Pointer

When i hunted them alot it was generally a single shot 20 gauge early and a marlin bolt action .22 once the leaves were down. I hope to get out this year

Put up a ladder stand on Sunday and also set a ground blind near a throw and grow plot. Did some shooting from the stand and will need to clear some more shooting lanes. Im thinking it will be a later season spot...mid November..generally alot of scrapes around the area. The ground blind is the opening day spot. Been shooting the recurve a bit and now will tune up the broadheads.

Interesting stuff

I generally sit one spot for 3-4 hours and then if there is no action i still hunt to another spot for the afternoon. I lose myself in thought usually...enjoy my surroundings...i love the autumn woods

I will use my Robertson takedown this season...55@30" with a 500 grain goldtip and a 2 bladed Magnus Stinger

I guess we all learn many lessons don't we?...I learned one yesterday as well...if you have a good opportunity, make it work instead of trying to turn it into the prfect opportunity... I'm in my blind and after about 30 minutes I can see a deer coming off the hill on the trail I'm hunting. I had made a mock scrape and placed some scent wicks around it so any approaching buck would have a reason to stop and investigate while standing in my shooting lane. After he gets within 50 yards or so I can see sunlight reflecting off of antler tips...a nice respectable 6 point... The only problem is that he's not really on the trail but seems to be just above it and walking parallel to it on the upwind side of the mock scrape and scent wicks. I reason that this will cause him to keep walking since he won't get the scent so i decide I will grunt and stop him in the shooting lane. Mind you he's walking at a nice easy pace in no hurry to get anywhere. I shoot a recurve and prefer a stationary target when I can find one but I can shoot a walking deer at under 20 yards with little difficulty. Still....I prefer them to stand still so I grunt when he hits the lane....3 times!...he never broke stride...like he was deaf or something. After the third grunt he's getting near the limit of my range so i decide to try for him....As soon as I got to about half draw his head whipped around and he had me instantly...we played that stare and head-bob game for a few minutes before he walked off while constantly checking for movement from me. When he got to about 50 yards ai hit the bleat can...4 times...and he never reacted..just moseyed off down the hill... I tell you what fellas...I was kicking myself all day..I should have shot as soon as he hit the lane..he was about 18 yards and totally relaxed and moving nice and easy with a steady gait...what a wasted opportunity...It's not every day you get a chance at a 6point on crowded public land like that... Never again will I take a good setup and try to make it perfect...

I've never baited but one has to wonder what the real difference is between that and laying out a scent trail and mock scrapes and such.. Years ago one of my favorite spots was in an apple orchard...if you could call it that...it had 4 trees that were planted just for the purpose of bringing deer into this small field. The trees were mature...had to be many years old...so at what point does it stop being baiting and start being just a hunter sitting over some apple trees that had been planted by a guy who is long since dead on land now owned by the state?...

None, I like a recurve better...my old compound has 65%

Hope not...I'm always sitting half an hour before I can see..lol...I love to watch the woods come alive

It's so hard to get a chance at a really nice buck...especially because I have so little time to hunt. Just a day here and there really..Last season my brother finally got back into it...I was psyched to have my old hunting partner back!!..to keep him encouraged I put him in my best blind which is along a well-used trail that has been carrying hot scrapes for several years now. Killed my last buck there with my recurve a couple of years prior and have had sightings of several others that i couldn;t get a shot off at...Well dont you know that the 8 pointer of a lifetime hits one of the scrapes right in front of him at about 15 yds...this is the kind of deer that lower NY just doesn't get very often...Well my brother missed by more than a foot and buried the broadhead into a tree...& didn;t see another deer for the rest of the season..This is a guy who shoots instinctively with a recurve as well as anyone I've ever known...he can not practice for 6 weeks then pick up the bow and shoot a group on a pieplate at 25 yds...no problem..He's just one of those people who's gifted with excellent hand-eye coordination... Did he choke?...I guess so...I just know it was a bummer to blow your only chance for the season..

Well Done!

As much as I can...its not bad for now but when the clocks roll back it gets more difficult because its dark when I get home. I like to shoot 15-20 arrows maybe 3-4 times per week during the season.. I like to have a small block target in the truck that i can set out where I park. I put it out about 15yds in the illumination of the headlights and take a few shots. It makes a big difference having those warm-up shots.

Good Deal

Magnificent!!! Congratulations to him..

Dunno...I shoot a recurve and I can;t pick a spot on a target at anything past half that so it's out of the question for me. I've seen some compound guys group at 60yds but that's on a target that's perfectly still. A deer could take a half a step at that distance and what was a good solid lung hit becomes a rump hit and you are blood trailing for 2 days...I'd stay away if i were you..

In a steady rain...not with the bow...its a bummer too, I was off yesterday, got up at 4 to check the weather and it was a steady rain..no hunting yesterday...

I only hunt on public land these days so I'm used to sharing the woods...bird hunters, squirrel hunters...you name it. I don't mind. I am always reluctant though when I go out with the .22 for squirrels when I see a car by the side of hte road that may belong to a bowhunter. I hate ruining someone's day that way.

Ran into one last season on the ground...he was running full out..from what I don't know..I always have bear spray with me. Spoke to an officer from the DEC and he told me that the are I was in (Sterling Forest ) is crawling with them. Said he's in Tuxedo park 3 nights a week pulling bears out of people's garbage cans.

Ground exclusively for me...can't beat the rush of having them close at eye level...also a pain in the neck to put up a stand and take it down everyday