phade

Students out of state can often hold two state licenses as a resident. Makes complete sense imo and good rule.

Go with FIL's MZ....easy choice.

Congrats! Surely warm out there...

Good luck everyone...I'll be lucky if I get out for a few afternoons after a doe between now and November 3/4 in Ohio. I'm twiddling my freaking thumbs if I'm not working.

<insert buzzer sound here>

If you can leave a stand...you can leave a cam.

Bummer on that one...I can relate. Going through family sale now, too. Gotta pull 10+ stands.

People think too much. Stop rationalizing.

Thanks! Unfortunately he broke off at least 4 points on the left side. Roman nose and everything. I'm going to send a tooth in to age him. 19.5" spread. Nice job on the deer everyone...love DakotaDog's first pic...nothing like that first buck.

PM sent your way. Stand may very well be in a good spot, so your cousin could be on the money. Just need to look at the big picture to figure out how you can make the best of your situation to get you some tags filled. Looks like there is a front Friday afternoon - with T-storms. Keep an eye on it...the weekend weather is probably as good as it gets from a deer hunting perspective for the first weekend in October. If that front pans out...Friday afternoon could be good hunting as long as the T-storms don't materialize.

Same as others...if it is legal shooting time...arrow is knocked. Too many opportunities to miss.

Man that buck got tore up...look at its lower jaw! Great buck!

Thanks...that deer was shot not too far from you...in Wayne County. I live south of Rochester though by 20 minutes. Big ain't a problem...If T-bone can...so can you. Some people are not fans of ladder stands as a preffered bowhunting stand because they feel it is not concealed enough. Hogwash. It's a stand and you just need to know how to use it. I shot that buck out of a ladder stand. Based on what is available in the market and your ability/tolerance to climb, I would look into a couple stands as a long-term investment. One fairly immobile stand is handcuffing you. Honestly, if you want some help/advice, etc., or moving that stand, I'm more than willing to offer my time. Since I got a buck opening day with a total of five hours seat time...I'm on the sidelines until I hunt Ohio next month for a full week. Just getting out there to do something deer-related will be nice. For entry/exits...go to Bing.com, find the property, then click on "bird's eye view" option, and zoom in to the property. Copy the pic and wipe out the location identifiers (streets, county listing, etc.) and post that pic up here. We'll show you your options. The internet makes one heck of a shortened learning curve.

One of THE biggest mistakes people make when hunting deer. Hunt smart. If sign tells you to move...MOVE. This, honestly, was the hardest thing I had to learn hunting. It took me many years and instead of shooting mature bucks, I was shooting dinks because I was NOT using the sign I found, saw, heard. I hesitated to move for fear. I think hunting it 2x had more to do with it than the smell.

First, drop the earth scent stuff. I'm not a fan of cover scent - and I am a scent control fanatic. Here's my regimen: 1. Clean washer and Dryer (real men tell their ladies they are getting a set just for hunting...lol). I mean, scrub it...take the agitator cap and wipe all the grime off of it. You'll smell it and see it. 2. Talk woman into using the new non-scented detergents for regular laundry use. We use All free and clear from September to December. 3. Wash your clothes...I hang most of mine but will dry some smaller items. 4. Drop the tote idea...and pick up a tough plastic scent bag. It's not better than a tote, its the same as effectiveness, but it's shapeable...which is great when you need to cram it in the vehicle. 5. Go to Wally World and spend $20 on a camo shirt/jeans. Use this as the set of clothes you wear while driving...change at site. Treat them like hutning clothes same a prep and storage. Now...all of that is just back-up to the real deal...hunting with the wind and your entry/exits in mind. Maybe the girly smells busted you...maybe you hunted the same spot and used the same entry/exits...need more info.

Now this is a hunter who understands. You learn more from your defeats than victories.

That extra sense has been a topic in many camps. Another forum I go to had a long talk on it. I don't believe they have an additional "sense" of any sort. Deer and just deer, they are built and wired to survive like any other animal. Ultimately, they're wired for flight. Beating them is sometimes not easy. When this happens, we as humans and the ones with the greatest weapon of all, need to rationalize why we were beat. Many times, you will never know what caused that deer to figure things out. Alot of times, scent goes places we don't think it does. It might have been a movement, or a lighter shade of coloring against a dark background (vice versa) that triggers an alarm. Heck, maybe a yote went through your set 20 yards on the bad wind side of you 10 minutes before you got in? There is such a thing as being a victim of circumstance...people just don't like to acknowledge it.

"upwind" and downwind means something very different in hill country as compared to flat land (although it's not that simple). Just because the buck was upwind doesn't mean the scent was getting to his nose. Thermals and other factors may have taken your scent stream elsewhere. Picture scent stream not as a line...but more as a spray mist from a spray bottle...the concentration is tight at the beginning but as it spreads out, it covers more space. Now, spray it against a window? Using natural light you can see some of the spray bounce off the window and "mist"....that window can be a block of woods, a knoll, a hill, a curve in a hill, etc. Just because the wind is West, doesn't mean your scent is only there. Thermals can raise or lower. Swells also. I am a scent control freak...but I also know I don't beat a buck's nose. I practice scent control now more so as a means to reduce my imprint rather than design to fool a buck. I'm with Doc on this one. Prepare, but be aware.

The cattails statement makes me strongly suggest you watch Hunting Marsh Bucks DVD...and the hunting beast forum. I don't have a ton of marsh to hunt, but if I did...I think I'd be more successful bed hunting.

Saw lots of people out last night. Saw a ton of deer on green fields too. Looked like a good night to be out.

I will almost ALWAYS move if I get swirling winds to the point it messes up my set or if there are currents/thermals in play that I did not anticipate. I shot a buck last night with W and WNW winds of about 10-14mph. I was hunting at the bottom of a hillside that fell into muck (bottom land). The wind should have been perfect for entry by looping around from north and west of the spot where I believed the bucks were bedding. In stand, wind would blow W...but when a gust hit, I could tell that it was wrapping around the hillside due to the terrain and woods, and actually blowing from the NE, which was almost dead wrong...E would have been horrible. I watched it very closely and a few puffs of milkweed let me see that the wind was wipping to the corner of the woods over a briar area where I thought I would be OK. Had it not, I was comitted to moving. I think failing to move, especially when you are compromising your bedding area, is one of the biggest mistakes people make while hunting. Some people say they hunt in hills and have to deal with swirling wind all day. Most are either super aware and can adjust...or they don't know currents/thermals and typical bedding in hill country.

I know snakes when it comes to hunting...cut my teeth in Virginia. Once stepped on a cottonmouth on an ISLAND. Boot landed right on its head as the grass parted (waist high). Big sucker...I froze and this thing is squirming hitting my leg and I have its head under my toes. Pops was with me and it took 5 minutes of him telling me it'll be OK (Can't kill them) and to just lift my foot. Scariest moment of my life up until that point (I was maybe 20). Snake went that way...I went the other way. I've always thought about moving...Ohio is not bad if it is in the right area, but it has a ton of poorer areas and poor job markets. I don't think I have found the "perfect" place yet, but it's not too bad here.

Nice job RITBlake!

Jealous...wish I could be out there.

About all I got...had to cape it in the field...long long night.