What was your best day in the woods this year?

[MACHINIST]

Any game anyplace,but what was your most memorable day in the woods this year?Mine was November 15th,it started off with a small button buck coming in grunting and by the way he was grunting I could tell he was small.While watching him I found out why he was grunting,another deer broke from a brushy grass choked field with a buck on her butt.The buck let out a huge grunt while chasing he into a overgrown briar choked clearcut.I waited another 30 minutes and then heard the doe run for the field again and the buck was right behind her,then back into the clearcut where I got a good look at him.Big 8 or 10 point and all of 60 yards.While all of this was going on I saw at least another 8 deer between here and there.No big bucks besides the one but they just keep poping out of everywhere.It was about 11am and my feet were froze so I grabbed my stand and took my sweet time setting it up in the small window where most of the deer walked through.I went to the truck ate my lunch and warmed my feet and got right back out there.I climber back in my summit and I was all set for the rest of the sit at 2pm,at 220 I saw legs walking through the thicket and then saw antlers.He was walking away from me so I bleated a dozen or so times and grunted 4-5 times but he didn't care.So I let out a deep loud guttural grunt and he stopped in his tracks and stared at me then started my way from 100 yards.There was a big silver maple in front of my stand and he walked directly inline with it till he got to 20 yards(still behind the tree).He started smelling the air(I could hear him) and stomping his foot because he couldn't find the buck.That's when he started walking again and came out of behind the tree at 8 yards and thats when I let him have it.He went about 40 yards and piled up.My biggest bow buck to date....what awesome day!!!

That was my best day in the woods this year,what was yours?

[Backyard]

The last day of bow season for me, Nov 16 I guess it was. As daylight broke I saw a big 10 come out at about 100 yds+ sniff around scrape then back in the woods. Long about 9:00 I was thinking of getting down out of my stand because I had some work to do in the AM but just then the big 10 stepped out again. He came across the field then back the other way and turned towards me. He came to about 60 yds then turned and made a perfect half circle around my stand. He stayed just out of my comfortable bow range and headed down the trail right towards my house. No amount of grunting even made him look my way. After my heart stopped pounding and I calmed down a bit about a half hour later I was going to get down again. This time a nice six point came out and did just about the same thing. I tried to grunt again but had left the tube outside of my jacket and is was froze! He stayed just out of range too. About the time I cooled down again and was gonna go back to the house a 4 pointer came from directly behind me and stopped at less than 20 yards and looked right at me stomping and snorting. I wasnt ready for him so I had to stand up and draw while he was looking. I went as slow as I could but he spotted me and ran about 30 yards and stopped again. Since my grunt tube was still froze I tried the deer calls on my cell phone and the little buck looked interested and came back a bit then turned and walked away. It was the most exciting day of bow hunting I have ever had and after being away from hunting for 10+ years and coming back this season, it made it all worth it.

[First-light]

November 10th. didn't harvest a thing but saw a number of nice buck, 6 bears and a coyote. That was the day...........

[verminater71]

not a day but a 24 hour period

sat nov 3 seen my first fisher come trotting through a swamp i was sitting in

sun nov 4 sitting in a different swamp had a bobcat walk under my treestand

that was probably the best weekend in 25years, simply because they're not suppose to be in my area

[Deerthug]

November 17th, took a small doe on opening day only after sitting 1 hour in my stand.

November 18th, shot what I thought was a small 6pt within minutes after sunrise. Dropped him in his tracks. Then dropped my rifle breaking off the rear stock. Went down to check on my 6pt and I was pleasantly surprised to see he was a 7pt.

[buddybags]

shot my first buck with a rifle,opening day 11-pointer

[Paula]

I have had so many great days being in the woods and none include a kill. The worst times i have had was being attached by bugs and THE trespasser. Hate bugs!

[ants]

Oct.13th. My first time out this year with the bow. Nonstop action from first light. A doe and a spike under my stand for 5 mins. or so. then six doe came down the same trail. A few minutes later a small racked buck behind me in the brush. Maybe 10 minutes after that two deer were crashing through the thicket to my left (don't know what they were) Then around 8:30 a nice six point snuck up behind me. I thought he busted me but he worked his way out in front of me, after he caught the doe scent, and after about 10 minutes he ended up giving me a perfect broad side shot at about 15 yards.

I doubt I'll ever see a day like that again.

[Elmo]

You would think it'll be when I got my first deer but my best day was actually during the second week of early archery. Had squirrels come within 5 feet of me and stare at me trying to figure out what it's looking at. Had a deer come with 10-15 feet of me but I didn't have a clean shot since she came in at the same exact angle as the tree I was hiding behind. She got so close, she sniffed out the wind as it hit the rock wall behind me and curled. Otherwise, I was completely undetected 15 feet out. To boot, on my way out that day, I kicked up another doe right by a second spot I had scouted. While I didn't get anything that day, I proven to myself that day that I had it figured out.

[Big Indian]

October 8th, youth hunt. Was sitting in the middle of my son and daughter, enjoying the outdoors and their company didn't see a thing but dont care

[cynthiafu]

everyday is the best day that i am in the woods . i dont care if i see nothing . i love being out there listening to the birds the wind . just sitting i can do it for hours oh wait i have lol . walking in the woods . sometimes alone sometimes with my sister ( allthought she talks alot ) with my 8 year old ( who thinks we should not shoot deer ) and my husband and my dog . they are the best days i have had in the woods

[Paula]

everyday is the best day that i am in the woods . i dont care if i see nothing . i love being out there listening to the birds the wind . just sitting i can do it for hours oh wait i have lol . walking in the woods . sometimes alone sometimes with my sister ( allthought she talks alot ) with my 8 year old ( who thinks we should not shoot deer ) and my husband and my dog . they are the best days i have had in the woods

I so agree with you, i am out alone if not with my dog. I was out for a few hrs yesterday and it was pretty nice out

[wheelieman]

November 5th, I was covered up in deer all day and ended up shooting my biggest bow buck to date, ended up with a tally of 9 bucks before the one i shot came through and 7 or 8 doe best day in the woods in a long time, sorry about the tongue but i cant seem to get my photo shop application to work right,

[wooly]

Best day for me came on an early October bow hunt. I finally layed eyes on my #1 target buck(right side of pic)(Frankenties) with a couple of his buddies.

I snapped a few pics of them, but they heard my shutter click ending any chance I might have had of them coming into bow range.

Only shots fired were from the camera @ 60yds.

The buck in the middle turned out to be the set of shed antlers I found December 14'th this year. I also have his antlers from 2 years prior, so this was a monumental encounter for more than one reason for me!

[Scotte303]

November 24th , bird hunting with my son and my dog. As a bonus, we killed two pheasants.

[coonhunter]

Easy call for me this year. It was taking my friend's daughter out for her first buck in the youth weekend. It was an adventure for sure. What started as a slam dunk at 60 yards turned into well over 100 yards because buck fever set in full force. She was panting because she was so excited. It took a few minutes, but I talked her through it by telling her it didn't matter if she shot or not. She had already done the hard work by getting close enough for a shot. Well, she got calmed down and put a perfect one shot, drop in his tracks, finale. It made me feel young again she was so happy and excited.

[greensider]

opening day passed on a busted up 8 or so then in the afternoon took a shot 220 yards no rest and missed a one antler monster at least 300 pounds when he ran back to the gully one of the grand kids shot as i walked up to what i assumed would be the deer i missed i was shocked to se a one antler monster but not the same one this one had bases over 6 inches a double and a tripple brow dressed 193 i was so happy for him like he was my own son and to wach his father there with him was priceless

[growalot]

In all honesty there were way too many to count...but getting my buck Nov.18th was right up there...lol

I pleasant surprise as well ,considering that at 6:56a.m.....15min. before legal deer hunting a coyote came trotting through. Well I won't pass a chance at taking one out...but managed to not stop him and missed not once but twice!......jamming my 20ga to boot...Frantically trying to unjam the shells from the receiver, all I could think was....... this will be when a big buck shows up...Aaauuughhh.......Around 15min later finally I'm able to settle back down....at 8:27 I heard him up hill from me and when I saw just his rt side sticking well past his ear I took aim into and opening way in front of his path...He was moving at a good clip and I knew I'd never stop him....I needed to have a steady and relaxed sight....he hit the opening at 50yrds and I squeezed the trigger.....It was just like on a video....I could see the impact ripple through him.....he jumped and turned straight away from me....His tail down and back knees sorta together and legs splayed apart taking baby steps walking away...I watched him as he went another 60 yrds away and disappear....Found him in a bedding area the deer use yearly

[josephmrtn]

Nov 24 i shot my first buck... (avatar pic)

[WNYBuckHunter]

I had a ton of great days in the woods this past season, actually I cant think of a bad one. If I had to pick one as my best, Id say opening morning of gun season with my daughter. We had a 130+ buck come out in the field, which we did not take due to a scope problem. Regardless, it was the first time she has encountered a buck in the field, and she was thrilled to have seen it. It was a great morning!

[ELMER J. FUDD]

My post disappeared. Oh well.

I tricked Doewhacker into taking me on a guided hunt. He still doesn't know he was the guide. Lol! Watched him grunt in a spike or 3 pt from 80 yards or so. That was cool. I drew but didn't let it fly because the deer bolted past me. That thing had to be 15 feet from us. Bumped a few birds, then some does on the way back to the cars. Saw more sign than usual this year in that spot.

I almost tricked Steve863 too, but he wasn't back from his Kumbaya/ We are the World, world tour yet.

Found a shed there a week later during gun.

[Whelen]

Had a lot of good days this year, Maine was great , didn't shoot but it is always nice to be up in the BIG woods! Hunted hard up in Dutchess Co. , again I didn't fill a tag but had a lot of great hunts..I was the only one not to tag out. I guess the best day was Dec. 31,last day of bow here on Long Island, took a nice doe. Saw 30 deer in the first 3 hours, all does and 1 nice 8 point. Was the first time bowhunting in several years.

[deerpassion]

I'd like to say it was opening day when I shot my first doe of the season , or even the doe I shot the 13th of oct, or even the buck I shot 2 days before the bang sticks came out but it's gotta be the 11 th of October... Snuck out for an evening hunt ... Early I had squirrell all over me, killin me cause they sounded like deer in every direction , kept me on my toes for sure , needless to say the bow never got hung and stayed in my lap... Then had a fox come in about 4 o'clock n busted out a there, really windy that evening but somehow I managed to here some leaves rustle behind me.. Looked over my shoulder n out of the thicket stood my number one buck, bow in hand, there he stands at 15 yds but I neglected to trim two twigs on the back side of my tree as I was not anticipating an arrival from that direction , go figure... He stands there scopin things out for a minute n then trotts dead away from me, no bleats , grunts , hey's would stop him n get em to angle back at me ,, watched heart broken as he trotted off n never saw him for the rest of the season... Even though I shot three deer in bow this season this was the best day because I still replay that moment in my head as I lay down at night wishing I would have trimmed those two twigs.... Would have had all the time in the world to smoke him but that's what gets my blood boiling n I'll be there next year for a rematch for sure !!!!

[ny hunter]

I had an all around good year,but the best days were when my son and I hunted together.

[tuckersdaddy]

sunday opening weekend of reg. season. On a hill top im on one side, my 14yr old sitting 50 ft away looking down the other side. about 10:30 a very small doe walked past me about 30 yds out headed at jimmy at a very slow pace not a care in the world. she ever so slowly kept getting closer and closer to him not noticing he was there. she was no more then 7 to 10ft from him looking the other way when her head swung aroud and stared right at him. i thought she winded him and would run but she put her head back down and started browsing again. about a minute later she snapped her head back up and starred right at him. about 15 seconds later she put her head back down and browsed around as she slowly wondered away. about 5 min later i went over to see how he enjoyed the encounter, and he was in his chair fast asleep. every now and then he snored. explained why she keeped snapping her head up starring at him! wish i had a video camera!