dont miss twice in one week on two shooter bucks...my season has been the most up and down i have ever had...seen more deer this year than i have ever before, (bucks) and not have a deer down yet.
I've learned I better be absolutly certain a deer meets antler restriction requirements before I drop the string. I have also learned I suck at field judging deer.
I've learned this season... - the farmers don't care about my hunting. if they want to clear cut a section of woods the first week in November, then they will - dogs like to chase deer - a hand saw can cut your arm very easily if you aren't careful, and I wasn't - missing once sucks, missing twice sucks more - poison ivy on your dong is really annoying I'm kind of looking forward to gun season, so I can get the hell out of the woods before it gets any worse.
I learned to make sure my no peep isn't twisted before I pull back on Mr. Crabs. I just puked a little more.
I have reconfirmed my belief that the only way I am going to consistently get onto the bigger bucks in my area is to find their beds. That is the only way. It is not easy when one is hunting woods that roll for tens of thousands of acres. I learned even more about topo maps. I have been forced to adapt over and over as the areas I want to hunt are shut down on the military base. I get all fired up to hunt areas I spent 30-40 hours scouting and I cannot even get on the area to hunt when the winds are perfect. So then I have to grab a map, take the wind into account, and hit the woods with my stand on my back. So far so good in terms of locating deer. I would 75% of my hunts this year I have had deer within bow range, just not the bucks I am after.
Dude, this thread is the freaking best!!! I am learning from ya'lls pain. I am looking for a reaction to this one: I learned that Preacher Tony can actually kill a deer from his own stand and not only mine!
Having a blood trial that looks like someone painted the ground and splattered it all over the trees doesnt mean he dropped without going 2miles
Don't rush the shot!!! I had a nice buck at 17 yards but it was early season and a lot of foliage was still on the trees. I tried to squeeze of a shot through some branches and I think my anchor point was off causing me to miss the shot. I should have waited for this buck to walk out to 30 yards where I would have a clear opening and much more time to focus and prepare for the shot.
This is a great post, lots of good stuff you guys are posting, - I need to find more hunting property(I hunt our 77 acre farm, that's not quite enough for me and my brother) - Be careful letting your friends hunt on your land (friends-2 deer down, me and my brother-0) - This ties into my first one, you can never have to many stand/blind locations. I'm essentially down to about 2 potential spots and I'm afraid I'm pushing the deer out of the small woods i hunt - Deer sightings go way down after I start hunting in the woods, I guess I'm making to big of an impact on them. - I want to plant more food plots
i have learned that just because you see a deer in range doesnt mean you have to shoot him. i took a spike and i thought it was a doe. i have also learned pay more attition to the land you hunt on because there is bound to be a spot or two that you haven't hunted in the past year or two and the deer are laying there..... moved stands to spots we havent hunted in 3 years seen 8 does and 3 racked bucks. its go time now
That the older I get the more I enjoy this stuff. 35 years of bowhunting and I still get a thrill from just seeing a deer from stand. Oh and that my old man body does not recover from hunting hard like it use to))) Dave
I have learned that although Colorado is an extremely gamey state, holding mule and whitetail deer, elk, moose, black bear, antelope, cougars, it is a very frustrating tag system that they use. I have learned that I do love elk hunting and hope to be able to continue it. I have learned that while working on a ranch that is 87+ thousand acres, when it is outfitted it is a very frustrating thing, expecially when trophy game is plentiful. I have learned that I always will love going back home and hunting whitetails.
