nybuckboy

This morning I shot at a small 6 but hit a branch and the arrow deflected. Missed him completely and never found the arrow. I did walk out where he was standing in the snow and no sign of any blood. Heard another buck tending grunting but could never see him and then almost got run over by 3 does on the way out. Came home and watched some football and about 3:15 headed back out to land across the road from my house. At about 3:45, a deer was on it’s way toward my stand. The stand is located on a field edge with a drop off behind me so the deer generally walk along the edge. I had made up my mind to take it regardless of its sex. When it got close I see it’s a small crotch horn and he veered farther away in to the goldenrod field and evidently he was farther out than I realized, as I shot under him. Lost another arrow. I got back in the stand and not 10 minutes later I see 3 deer running around the goldenrod about 200 yards away. I could see in the bino’s that it was a decent buck chasing 2 does. I sat there for a few minutes and then asked myself this…” what’s the chances the does lead this buck 200 yards and inside 30 yards of my stand?” I decided slim to none. I decided to try and sneak up on him. There is a mowed trail along the field edge. I would walk it as quickly as I could and see if I can approach him downwind. As I moved along I knew about where he was but as I got closer, a doe saw me. I figured I was busted but waited for her to get out of my sight. I walked a bit farther and saw another deer. I thought it was the other doe. I put the bino’s up and it was the buck who must have decided to move closer to the doe. At this point I was about 70 yards and undetected by the buck. I moved closer to him and then he saw me. I grunted at him once and then again but he didn’t move. I snort wheezed and still didn’t move. I think he thought I was the other doe. With the sun just down and the way the light was I was convinced he thought I was a deer. I figured I was 40 yards from him crouching down. He was pretty much broadside. I hooked my release and slowly stood up and drew my bow. I settled the pin high and let the arrow go. I heard the whack sound as the arrow hit. He blew and bounded off. With darkness coming I decided to see if I could find blood. About 20 yards past the impact point I picked up some blood in the yellow swale grass. I couldn’t find any more blood so I decided to walk directly to the area where I last saw him standing. About 25 yards from there I walked up on him with the arrow sticking out of him. I nocked another and finished him off. The deer I saw standing was the other doe. When I gutted him out at my home under some good light I realized I pierced his heart and broke his opposite shoulder. Yes, broke his shoulder. Gotta love those G5 Montecs. I am happy to say this was an amazing end to this bow season cause overall until today it was uneventful. What and ending. Here is a pic.

Read my post "2 misses and finally". This was how my season ended.

To recap what all are saying... especially the fact that we have to consider ourselves lucky to be able to get out and hunt... particularly us older guys. That being said, to me what constitutes a good season, is seeing some good bucks and knowing they are around. Shot opportunities are the icing on the cake. Not seeing them preseason (Aug & Sept) and thus far during the season is what makes me disappointed. To be out in the woods and seeing natures acrobatic gymnasts (red squirrels), to hear the turkeys gobble at first light, to hear the birds all come awake in the morn and the yotes howling at nightfall is what it's all about but dammit I'd just like to see a shooter buck to "be still my beating heart".

Overall, thus far, would you say this has been an good bow season as far seeing good bucks and opportunities. For me... it has been poor and I've hunted alot. Saw some small bucks and one decent 6 pt early on and then it slowly tapered off that last 2 days I've nothing... not even a tail. I probably will hunt both Sat and Sun and that will be it. Gonna spend some time on another tract of land.

I did not see a single deer and I tried several stands. Didn't even see one in the distance. I spoke with another hunter with vast more experience than I who siad that with the full moon... the deer are running all night and warm weather they bed all day. He said that any day now things will change though. The doe are being chased but they are not ready to stand for breeding and that is when the big mature will be up and moving about even during the day.

Have been disappointed with what I been seeing thus far this season. Hoping an all day sit proves fruitful and the big boy comes along.

My son and I both use the 100 gr. G5 Montecs. Always get pass throughs. My son just killed his first buck almost 2 weeks ago. 15 yds, caught the liver and back of the left lung, exiting through the rib. Blood sprayed out both sides and he went 50 yds... wobbled back and forth then reared up and was dead. The blood trail was amazing. I might add that both my son and I shoot 60 # draw bows. His arrows are 450 gr. total arrow weight with 14% FOC and mine are 465 gr. total arrow weight with 13% FOC. I do believe a heavier arrow will help with pass thoughs using mechanicals.

RPRT Congrats! "Right Place, Right Time"

It is the time of the year where you should sit as long as you can where you know the does are. Hunt the places where you always see does. Find the does... hunt the does and the big bucks will find the does and you will find the big bucks... gauranteed!

This is a pic of over 100 killed last winter by yjis group of hunters and their dogs on the border of 6S and 7M near Waterville, NY. All within a 4 mile radius of the intersection rt 12 and rt 20. Holy Shit!!!! Huh.

Excellent!!! Good Job , nice buck.

Maybe that is why the Estrus Trophy Leaf worked so well. It is a synthetic replica of the real Hot Doe in Heat estrus. I'll tell you what... it doesn't have a strong smell like of the bottle stuff I have purchased over the years,

I second this one. I never leave home w/o the muff.

I feel an addiction on your hands...

Yep... this morning my 17yo son calls me at 8:45 on my stand to tell me. He saw 3 different bucks before this one came walking by. He drew on him at a slow walk and got a pass through. He shot him at about 15 yards and he watched him go down about 50 yards form his stand on the field edge.He said blood was spurting out both sides. He said he stop weaved and reared up and went down kicking and then went still. He him a bit high and back... took out the liver first and then the left lung. Attached is the pic.

Not necessarily true... the doe will go out on her rendevous' and leave the fawns in an area and return after she has been bred. The fawns stay with the mother/doe for ever. It's the young first year bucks that get kicked out by the doe to join the boys club.

kishelscents.com from Aurora, NY near Fingerlakes region

Stonycreek Whitetails This is a question from Berney - "i have a question. i have killed a few bucks by grunting them in but never really have had much luck with scents. i am sure its because i am using them wrong. my question is when and where should i use estrus and or tarsel glands or a combo of the tw...o. just tryin to make myself a better hunter. thanks." Hi Berney and thanks for giving me the opportunity to explain the differences in the two scent products and tactics you are asking about. First, I would like to explain exactly what "estrus" is in order to help you have a better understanding of what you are using and when best to use it. There are two different types of estrous or estrus scents that are available and can be collected from a whitetail doe. The first scent is estrous - notice the spelling. Estrous is a reproductive cycle in the whitetail doe that only happens during periods of the year when there is longer periods of darkness in 24 hours. This time frame for estrous is usually from the fall (autumnal) equinox through to the spring (Vernal) equinox. The increase in darkness of over 12 hours a day during this time triggers an increase in melatonin production, thus triggering reproductive readiness in polyestrous animals such as deer, goats and foxes, among several others. The estrous cycle is much like a menstrual cycle and is a 26-28 day process leading to estrus/heat/menstruation. The second type of Estrus - notice the spelling, is a short period of 12-24 hours that happens only once during a doe's 26-28 day estrous cycle. This is indeed when the doe is in heat and in reality is the truest form of estrus. A lot of scent manufactures unknowingly market one or the other under false terms. What I mean by this is, unless you actually know the difference in these to words, as they both sound alike, you really cant effectively begin to use them. To summarize the two types of estrous/estrus scents: Doe "estrous" scents are collected from a doe during her 26-28 day estrous cycle. The estrous cycle in a doe only happens during the fall and winter months. Doe "estrus" scents are collected from a doe during her 12-24 hours of heat/estrus, which only happens once every 26-28 days and only during the period between the fall and spring equinox. I can assure that there are no fresh (collected this year) estrus scents available until the end of September. I hope this helps you understand the difference in the two. A lot of scent companies will collect urine all year long. When purchasing doe scents, you need to make sure you are getting either estrous or even better - estrus scents. This will make all the difference in the success of your hunt while using scents. Now that you have a better understanding of what the doe scents are, lets move on to the next part of your question and that being when and how to best utilize scents. Using estrous or estrus scents too early is much like using your brand new hen call way before turkey season. All you are doing is educating the ol' tom to your tactics. Just like that ol' Tom, mature buck are pretty sharp animals. I really don't like to or recommend using estrous/estrus scent much before the week before Halloween. None of the doe in the woods are in heat/estrus in September - so this is something totally unnatural and more than likely will spook an older mature buck. However, during pre-rut the older mature buck are working on establishing territory. I feel we as hunters are not taking full advantage of this time by challenging buck to territorial wars. What I mean by this is, often times around the first week of October we will start noticing scrapes being made. I feel these are territorial markings made by dominant buck who are claiming their territory. When I find an area that has two or more scrapes I immediately start looking for rubs. If I find an area that has two or more scrapes with rubs in close proximity I feel this is where two buck are challenging each other. This is where I will come in and create a mock scrape with buck urine. After all, it's the same thing a real buck does when he makes a scrape, right? So now I feel I am adding interest in this area and have upped my chances that one of the two buck will pay more attention to this area in hopes of finding the "other" buck that is challenging them. Its now an area of interest. Should I come back and hunt later that day and not see anything, I will hunt that area again in the morning. If I still don't see anything that morning then I will inspect the area for new signs that may have been placed over night. If I find that the scrapes are hit and new rubs in the area, then I know I got the ol boys attention. I will freshen my scrape, never putting any urine in his scrape as this would be a sign of submission. Then I will hunt again that evening and it is usually at this time when I get my first glimpse of the buck. If I don't end up with a shot, I will keep the mock scrape active, hunting 3 days on and 3 days off. As Halloween approaches and I still have not got a shot and there is still a lot of new sign in the area, then and only then will I bring in estrous scent. I will use drag rags with one having buck urine on it and the other having estrous urine on it. I will drag a few scent trails mocking that of a buck chasing a doe. Think about this for a moment. You are in your house (your territory) and another guy is chasing you girlfriend or wife... Your are going to be fighting mad, right? That is what we want to do to the buck - make him take life threatening chances to show himself more often and during the day. We want this area to become priority number one where all he can think about is finding the buck that is chasing his doe. That is how we use scents. Scents are tools that allow you to become the deer and communicate on their level. I have yet to see a deer climb a tree and urinate 20 feet off the ground. I have yet to see a deer cock his leg and pee on a tree. I do however see buck making scrapes and urinating in them. Give the mock scrape a try - you might be pleasantly surprised! I have left the tarsals to the end as I feel they are not as important, or more like a marketing scheme. I raise deer and I have yet figured out how to get my deer to grow back the tarsal glands after I cut them off. Yea, I could go to a slaughter shop and buy up all the tarsals, but that is just a hunk of dead flash. I might as well take some raw hamburger to the woods and hang in a tree and then squirt scents on it - it is basically accomplishing the same thing. I do feel tarsals on a live animal are important but as soon as the blood stops flowing through them, they are nothing more than a hunk of rotting, stinking, dead flesh. As far as tinctures go, what most companies label as tarsal scents, they too are nothing more than a tarsal gland soaked in alcohol for months and then filtered. Tinctures work great for predators that feed on rotting flesh. However, I am not convinced they are that effective on deer, IMHO. I think that if a hunter sticks with the 3 basic scents - buck urine, doe estrous urine and doe estrus urine he is more likely to harvest a mature buck year after year. After all, these are the same three scents used day in and day out to communicate by the real deer we are trying to hunt. I hope this long winded post helps you understand a little more about using scent products more effectively. I wish you all the best and look forward to discussing further any questions you may have. Good luck this season and happy hunting, John Swank

Crazy thought but as I was pouring a glass of cider I wondered how it would work as a cover scent sprayed around stand. Is this a crazy thought? I hunt near or in the apples often.

You did not say if you plan to use a tree stand. I would try to get set up on the downwind side of the swamp along the pines near 3 but on the east side of the tree line along the swamp.

For the past 10 years I have been bowhunting, I have tried any number of estrus urine scents to attract bucks. In early season 2008, (Oct 31st or the first few days of Nov) It was early morning and dark as I walked down in the woods. There was a light drizzle and was gonna put up my tree umbrella. I had not been seeing much and figured I'd hang out some estrus. Many had said it's too early for estrus but my way of thinking is - does a buck really know. My thoughts are that if it smells ripe and ready to a buck he's not gonna question whether it's too early or not. I hung the scent about 15 yds in front of my stand and then climbed up. I sat there in the dark and about 5 min later I heard a racket about 100 yds away... alot of racket... branches breaking, etc. I thought it was this young hunter who sneaks into the property stumbling thru the woods in the dark and I was getting pissed thinking about it. About 5 min later the same thing. Then about 5 min later and still dark but light enough to see, a big rack buck with really long beams, came straight through the thick cover and stuck his nose right on the scent. I had drawn the bow back but he must have seen my movement or the tree umbrella din't look right against the early morning sky. He jumped 180 and stepped behind a tree. Before I could get the shot of he took 3 quick bounds and then stopped. Then just disappeared. The estrus scent was a Golden Estrus "Trophy Leaf" from Wildlife Research. The funny thing was I scoffed at this product for a couple years while I used all the other liquid urine products. To date, The only thing that I can absolutely say has drawn a buck is this gold leaf. I do not include a buck that came down the trail in the direction of the scent b/c that could be coincidence. PS: I'll not put the scent out until it is light enough to see in the future.

Whitetail 150 grain Elk/Black Bear 180 grain

If the employee gave him an arrow too short can you say "lawsuit". Wow looks like a few of us chimed about the same time. Just about makes you sick to look at that pic. OUCH!!!

Very Good Idea!!!! hmmmm

AGREE