Things I've learned this bow season...

[growalot]

I say bow because it's when they act more natural and unpressured like gun...

 

First thing is.... I was right about the soybeans...Yep I will not plant soybeans here again unless it's just a late summer attractant...The buck stayed away as in all past years...unlike  last year with the soybeans. They allowed the doe to stay and then came in.... in earnest for the rut activity

 

In the new laneway WW/clover/ turnip plot I watched the deer go down the fence line on both sides...mainly eating the weeds I didn't get on either side...

 

 Rub clusters..pretty new here...doesn't mean the rubs on small trees in a cluster means small deer...for along the lines 12" trees have been shredded and pics are showing whats traveling...

 

Leaf blowers...won't push them out, new ladders won't push them out. Plant all the plots you can... I rarely ever shoot deer on them but they keep the doe here...

 

With the winds we've had here...hit the swamps and gullies

 

Finally younger buck have been running the ridges...older bucks are running 1-2 hundred feet lower than the ridge..So that is our place...what have you learned about your area this season.

Edited November 18, 2015 by growalot

[jmg343]

I learned that you can't let your arrows fly until your clock strikes that magic number. And you can't shoot after your clock reads that other magic number.  No matter how well you can see and no matter how many minutes or seconds you are within that magic number. 

[Caveman]

I learned that you can't let your arrows fly until your clock strikes that magic number. And you can't shoot after your clock reads that other magic number. No matter how well you can see and no matter how many minutes or seconds you are within that magic number.

And just like that this thread crashed without even leaving the runway.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Wildcats160

[ApexerER]

I learned that you can actually harvest a deer with a bow. I got both my first doe and first buck with the bow this season......Can't wait till next year!!!

 

[dbHunterNY]

hunters get flat out lucky, but scouting kills more deer than hoping and wishing.  even if the season is here, productive observation stands/sits are invaluable.  I missed the first week of bow season due to anniversary vacation and was itching to just hit my favorite spots.  instead of going into traditionally great spots without a plan I sat in low probability stands to watch and learn what bucks where there and doing versus before I left.  if I went in there how I typically would I would've gotten busted or just not seen and educated them.  instead I saw a good buck.  changed up setup and location from a historically perfect spot.  I harvested the buck I was after.  now I've got a euro mount to do and 80 lbs of venison packaged in the freezer.  it takes too much luck to kill a deer even with a plan, so I can't justify anymore going in expecting luck and past experience to do it all.

[silent death]

Need to get a fog horn for a alarm clock cuz my hearing is shot lol

[kpkot]

80# of venison? One deer?

[Doc]

I learned that sometimes procrastinating on health issues can make corrective action come right at exactly the wrong time of year and wipe out your bow season.

[Zag]

Great question grow.. for me I have a few,

1) More trail cams the better, I've had a banner year for buck pics. I went from 1 to 3 cams

 

2) Scouting all the time, the buck I took this yr was near the corner of our property line, I guess I never really looked at it because of that, but scouting this yr and finding a matching set (10pt) and finding an old scrape line got me wondering. Setting a cam u this summer confirmed this was a good spot. We've had the land about 30yrs now.

 

3) Make sure I have a shooting lanes all around the stands. I recommended my brother sit in my favorite stand last week and it almost paid off when this big buck came thru and hung around behind my stand (down wind) at less than 20yrds but had no clear shot. He was bummed to say the least.

[BowmanMike]

Well, I have learned a lot. This was my first bow season and I enjoyed it immensely. It is great to see deer act normal and not be on high alert all the time, like in gun season. I spooked a few does earlier in the season by them coming from downwind, and some are definitely smarter than others.

It is not good enough to be close to the right spot, you have to be right on. 

It is about being in the right place at the right time. I think you can improve your chances by good scouting but there are no guarantees, which makes it exciting.

This is the first year I really heard bucks grunting and calling, so that was good. 

We had a ton of apples here in 4F and the deer were/are hitting them hard. It is much better to set up on a travel route to the food than right on the food, since you don't catch them in the daylight if you are right at the source. Most of the time anyway.

I also set up two cams for the first time and boy is it nice to get some pictures of the big boys that are around. I would have never known how big some of the deer around here get.

I also learned that I am hooked for life with this bowhunting thing.

[Meat First]

Second what dBhunter said about scouting.  Last gun season i missed a nice buck running right between two ladder stands so this summer i moved a stand 20 yds from run he was on and sure enough killed a buck there this October. 

[dbHunterNY]

80# of venison? One deer?

 

yea.  it was a buck that given all the info about it was 3.5 yrs old and field dressed at 176 lbs with a live weight at 219 lbs.  kind of lean too when I skinned it out.. figured with soybeans all over it'd be more bulked up with fat.

Edited November 19, 2015 by dbHunterNY

[Meat First]

To me scouting and then adjusting your strategy is the best part of hunting especially when it all comes together. 

[Meat First]

Oh after the eating part

[mxsmitz201]

yea. it was a buck that given all the info about it was 3.5 yrs old and field dressed at 176 lbs with a live weight at 219 lbs. kind of lean too when I skinned it out.. figured with soybeans all over it'd be more bulked up with fat.

The buck in my avatar yielded 82 lbs in meat as well. 42 of it was his neck and fronts, made 20 lbs of jerky with it mmmmmmm