its hard for me to even TALK to other people about bow hunting lol...its usually not long till they say SOMETHING that just completely takes all their credibility...and when i hear them talking hunting stories and that, well, its always worse...i am just TOTALLY different from many(i talk to alot of "hunters" at school...) oh well...i know who i am and know i do everything 150% from shooting to scouting to hunting to tracking and recovering...i give it my all and then some more....



didnt see a deer all morning in the honey hole hill...one jumped up just off my trail in the dark when i was walking in....no way to beat it...i have a trimmed trail the whole way to the stand and once a year or so i jump a deer walking in...it IS the only way in...


going to hunt a tree ive never hunted this evening on the honey hole hill...going to be as high as possible...looked at the tree this morning and i aughta beable to see a good distance...might not get shooting, but i have a feeling the deer are skirting my current setup....even the BB i did see didnt do what all the other deer usually did in the past...and i THINK i am hearing deer and could sworn i caught movement of a deer a couple times now just out of view...so im gunna get high this evening...gunna be warm....

Got skunked for the first sit of the season. I was trying to go a whole week without getting skunked, but oh well Sure was a pretty sunset, and I did see 6 on my way out, but nothing from the stand. Hopefully others had better luck than me.

well, the evening was beautiful...WARM...i didnt venture in the woods till 5 or so...didnt bother moving the stand....i was already sweating and didnt wanna stink the place up and make more noise than i needed too so i just climbed back up the same tree...

this is my first sighting...gunna be long captain mauser style

not much going on...turkeys like usual...jusssst getting dark...figured id lower the bow down and head out...still legal light, but i didnt THINK id beable to see and ID deer so i was sneaking out while nothing was there....bow hit the ground and iwas unscrewing my hanger when i caught movement...saw antler immediatly...grabbed the binocs and had 4pts on one side...he was in a little crab apple patch...hurried up and got the bow back up...he never even looked my direction! got an arrow nocked and cocked the QAD...he was right about 20yds but too thick for a shot..then i realized that 1 side i seen was his ONLY side...

a decent side...maybe a nub on the other side i couldnt tell...looked busted off but i couldnt be sure...

what to do what to do.....2.5yo buck...probably 14-15" wide if he had both sides...would been my first 2.5yo buck ever....buttt its early, hes a half rack.....errr what to do!?!? after 5 minutes of that i told myself IF he came into the wide open clearing on his own and i had light, id shoot him...if he didnt, i wasnt going to try to help him...and wasnt taking any other shot because of the low light and invisible limbs being possible...he cleared the crab apples but i wanted him closer where i KNEW it was wide open...

WHOA! another deer behind him! a bigger one?? legal buck with both sides!?!? VERY VERY dark coat...almost black...farmer buddy seen him in the spring or early summer said it was a buck with thats REAL dark..seen antlers but immediatly seen he was smaller...4,5,6, maybe 7...i couldnt tell his antlers were dark and i wasnt worried about it because he was 1.5 and smaller..smaller than last years so he got a pass for that....still watching the half rack....probably watched them both for 10 minutes..(maybe 5 but it seemed like 30 lol)

im getting nervous..the small buck is behind me...with the East wind he was DOWN wind...AND standing on my trail i walked in on TWICE today and was sweating this evening walking in...he NEVER busted...caught my movement and looked but he went back to feeding...the half rack hits my clearning...uht oh...guess he might get it......hes facing me, head down...errr what to do what to do...them i realized although i could see the buck and antlers and knew it was clear, i might not see through the peep or see the pin...we'll find out...its GO TIME! full draw...he turns broadside...errrr he did what he was supposed to for a shot...maybe i better take it!?!?!



well........i passed him! i could hardddddly make out my pin...even if it was a monster, i would still passed. i wont take a shot im not comfortable with. 12yds broadside i coulda spit in his eye...but its bowhunting...ANYTHING can happen when you lose an arrow...

im happy with my decision...if he had both sides, i would be tellin a different story and would took the 20yd shot...i had plenty of light then....

VERY awesome hunt...i feel...satisfied? ive never PASSED a legal deer i COULD have killed...and watched it for THAT long...had 2 bucks within 15yds of me at the same time...both down wind and crossed my trail and they never flinched...

the first thing i thought of was ROB BUCK! lol...that was my first instinct when i seen he only had a half rack...

i know i learned more and will learn more from WATCHING rather than shooting...its early....yes, i could drilled him...but im confident i'll see another, or him later in the season...got the last 3 weekends to hunt and can hunt that spot hard if i want....i didnt spook either of them and let them make it into the corn 100yds away before i snuck outta there...i just feel...good...im hopeful that i'll get a bigger one..with the bow this year....and hopeful that anyone else that sees him passes him as well so next year i have a 3.5yo biggun on my hill....

i wanna see the stud that busted his rack!!!!

Congrat, Mauser! Sounds like you had a great hunt. I remember when i first started passing on bucks. Its very exciting and I think you begin to learn alot more thru observing them. Im sure you'll be rewarded later this season

thanx drhntr....for some reason, i feel just as good about passing him as i would if i drilled him....it would been a bitter sweet kill...ya i filled my buck tag...on a 2.5yo buck...but id look at that half rack skull on the wall and always say "man it was the first week of the season" "man he would been a whopped next year.." "man...maybe the stud that busted his rack would came by later while you were in bed not hunting..."

i KNOW i will learn more by HUNTING than shooting...thats how i learned to be the turkey hunter that i am...by hunting..not filling tags...not a EXPERT turkey hunter, but i can usually fill my tag with a long beard every season...so i know my deer hunting will be the same way....and i tell myself i will still go out and sit in the stand even if i fill my tag....but reality is, its hard to get outta bed when its 20 degrees and you got 4hrs sleep the night before and cant kill one even if you do see one lol.....

that was the best 10 minutes or so of my season....it could be the highlight of my season and i eat my buck tag...and i'll be happy....theres atleast a couple MUCH bigger bucks in the neighborhood...and i wont get to hunt that spot till halloween weekend....i am happy with my odds...

Sounds like excitememt there mauser. Shooting or passing in your situation there was no wrong choice.

I finally seen a deer & then killed it
Nice doe. Perfect shot, no blood trail. She went a SOLID 150 yds on a double lung.Wefollowed kicked up leaves & bustedtwigs to find her.

thanx rybo...i thought i would wake up kicking myself this morning...but i still feel good....im not gunna lie...if i dont see much between now and the next time i hunt that spot(likely halloween weekend) and he comes by and offers me a good shot sometime after that weekend, i just may take it...id rather kill a buck with my bow than rifle....and i'll be smiling ear to ear to drag a 2.5yo out of the woods...half rack or not.

we'll see...ive never passed a legal buck...if thats the only legal buck i have in range all season, so be it...VERY awesome expirience...and kinda rewarding all in its own....and i got to LEARN from that hunt....i was able to pull my bow up from the ground, nock an arrow etc etc with 2 bucks within 30yds at the time....i learned my scent control practices are definently working....theres no way to tell me they arent working NOW...breeze in my face and they both walked behind me and crossed the trail i walked on 3x lol...

im pumped now....all i can think about is gettin back out there!!!


Congrats on the doe!!! kill her with the compound or stick bow?? what broadhead?? weird there was no trail...good job finding her!! wheres the pics!?!?

well guys it starts tomorrow morning so ill be in the tree for 530 ill post as i go on how the day unfolds hopfuly ill put on in the freezer quick and then just buck hunt !!!


matt

good luck, matt! Im heading to the farm now. Ill be hunting the next two days. Its really warm now but a front is moving in on tuesday so hopefully the deer will start moving.

Im also putting out another trailcam at a mineral site i have. Cant wait to check the others also and see if the big 8 is appearing in daylight yet.

Had a great weekend up at Matt's (Rick James) place. Met up with Matt / PA, Rick James, and Jawshooter (Dan) and we had a successful weekend. I saw plenty of turkeys and had shooting at 2 fawns (BB and doe) and I was picking up my bow for a doe at 45 yards but she didn't offer the shot. Matt (RJ) took a real nice 85" (+/-) buck and Matt (PA) took a real nice doe.

Overall it was a fantastic weekend. I have the video up of my bear encounter from Friday night and shortly I'll have up video from the weekend.