BowmanMike

Awesome job Mr. Feathers!!! I am so glad you got your first bow deer,and a clean kill too! I have been following your bow journey with great interest,as mine is pretty young too. I think this is my 5th season with the bow. Keep it up and maybe you can add a nice buck to your list as well!

I went out for a recon mission and to mark a few trees to climb into in the dark in the a.m. I saw a doe about 30yds from me munching on acorns. I stopped and crouched and duck walked to the nearest tree. She kept on feeding and eventually entered the hay feld on my left. She then cut towards me,slowly walking by at 28 yds..I was still crouched,and one branch was in my way. I drew back and considered my options. Standing up would take too long and she would bust me. I tried to time the branches movement in the wind,but didn't feel like it was out of my arrows path. I was waiting for her to move 5 more yds,then a tree would have given me cover and i could have stood. Just then the wind swirled and game was over. First time i drew back this season,great. I have had a lot of action so far.

Congrats Jay. I have to correct folks,he has only been bowhunting since last year. He did however pass a lot of deer last year. Again,glad you made it happen!!

Best of luck chef.

I decided to stay in this morning,the wind sounds nasty. There is still a long season ahead. @moog5050 what did you hit on your doe? Liver and both lungs?

definetely won't spoil if he doesn't die for a while.

you are pretty fast for a big guy,i am impressed.

100% agree on two clean misses are better than one wounded deer. I have some pretty fresh memories of that scenario.

Especially if you hit the opposite shoulder,no exit wound means very few hairs.

Same here,staying in tonight,cooking for my wife and dad. She has been very good so far this season about me being out in the woods. Back at it in the morn.

Hey,do what works for you,looks like your process does.

Shoulder hit would have been loud. So almost no blood,no hair and no arrow? That is a weird combination. My first buck i shot at dropped at the shot and i found my arrow and some hair. The telltale sign that i just gave him a close shave was some brown hair with just a little bit of skin on it. That took me a while to figure out. Hope you can figure yours out,you have a lot more experience than me.

Sure is a risk with the yotes. Tough decision,a gutshot deer can take 24 hrs to expire and go a long way if bumped. A dog could track it well enough,but so do the coyotes. Good luck however you decide.

I went to a buddies stand this morning,across the road from a hay field. I snuck in and couldn't find the stand. I was close,but couldn't find it. So i was just standing by a tree,not great cover. A little after seven some does catch me move or smell me,run and snort. About 10 mins later i hear what i think is a deer coughing. I am just about 80 yds in the woods from the dirt road,and then I see a buck coming from the edge of the road. He was a six and following those does i think. He never got closer than 50 yds,but as i watched him i saw my buddies stand,and if i was in it i could have shot the six. Bad luck. A little later i see another deer close to the road,turns out another buck. This one was a decent 8,2 1/2 year old i think. Long body but not filled out yet. I think him and the other buck were scent checking the does trails from the hay field. He was going parallel with the road but then turned into the woods.He also didn't get closer than maybe 45 yds. He wandered off. If i had been 20 yds to the left or the right i could have shot one of them,preferably the 8,haha. Nice to see some bucks on their feet though. I am having a lot of deer sightings in this early season,just have to connect with one.

For who,your wife? I think the op plan sounds good. Not sure what your area is like,but here in 4F the deer have everything they could want. Apples,acorns,beechnuts and the grass is nice and green too. They are hard to pattern,but i caught six of them in a hayfield tonight.

Congrats Rob and wife..That is a while,and worth celebrating.

I made it out at 5.40. Just ran along a hedgerow and tucked myself into the honeysuckle. I spooked three deer getting settled. 15 mins later a deer comes in my trail and stops 4 yds from me on the other side of the honeysuckle. I couldn't move,and man did its head look big. Never been that close to a live one. I was too tucked in couldn't draw without rustling branches and the doe would have heard that. She finally trotted off quartering away and didn't stop until she was 40 yds. Damn.

Got to my spot in the draw in the dark and stayed until it got light out. Then i wanted to move just a little to get a better vantage point and crept out of there and a deer i not 20 yds from me in the goldenrods. It bounded off a little ways,no snorting. Not sure if it saw movement or got a whiff of me. Then another doe comes towards me and i just have a little bush between us. She came to 15 yds and kept winding me i think,darn wind swirled some. She turned around and the older doe came over to check me out. She also came to about 15 yds,but neither of them stepped to the side of the bush,so no shot. She also had enough after a bit and they took off,again not blowing or snorting. That sure got the heart rate up. At least i am seeing deer. Acorns everywhere,and so are beechnuts. The deer have a shit ton of stuff to eat this year.

Gonna be in the chosen spot for today around 6..I hope to intercept some deer on their way from the oak flats to their bedding,i will set up at the top of a draw that starts at the edge of field. Wind should be perfect for that. Hope the deer think so as well. Good luck folks!

Oi,i don't care how you hold the deer,but the kids hands barely close around the antlers. Huge!

Holding out for an Adk buck?

Good point...

Great buck Rebel Darling,finally!! I went out a little while ago,thought the rain would let up. That didn't last long,but i snuck in the woods for a stillhunt and not 5 mins in i saw a deer. 50 yds maybe,and i couldn't even tell if buck or doe. I was trying to get a little closer and was looking for any friends of his/hers,couldn't see any. Until the friend saw me first,darn it. Two does i think,bounding off. That was pretty cool for the first walkabout. Then i found a bunch of old rubs,and i mean a bunch. The rain really picked up and i walked faster to get back to the house and bumped two more. Acorns everywhere,twas a good scouting mission. I am very happy Rebel got on the board so i didn't have to,yet,haha

I also got excited when there were three more pages on this thread than the last time i checked. Imagine my disappointment...Someone needs to shoot a deer,and i will try when/if the rain stops. People tend to get a little anxious when there is just chit chat on the live from the woods forum.

Wouldn't you want that sharper the better advantage? Who knows if it is 2% or 10% improvement. I for one would take 1% as reason enough to get my broadheads razor sharp.