Sum up your season- partys over ! .........

[Robhuntandfish 13894]

I try to take in something from every season. What your best and worst of 2017 hunting - what did you learn?  

What I learned ---  This year it was to not overlook the buck in front of you for a chance at another.....(couldve shot a real nice 7 point in archery season.  had him at less than 10 yards and rattled him in) wouldve been my best archery season ever if I had gotten him but was hoping for a real wall hanger.  Not a huge regret but looking back shouldve shot that one.  Learned that rattling can work for me.  Rattled in two bucks this year - first ever.  Also learned the hard way - shoot a buck with the gun go a little farther before leaving it overnight even if no blood trail or the coyotes will do it for you.  

Best of --- found a new hunting spot which is only 12 acres and really only about one acre to hunt, but its in the corner of a farmer field and its a good one.  Archery only spot.  Got meat in the freezer and saw more deer in archery season than I have ever seen.  had a great active season and got real close to getting a wall hanger .  had two of them at different times within 50 and 60 yards.  Got a new rifle i have always wanted - Browning 30-06 Lever, and a shotgun - Remington 12 semi 11-87.  

Worst of -- lost a big doe to coyotes .  ate it all overnight, that was disapointing...... , and ate my turkey tags for the first time in a few years.  Wish a couple of my buddies had done better as they ate all their tags.  

Also this year found this forum earlier this year and certainly have enjoyed it and all the info and banter.  And have got a recipe from here for snack sticks that is a real keeper.  

Overall a great year!  

 

 

 

[stubborn1VT 1369]

I learned that warm weather during bow season is a drag.  I wish I had bounced around to different properties, since deer movement was lousy anyway.  Later on I learned that an area of our farm that I treat as a sanctuary has changed.  3 years ago it was all berry bushes, and you could barely walk through it.  Now it has grown up and I can see a long ways between blowdowns.  I may use it as a late season spot next year if I don't have enough tags filled, and I'm definitely putting a camera in there!

Best: I filled my buck tag, despite an excavation crew mucking up my rifle season.  I saw 13 does on the farm during muzzleloader season (10 while hunting). Watching a 20lb tom for a couple minutes before dropping him flat to fill my second tag.

Worst: The warm bow season and general lack of deer sightings, eating my bow tags, not making the time to fill my ML tag.

I also found this site about a year ago.  I was looking for info on hunting NY, and was surprised how entertained I've been.  I love the stories of pursuit, successful and otherwise.  

A middling sort of season.  Last year I shot my biggest buck with the bow, and a decent 6 point with my rifle.  This year doesn't compare, but I'm happy with my effort for the most part.  Onward to habitat improvement, new stand locations, and more shooting with the muzzleloader!

 

[turkeyfeathers 35514]

Little early for this.  We still have time. Back to this thread later 

[Pygmy 15030]

1 minute ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Little early for this.  We still have time. Back to this thread later 

She's definitely warming up, but I have one more evening in my stand...This thaw has melted the snow off my clover and forage oats and the deer are working it again...Last night 2 does & 2 fawns came out, but stayed  out of range of my old Hawken EXCEPT one bambi that got a wild hair and ran over and stood about 50 yards  from me....It was pretty small and I decided I wasn't THAT hungry...Perhaps this evening he'll come back and bring his Mom with him...Hehehehe....

[landtracdeerhunter 2199]

 I will enjoy the last day of deer hunting just as well as I have enjoyed the first. Should of, would of, could of is not an option though and never will be in my mind. I enjoy deer season to dam much to ever ruin it with that train of thought.      

[NFA-ADK 2823]

Still have over a month to go, wish I could have gotten out this past weekend but it was not in the cards.  Going to try for this weekend. 

[Four Season Whitetail's 2741]

Another great season here. Had all season to spend at camp and here at home to hunt. Took one of the hit list bucks and filled up 3 doe tags. Had a blast from the start.

Bad note would be the low number of deer anymore in the North and the way the leaders down at Letchworth are ruining the great,great area that that place is. They believe they have no new forest growth because of deer when really the numbers are way down from normal.

When you have no sunshine hitting the ground you will get no new growth. Rules stop them from doing any habitat work when that in fact is the biggest issue they have there.

[Robhuntandfish 13894]

3 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Little early for this.  We still have time. Back to this thread later 

Lol. Well was reading the " live from the woods" entries today . And in it was bowl movements and hanging meat.....yeah it's over!  

Sorry to hear about that misfire today.  That could've been a good end for the season. 

[Just Lucky 699]

Seen more deer this year than the last few. Wounded a dandy with bow and did not recover, that sucked. Got access to new property while hunting when i ran in to the owner on the property line, over 300 acres. Took 2 bucks and 2 momma does. Also had a buck given to me. Spent time with father and friends. Great season for me.

[Nomad 12538]

Different . Saw 13 deer 4/5 bucks first morning of bow then downhill from there . Daughter and I only matched work schedules two times for maybe 5 hours of hunting  , only hunted with my good friend Joe once and we had both killed  bucks by then  and neither of us wanted a doe ......

First year in many I didn't kill a buck in bow, heck I never had one decent one in range, which is really really odd for my spot . Good reality check I guess ?

Learned I'm done with hang ons.

second year in a row I killed a coyote while on deer stand , and I passed up an easy 15 yard bow shot another time .

[moog5050 19908]

Plenty of venison in freezer.  Tough year for even seeing, let alone killing a wall hanger - like Nomad said it was a good reality check.  Most fun might have been having a front row seat watching grampy almost kill a nice buck from the ground.  Learned I really like costanzas pepper jack hotdogs (thanks Nomad).  Also was reminded to treasure the hunt more than the target.  Sometimes I get blinded by big buck syndrome and forget what I really enjoy about hunting.  My daughter had great patience on 2 sits and probably a better attitude than me when we saw nada!  Should have hunted my property more - had some real dandies there during rut (as I learned later) and I never hunted it.  Won't make that mistake for a 3rd time.

[mowin 3837]

My season.... Awesome.  

[WNYBuckHunter 10999]

I had a great season overall! I actually cannot think of anything bad happening this season besides whiffing on a buck during a drive Thanksgiving week, and that wasnt even that upsetting really.

The good: got to spend time with my kids in the field, got to be there when Haley took her first shot at a deer, got to take my girlfriends daughter out hunting for her very first time, spent plenty of time with my friends, I stayed healthy all season for the first time in 3 years, and finally, I achieved my goal of taking a deer with every weapon I hunted with! My freezer is full, I created lots of memories and I have a taxidermy bill from taking a 3.5+ yo buck for the second archery season in a row!

The bad: Its over now.

Now I get to look forward to next season! I have a new property to start working on, and Haley will be old enough to gun hunt with me next year! My main goal for next year has already been decided, Help Haley Get Her First Deer!

[moog5050 19908]

 

[Tughill Tamer 1893]

My season was very disappointing other than my first Bowkill.

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[grampy 17129]

4 hours ago, moog5050 said:

Most fun might have been having a front row seat watching grampy almost kill a nice buck from the ground.

Just one more step and I would've had a shot!.....

Got to say, coming out to hunt with moog, and meeting a bunch of the guys from this site out there, was the highlight of my season. That and getting a buck with my bow, after shoulder surgery in May. And of course hunting with my grandson Zac.

I learned, that no matter how willing the mind, if the body is not healthy, it makes for some tough hunting. But getting back out a couple of times after cancer surgery, put a big smile on my face! 2018 will be my comback year!

The worst was the 2nd. day of gun season. Hunting one of my best spots from the ground as usual. Having to pee REALLY bad, I stood up without looking all around first. You guessed it. As soon as I stood, 40 yards behind me was one of the top bucks on the property! He was gone in a blink. Rookie mistake....

[wolc123 2980]

2018 will go down as a pretty good year for me.   My primary goal of securing enough venison to last our family until next season was achieved, but with very little to spare.  That part was a bit of a let down, as I like to share venison with extended family and friends.  To give is always better than to receive.  I am extremely thankful to the Good Lord for blessing me with two deer this year.  He has always come thru for us in one way or another.  Sometimes it is roadkills, and sometimes gifts from friends, but it was all on me this year.  My high points of the season would be almost a tie between getting my first glimpse of the massive carcass of the the buck that I killed with my crossbow, piled up on the far side of my folk's woods.   I said a quick prayer that I would find him, after taking the shot from my stand in the last minutes of daylight.  That prayer was answered in less than 10 minutes, while there was still enough fading light to see the white hair on his upturned belly and throat.   There was enough meat on him to make nearly half of our required yearly venison requirement, all by himself.  There was not a lot of fat to trim on him and the broadhead cut clean and bloodied no meat.     

A close second, would be watching a nice sized doe fold up like a pheasant, as I pulled the trigger on my slug-gun when she trotted thru a shooting lane in the early afternoon of the third Sunday of gun season.   I don't get too exited until the kill is confirmed.  She never even twitched, for the minute or so that I kept the crosshairs on her carcass after flopping down, with another shot ready if necessary.  My shot hit her slightly forward of where I intended, drilling thru the front of both shoulder blades at the base of the neck, but anchoring her quicker than just about any other that I have shot.  The downside was that most of the meat from the front shoulders and neck was lost and what should have been 60 pounds of meat (per the PA chest girth chart) was just over 40.

The reason I chambered another round quickly, and kept the crosshairs on that doe so long, was mainly due to what occurred on the low-point of the season for me this year.   That would be opening day of gun season when a buddy wounded a young (4 or 6 point) buck that we were not able to recover.   For the second year in a row, I gave this recently retired, decorated combat veteran my best stand on opening day.  Last year he shot a tasty button buck from it.  He does not like venison, and kept only a backstrap from it for his step-dad, letting our family keep the rest.  This year I heard his shot about the same time as last year (about 5 minutes after legal sunrise).  Soon my phone began to buzz, and he texted that he had a buck down, but that it had made it into a hedgerow (he had shot it at 90 yards in an open field).  We spent about an hour of "prime-time" searching for that buck, to no avail.  We marked the last blood.   I went back after dark with "bloodglow", but only advanced the track about 50 yards before running out of juice.  By that time there was very little blood.  I hope that buck survives with what was likely a high back hit. 

I asked him why he did not shoot again after knocking the buck down as it crawled across the field.  He gave two excuses: first, that he thought it would die and did not want to wreck additional meat.  He also said that: in the military he was trained to shoot just once, as a second shot would allow the enemy to locate your firing position.   Deer don't shoot back, and what should have been 50-60 pounds of meat in our freezer was lost.    His hunting experience is very limited, and I am sure he learned a good lesson from this mistake: ie, next time use your finger on the trigger instead of the smartphone.   Had I not taken that Sunday afternoon doe a few weeks later, this one would have bothered me a lot more.

Another slight disappointment this season was my three northern zone hunts during crossbow/early ML, opening week of gun, and Thanksgiving weekend.  Last year, I was able to score on a doe early up there and a buck late.  No such luck this year, with the only sightings being a couple antlerless deer, well out of range of my crossbow, on the first day I hunted.   Fortunately, that late buck last year provided enough surplus venison, to last into this year.  Without that surplus, we would be hurting a bit today, after a dismal late ML season with no sightings.   You can't score every time, or they would not call it hunting.  The scenery up there helps make up for the lack of deer sightings.   Next year, I am going to try and use vacation days for all three of the NZ crossbow season (the last 7 days are ML/crossbow up there), rather than just one day like this year.  Even if the deer are lacking, the smallmouth bass fishing is always spectacular at that time.   

[stoneam2006 3337]

2018.....if this was the old times I would have been demoted to wood gatherer....yea that bad this year....glad I got to read all your guys success stories......always next year and few months till spring browns.

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[Steuben Jerry 7401]

We had pretty much our best season this year. Everyone got a deer, and my wife and I best shot our best bucks 2 days apart. Got a bow doe and filled my remaining doe tag with my grandson with me. 

For the worst moment, I dealt with a new neighbor on the road trespassing on us and actually shooting a doe on our property. On the opening morning of the regular season no less.

I was overrun with trespassers years ago when we first acquired the place. Encounters were frequent and messy but It's been pretty quiet for 3 years now. I took a different approach with this guy and was pretty nice to him, considering he just poached a deer off of us, and effed up our opening morning. So far, so good. No sightings of them, nothing on the cams, and no unexplained shots out back. 

So I guess I learned that taking the high road can work well too. We'll see if it lasts. 

[hunter49 440]

  Didn't see a lot of deer but did get 2 nice sized doe in the freezer. Just didn't see the big guy, only saw him  on cam.

[Gencountyzeek 4825]

Great year!

[wolc123 2980]

22 minutes ago, Steuben Jerry said:

We had pretty much our best season this year. Everyone got a deer, and my wife and I best shot our best bucks 2 days apart. Got a bow doe and filled my remaining doe tag with my grandson with me. 

For the worst moment, I dealt with a new neighbor on the road trespassing on us and actually shooting a doe on our property. On the opening morning of the regular season no less.

I was overrun with trespassers years ago when we first acquired the place. Encounters were frequent and messy but It's been pretty quiet for 3 years now. I took a different approach with this guy and was pretty nice to him, considering he just poached a deer off of us, and effed up our opening morning. So far, so good. No sightings of them, nothing on the cams, and no unexplained shots out back. 

So I guess I learned that taking the high road can work well too. We'll see if it lasts. 

I had a similar experience with a new landowner this year, but the shoe was on the other foot.   I was the tresspasser.   For the last 5 or so years, a big brushy field at the back of my parents woods had been neglected and tied up for back-taxes.  It was basically a free for all back there during hunting season, overrun with "aborigins" (that is my term for people I do not know).   They often spilled over into my folks woods, even though it was posted.   I did not know exactly where the property line was, but the new owner had it surveyed.  It turned out that one of my stands was on his newly- purchased property, and another was about 5 feet from the line.  He left stern notes on both of those stands, mid-way thru archery season, unpolitely asking that they be moved.   

I called the number on the notes, and met up with him on the last weekend of archery season.  He explained his hard line, and said that he was prepared to take folks to court if they did not comply with his terms.  I remained polite, and pointed out on the survey how my folks owned the woods on two sides of his new field.  I moved the stands, as he requested, and agreed to call him before following up a wounded deer into his property.   He loosened up and got sort of friendly after that.  We talked about foodplotting and making blinds, etc.   He shared trail cam pictures of some nice bucks, one of which I had harvested a few days prior.  I showed him the big two-level blind that I had shot it from (a few hundred yards from the property line, near the center of my folks property).  I passed a young buck this year, that was about 10 yards on his side of the line, from the stand I had just moved back.   That resulted in gun season buck-tag soup for me this year, but I thought it was more important to maintain good relations with the new landowner.   His hard-line approach has made the hunting in my folks woods better this season than it has ever been, and completely eliminated the "aborigins".    

 

Edited December 20, 2017 by wolc123

[Lawdwaz 14802]

I had a good season and can't complain.   I was complaining so I deleted it....

Damn, another season passes. Looking forward to 2018

Edited December 20, 2017 by Lawdwaz

[TreeGuy 6836]

Heck of a year for me. I made a commitment to my wife that this year I wouldn't hunt as much as years past. I know I ware her thin with the kids when I'm gone alot so I kept my end of the deal. Ended up scoring 2 more for the wall and having alot of cool encounters while out in the woods. Took my son out a few times during bow for his first hunting experiences, which was a dream come true. Got some real studs and up and comers on the cam's that could make future years wall hangers. Dad didn't score a buck this year,which is a bit discouraging but he still says he's thankful for his harvests either way. But in reality the sum of my 17 is that i had alot of opportunity to realize how blessed I am to have the things in my life that I do, family, property's and memory's made. I may be a mature buck hunter, but the end of the day it's not about the inches of the racks that make my seasons great. Here's to 18' !!

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[erussell 771]

Awesome yr. Ive never seen so many big bucks in all my hunting. Just had bad luck in getting one of them. Nxt yr i guess.