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Saw 4 big toms and 5 different bucks tonight including this one. I'll post up my evening in the harvest thread.

Well the shot placement was perfect!

I hung a portable for the first time in about 20 years last week. Since I bought a climber, I've had no desire to hunt from a portable since then. But there was a spot that I've been wanting to hunt and I had no choice. So tonight I decided to put a hunt in because the wind was right. But that was it. It was warm and muggy, and I didn't have any expectations for at least another week or 2. I got in just before 4pm. Around 4:30 to my surprise I spotted a 4p. I then gave a short series of light rattles. Not long after that I had a small basket 7pt within 8 yds looking for the other bucks. I also ad 4 big toms move thru as well as a 6pt at 5:30. A little after 6, I gave another light rattle. Just before dark, I spotted 2 bucks in the thicket behind me. One of them was making a rub. As shooting light began to fade, they came out of the thicket. The first buck was a nontypical, which I was very tempted to shoot. His right main beam came straight down over his eye and hung down several inches, but he was still a young deer. At that point I was finally able to make out the other buck behind him. A big 8. He came within 5 yds and I double lunged him. He only went 40 yds. He's not my biggest, but for mid October and 66 degree weather, I'll remember this hunt for a long time.

Last two seasons I was on public land and it gets pressured all to hell. Very tough slogs each season getting on deer. This year I have some private land I'm using. Been out 6 times including today and have seen deer each time. I got on a crazy spot his morning. Deer everywhere. Only 1-2 at a time, but lots of individual sightings. Got this buck at 7:45 and this doe at 8:30. I'm posting this picture of the doe because as soon as the arrow went I knew it was not a good shot. The deer was 18-20 yards out, very clear sight, walking/eating slowly nice broadside/slight quartering away (textbook), but as I took the shot it quartered away hard (I think not quite as much as this arrow seems to hint--it may have swung a bit in the deer by the time it went down). The saving grace is that the arrow was still heading in the right direction. There was a constant, but light trail of blood. This was not a lung shot at all (it would have been had the arrow gone further in), and it was not a heart shot, but the deer was down in 70-80 yards. Massive internal bleeding but I'm not sure exactly how it died. I guess they can still die even if lungs aren't pierced if the diapham (?) is. Or, maybe I hit an artery. I got lucky on this one, when I saw the light blood and clear not a lung shot or heart I thought uh oh. I gotta say I was quite surprised when I walked up on it. And this is a problem: Per typical, I get very little penetration. This arrow only made it a foot in or so. I'm pulling 60 pounds @ 29" @ 315 IBO w/ 410 grain arrows. I've never even made a second hole in a deer (let alone pass through) no matter where I hit them. I switched to rage 2 blades a couple weeks ago and they make a brutal entrance hole (that alone is why I was able to find this deer, as it bled out of the entrance).

I hung a portable for the first time in about 20 years last week. Since I bought a climber, I've had no desire to hunt from a portable since then. But there was a spot that I've been wanting to hunt and I had no choice. So tonight I decided to put a hunt in because the wind was right. But that was it. It was warm and muggy, and I didn't have any expectations for at least another week or 2. I got in just before 4pm. Around 4:30 to my surprise I spotted a 4p. I then gave a short series of light rattles. Not long after that I had a small basket 7pt within 8 yds looking for the other bucks. I also ad 4 big toms move thru as well as a 6pt at 5:30. A little after 6, I gave another light rattle. Just before dark, I spotted 2 bucks in the thicket behind me. One of them was making a rub. As shooting light began to fade, they came out of the thicket. The first buck was a nontypical, which I was very tempted to shoot. His right main beam came straight down over his eye and hung down several inches, but he was still a young deer. At that point I was finally able to make out the other buck behind him. A big 8. He came within 5 yds and I double lunged him. He only went 40 yds. He's not my biggest, but for mid October and 66 degree weather, I'll remember this hunt for a long time.

I just won the STUPID award. Had a solid 140" buck at 10yds quartering to and 3yds dead below me and never released an arrow. I was drawn when he was below me and was very tempted. He took off right after he passed me. In hindsight I probably should have taken the quartering to shot. It was a gift and I knew he was coming. This one will haunt me for a long time I think. I was too cautious on this one for sure. These opportunities don't come along that often. Not sure why I am posting other than to say take your first good shot. Don't wait for the perfect shot.

Beaver this morning and just had two coyotes come in and try to leave. My turkey call turned preditor call did one in. Shot looked perfect but when I get down we will see

Last night just before dark! Had to kick more deer out of field to track her. Knew she didn't go far though. Blood spraying everywhere. Love the grim reapers! Got her at a new spot in Madison and first time there. All processed and sausage to package tomorrow. After hunting . Now I can look for that buck since I got the freezer queen.

I truly hope either Phade or David get him. He's a great buck and still running so who knows. I had my chance. Would love to see him on one of their walls. Apparently this was not the one intended for me. Boy was he majestic. My daughters comment was "well you did the right thing but we need some bacon burgers (her favorite use of venison)". Haha. Last thing I was thinking about.

I have done this before and kicked myself for not taking the shot. In the long run you might get another shot at him! Plus you didnt wound him on a bad shot and been really mad at yourself!!

Only if the meat is bad ...you have to take whole deer to them and they will look at it and replace tag then take deer. I have put down many over the years and let several go...judgement calls on severity of injury and weather conditions..very cold temps less chance 've of infection.

We just had 35mph winds and sideways downpours. I am watching Pittsburgh.

I like to keep in mind that until just a few years ago, today would have been the archery opener. Even then I rarely started hunting hard anywhere until the last week of October. The first 3 weeks of October are a transition time for bucks between summer and the rut. Trying to hunt that transition is usually an exercise in frustration, and spending three weeks doing it can cause very early burnout and a negative attitude.

Compound or recurve? Can't believe you let my first mount of the season walk off like that...lol.

Live from the stand day 4. I just farted and hopefully the deer think it was just a buck grunting with bad morning breath Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

10/14 Our first track today was for a 5 pointer that was shot with a muzzleloader in a cut cornfield. After the shot, the buck ran to the edge of the field and stood a while, then walked off. The hunter found decent, not great, blood where the deer stood. He followed the bloodtrail through some tall grass until it came to a wide creek. At this point he went and got a canoe, crossed the creek and saw some blood, then lost it and called me. He marked it and backed right out. I took Kunox into the corn field to try and locate the hit site, but we were unable to pinpoint it. Kunox did show me blood in the field, then followed it to the creek edge where we took the canoe across. He took us past the hunters point of loss where we would see an occasional tiny spot on the ground. We continued to the neighboring property and a phone call gained us access. After 1/2 a mile, no blood to speak of, and no wound bed, we called it off. On the second track today Kunox did an outstanding job, but I didn't do my part. The hunter reported the deer hunching up when shot with the muzzleloader, a sign of a gutshot. I told him we'd wait 8 hours then go track him. For several reasons (none of them good enough) I called him back and said we'll go after 6 hours. We got there and the hunter had done his part...he had only gone in the woods about 20 or 30 feet and had seen some blood on a leaf, marked it and left. Kunox had a hard time getting a line on this one, but eventually did after a couple restarts. Once he was on it, he was ON it! 100 yards into the track, we jumped the buck and he took off. He wasn't moving the best and it was obvious he was hurt. This is where I made my second biggest mistake of the day. I thought he was injured worse than he was and instead of backing out and giving him more time, I thought we could get close enough for a killing shot. 3 miles later and I realized how wrong I was. We ended up seeing him standing broadside 150-200 yards on the other side of a swamp as we came out of the woods. Tough shot for a muzzleloader that was sighted in for 50 yards.....it was a miss. We walked all the way around the swamp to the field on the other side and after some searching, Kunox once again did his job and showed us blood. We tracked the buck another 400 yards from there, across a road and onto the neighboring property. We went a distance onto that property then pulled the plug. I learned some lessons the hard way on this track and will not forget them.

Got him Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

Grow my honest opinion is that this warm weather has slowed things down. The does are there. The bucks will be too. Give it a few weeks.

You WILL be rewarded for your judgement................hopefully.

Turkeys everywhere this year. More turkeys then deer showing up on camera. One more week and the arrows will be flying their direction. Pretty cool trail cam photos and wanted to share. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Eggs Benedict Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

10/13 I had a call at 7:00 this evening from a hunter who had shot a buck with his crossbow. He said the shot looked good on the entry side, but the exit was low and he saw something hanging out as it ran off. Based on what he told me, I was thinking he caught one lung, although he didn't see any bubbles in the blood. We got on the trail and it was initially easy to follow, but got tougher as we went. Kunox did great, but did need a couple restarts along the way. He eventually took us to a huge swamp and really wanted to go in. We walked the banks and a trail that led to a beaver dam, but never saw any sign. We went back to last blood and he again was pulling to go into the water. There were two boats there that are used for bird hunting and I told the hunter I wanted to go out in one and look around. He was surprised, but we set sail in the canoe. After working a narrow channel in the direction Kunox was showing me, we didn't see anything and turned around and headed to another channel that ran perpendicular with the first one. As we were paddling, the hunter spotted the 4 pointer floating in the water. Kunox didn't see the deer right away, but his nose was in overdrive! He finally saw it and I had real concerns about him jumping out of the canoe onto the deer's back. It turns out the shot was further back and caught the liver on the way through.

Man this loin is gooooood!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

10/11/2017 rained a little bit and he completely snuck up on me. i was in a ground blind and he was less than 10 yds when i finally heard him. truthfully the 1st arrow buried into a 2 inch tree where he was walking across. He was going left to right and i was turning to my right - for me a difficult shot. he did maybe a 3yd circle and just stood and only gave me a neck shot as he was covered by trees.

Not a super exciting story but here goes. A buddy of mine got into traditional archery a year or so ago and converted me from my compound. In turn I talked my hunting partner into going traditional also. My dad had an old recurve that he'd picked up years ago on a trade from a guy who owed him some money but he never had a whole lot of interest in it. It's sat around for well over 20 years that I know of. He gladly allowed me to take it and I got it all set up with a new string, silencers and rest. I had some help from some other trad guys getting shafts tuned to the bow and just started shooting every day since June. And I found shooting the recurve was way more enjoyable than shooting my compound. Fast forward to this morning. I normally don't hunt from a tree, I love being on the ground but I've been busted a few times this season while drawing the bow so I opted to hunt out of a pretty low hang on, only about 10' off the ground. I was late getting to my spot because I was running between my basement, garage and truck trying to find all the stuff to tether myself to the tree during my climb and while in the stand. My hunting partner never complained and just told me to take my time to make sure I had what I needed. When we got to the parking spot I realized I forgot a line to haul my bow up with, luckily he had a roll of twine that I stole several feet of. While walking in he said how cool it would be to shoot a bear, which he says every time. I agreed that it would be awesome but knew odds were slim. I've been fortunate enough to take 3 bears before today, one of which was with a compound but it's all just a matter of luck. And really, how much more luck could I have with bears? At about 8:20 I caught movement just up the hill from me and figured probably another squirrel or something. When I looked I couldn't believe I was watching a bear walk off the ridge towards me. He walked right in to within 15-20 yards as I drew and all my practice went right out the window. I have a pretty practiced shot cycle and I'm sure that wasn't it. I watched the arrow, which looked a little far forward disappear and knew it was a far forward hit but wasn't sure how good. I called my partner and told him what happened and to keep an eye out since it ran his direction. The next minutes were so slow. I wanted to track but knew I should wait. Finally I climbed down and found my arrow. The blood trail was easy to spot within the first couple of feet and I was super excited but I didn't want to count my chickens before they hatch so I didn't txt my dad or anyone until I knew for certain it was dead. I still decided to wait a while longer before taking up the trail which was agonizing. I had to force myself to sit down on a stump and wait. The. I heard a limb snap and my phone started to buzz a few moments later. It was my hunting partner, I figured he'd just shot a deer and it had piled up. He said "I think your bear just rolled down the hill towards me." He told me he had been watching some does when he heard a crash on the hill behind him which spooked the does and turned to watch a black ball roll down the hill and pile up about 50 yards behind his stand in some brush. He told me it looked pretty big. Now I'm about jumping out of my skin wanting to run down there. I got on the blood trail and followed to the top of the hill he'd seen it roll down before circling around and coming across the hill instead of straight down. I called him again before I got to him and asked if the bear was still laying there and he said it had rolled behind some brush but he never saw it leave. When I got close enough he guided me by sight right to where she laid. Now I could finally call my dad and tell him all about it which is one of my favorite parts of hunting. I love sharing my hunts with him even if he's not there. She wasn't the biggest bear in the woods, the pictures are slightly decieving. I couldn't get her hung high enough to get the head off the ground with the scale attached to my hanging post but dressed weight is right around 130 pounds so I'm figuring around 150 live weight. No matter the size, I'm super excited for my first traditional kill. Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

Wifey and I with lee and Tiffany at the Harrisburg sportsman show awhile back

Yep and out of whack spine might mask it. And as you said, timing could be off. He is definitely shedding energy somehow.

Decided to head to my front food plot which is only about 275 yards from my back patio. I have a tripod over looking it. I get there, and just want to peak in and this young one is walking in. I figured i was screwed, but luckily young and dumb. I was able to back off a little and kneel down. Got within 20 yards and i was trying to figure out if it was a button buck or doe fawn. By that time it figured out i didnt belong there and left after a 5 minute stare down.

Core something is not right if you aren't getting broadside pass throughs. Any 60lb compound with 400plus grain arrows should be passing through most of the time. Time to get it to a good Archery shop for a tune. Good news is that you tagged 2 already. Congrats.

Not to brag, but I have 2 mugs:

Sitting on deck and fire whistle goes off and multiple yotes just sounding off out back. [emoji1361] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ima sit and smoke a cigar on the deck, 78 degrees out crazy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You can't shoot one sitting on your couch... he says as he is sitting on his couch watching football. ;-)

As moog said the heat ,plus the bucks are hanging in the corn, think about it - cover and food all in one.

Last years gun doe was a put down due to the severity of her limping..Seriously a drama queen for sure...after I got to her I thought really?I would have let a wound like that pass in cold gun season and opted for a bigger doe. I've allowed crazy big buck pass to shoot injured deer...but DEC gave a new tag.

Actually it has a real red to it strawberry blonde. I actually think they were after the turkeys this morning I heard some big commotion when they flew down.

Toms all around me, won't be like that in 6 days lol! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Got a photos of his track.

Na ya did the right thing quatering to is always iffy with a arrow.. I lost a 10 pt I shot that way. You would feel way worse if you shot one and didnt recover vs not taking a questionable shot. I say good call, you might see him again. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

I will never fault any bow hunter who passes a quatering to shot. Even that close. For what that is worth. Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

It's windy and warm. I kept trying to tell myself to stay in bed and catch up on sleep for for some dang reason I'm here.

The west 'park' side doesn't open for bow till Oct 17th. I've been in on the east side a few times, but mainly just to hang stands. The usual access points have some hunters but I think the warm temps have most waiting. There are a ton of hickory nuts on the ground, but the deer I've seen were on oak mast, which is light. No real studs on park trail cam pics yet, but I'm sure I'll have a few when I check them again in Nov. I'll start hunting more next weekend, even though forecast calls for highs in the mid 70's. Good luck to everyone hunting the park this fall.

If it's bad I'd shoot it for sure, can't stand to see suffering deer. Only fawn I ever shot was a small doe fawn on opening weekend of rifle that had a shot off front leg and back leg. Disgusting to see that poor deer hobbling through the woods. The slob that did it is even more disgusting.

That delicious looking piece of meat is dangerously close to those mushrooms !

I'd call the DEC tell them of the Hunter harassment and see if they'll come out..tell them you tried reasoning with him to no avail. Nothing to lose,he already dislikes you.

I know plenty of folks with that apendage that aren’t what I would consider a man.

First off, congrats to Jmp209 on the great bear. You better have a good story for us with all the particulars........AND photos. Today was my first time in the saddle and it was darn good. Had a dfoe fawn come into view and browsed her way towards me and ended up going to the ridge above me and napping. I'd glass her every few minutes (just cause I could) and lo and behold spotted two more deer in close proximity to her, one also bedded and the other eating acorns or beechnuts. They hung around for better than an hour before a errant east wind "puff" took my lovely smell to them. I started the countdown at 20 and by about 6,5,4........gone! Another fun thing was all squirrels and chipmunks around. I dare say I've never seen so many in my life! At one point around 8:30am two redtail hawks came bombing through the woods and one dove into the leaves not 7-8 yards from me trying to get a chipmunk. He got skunked on that one......hung around for 20-30 seconds wondering WTH happened and then flew off to find his co worker/mate. On the way home I spotted a downrigger rod on the 400, northbound, just past the Transit Rd entrance ramp. I figured what the hell and got off at Union Rd, got back on the 400 going south only to get off at Transit Rd and get back on. The rod & reel were still there and are now in my garage. It's probably a $250-275 package that someone would surely like to get back. I'll post it on Craigslist Lost & Found and see if I can get it back to the owner. I think I'll take a power nap first...................

There’s a few mods and pot stirrers like vjp I haven’t seen in a while either. i wonder who left because of life and who left because we bitch, rehash the same stuff, fight and of course the politics.

Bloodied an arrow from the recurve finally, wish me luck on the recovery Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk