Bow Hunters

It is almost time to have to decide between bow stand sits and early topwater bite.

I will fish this year.
Have not filled my feeder yet.
It is right after preemergent on my list of things to do.

I only archery hunt mornings during the rut around the midwest, the bucks are usually bedded or right near their beds before first light early in the season.

I too am in no hurry this year. Retired this deer season so I can hunt whenever it’s perfect to hunt. No more sweating and swatting mosquitoes for me.
That and we get extra doe days this year so should be good.

After the fishing on Ray Bob today I'm ready to light my thermocell and climb up in a tree.

I had my best day since April on RR Yesterday. Up top at daylight was on good. About 3:30 the main lake was brutal with that S wind getting back to IDB ramp.

It has been a struggle for me this year more than most to get all the things that need to be done in time to let it mellow awhile before season.

When does it start?

Been thinking about getting a bow

And I don’t care what anybody says, I can figure it out

Give me 2 hours and I can hit a deer at 30 yards

It ain’t that hard

Hitting it in the a$$ don't count.

Crossbow?

We might not hunt till November if it doesn’t cool down. Hate stinkin up stands sweating up a storm.

Yep, and the big'uns don't start showing up till the rut at my place. Just a bunch of 3 and 4 year olds till then.

Can't wait, but I figure I'll start hunting late and do more fishing than hunting as usual.

I put up a stand and a feeder yesterday. havent bow hunted in five or six years but ive
been practicing around the place a little

Do you deer hunt with that recurve?

Nice shot

Yes sir, that is my longbow.. Ive been shooting traditional since i was a kid...its a blast!

Barebows are sweet! I was planning on hunting with a recurve this season but I didnt practice near enough.

I shot my bow today and will be in the stand Saturday morning. Taking my 6 year old daughter for the first time so I’m more excited than normal.

Never understood why bowhunters get a special season.

It's an old tradition started back in the 60's(or earlier). Bowhunters proposed the idea to various DNRs, people running the DNRs went along with the idea(for whatever reason), and thus a "bow only" season/tradition was born.

I hope it cools down, I'll say home until it cools off. I put out two new feeders yesterday, one in a bow stand area and it was bad hot. Not seeing anything on my trail cams other than pigs. I may only bow hunt the last two or three days of bow season before rifle season starts.

thanks, Billy

It might. Hitting a deer in the [censored] can be a killing shot. I shot one right up the pooper once running away from me. Lease buddy shot a nice one last year in the butt. It was the only shot he had. Slight difference between the knock down power of a 300 mag and an arrow.

Because we are that much more badazz.

No honestly I believe it is needed. A lot more goes into bowhunting than rifle hunting a lot of times. You can shoot a deer at 800 or more yards if you want to with the right rifles. I don't care what kind of bow you have, 99% of people shouldn't shoot past 50 yards. Sure there are stories of guys hitting deer or elk at 100-150 yards but the average person shouldn't go out past 40-50. If a deer is 100 yards out you have no chance with a bow. If he is 100 yards out and you are holding a rifle it's a chip shot.

The average bowhunter shouldn't shoot past 30yds at most. I use to love bowhunting but injuries to shoulder and elbows have taken me out. I don't trust myself on holding steady long enough anymore

^^^^ This

I am uncomfortable at 30 yards but will take the shot if everything is just right. 25 yards from a tree stand is a test of nerves.

My 2018 Christmas Eve kill.

I've been on a bow only lease for 7 years now. I won't shoot a Texas whitetail past 30yards. Any further and they tend to move or jump the string. It is nice having a month that it doesn't sound like WW3 going on even if it is a little warm.

The peace and quiet is nice. October can be stormy. I remember listening to the radio because of the super cells. Nothing compares to trying to pull back on whitetail at 25 yards. When I bow hunted and rifle hunted on same lease the best stories were during bow season. We had deer jump, hit the dirt, and one that spun around and caught an arrow in the back of the head.

I hope everyone had a great opening day. Me and my daughter climbed in a tree stand this morning and saw a lot of deer. I was going to take a doe but a big axis has been coming in so I waited for him. No luck.

This afternoon I sat a different stand and my daughter sat in a box blind to watch with her cousins. She really wanted me to shoot something so a 6 point came in right at dark. I missed lol. Not sure what happened but I shot low. Clean miss.

Oh well it was a great day and we saw a ton of deer. Hope for some good luck in the morning. How’d everyone else do?

I agree with 30 yds for most, i was fortunate a few years ago to smoke a net 200in typical in Kansas at 48yds. Between the wind and me shakin like a virgin on prom night I still can’t believe I made that shot, guess the good lord above just made sure it was my day!

and Why is shooting fish with a bow bad?

^^^^It's not. Leaving the remains on a boat ramp, shoreline, or places that aren't respectful to the fish or people is what's bad.

Where do the fish prefer their remains to be?

In a gut pile for a coyote hunt

so he shot to wound the deer?

Im going to voice a couple opinions on some comments I read in this thread...

Shooting them in the A$$...The "ham shot" is a very deadly shot and has a very high percentage of recovery using archery equipment.

Deer jumping the string at 30+ yards...Deer are capable and just as likely or more likely to jump a string at 20 yards as they are at 45 yards.

Speaking of hinting anyone know how to stop mice or possibles a flying squirrel from eatin my horns I have 6-8 skull mounts on my covered patio. Is there something i could spray on my horns to stop this. Haven't tried any rat bait other than the sticky traps baited with peanut butter.
Thanks
Jeff

No,it's not. Your post implies it's a good idea to aim for the hindquarters. When in fact it's a bad, dumbazz idea. Sure you might "get lucky" and clip the femoral artery but the odds of that happening are not good.

How many big game animals have you killed with archery gear?

Does all your info come from "Field & Stream" magazines?

6 with a bow if memory serves. About 35 with bow and rifle combined. Rifle hunting deer since 1974 and bow hunting since 1986. How about yourself?

I’ve been fortunate enough to have gone to many different places all over the world to hunt with either rifle or bow and have killed two booner whitetails with a bow and in all my travels and people I’ve hunted with I have never heard of anyone anywhere in the world ever say to intentionally shoot a deer in the a$$. Guess you learn something new everyday whether is good, bad or just plain crazy.

LOL I never said to aim for the A$$, but it has a very high percentage of recovery rate.

I think my "research" started after my nephew accidentally ham shot a deer and people were flaming away saying the same old "needle in a haystack", "femoral artery" , how lucky he was stuff, but then a strange thing happened where people started talking about how many they have ham shot over the years and how they almost always recovered them all. Some of these guys are legit hunters with hundreds of kills under their belts, one has (at the time) the most number of animals entered into the P&Y books and I believe he recovered every animal he accidentally ham shot. Hell, even Fred Bear said he never failed to recover an animal shot in he ham area. I then started a poll on Archery Talk and it was in the +90% recovery rate on ham shot deer for years, I think the haters showed up and down voted it some but it was still in the 88% range and when you factor in that people claim to shoot them perfect and not recover them, thats a damn good number.

Oh yeah, 50+/- kills and most of those coming off of public land and all with archery gear. No booners yet, but hopefully I get a chance or two in the future.

Claypool?

You said it's a "very deadly shot" which sounds like the same thing as advocating the shot. And I'm sorry but I gotta call BS on that 90% recovery rate on deer shot in the butt.Seems way too high to me.That's just anecdotal stats anyway. And like yourself I also only hunt public land.In east Texas. Never been on a lease in my life. Come on down to public land in east Texas and kill 50+ deer with that bow.

Well said Chance!!!

Poker game deer camp banter. I'm getting the fever , come on cold front.

Things arent always as they seem...FYI I would do just as good in E Texas as I do everywhere.

Chuck Adams was another great archery hunter that actually said he would take a hamshot if I remember correctly.

Free your mind, people.

Bunch of [censored] shooting mo fos in here. Yes it’s lethal but chicken s if not accidental. Deer hit through the lungs never knows what hit em. If hit in hams they either have a short agonizing death or a long one when coyotes get em.

guided a lot of archery/black powder hunters in the weiminuche wilderness/sw colorado and had one of my hunters intentionally shot one in the butt I would consider it a poor decision. better to let an animal walk and try another day than to purposefully take a shot that has a high chance of a non mortal wound. second would be that doing that in the mts. can lead to a very long blood trailing or lost animal due to some of the terrain.

accidental is one thing, doing it on purpose is not ethical imo.

Dorsal aorta makes for an impressive blood trail.
Hunted from a 25’ tree stand once. Made for tough shot angles. Hit a big 8 back along the spine and exited out between the front shoulders. He exploded. Blood trail was 3’ wide for 60 yds.

Paint them with capsaicin sauce so it blisters their mouth and maybe they will leave them alone unless they develop as taste for hot sauce, lol.

Not being a deer hunter let me ask, wouldn't shooting one in the rear ruin a lot of the good meat ?

I would assume so, I’m not that bad of a shot nor that dumb to find out. If you hit one in the shoulders there usually not much left, especially with a rifle.

Early top water bite!

nope he shot to kill it. The dude knows what he is doing. He is is short one sheep for a slam and has hunted all over NA. I shot a doe right up the hole running away from me. There was no noticeable entry hole. It dropped in it tracks.

Hitting it in the a$$ don't count.[/quote]
It might. Hitting a deer in the [censored] can be a killing shot. I shot one right up the pooper once running away from me. Lease buddy shot a nice one last year in the butt. It was the only shot he had. Slight difference between the knock down power of a 300 mag and an arrow.
[/quote]

so he shot to wound the deer? [/quote]
nope he shot to kill it. The dude knows what he is doing. He is is short one sheep for a slam and has hunted all over NA. I shot a doe right up the hole running away from me. There was no noticeable entry hole. It dropped in it tracks.[/quote]

WOW, how did you time that shot? I can't wrap my head around trying to see my pin on a doe's azz that is moving up and down like a bobble head while running away. I'm being totally serious. How does one time that much up and down movement with a bow?

I'm pretty sure the pooper shot was with a rifle,not a bow.

My first deer was a “Texas heart shot” after a long plane ride. Lesson learned. Dead within 60yds. Not something I strive for though.

If a deer doesn’t give me a good look so that I can get a chest shot or a broadside heart/lung/liver shot I’m not gonna take it. Too much respect for the animal to do something like the “Texas heart shot”.

. I agree, I also can’t imagine being so hard up for meat that I would be shooting running does in the bung hole.

I am right there with you. But honestly I am not that mad at them anymore. My daughter usually fills the freezer for us and I get more joy watching her hunt and succeed.