W9ARcher

The cold and snow ended my bow hunting early during the rut. Saw nice bucks 4 days in a row before the blizzard hit NW Wisconsin and cut my trip short 3 days. Couldn't get the shooters any closer than 50 yards.

Had several spikers and basket rack bucks come in to my decoys every day (different stands) but the shooters didn't want to come in. Maybe I'll remove the antlers from the decoy next time but it was sure fun watching the smaller bucks tippy toe around the Boss Buck decoy and bedded doe I had setup.

One 10 pointer would have scored in the 130's but he just stared at 80 yards for 3 minutes and walked away.

Another 8 pointer in the 120" range feed on acorns for 20 minutes around an oak 50 yards away and he too walked away. Cool adrenalin rush, especially when he stopped at my parting grunt but didn't take the challenge to investigate.

Hoping it warms up in December so I can get back out there and hunt the second rut since the primary rut undoubtably was interrupted with the 18 inches of snow and cold that hit on Nov 10th. Will let the woods settle down after the gun season the last week of November though the forecast for gun season look like highs in the 20's through the end of November.

W9ARcher

Seems like you both hunt with cross bows so I have a question. What is the farthest you feel comfortable shooting at a large buck with a bolt? After seeing all those shooters last week in the 50 to 80 yard range, I thought I needed to upgrade to a cross bow to reach out to them. Stopped by my favorite archery shop and the owner said cross bows don't really reach out that far since they make so much noise and the deer react before a bolt hits it mark beyond 40 yards.

My grandpa used to shoot deer with a cross bow out to 75 yards but he hunted inside a wooden blind so I'm guessing that helped dampen the sounds.

Guess I'll just have to adjust my stand locations to get them in closer as I doubt I'll be switching to a cross bow for another 10 years. I refuse to hunt within enclosed stand as I love the view from up high and unrestricted. Wind is a pain though......

Just wondering......Good Luck

Zim

A kid saw my buck run past his stand the evening I shot him and accosted me about it two days later in parking area. He asked if I had a fixed stand there and I said no, I use a Lone Wolf climber, but I marked my tree with a string. So what does he do? Next thing I know he sets a fixed stand 30 yards from my tree I shot the 150" out of! Hope he's not one of those guys who now thinks he owns it. I left a note on his windshield last night. Homey don't play that game.

Even left my 2nd LW in a nearby tree two days ago just in case. Left all my gear in it Wednesday. So I go out there this morning and he flashes me off, but my gear including bow was up there. We were about 100 yards apart but not in sight of each other so I got in my tree and hunted all day. Big buck came out at sunset right between us chasing doe. Wind is totally wrong for him but it chases doe right to him! Unreal. Earlier this kid tried calling bucks with grunt & rattle. Yikes that kid neads some learnin! Bad technique and crappy Knight & Hale washboard rattle. Brutal. Doe ran like hell, taking buck in tow.

bristowboy_20

I know guys that will shoot 80 yards with a good crossbow. They do reach out farther than a compound bow. As for myself, I probably wouldn't shoot at something much farther than 50 yards with my crossbow. It's a 150 lb Barnett Jackal. I got mine at Rural King for $250. Walmart had them for $350. Hunting with a bow is funner than a crossbow IMO but I couldn't find a bow I liked that was in my price range.

W9ARcher

Thanks for sharing your experience shooting a crossbow. I'm keeping my options open and will talk with a hunting buddy that just switched so see if it's worth the investment in new equipment. He shot an 11 pointer in late September but I don't know the specifics on the range of the shot.

Either way, the joy of hunting is watching things unfold and making those decisions of whether to shoot or not. Still a long archery season left to get them in closer.

bristowboy_20

I have been watching a set of twins that kept showing up by my stand. They weren't afraid of me at all. This morning I got in my stand before daylight and I heard something walking immediately. As it got a little brighter outside I noticed a deer looking up at me from 15 feet away. It was one of the twins. It finally got bright enough to see and I watched her walk away and join her brother who was busy trying to tear up a tree with his nubs. They walked off and I didn't think I would see them again but they came back about an hour later so I waved at them while they were 30-ish feet away. They both looked up for a second and went back to eating. The button buck went back to his tree to attack it some more and his sister walked off behind me.

My brother in law was hunting about 300 yards behind me and I told him that I had been watching some really young deer for awhile and he told me he wouldn't shoot any of them. About a half hour after she walked off I got startled from a shotgun blast and I knew it was my brother-in-law. My heart sank. I got out of my stand and walked over there, hoping he had shot a buck or large doe. He shot the little girl. sigh. It sucks! I was hoping they would both get to grow into mature deer but no. Those 2 little deer went everywhere together. They had been playing earlier that morning in front of me. I feel betrayed. It makes me mad when someone doesn't keep their word and shoots deer that are barely old enough to lose their spots. Now the little button buck is all alone. They were 2 of the most un-shy wild deer I have seen.

There are a lot of deer around here. There is no reason to shoot babies! Give them a chance to grow. I told my nephew we can't allow young deer to be shot on any land we hunt where multiple people from our family hunts. He agreed 100%. There are more than enough mature bucks and does out here. And now I'm the one stuck with carving her up for food. That's the last thing I wanted to do. =\

Zim

I had my 3rd big buck opportunity at a 150"+ buck Saturday evening. Made a clean miss at 40 yards. I underestimated the distance and shot low. Normally I never shoot that far, but I had ranged that clear opening. It's just the area between 30 & 40 was low, not in view. So I could not distinguish anything between 30 or 40. I picked 30 since I was elevated and shooting lower. Wrong call. Just glad I had no tracking job.

I'm tired and took today off to work on papers. Will go at it again Tues-Thurs prior to gun opener. Dang I am mentally exhausted. Never passed on so many 120's & 130's shopping for a big one. But I'd never had the last two opportunities if my second tag was tied on to a 130" early November.

bristowboy_20

I was out with my nephew a couple days ago and spotted a nice 8 pointer bedded down on the hillside across from us. We have trail cam photos of it so we know it's fairly young. We both decided not to take that deer this year.

Zim

Seen three bucks today in just 1 1/2 hour hunting this evening, plus bumped a shooter hiking out. Passed on a 120", then 10 minutes later the best buck just peeled off the trail heading to my stand, skirting the bottom in favor of side hilling opposite side of ravine. He ended up missing me by 80 yards, but I got a good look. White rack ~140-145". Tomorrow evening I'll set up farther in, where the trail split.

Zim

I was looking at two trees in that bottom. Ended up picking wrong one. The 145" ended up within range of that tree 20 yards. Oh well tried again last day of our fist season Thursday and just saw one buck out of range. I'm done for now. Will give it a go late season when they are on evening feed patterns.