PA Bow Season (Part 1) = Over

PAHUNTER21 · 11-16-2003, 02:44 AM

Saturday concluded the Autumn Archery season here in PA. The weather was almost unbearable the latter part of the week, but many hunkered down and dealt with it. Winds gusting in excess of 40+ mph put the deer deep into cover. Thankfully the winds died and made Saturday a beautiful day to hunt. The woods came alive and the deer and other animals were moving.

I didn' t fill my buck tag in archery season (heck i didn' t even draw my bow on a deer), but it was time spent well. It still amazes me how much I still learn every archery season. I hope the learning continues throughout the future years.

As the transition to gun season aproaches, I anticipate spending time with my family at camp and reminicing about past hunting seasons.

I leave you with this...... Good Luck, Be safe, and shoot striaght!

xibowhunter · 11-16-2003, 06:32 AM

there goes another archery season , at least this year i saw deer , i didn' t get a shot either , of course last night after dark my back yard is full of deer , but thats how it goes sometimes , we will get em next season ! or go out with the rifle which is probably what i' ll do. congrats to all who scored !

Jimimac · 11-16-2003, 08:58 AM

Thanks PAHUNTER. Good luck to you too! I did not score either but all in all it was a good season. I am getting so old that the stuff I think I' m learning....I' m just relearning because I forgot. Seriously, it truly is an ongoing process isn' t it? Take care. Jim

bigdog02 · 11-17-2003, 06:35 AM

Welp nothing here either, drew the bow back a few times, but no good shots presented tmeselves.
Friday:
Tree feel across at the gate I go in, so I had to hike into my stand, so was late getting there. Saw one smaller doe and a 5 point, drew back on the 5 but never gave me a good enough shot, and eventually spooked on me. Friday afternoon, cutting tree out of way most of the afternoon, got in to hunt late and didn' t see anything.
Saturday:
Hunted a trail I had seen a decent buck on earlier this season, just at daybreak I see a large herd of deer coming through the woods, the lead doe spooks on something down the mt. from me and turns the herd around and goes the opposite direction of me, maybe 8-9 deer in the group. After a little while does start trickling up the trail to the left of my stand
hen I hear crashing and banging and know the sound all too well of deer running, and here comes a dow with that same 5pt on her tail nose to the ground. Drew the bow back but they never stopped moving even with a grunt from my call, so no shot there. Saturday night, wind was out of my favor to had to sit looking on a trail from opposite direction as usual, nothing til just about dark, doe at about 8 yards, but she was young, and then another bigger but still not huge doe at about 12 yards, let them both walk. Then just at dark looked behind me, and could see a doe feeding and another HUGE bodied deer, had it' s head behind a log but through the binos i swear I saw antlers, big antlers, lol it is getting dark fast and they will never make it to me in time, so i go for broke let out a few buck grunts with no response, then about 5-10 minutes later they turned tail and jogged up the mt. ended my season.

Overall a decent season found a LOT of good stand locations I can use in following seasons, saw on average aboutm 5-6 deer per outing.

cableguy119 · 11-17-2003, 07:04 AM

Well after 40+ hours in the stand this season I managed to see 2 deer on the way in to the stand Saturday morning. So That leaves the total number of deer seen in archery season to well - 3. Yeah well there is always rifle season and late smokepole. I see tons of deer during those times of the year, hunting at different areas. I got to say it was a learning experience. I think I am going to concentrate next year on doing more hunting in late October/November Hunting. Maybe catch a PSU game or two in late september early October so that I Don' t burn out.

I will admit at one point this season after a lot of time in the stand I thought about hanging it up. Frustrating to say the least I don' t know how some folks do it hunting hard woods with acres and acres of forest with no food plots, or fields nearby has been one of the hardest challenges I have faced. It is so forested that it really hard to scout. Hopefully I can hunt a differentI area next year. I think the farmer where I hunt rifle would let me set a stand if I asked him for archery. Yes next year I think a set up on the edge of the woods leading to corn should be a nice change of pace. Can spot and scout from really long distances too to not disturb things. I had to leave the stand mid morning and leave for the day. And in my frustration and contemplation I decided to shoot my field point for a few test shots on the way back to the car. I am shooting way too good to hang it up. dead on the money. So I leave havinge learned a ton and plan to get ready for next year. I can' t wait.

Well then again at least I didn' t have people stealing my stand, stalking my decoys, space aliens abducting me or any other really way out there incidents. Good luck to all PA hunters in the rifle and late seasons. Be smart and be safe

longbowman · 11-17-2003, 09:49 AM

I was very fortunate this season. I got to hunt a bunch and while the overall deer sightings was down I finally got some pre-rut action the last week of Oct. and took a good 8pt. and filled my doe tag two nights later. My son managed a good doe but had no opportunity at horns. It sure is a great way to spend your time during the most beautiful time of tho. Looking forward to my annual trek to the bear woods in Warren county!

Kyle3 · 11-18-2003, 02:41 PM

Goodluck to everyone in the rifle season. My season was soo very productive as in it was my first year bow hunting. I saw a great amount of deer, made on bad shot, and had one miss. But the experience of being out in the woods was tremendous. I wish everyone the best of luck.