BowmanMike

Congrats @Robhuntandfish i knew you would score early and often. Way to go. I went out this morning and bumped some deer on the way in. I guess i got up too late. Then as i approached my tree i heard a weird sound,i thought turkeys maybe? Eventually i honed in on it and it was a fisher up in a tree growling at me. It sounded a little like a cat growl. He was pretty close to my intended hunting spot,so i had to circle around and ended up just sitting on the ground. An hour later i heard horse hooved thundering,i was a couple hundred yards from their pasture. Then a few minutes later 5 does raced past me at 20 yds. No way they were going to stop. I wonder what spooked them. An eventful morning,and on the way back i found the first scrape of the year.

I got a steel version,only 30#,haha

Having my hot tea now,then i will walk out my front door across the street to a pre-set tree hoping to catch a doe coming back from munching on acorns. The freezer needs some meat in it.

wow,busy day for you guys. Keep up the good work.

At least you finally used your head for something... Sorry,i couldn't resist.

The October lull is a myth. Let's discuss that,haha.

I made it up a tree by a pinch point surrounded by oaks last night but nothing but squirrels came by. It was a good test run for sure.

Good job on staying on the track @crappyice. Congrats on an early doe.

I hope so @Robhuntandfish. You will score big this year.

I have to sharpen my broadheads and get my backpack organized. Other than that i am ready,i have been waiting and dreaming about this long enough. I am usually very excited about bow season,but even more so this year since i went completely mobile and also went to heavier arrows with single bevel heads. I want to try one on the real thing...

I gotta sharpen my broadheads organize my hunting backpack and pouches. It looks like rain later today and tomorrow,so that should give me plenty of time. I probably wont be able to make it out on Thursday,but the weekend i will be for sure.

I would be fine with combining 2 and 3.

Kill that mofo.

my hunting buddy found several a few weeks ago in 4F. It seems to me that everything is early this year.

Don't listen to the forecast for s few more days. things change day to day

The weather forecast looks amazing for the first several days. Nice and cool. I can't wait...

I think they were in western NY as well.

This discussion falls under the same category as most environmental improvements. There is a cleaner alternative but it costs more,so people balk at changing. Any bullet right now is hard to get,so i get this is not the easiest time to change. Lead affects young brains more than adult ones. I think if we can remove a hazardous material grom the environment why wouldn't we? Also,as far as contaminating the meat and gut pile the non lead becomes much more important in rifle uses because the bullets fragment so much more than slow bullets like a shotgun or muzzleloader. So the lead contamination of deer meat made a big jump after rifles were allowed,which was what like 12 years ago? So there is not that much historical data there.

Check out last years NY hunting public series,that stalk on that giant buck in a goldenrod field was amazing. It certainly can be done here. Oops,i just saw it has been mentioned already. It took only one guy to kill the buck,but the 2nd stalked with Zach to get close footage and the other two stayed on the cliff and filmed from there. It was one of their best episodes for sure.

How long have you been trying Rob? I just started thinking about that tag this year,a friend and I might start applying. And thank you for sharing the story bowslayer,that sounds absolutely great.

That does sound great. Welcome back.

Dont encourage him grampy...

Still doesnt make any sense. They dont have to chase but you talking end of december vs October. Little more food options in october,no?

How can a buck be heaviest after the rut? That doesn't make any sense to me...

Awesome summary. I will go out early when the bucks will be easiest to pattern. Once the rut hits that will go out the window. Also the early hunts will be a good chance to get my setup perfected,there always seem to be some blunders. I managed to stay out of the woods the last few months,so i am very eager to do some scouting before setting up to see who is around and what has been happening in general.