nyslowhand

This membership drive and raffle are obviously over, but... If you support full inclusion of Xbows into the bow season and the removing of some of the equipment restrictions, join NYCC and support their cause. Unfortunately, this full inclusion drive has become more of a political hot potato than a hunting or conservation issue. Anyone that has followed this the past ~3yrs has seen this!!! NYCC needs your support and backing to get this done!!!

Lets call-in Mythbusters to do an experiment with a smoldering pot and see where the smoke disperses at various heights & wind speeds! Bet we'd all be surprised at how concentrated &/or dispersed the smoke would be... Pretty sure this is really effected more by just how much intrusion (human scents) the deer encounter during the year. If they detect human scent, become sort of used to it and don't view it as a threat - your scent while in the stand isn't as big a deal as one might think. On the other hand, if you don't go into your hunting area much, other than to hunt I'd assume the deer would be much more alarmed by your scent...!?! Of course, every deer will react differently, as will does vs bucks or young vs old. Then there's the dumb-a$$ things a mature buck will do when he has one thing on his mind. Aren't some of the highest density of deer populations in suburban areas, parks, golf courses, etc?? What's that say about deer and their avoiding human scent? Another example closer to home for me, are the big orchards. When you have 20-30 apple pickers in there everyday with their scent, by-products, music, tractor traffic, etc. Once the sun goes down, pickers leave, the deer are right into the orchards every night. So where does human scent play into this possible avoidance scenario???

Think I'll name this my "Blind Squirrel Buck". Nothing involved as far as skill, strictly blind luck or the planets were aligned. One of those hunts where I was in the right place at the right time! Been a pathetic season to date as far as sightings. Losing enthusiasm. Undecided as whether to hunt Thursday morning. Jumped in shower, rushed to property, walked into woods ~6:35AM with a lot of light. Wanted to go to furthest stand where I'd been getting more buck photos, but it was so late just sat in closest stand. About 7:20AM as I'm fumbling with my pack getting out grunt tube, bleat can, rattling bag and camo make-up kit - I see a deer at ~60-70yrds in the thicket coming directly towards me. It has a rack ... it's a decent buck ... crap. Even more fumbling to get ready to shoot. The rest is history, 25yrd shot. Have to send out a thank you to a forum member for helping me retrieve this deer, Cabinfever!

.. should have been permanent ink or an exploding bag of cow patties! Bet in the next video, he continues further along the same path, dumb-a$$.

I try not to criticize before I know all 3X sides of every story. The fact is you can be super proficient & confident with your weapon of choice, but there's a couple uncontrollable facts that come into play while hunting. Target panic &/or buck fever, brings out the very stupidest decisions from every hunter, newbie or seasoned. I'll admit to it, even after 50+yrs of deer hunting.

No GPS coordinates...? Not even displayed on your cam photos...?

Might seem wasteful, but once shot (hit or miss) my mechanical BHs go into the practice pile. Even the smallest, undetectable nick, burr, bent blade might effect a mechanical BH's performance, esp when you're depending on it to be perfect. Granted, most mfger's have replacement blades, I just prefer to have a virgin mechanical BH and have a higher level of confidence it'll work as advertised when I need it to!!!! To each, his/her own!!

^^^ Yeah, making the daytime high temp "RealFeel" a mere ~10deg. Definitely been a rollercoaster ride with this year's weather.

If you do the math (trigonometry) for a 15-18' high tree stand shot and at a distance of 20+yrds, pretty insignificant variation to horiz distance. This variation shows up more in distances less than 20yrds for steeper shot angles. This is esp true with slower (fps) bows, heavier arrow s/u and when the shot might be more angular at smaller target areas or kill zones. Biggest deviation for a Xbow is beyond ~40yrds, when the bolt/arrow really begins to drop dramatically. Out of habit I still carry my rangefinder, but rarely use it for other than the 6X mag. Pre-season I hang orange surveyor's tape at ranged 25yrds points around each of my treestands. Also have occasional dbl flags at 40yrds to mark out my max comfort range. More power to you people that can pre-range trees. logs, rocks etc and remember that distance in the heat of the moment! I can't, so I don't rely on my memory when it matters most!

Primarily to continue making ethical kills while struggling with draw wgt & hold time with my compound bow. Only options were to quite bow hunting after ~40yrs or buy a Xbow. Would have gladly spent the $1k+ for a new compound IF it would have helped with the limitations I mentioned above!!!! So to continue my passion for bow hunting, I'll satisfy that with the meager 2 week Xbow season and hope for full inclusion someday. Suppose there might be some convenience factor involved, similiar to me buying a rifle when my county allowed them in the regular season. Liked using my compound during bow season and do still love when I used my ML in the regular season, but they are both collecting dust any more. BTW - My ex doesn't have much influence on what I buy or how I justify it.... LOL. Even if I still had a significant other, I'd merely point out that I have no addiction to fast cars, an extravagant home, gambling, alcohol, drugs, blah, blah. So what's so bad about some more hunting gear, dear? Keeps me happy and out of the house for a few weeks every year.... and all the bills are still being paid!

^^ Bingo. See none of the members against Xbow use &/or full inclusion have answered this question! So have to assume their input is based on personal opinion, anti-Xbow propaganda, preconceived notions &/or selfish motives! Until you've carried a Xbow into the woods and hunted with it several times, JMO but think it's a little hypocritical to criticize anyone that would want to hunt with a Xbow.

Pretty sure what you actually meant and just how this is read are two completely different scenarios...!?! Want to elaborate?

You, my friend are a better man than most to admit your follies! Great sermon on how NOT to be judgemental before you actually look into the mirror. Kudos!! My vote for "Best harvest of 2017"! If someone replays a hunting experience to me and is happy about their harvest, I'm happy for them too! Regardless if it was 60#, 150" or a BB taken on an adjacent property. It should be all about the experience & encounter rather than any bragging rights. One of my top-5 most memorable hunts was also shared on this forum several years ago, the pee buck. Super exciting, adrenaline charge encounter, a perfect shot and he went down twice within sight & 40yrds from my stand, a 6pt buck. On the other end of the spectrum, I've shot nice mature bucks that were leisurely strolling in front of me, oblivious of their surroundings and stood broadside at 20-25yrds. Kind of anti-climatic once I got my hands on them!! JMO, it's about the experience, not the excitement of fondling or bragging about big racks.

BTW - That's a rifle scope suggestion in a Xbow topic.... Don't have any suggestions, I did make sure I got a VG scope when I purchased my Xbow. My s/u was right on with every yardage "dot", 20-50yrds with NO Kentucky windage needed to be applied for yardages +/- the zeroing distance! This is the catch-22 of getting into Xbow hunting with a budget Xbow. First thing the mfger scrimps on to meet a lower MSRP is the optics. Seen a lot of people doing this exact thing; buy a budget Xbow, unhappy with scope, upgrade scope and you end up with a low/mid-range performing Xbow with a good scope. Before you know it you've gotten into the price range with the budget pkg and upgraded scope of a better Xbow & scope. There may be exceptions of course!

Very nice!!

Anyone else think this is an age thing? The older you get, the more appealing the couch looks when hunting conditions are less than ideal. I know I've used up my allotment of TOO excuses this year; TOO warm, TOO windy, TOO rainy, TOO tired, TOO little activity, ...

Live off the system and govt handouts. Of course. I was on the paying into it end for ~45yrs.

Along the same lines... Guy recalling a BB encounter with his brand new Xbow and wondering how he missed a seemingly "chip shot"! Then he comments, "Guess I should have shot it before I used it hunting!" I refrained & didn't comment.... Dumb-a$$, is what I was thinking.

Grasshopper, there are no stupid questions! LOL. I could ask a million about using a long bow, since I have no clue! Different for various mfgers, basically a stiff, short bristle brush or small leaf spring retainer at rear applying pressure to bolt/arrow between the vanes to keep it snug against string and into the V channel in the stock. Again, some variations among different Xbow mfgers... Another FYI - Some mfgers have what's called a dry-fire safety incorporated into this retention device, won't allow trigger to be fired w/o retainer sensing a bolt/arrow being present. This is the curse on Xbows!! With 150-180# of stored energy being released and nowhere for this to be transfer to (thru an arrow/bolt), the Xbow itself absorbs this energy.

Anything mechanical will have a failure, at some point! Mechanical BHs might not get the desired penetration with a questionable shot placement, ie; shoulder blade. Angle of impact might influence a mechanical BH's performance. Some fixed blade BHs do need tuning to the arrow/bolt &/or with certain vane types. Some don't. Most mechanical BHs fly the same as their counterpart field point. Most fixed blade BHs do not. Fixed blade BHs generally have more dependable performance. Mechanical BHs typically produce a bigger wound & blood trail! Okay, so these were your very questions, right? BTW - What advice you'll get from this forum, strictly about NYS Xbow hunting has a max of 2-3yrs experience. Sorry guys, just the truth. There are other forums, specifically about Xbow BH use that have a longer history, larger membership and across numerous states discussing your very question. IE: archerytalk or a couple of specific Xbow forums immediately come to mind.

Congrats, a dandy 1st buck & bow kill! Had this all planned out so hunting wouldn't interfered with the baby, right...!?!

What you're missing is the fact a Xbow is merely a short A-A compound bow with cams, a shortened draw length, cables & a string very similar to a compound bow. They do have 2-3X draw wgts, are mounted horizontally on a stock with a draw locking & trigger feature. JMO, very much like the acceptable draw lock mechanisms! I will admit Xbows also do have the advantage of a scope. Only technology advancements I've seen in Xbows the past 5yrs or so is the reverse draw and limb/cam improvements. Which is getting Xbow performance into the 400fps range with somewhat lower draw wgts. Aren't newer compound bows only 10-15% below that...? Believe I've seen newer compound bows with up to 90-99% let-off. Guessing those aren't technologies you object to..? Money buys the latest technology, but if you're like me you still have at least 3-5yr old archery tackle!?! Understandably with all the marketing of Xbows being bench shot at a 100yrd target, you'd cringe at the thought of using a Xbow during archery season!! I have used a Xbow for a couple years and would never shoot beyond 40yrds, still want that archery style of hunting being up close and personal with what I am pursuing. How do you feel about the bogus TV shows with compound bow shoots out to 65-100yrds? Makes me cringe being a bow hunter for numerous decades! Until you've actually shot a Xbow, carried one into the woods or hunted with one - most sentiments I've heard against them are pure speculation and based on self-centered "ME" opinions attempting to control what weapons neighboring hunters prefer to use &/or what deer they harvest. At least to me, it's not my woods, my season, my way or the highway and especially not my deer (BBs)!! Got a rebuttal, I'm open to hear any factual based conversations!

Very nice buck! Join the club, story of my life - wrong place at the wrong time! This is the only downside of having trail cams near your stands this time of year..!?!

Mother nature.... with her extreme weather conditions.