, I'm new to the group and as I'm conversing. I was woundering how would you rate yourself as a hunter on a scale 1-10? A 1 being someone just starting out and a 10 being a pro. Rating myself, I'd say I'm a 1-2 for bow hunting. I've killed deer before, just not with my bow....yet. Sent from my S41 using Tapatalk
I’d say 3-4. I’ve only been hunting 6 years. And four if that with a bow. I’ve yet to kill a buck with a bow and still learning every year. I started hunting at 35 years old. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
5 years into bow hunting, 22 years of overall hunting experience. It depends on what a good hunter means. Just killing deer, I’d say I’m a 6 or 7. Getting on big bucks, 2. Maybe 2.4
All told 45 or so years..I'd never say a pro because there is ALWAYS things to learn. I've been bow hunting 27 yrs. Shooting bow since I was 9 yrs old
2 weeks before the season I’d say about a 10. By mid October I’d say about a 7. Then come about November 10th I’d say I’ll probably feel like a 3. Usually spend the rest of the year coming up with something new to feel like a 10 again. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Finding deer, I would give myself a 7. After a rough last couple of years, I would say my killing prowess has dropped to about 3.
Killing deer 7 or 8. Targeting mature bucks 3 or 4. Don’t have the job that lets me pour the time and effort into being as successful as I’d like at targeting big deer. I tell you what though I’m a 10+ at loving every minute of it.
In my mind I'm a 10 but realistically 2-3. Bowhunting for 23 years. Last 3 years I've spent a lot of time in a tree
I was stuck on being a "yellow belt" for probably 15 years at one pt. Prior to that I spent 10 years at the white belt level. After I overcame some hurdles and stupidity I made a small leap to a middle belt level.
I rate myself as retired. At one time I had a good streak of killing some good bucks. I remember the details of every one of them and the ones that got away. I killed my first archery buck in 1968 so I have over 50 years of bowhunting under my belt. I gun hunt as well. I still go out and hunt but the fire to kill the biggest buck on my land is gone. I passed that torch to my son and do everything I can to help him succeed. Now days I get my enjoyment from managing my land for wildlife. It's been a new adventure. Right now I'm in the process of building a heated, elevated hunting blind so I can take my young grand kids hunting and spend time in the woods with them. I want them to be comfortable so they will enjoy it and hopefully want to hunt when they're older. My whitetail hunting journey has been very rewarding to me and most likely defines who I am.
I'm kind of the same. I've mostly gun hunted whitetails. My main archery hunting is elk. I have a couple spots I can climb into a canyon and then just watch the other side, it's not super difficult to get a mature buck this way when you can be so far away but then reach out 300-450 yards with a rifle. The deer feed in crop fields up top and then drop into the canyons to bed. Just a matter of catching one returning to bed late in the morning or heading out to feed a little too soon in the evening. This spot is total chaos during the chase phase, so much fun, you see lots of deer but it's hard to get them to stop chasing long enough to have a good shot at them. They absolutely have to be stopped when shooting at them due to the distance. A couple years ago I finally bought a tree stand. I did take a cull buck out of it the first year with my muzzleloader. My property where I now mostly whitetail hunt is timber and is on the ridge of a deep canyon. There is no "archery only" season, so I hunt it during the any weapons season. It is a generous season though, from Oct. 10 through Dec. 1st. The week of Thanksgiving is the best week, full chase. Week before or after can be good too. Half the time I am holding a traditional muzzleloader instead of a bow, although last year I took the bow about half the time. The problem with this property is it doesn't hold mature bucks, they only show up during the rut. Where I think the bucks are bedding and living isn't accessible for me to scout. They can show up from the bottom side of the big canyon, or from the top. The ridge my property sits on is several miles wide, with another big canyon on the other side. There is lots of timber on the ridge and there are bucks that also bed/live in the thicker timber on neighbor's properties. So my best chance is to set a stand where my camera's commonly show bucks cruising through during the rut and then hunting it. My stand is over the edge of the big canyon in a bowl off of a finger draw this year. The last two years it was up top on the rim of the big canyon, at the top of the afore mentioned finger draw. The thing is a buck could come from most any direction at the new location, but I will try to focus on wind direction up or down the canyon. If there is no steady breeze, then thermals direction is poor for it to be hunted if they are going up or down. It is a roll of the dice whether a good buck will happen through, but it really takes away from the idea of the first sit being the best. It can be good at any point during the rut. I've gotten bucks to respond to bleats, but rattling has never worked. Ever. I think there are just too many does available to them, competition just isn't that high due to this. Thinking pure archery, I guess I'd put myself at a 6 as far as closing the deal if one comes into range, probably a 5 or 6 at choosing a good stand location, but only a 2 as far as mature bucks go. My spot is just too random since it is really only good for them during the rut. I find the older I get the less I care about having to get a mature buck though. I try to let smaller bucks go and target a mature one, but towards the end of the season I will take a doe and am perfectly fine with that, I love making jerky and breakfast sausage out of venison. But I do hold out since I only get one tag a year.
41 years of taking game with a bow. Well over 150 big game animals with archery equipment, no idea really. I used to target one or two bucks each year and I had a pretty good track record of putting those bucks on my wall. Today, I am content to go sit in a blind or tree and just relax. I would say I may have been a 7 at one point, and probably about a 4 now. And, I am totally fine with that. As long as I can keep my sarcasm level at a 10 and my give a "f" level at zero, I am happy. Hunt for you and have fun.
I never compare myself to others I hunt to get away from life, I have some mounts on the wall but other than being a decoration they mean nothing to anyone but me. Killing deer is not splitting atoms, I do not believe that every deer shot with a bow is a trophy. If your goal is to simply shoot a deer no big deal. I do not think that looking at trail camera pictures and naming bucks makes you a better hunter either. As you age you hunt for different reasons, this season as I hunt I will be thinking about meat sticks and spending time when I am done hunting with my grandson before I drive home.
Greg I wasn't on the fourm when you were in your hay day of hunting. I know you have killed some magnificent bucks over the years, but I have never heard any of the story's or seen many pics of your bucks. If I started a thread sometime about past successful hunt story's, would you post a couple story's with all the details? Of course a few pics would be great! It would be cool to hear the hunting story's from all the members and that way all the story's will always be here. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
