Bad news, no deer recovered. The dry conditions make the tracking more difficult and the deer did some weird movements - it ran down hill then it turned to the left, did a tiny little turn around and started to head back up at which point we lost blood. Dog did great but it was a long shot. I'm hoping it was just superficial through the back and he lives....this makes me sick. But as noted previously the only thing I can do is turn this into a learning experience.
Bummer man, you did an everything you could have by bringing a dog out. I certainly commend your efforts. We all make mistakes, I’m sure it’s a gut punch but keep up the good fight and keep on hunting.
Happens man. But yes every time it happens it’s definitely a learning experience. You’ll get another crack at one. I’m sure your experience might even save someone else from taking a hard quartering shot also. We’ve all definitely been there in the heat of the moment I’m sure though. Just over a week for me! I envy you even being out there hunting haha Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I love that MN opens in mid September but it sucks because the shotgun season opens the first weekend in November, always during prime time. And there are two shotgun seasons and unlimited CWD tags which certain folks take advantage of and just kill as many fawn and doe as they can. I first started typing this when I was half awake, now the blood pressure has rose and am fired up. Golly.
I recently picked up a new property, small but it looks very promising on google maps. The owner was complaining about deer eating her landscaping. Not that I need more land to hunt, but it's always nice to look at new trees and try to figure out what's what. I hope to scope it out in the next week or so. -fsh
I hear a lot of people on here always talking about the abundance of land they have permission to hunt on. Always blows my mind being from southern Ohio lol. If you’re not born into it, or paying a fortune….you’re screwed here for access. I did land a 15 acre spot this past week though lmao! I am extremely happy and grateful I have somewhere to try to get a few doe though. If it wasn’t for that I’d be limited to one buck and one doe only on public. Which isn’t near enough to keep meat in my freezer. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Personally speaking I am very fortunate to have access to the land that I hunt. Two of my spots are leases that we completely lucked into and have managed to hold onto for dear life for over a decade now, which is a minor miracle in itself. I'm sure one or both will come to an end at some point when landowners either sell or raise the rent too high for us to afford. My third farm is a non-paying permission piece that I've been on for a long time as well, and it is even a bigger miracle that I ever got it in the first place. My dad became friends with one of the higher-ups that runs the farm and got us permission. After my dad passed away they allowed myself and one other person to continue hunting it and they haven't kicked us out yet. But again, that could change any minute and we're well aware of that. If I ever lose these spots I'll likely be off to public like everyone else. With all that said, our season opens here on Sunday. I likely will not be able to hunt due to my kids sports schedules. Then my wife is out of town for 4 days the following weekend, which means no hunting for me that weekend either. Looking like it may be the middle of October before I get any time in a tree for myself. Such is life!
Yeah it all came crashing down for me 4 years ago. The worst part for me is how tough it’s going to be to get my little ones on deer doing what I do. Which it’s already decided they have to wait until 9 to start hunting. Since I had to hahaha. Other note is we are having an opening weekend camp this weekend on a 16,000 acre forest. Haven’t done a camp opening weekend for years so I’m excited for it. I’ve been cruising the gravel roads and found rubs where one is crossing out of a cut to get to the oaks. Haven’t seen a soul in there scouting or anything all month so fingers crossed. I may or may not have stacked up some sticks to cover the rubs hahaha Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Sounds like a good time! Hopefully nobody shows up, but I'm always amazed at the folks who come out of the woodwork when the season opens. I hit up the local Cabelas on Saturday afternoon to pick up a new bag target. While I was there, I watched a guy buy a new bow, arrows, target, etc for the first time in his life with plans to go out this weekend for opening day. All I could do was chuckle to myself and think "So, you're the guy everyone talks about on the Internet!" Once I got home with the new target, I took the crossbow out to make sure it was still good to go for my son. I am amazed at how damn accurate those things are. We were hitting 1" dots at 20 yards like it was nothing. I made him shoot a few times without the tripod stand and just use a set of shooting sticks. Groups opened up to about 1.5" at 20 yards but still plenty good to hunt with. We are going to try a few run-and-gun ground sets this year and I don't want to lug around the full tripod everywhere we go.
I found a fresh active scrape at my lease on Saturday afternoon and set up a camera on it. I've had a pile of deer pics so far, but this is the biggest one. He's not the deer I'm looking for on this farm, but I'm also not going to pass him if he gives me a shot. After all, I'm the king of killing up and coming 3-year-olds.
I also partake in three year olds hahaha and don’t regret any second of it. But I see some of the deer your buddies take down lol! They’re here too obviously but I got tired of chasing giants and not shooting bucks. Has been very enjoyable for me for sure Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Starts Saturday here! Kids go back to their moms tm. I go back to work for a few days…then it’s on! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I echo this! Of course I want to shoot something big, biggest and oldest buck I have shot is a 116" 8 and was a 3 or 4 year old. I don't necessarily want to shoot a young buck but a 3 year old will go down for sure. My buck last year I believe was probably a 2 year old 9pt that scored 99" but he got the ticker racing and it was right before shotgun opener, I was pumped. I also get the QDM approach for folks but at the end of the day if I'm happy with the harvest that's all that matters.
On another note, I'm going in after this guy tonight. Wind will be marginal but I think I can get set up to get a shot. This is nearly identical to the buck I messed up on last Tuesday, except the g2s on this buck are a bit shorter and there's less mass.
I would be thrilled to shoot some 3.5 year olds. I will be in Justin’s boat for the first few weekend of season. Sons football and baseball and I will be on call the second weekend of October. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
