I am having a really tough year so I wanted to get a tally on everyone else's season, if just to get my spirits up if anything. I had a cautious doe duck on my shot which put my arrow too high so I hit the shoulder. I almost knew in the back of my mind I shouldn't have shot since I knew she was on edge, but I did anyway. Luckily there wasn't much blood and I think she survived. My other mishap was I somehow mistakenly put a broadhead on a practice arrow that was splintered by another practice arrow back near the nock and when I shot at the biggest buck we have showing up on my 9 acres the arrow shattered as soon as I shot. I've never shot a deer any later than this with a bow but I'm hoping there's a first for everything...
It's been a tough year for me as well but I am seeing more deer than I did last year. Passed on a few deer so far and missed a doe. I have high hopes for late season.
Started off strong, took a doe within the first hour I hunted this year. The next sit I had deer all over me....from there out it dropped off big time. Even on my trip up your way I wasn't seeing the action that I was expecting and had myself worked up for. Even my "honey hole" here has dried up. I've got 1-2 more sits with the bow this year....hoping for the best.
it has been a very big learning year for me. i have invested myself into bowhunt more this year than years past since we are in a new area. we put a decent amount of time in this off season and it should have piad off... i took what i though was a good broadside shot at 25 on an 8 that wud be the biggest deer ive taken. i was able to watch it for 200 yards walking down a path between two very very thick cutovers. he worked 6 or 7 scrapes and it was awesome to watch. when he got to 25 i stopped him, waited for him to turn ahis head away and released... as i released u turned to me and stepped forward. we checked just a bit of hair and few drops of blood, never found arrow. i have felt horrible about this since it happened. even more so cuz i thought i was taken a good shot, had him at 30 but he was facing me and didnt want to chance a bad shot on him. he went into cutover that is only 5-8 years old im guessing... so thick u cant walk through it.. we lookded for hours and have been back two weekends to look for him. as i said its been a slower season, but a learning season. i need to go deeper and think outside of the box as we dont have a ton of food sources in the areas, but lots of water and bedding areas. that mistake i made on the shot will not happen again. have seen a decent amount of deer in a field i hunt, but nothin in range, which is how i am use to hunting, not in the wooded areas.
All but about 2 minutes of this season has been a disappointment, but those 2 minutes make up for it. I have only seen one mature shooter buck on the hoof all season long. That's about 25 sits. Tons of doe and lots of little bucks 1 1/2 bucks. That 2 minutes that turned my season around and makes none of that matter. I killed the biggest buck I had on camera all year, so the season itself has been trying, but the end results have been fantastic.
My season has been a virtual carbon copy of last season, with the exception of one hour. Last year, I harvested a very nice, big 9 pointer on November 7th, at 8:00 a.m. This year, I harvested another very nice, but not as large, 9 pointer at just before 7:00 a.m. on November 7th. I am beyond happy with both deer. I didn't fill my doe tag last season, mostly because I didn't see a good mature doe I wanted to take. This year will be the same. I will be back out after this weekends gun season, and if I see a good mature doe, I'll try to fill my doe tag. If not.......that's ok too. I have nothing to gripe about, last year or this.
I will say that I have seen a lot of deer and some action, but none worth shooting. I've only seen the one shooter (mentioned above) in a total of about 25 sits and it was really early in the season when bucks were still cruising together and the rut wasn't even close. The weather has been so up and down and I am just hoping that the rut still needs to peak before I start seeing the big boys chase.
Way better then last year with the drought we had. I have seen 3 times as many deer then I did all last season and I still have over a month to go.
How bout a not so great with a crappy late season outlook? I can only stay optimistic about late season.
It's my first full season bowhunting, so I can't compare it to much. That said, I've learned so much and shot two deer, a mature doe with my recurve, and a year and half buck I couldn't see the spikes on, still an antlerless tag, with my new rogue. But probably the coolest thing was being in a stand for two mornings in early November with a hot doe with a limp bedding nearby! In those few hours I saw so much deer activity and behavior I had never seen in person before, not to mention big shooter bucks I didn't know existed in the area. Overall the action has been spotty, but it's been enough to make me a bowhunter for life! Luckily, due to an over population of deer on my small island, I'll be able to hunt through the second week of February this year.
Lots of deer coming through but not many shooters this year yet. Only seen 2 in stand one I shot and the other I didnt get a shot off
My best season so far. All the work in the "off season" really does pay off. The scouting, camera checking, MR mineral stations, stand hanging, door knocking etc. knowing it could be my last full season in MD for several years I haven't held anything back. Some pics
Better than previous seasons.. 4th year, finally got my first kill. It was a doe on the first day, then some close oppurtunities in the middle of the season but nothing. Kind of ended bad though, blew a chance at my first buck because I wasn't in great cover. But it was my first ever shooter buck within bow range and then had another shooter just out of range so it was very good. Everything Ive learned is finally coming together.
Doesn't everyone have tough years from time to time? We have good years, we have not-so-good years. They all even out over time.
A bit up & down. Preseason showed lots of promise, then the first part when the season came in was terribly slow. The rut was sporadic. I had a couple intense encounters with a huge buck that were exciting. I have some meat in the freezer, but soon it'll be gun season and probably won't pick up the bow again after this coming week.
i voted "better than previous year" only because this is my first year bow hunting and so far I've taken one with my bow so I'm pretty happy!
With three deer down I had to say better than previous years. But this season has been odd. Deer sightings were way down and activity was downright slow. Very off year, but was fortunate taking what I have. I have one more archery permit to fill, hope to be back in a tree on or around thanksgiving.
Crappy. Passed on a 115ish to 120 10 point 6 different times now. I'm thinking he's a 2 year old. Other then him the target buck I was after got shot the 1st day of the gun season. Passed on one other 2 year old 8 point. 12 bucks were shot in the section where the land I hunt resides in during the gun season. Could easily be more as these are just the ones I know of. Most of the bucks shot besides 2 of them were 1.5 year olds. Sucks!
I killed two does and an average buck. I've had a unique family experience this year and have had to juggle a lot. I've enjoyed myself in the woods this year even though most of the time it was not exciting. The anticipation was there and I am always optimistic, yet the woods just weren't too exciting this year. I may have averaged seeing one deer every 10 hours on stand. That all being said, I am very happy to be in good health and to be hunting. What more could I ask for?
