How's your Deer Season going?

[Kodiak]

I finally got mine started up this past Saturday. I got 2 good sized does at about 11am Saturday morning. They will make a nice addition to the meat supply in the freezer for the coming year. I've had some time to hunt when Bow season opened in mid September and then with the muzzleloader too. It's just been so warm that I haven't seen a single deer until this weekend now they are in the freezer

[Yogie]

I'm really slacking this year, been out only twice with my bow and really wasn't into it then. Came home the first evening with a nice 8pt., a friend hunting with me also took a nice 8pt.
By the time we got things in order and I got home and showered it was 1am in the morning....
I remember when all this used to be fun.... what happened.

This Saturday after work I decidied it was just to nice to bow hunt so I sand blasted another 54 blade to paint.
Seems I get in a tree anymore I sit there thinking about other stuff I should be doing. Guess it's time to take a brake or maybe pass things on to Grayson and let him do the hunting from now on.

[Joe Malinowski]

Funny how that happens Yogie, I lost a couple of guys I hunted with over a few years and things change. I just don't get all workrd up like I used to for deer season. Spending a bit of time in the woods but cutting firewood and not hunting. Our shotgun season opens right after Thanksgiving so I will spend a few days out there then. As for the archery take numbers are down up here, my answer is there are not as many hunters.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

almost got one late yesterday. With my truck. Firearms season starts here this weekend.

[Ken (48 Cub)]

We took two little bucks with the muzzle loaders. Rifle season opens this Saturday morning. If it were'nt for hunting with my brother and BIL it would be no fun but I do love just sitting there enjoying nature. My brother kids are starting to go now so that's been interesting. We all have nice double tree stands so we can each take one with us. Be safe.

[Pabst]

My brother harvested a nice 8 point last Sat. however, I have not been able to get out into the woods to much work!

[ricky racer]

I'm really slacking this year, been out only twice with my bow and really wasn't into it then. Came home the first evening with a nice 8pt., a friend hunting with me also took a nice 8pt.
By the time we got things in order and I got home and showered it was 1am in the morning....
I remember when all this used to be fun.... what happened.

This Saturday after work I decidied it was just to nice to bow hunt so I sand blasted another 54 blade to paint.
Seems I get in a tree anymore I sit there thinking about other stuff I should be doing. Guess it's time to take a brake or maybe pass things on to Grayson and let him do the hunting from now on.

Yogie, you and I have talked about this before. I know everyone is different but about 20 years ago I too was not as excited about hunting as I had always been in the past. The thing that drew me to bowhunting was the challenge of getting close and making the shot, which hunting with a bow requires drawing a bow and making the shot while the animal is only yards or feet away, without being detected. When I first started bowhuning in the early '70's, I didn't even know anyone that bowhunted. Everything I learned I learned by trial and error, but it was very exciting.

Over the years my hunting ability improved, equipment improved with the addition of compound bows with let-off, sights, lighted sights and releases, etc. It didn't take much effort to scout out an area and put up a stand that would produce a shot at a buck. Any deer that passed within a 30 yard radius, I just had to line up my front and rear sights and pull the trigger and I had a dead deer. It was pretty easy and the challenge that I had enjoyed earlier was for the most part gone. With it was the satisfaction I used to get from attaining a goal that was difficult to achieve.

In an effort to rekindle that challenge I thought maybe trophy hunting would be the answer. I poured myself into trophy hunting for the next several years and took some good bucks. However, trophy hunting requires a lot more work and it seemed that I had enough work in my life and didn't really need more of it.

One day at the grocery store, I found an issue of Traditional Bowhunter Magazine in the rack and bought it. While reading that magazine I found what I was missing. In my mind, bowhunting using traditional equipment had to be a challenge. That next hunting season I began hunting with an old Bear Recurve that I had purchased many years ago. Later, I bought my first custom made longbow.

Hunting with traditional equipment is definitely a challenge, at least for me. Learning to shoot a stickbow with no sights accurately is no easy task. Bowhunting had to be learned all over again. The set-ups that worked in the past didn't work with traditional equipment. Shot distance was greatly reduced and I found that hunting lower in a treestand work better giving me a better shot angle since my shots were at much shorter distances. Hunting closer and lower meant that I had to set up entirely different that I did with my compound. I had to find areas to set up where the deer would funnel past closer by to afford me a shot and I had to learn how to set up with some cover to hide my figure which was more exposed at a lower height (which isn't easy).

What I guess that I'm trying to say is using traditional equipment has raised the level of satisfaction that I receive from bowhunting and any buck I take. That's something I wasn't feeling when using my compound bow during the last years using it. As I said, everyone is different and what has breathed new life into my bowhunting may not work for you but it is something to think about. I work with guys that hunt with compound and even crossbows but when I get a decent buck with my longbow or recurve ( I switched to a recurve 3 years ago) they can't believe it. They struggle getting a buck with their equipment and seem to marvel that I am able to bag a buck with my bow. Makes me feel kind of good. I've worked with a lot of guys that bowhunt but have never worked with anyone that uses a stickbow. My feeling is that placing restrictions on my equipment takes me to another level and as long as I feel challenged, I think I'll have the drive to keep hunting.

I know that you are a good hunter and you always seem to fill your tags quickly, heck, you bagged a nice 8pt your first time out hunting this year. I can't help but think that you are where I was in the above story. If I were to just go out to the woods, whack a deer and have to haul it in clean it, cut it up and wrap it, I'd be thinking about how much work it is too and I might be questioning if I really needed extra work (you know I'm really kind of lazy). If it didn't take much more effort to bring in a deer than it takes to go to the grocery store to buy a freezer full of meat, I might think twice about waking up early and sitting in the cold to fill my freezer. What drives me the the challenge that I face in trying to bag a nice buck and the restrictions I put on my equipment increased that challenge. I hate to see you loose your hunting desire because if you don't have that desire, Grayson probably won't either. Your love of Cubs has rubbed off on him but my guess is if you didn't have that love, he wouldn't be to interested in Cubs either.

Rick

[ricky racer]

I've been seeing quite a few bucks this year, unlike last year. I've missed some opportunities on a few nice ones but connected with a decent 8 pt. today.



It gave me a chance to use my Cub to carry the buck out of the woods.



In Michigan we get 2 buck tags. One is restricted ( must have 4 points on one side) and one non-restricted where we can shoot any deer buck or doe. Guess I'll run to town and get another tag this afternoon.

[Pabst]

Ricky,
Nice buck congrats!

[tomcat]

opening day in arkansas. 8 year granddaughter and me got a nice fat doe. now i can get serious about big boy. tomcat

[Yogie]

Sorry for the late reply Rick ( stick bow guy ), I'd read your posting earlier in the week but hadn't time to answer just yet.
Your so right about everything just as you said last year... So right that I've let 3 bucks walk this week while doing the trophy hunter thing. and that trophy hunting is definitely not my thing.
Like you said after so many years and 100 plus harvests it's become mechanical and there's a 60 yard circumference that anything can step in and it's all over.
My older brother starts each season with a recurve and then goes to compound once the rutting starts so I'll hang out with him a little next practice season and see what this stick bowing is all about.

Thanks again so much Rick, you older guys are so dang smart....

Congrats on a wonderful harvest, I'd call that a real wall hanger, and taken with a stick bow. Those guys at work will be as thrilled for you as I am

[Goraidh (Jeff)]

Nice job, Ricky. Another traditional archer (I shoot a 60# longbow). Skunked so far this year, but I know one is right over that next bluff. Good luck, everyone.

[Harold R]

My son Andy and his team mate Blake bagged this nice horse head buck this evening. They've been stalking this buck since mid Sept. vowing to take him with a bow. They alternate each hunt, one guy high in a perch above the other filming the hunt. Unfortunately it was Andy's turn to film, but it was a victory for the boys regardless. To me, the best part was a couple of young men, coming up with a plan, sticking to it for a long as it took to get the desired results. Blake posing with the nice buck....hope I get a backstrap from this endeavor.



Cameraman (on the wrong day.. )

[Don McCombs]

Let us know where the video is posted.

[Harold R]

It will be posted here when they get done editing. They're still learning....
http://www.collegebowhunters.com/index.html