skyhunter

I started bowhunting in 1992 and am now on my 11th bow. 1) Oneida Eagle 2) Martin Lynx 3) Oregon 4) Mountaineer (1st 80 % letoff bow) 5) Darton Executive 3D (1998) 6) Darton Maverick (1999) 7) Mathews Ultra II (2001) 8 ) Diamond Machete (2004) 9) Bowtech Allegiance (2005) 10) Bowtech Allegiance (2007) 11) Bowtech Invasion (2011) The Mountaineer was my first really good bow as the technology had moved to "fast flight" strings replacing steel cables and teardrops. Mountaineer also introduced 80 % letoff to the market which at first was not widely accepted but has been a standard ever since. The Dartons were really good bows and I liked the Mathews as well; all had 80 % letoff, but I tried Bowtech in 2005 and have stayed right there. Today the Bowtech Invasion offers speed (343 IBO) and shootability (7" brace height) in one very nice package that really holds steady on target.

Similar to hitting a stand location repeatedly animals do notice your presence. this year with all the rain I had to go out to water locations more than 2X more than I would like to in order to keep the units from going under. Not surprising that I noticed a severe drop off in the creek activity around my cams as a result of the constant coming and going. Deer spots that were hot in spring and early summer also tailed off with both of my largest target bucks not showing themselves again on camera after June. A far as affecting the movement and patterns of the local deer herd, yes defintely. A human that visits the woods on a routine basis and who also places units out there that the animals get direct feedback from will without a doubt affect their behavior to a large extent. But the main question is how it affects their behavior. Some will tolerate these sites especially if a treat is being offered, while other animals learn not to like them.

yep, wraparound and very symetrical. let's hope he makes it through to gun.

excellent

I run several sets with more than one unit aiming at the same backround and yes they all come back with different results. One set was a commercial Bushnell Trophy cam running against a Covert CA3.0 with both cams set to take 3 shot bursts at the same 10 second interval. For that time period the Bushnell returned over 300 pictures while the Covert didn't get to 200. A doe was eating some mushrooms in 2 Trophy cam pics while the CA3.0 missed it entirely. Also have set homebrews together with the Panasonic FX48 grabbing more than 2X what the Sony S600 gets. I also have run a Trophy cam against a homebrew P41 with the TCam getting 3X more pics but the homebrew coming in with much higher quality.

first with a bow is a trophy in my book. Well done!

I would agree that gunshots often heard around sunrise and sunset are suspicious and unfortunately we all know what some of them are.

nice!

from a Trophy cam:

very nice. he seemed to notice the camera running and had had enough of that.

not so big on scents ( most are old and spoiled) but I will grunt and rattle whenever I feel like it. deer are very curious animals and don't look much at a calendar.

Hunted surise to sunset taking a break from the climber for 3 hours miday while hunting a natural ground blind. Had 6 different sightngs for the day but only one small buck among those. Weather wasn't that bad here in the east as wind was gusty at times but no rain.

got these last week from a Bushnell Trophy cam and a homebrew Panasonic .

yep, he's got something big in his throat. nice whiteflash pictures.

this type of thinking makes little sense.

early on in the season? pass. If I was still bow hunting for a buck in December then I would be tempted.

One of the best performers in the noise catagory is the Matthews Z7 which comes in at 83.1 decibles. That is very lound. Kinda like the volume you have to turn your TV set up to to hear it when everybody in the room is talking and won't shut up. There are no quiet compound bows; that high level of stored energy has to go somewhere. Try setting up your digital camera next to you and run it in video mode and then take a few shots. Now play it back on your computer and tell me just how quiet that loud noise of the bow going off really is. The guy that first called it string jumping sure got it all wrong; should have called it string droping. Yes, a faster bow can close the gap between arrow and animal reaction, but you need to aquire targets that are more relaxed and not reacting like African game at a water hole. Good luck!

good stuff. I get lots of Yetis in Middletown.

While there are bows that will get an arrow to it's target faster than others, contrary to what marketers of "silencing" products want you to believe, there is no such thing as a quiet bow. You have to judge the likelyhood of a deer reacting to the sound of the bow going off. Even the most modern bows throw out a very high decible level when they release their stored energy so forget about believing in quiet bows; there aren't any. Like others have said aim lower at alert animals. I do the same with a very fast bow. Just when and how much an animal will drop down can never be known and that is what makes this game very difficult and rewarding. good luck!

great action shot

I got these from a Bushnell trophy cam. The lockbox and lockbox adjustable pivoting mount makes it easy to aim the unit precisely where you like it and results in better pictures.I got a good deal on all from Rick at CAMO online. (see 1st post) http://shop.camonlinestore.com/

got these the last few weeks after using a new mount that adjusts the level and aim of the lockbox to where you can aim the unit exactly where you want to. got the mount from Rick at "CAMO" (concealed action minicams online). He has some great deals over there and has fixed me up with my trophy cam lock boxes and mounts. Check it out.

great stuff Rick.

great stuff

got this from a P41 homebrew on the 27th :