Robhuntandfish

I don't use anything for opening of gun. Use it for bow hunting. Opener of gun usually just out and kinda hope all the extra hunters out push deer to me. But don't think any of the scents will scare off any deer. Wouldn't think it would hurt to use it at all

Maybe while your in Nashville you'll bump into Luke Bryan or Blake Shelton and get to talking about how you are missing the opener and they invite you to one of their private ranches......it could happen!!! Sucks you will miss it. There is something about opening day for sure. Breakfast here at the house with the boys then we head to the woods. Would hate to miss it too. But you gotta pay the bills. Good luck later in season.

Dunno where you go in 7J but I have staff that told me they saw a ton of deer and some nice bucks this morning that were driving thru 7J areas. (Hamilton)

you suck! lol hope your heater only works on low and you spill your hot cocoa too!

no one can know for sure except deer. There are some arteries in different spots above lungs its all pending exactly where. No one can know for certain if a hit like that is lethal or not. Just be sure to do your due dillegence and check, thats the best you can do. If you dont find him , then it was prob a survivable hit. Ive recovered deer with that exact hit - 2 years ago a buddy shot an 8 point high and we found a dead deer next morn. No lung shot but it bled out enough to kill it. No one can say they know it lived , esp if they werent there.

we have all done it. Hope you find him. Rooting for you!

actually it was 3 years ago 2014- had to look at pics. We had 2 inches of snow for the opener. yeah i remember opener last year - we didnt even see a deer.

its tough to wait , cant help but get excited. Hell sometimes i have to wait only because im shaking from shooting. Good luck.

remember 2 years ago we got snow overnight for opening day - that was a good one for sure . Our group brought out two bucks and had a shot at a third. Sure dont like sitting in cold rain, thats about the worst. But will still be out there.

the proof will be out there this morn. Thats a tough one. Theres no telling if its a kill shot or not. Since it did lay down that is a good sign. Couldve clipped top of lungs or artery and be dead or went into backstrap and not be a kill shot. If it was gut shot that is certainly a dead deer but it will take a while. Good luck. but just a tip - if you ever hit one again and are unsure its best to walk away for the night or if in the am for at least 3-4 hours. Sometimes when you shoot one they dont even know where it came from or what is wrong and wont go far at all. I dont even check shot area for at least an hour, then be real quiet and inspect the shot area , if its a blood red trail go look further , if not quietly get out of there and wait. If you push, adrenaline takes hold and they will go - its amazing how tough deer are! Sure hope you got em! We need more entries in that harvest thread!! Let us know how you did.

Yup . Spent quite a few of those but have learned the hard way. I'm hoping you have access to all the land around you . If you trailed for an hour and found where it layed down and got back up it might go a ways yet. But laying down is a good sign . But if you didn't push it at all it prob would've been in that spot in the morn if it's a kill shot. I never go after them unless the area is just a bloody mess or I saw them go down. Best of luck on finding him . Hope to see hero pics of you and your buck !

Til morning . Don't push him . Plenty cold. Only risk is of course coyotes. Wait for daylight and hope for the best. If it's not a paved red blood trail it's best to leave them til morn.

Hope to see him in the harvest thread!

Another great day if hunting but no big buck. Got within 75 yards of a real beauty but all he cared about was going after that doe that just took off. Played cat and mouse with him for a half hour trying to beat him to the corners of a field he never knew I was there. But saw 5 deer this morn and 5 tonite. Had a 4 point at 25yards but passed. Got Tues and Wed off. Those are gonna be all day sits in my two hottest stands and we will see.

Wouldnt come to any conclusion until tomorrow. Find out when he sits overnight and ypu have daylight. Ypur answer will be there. Hope it's a down deer.

I shot one with crossbow on the ground last weekend at 30 yards. And thought after shot.....what if I wounded it... But luckily it went right down and made a good shot.

Venison steak and baked potato with broccoli and cheese. All American meat and taters tonite!

Def is. Got a scrape here and put a dripper up. Always something on cam there. Does check it out a lot too.

Instead of an early youth firearms season open up crossbow to youth for the whole bow season. Then they can go anytime in bow instead of just one weekend. And make the eligibility for younger kids to go as well. Otherwise don't change a thing love the way it is now! We got it good in NY

its not really "old" faithful but maybe new faithful. Have gotten a shot from my opener stand 2 of last 3 years. The one year had a new hunter sit there hoping he would get some action but he saw nothing! lol. Its one I kinda stumbled onto. I put everyone else in good spots and said I will just sit in this little spot out of the way and it ended up being a great opener spot. No one else or myself have seen a deer there other than opening day of gun.

would agree. Seems like after the first two days of gun season where i hunt it seems like seeing a deer becomes a rare thing. So thats why TF is getting a crossbow for next season! lol

and if the theory is to shorten season to have more bucks survive why is the bow season so long. Dont think its fair to shorten for gun hunters so that bow hunters can get bigger bucks. And i am a die hard bow hunter.

so if your sick of hunting then just dont hunt. Take a break. A lot of guys dont get anytime off to hunt so its not fair to shorten season because some people are tired of it. Also if its to try to get bigger bucks how is the answer to shorten season so you dont get time to see them....still makes no sense to me.

that is one of the best things about hunting ..... its the puzzle to figure it out. Def already have some changes in mind with cutting some brush to open up some stands more . Always looking to improve the odds every year. Many years have found that where i put a stand was ok but found a better spot for next year where deer were skirting by...... or how to have stands setup for different wind directions ...... etc. love the planning near as much as the hunting itself. Last couple of days I have been planning out how the opener of gun season will be setup. In the winter I make a to do list of changes and things for the summer to be ready for the next deer season. Its a year round hobby for sure . ( and we on our 4th year of a lease and have taken two deer every year from the lease. This year no one has taken a deer yet.......but I have gotten 2 does from other properties I hunt and have passed does and some bucks looking for a big one this year. But once gun season hits its usually whatever we see. )

i have read some commentary in magazines like outdoor news and other places that some hunters are in favor of shortening the gun season in NY....... I dont get why? what am I missing here? And I am prob the only guy in NY that thinks our seasons are dead on perfect. 2 buck tags (one bow/muzzle one gun), a generous bow season, a nice slot for crossbow, a generous gun season and a muzzleloader season at the end ....just to round it out. Plus i have a total of 7 deer tags and cant possibly fill them all. I think NY hit this one thing just right but I dont get why hunters would want to shorten what they love to do, doesnt make sense to me......