Didn’t hunt this weekend. Unfortunately, had another gear mishap. My son needed the draw length lengthened on his bow, so we did that. It is supposed to be an adjustable bow without using a press, I have done it before a few times. For some reason, the string jumped off the cams this time. I took to the local shop and had it put back on. While checking the cam timing on a draw board, the upper limb split. No way that should have happened on a kids bow set at 45lbs. Especially with a Hoyt since they make a point about their bows are built to survive dry fires. This bow didn’t even dry fire. Looks like I will be making the time to visit the local Hoyt dealer for warranty. Hoyt dealer was closed Saturday ir I would have gone straight there. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Sorry dudes, I let everyone down again. Had a couple big does in front of me last night but I couldn't do it. I was by myself, far from the truck, and after the recent rains it was a muddy, sloppy mess out there. The thought of dealing with a doe on a Sunday night knowing I had to be at work this morning wasn't doing it for me. My apologies. Here's a pic for proof.
Define far from the truck... I doe on a Sunday night with work the next morning is a tough sell. At least you got out this weekend. I hoping to get out next weekend at least one time before Christmas.
Finally back at it. Still coughing a little, bumped a 120” 8 on the way in. I’m off the 24th through the first, so I ought to be able to spend some time in the woods.
Hunted Saturday evening, didn't see anything. I may hunt New Year's Day in the afternoon, Jan 4-5 is the last youth rifle weekend, after that it will be bow only until season closes. It has been several years that I have made it to Christmas without at least killing a doe.
Had my target buck at 75 yards last night but didn’t close the distance for a shot before last light. I found his food source so hopefully can make it happen next week once the temp drops. I will be out Monday and Tuesday before I head to ATA. We will see what happens. I got till February here in Ohio so I haven’t gave up yet.
My whole family got sick just before Christmas which significantly derailed my plans to hunt a lot over "break". I hunted Sat evening and saw a bunch of deer but the only ones in range were a button buck and a 1.5 year old buck. Figures. Last night I got skunked.
I hunted yesterday evening. Put out a couple of grounds blinds for my boys for the youth rifle hunt this weekend. Took my youngest with me since he is too young to shoot a rifle. We had three does come into the far side of the food plot about 80 yards away. I think the new blind made them nervous. They hung up and did not come closer. If they do that this weekend, it should be a shot opportunity with a rifle.
We haven't hunted at all since last weekend - just not in the mood, to be honest. I'm about over this season.
I think I can find some gumption for this tomorrow night and this weekend. Also really need to get a doe in the freezer
Had an encounter with the buck above this am. He was about 80 yards away. Freaking stud. No action so far this afternoon. I’ll be back out in the morning.
Youth weekend was good to my oldest Saturday night. He killed his second buck of the season on his first successful solo hunt. I dropped him in a spot and took my middle son to another spot about 500 yards away. He ended killing a little fork buck that had just shed its right antler. Impressive shot for a rifle, 180 yards, free hand. It came in behind him and he didn’t have time to get the shooting sticks turned around. He drilled it in the middle of the shoulder, it ran about 30 yards and was done. Unfortunately, my middle son missed a doe. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
don't want to get anyone's hopes up, but I might be able to sneak out a couple times this coming weekend for late antlerless. Maybe I can drop another 50 points on the board?
Mrs. Noodles and the weather had other ideas. Did some running around for her yesterday AM, then lake effect turned what's normally a 1.4hr drive into something more than 2.5 hours. Would have only had a couple hours to hunt.
One week left here in IL - I have maybe one or two more sits left in me. I went Saturday afternoon and almost shot a doe, but it was dead silent and she heard my stand creak just a little bit when I stood up. And this time of year they have zero tolerance for unusual noises.
Saturday afternoon I went hunting with @Jezzy670. We spotted and stalked into a buck and two does. I had one of the does at 30 with no shot through the brush. Came to full draw, she didn’t have a clue I was there. The other doe had a broken leg. They busted us right before he could kill her. I went to the food plot to check my ground blind. Snow had collapsed it, cleared it off and I am going to sat there for the last 90 minutes of daylight. I cleared four spot of snow in the food plot at 20-25 yards. Apparently, these Arkansas deer do not know how to dig through snow. There were five does in the plot when we got here, browsing on the brush around the edges. They ran off when they saw us, nothing came back before dark.
Well boys, it's officially over and I never even drew back on a living creature this fall. I spent my last evening in a tree for this season filming my son instead of hunting, which was much more enjoyable. We saw some deer but nothing close enough to shoot. And so ends the 2024 season! I'm not sure how many hours I spent in a tree, but it was a LOT. I saw one buck I wanted to shoot the entire season and it was for about 5 seconds before he chased a doe out of my life. That's bowhunting for ya!
