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>>----Team 5: Pa55 Thru Po55e---->

Discussion in '2013 Bowhunting.com Deer Contest' started by Tony, Aug 19, 2013.

  1. Mapleridge

    Mapleridge Newb

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    Well everyone I was lucky enough to harvest a doe sunday morning. I had chosen a stand next to what I knew was a buck bedding area. I got in early, and around 630 I heard a deer coming down the trail. A shooter buck (somewhere around 100 inches haha) passed my stand at 15 yds, but it was still 30 mins from shooting light. The moon was so bright though that I could see everything. Oh well, I know where he is now. I saw some does and a spike throughout the morning, then at 930 I heard crunching leaves from within the bedding area. I grunted a couple of times and this doe walked out to me at 7 yds and I couldn't pass up the shot. Hopefully this cold front this weekend gets the big boys moving here in NY. Good luck everyone!
     
  2. Tony

    Tony Legendary Woodsman

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    Congrats on the doe!

    My brother was able to get out this afternoon and he boned an opportunity at a 140+ class buck...I am so excited ...this is the first year I am really hunting this.property ....I can only hunt it with him so I will b e there all day Saturday and Sunday....the big boys are starting to move, guys....time to get me a wall hanger!!
     
  3. scooters

    scooters Weekend Warrior

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    I had a spike walk right under me tonight. 10 min later I had two does approaching me. One of the does were going to be a target but the spike felt like he wanted to get lucky:) Off they went the chase began.
     
  4. Slider46

    Slider46 Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Congrats! Pics?
     
  5. Mapleridge

    Mapleridge Newb

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    Sure thing!
     

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  6. SouthDakotaHunter

    SouthDakotaHunter Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Nice sit tonight.... Had a doe tease me for about 15 minutes at 20 yards (I've got a doe tag but it's not valid in this county because of low deer numbers)... Then about an hour later I hear a bunch of racket/thrashing. A doe comes running by and a small buck (young 3x3 or 4x4) comes running by chasing her and grunting the whole time....

    Congrats on the doe Mapleridge!
     
  7. KYBowHunter8

    KYBowHunter8 Weekend Warrior

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    Good job mapleridge! I haven't been on in awhile but I've been hunting a few since last time... mostly muzzleloader though. Missed a doe saturday night, then killed one sunday night. Had high hopes for a big buck but didn't see any shooters, so will still be hitting it hard these next couple weeks and especially into the first couple of weeks of november!
     
  8. Slider46

    Slider46 Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Small fawns, a spike and one doe this morning. Drying my boots and heading back out soon.
     
  9. Slider46

    Slider46 Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Found a decent spot last night with a semi-fresh rub and a scrape, setup my camera and hung my stand for the evening. No bucks but I did have 4 does come running by - spooked the biggest one when I tried to get a shot on her. They were already on high alert though because not two minutes later, a coyote comes running by following their trail...i was quite surprised. Coyotes are extremely rare in central MD and I've never seen them, only heard them in western MD. Good news is that it's open season on them year round.

    Anyways, that was pretty much it for the evening except for one doe that came by at last light - too far for a good shot. I noticed at least 12 deer in the fields as i was driving home though - they must have moved late. Hopefully back out next week!
     
  10. KYBowHunter8

    KYBowHunter8 Weekend Warrior

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  11. Slider46

    Slider46 Die Hard Bowhunter

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    I couldn't for a few reasons - he was about 50 yards out at a good run, there is an open season but you still need a furbearer permit to shoot them and the public land i'm hunting is deer only. Not supposed to shoot anything else.

    I hunt some other public lands though and I won't hesitate to shoot one there.
     
  12. KYBowHunter8

    KYBowHunter8 Weekend Warrior

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    Oh yeah, they can be hard to get in range with a bow and theyre wirey littel critters that usually never sit still. Well if you get the chance to take one, i've always found a combination of kissey sounds will usually bring them in close enough to shoot.
     
  13. SouthDakotaHunter

    SouthDakotaHunter Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Little windy today but managed a morning and evening sit... Saw some deer from a distance but nothing close. Tomorrow wind is switching to the south so I'm going to be able to sit one of my fav spots for the first time this year... Good luck to everyone out hunting!
     
  14. Slider46

    Slider46 Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Well I burned a leave day from work yesterday to try and get some field time since the weather doesn't look great this weekend (high near 70) and I probably wont get out till next Tuesday. By 11am I found myself just plain annoyed at how things are going.

    First, I must have left my fleece face mask at my last hunting spot (or otherwise lost it) so I damn near froze yesterday morning. I get down and check my camera, one doe on it around midnight. Nothing else. No does = few if any bucks in the next week. That's got me annoyed. Then something catches my eye, a chain-on stand not more than 75 yards from where I normally setup. There's a 10 foot climbing stick and this stand hung 7 feet off the ground. Ridiculous.

    I couldn't care less about the fact that there's a stand being left on public land, people do it so whatever. What really bothers me is this guy hung this thing 7 feet off the ground literally right over a trail. What's he expect to do? Have deer walk under him and shoot right down at them? To me it seems like whoever this guy is, he's just sloppy and possibly screwing up the area. Nothing I can do about it but again, annoying and frustrating.

    So to try and make myself at least a little happier, I go out yesterday afternoon to look for my face mask. There's very few hunters on the public land that I lost it on so I figure there won't be anyone there early afternoon on a Monday. Wrong, someone already parked and on the property so I head home frustrated again. (Wasn't going to go looking and screw up someone's hunting - I had that happen to me last year ironically).

    It's my fault I didn't do more scouting this past winter and now this season I'm left with sub-par areas. I might just have to branch out and try some in-season scouting; something I don't really like doing because I don't like to just wander around during the day possibly bumping deer.

    Sigh.. oh well, i'll just have to keep at it one way or another.
     
  15. KYBowHunter8

    KYBowHunter8 Weekend Warrior

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    Ouch, stuff like that can get old very quickly.. I can't believe you leave your camera on public land, i've never been brave enough. I always find that when I don't really scout, I usually look on google earth and note terrain, food, distance from parking lot, etc. and just sneak in to a spot that looks promising, I usually find good sign and end up killing decent deer. Probably has alot to do with luck but it usually works for me..
     
  16. Tony

    Tony Legendary Woodsman

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    Guys, I've been updating the other thread ...nothing this morning ...one small buck yesterday...nice 8 Sunday but he caught my wind and game.over....rained out Saturday....3 small bucks Friday...

    Back out in a few minutes ...
     
  17. Slider46

    Slider46 Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Yeah I pick where i'm going to place the camera very carefully. I've been lucky so far plus the ones I leave out were dirt cheap so since i'm half-expecting they'll be gone one day, it won't be too bad of a hit. If I had a smaller more expensive camera i'd take the time to mount it up a tree out of easy reach.

    As for finding deer sign and deer - there's a lot of land to look through. Most of it is forest with little ag field. Topo maps help but you've really gotta get in there and look for forest foods like acorns and good browse sign and I mean spend hours looking. Its a large area, over 7,000 acres. The other difficult thing is you'd think with 7,000 acres there'd be some mostly untouched areas but there's these access roads that go everywhere. You can't go anywhere without coming across one or being near a trail. Those trails make it much easier to get in but that means more people go deeper because they don't have to bushwhack the whole walk in.

    I've spent hours looking over topos and aerial maps and then go in only to find I'm 100 yards from an access trail that wasn't on the map that gets heavy traffic from horseback riders, or joggers, or people walking dogs.

    So you have a lot of hunters pretty well spread out, you have an average deer population and a sub-average buck to doe ratio. Deer sightings are few and far between for me. Hell, during my best sit there last year I saw one doe in the AM and one buck in the PM. The doe busted me and I passed on the buck because the shot was questionable. You have places that look like they'd be good funnels but there's no real food source or bedding nearby so very few if any deer pass through.

    Unless you spend lots of hours to find the perfect spot, it seems like it's almost a wasted effort. But, that and a few other public spots (which are regulated and restricted to one hunt every 5 days or so) are all I have so I guess I gotta make do again this season.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2013
  18. pineywoodsbow

    pineywoodsbow Weekend Warrior

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    Well it looks like I won't get it done on public land this year. Gun season down here on public land is way too pressured for me, so I will be on my private land the rest of the season with my bow, hunting over a corn feeder. Can deer taken over bait still count in this contest? Congrats to those that have scored thus far, I certainly gave it my best.
     
  19. SouthDakotaHunter

    SouthDakotaHunter Die Hard Bowhunter

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    Yes, long as its legal in your state...


    Went out for a sit tonight in the cold mist. Was expecting to see something nice but it's just not prime time yet and the big boys don't seem to be moving much during the day... Now I hit a stretch where I can't get out until next week.... But once I get through this coming week, I'll have my vacation time to look forward to... Good luck everyone!

    Sorry to hear about how you missed out on your buck PT! Stay strong and keep at it!!
     
  20. Spear

    Spear Grizzled Veteran

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    Nice job! The bucks are moving and the weather looks really promising for me this weekend. I hope to be able to contribute to our team score soon. I've been seeing deer but just nothing worth shooting...
     

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