Saturday's bow hunt
 

Got into my pop up ground blind this Saturday morning around 5AM just waiting for the sun to come up and hoping for my first deer with a bow.
At 7 AM I saw a buck coming in from left to right at about 50 yards. If he kept coming on that path he will cross in front of me at about 15 yards. At 7:06 he was at 30 yards. I could clearly see him through my peep but legal shooting time for that day was 7:16 AM!!!!!
At 7:07 he was 20 yards quartering to. At 7:09 he was at 15 or 16 yards broadside, and at 7:10 he was 20 yards quartering away.
By 7:16 he was 50 yards out. I tried to call him but he just kept going.
That was very exciting yet frustrating at the same time. To see one buck the whole year where I hunt would be good.
Hopefully my daughter can take him with a gun next Saturday on youth day.

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

wow....i think you are the most ethical hunter I have ever seen!! how do you know that your watch wasn't off 3 minutes? I would have taken the shot....i don't think three minutes would have gotten you in trouble. if any would ask you should just change your watch ten minutes fast or something.

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

I'm not positive on this, but doesn't wv have a 'half hour before sunrise till half hour after sunset' rule? va does. ex-if I have a doe in front of me at 0652, and sunrise is at 0722 (like it is here lately), I can shoot, if I can see my pins. yes, you are very ethical.

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

Wow That's something! I'd leave my watch home next time and go by "shooting light"

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

The table I have showed Sunrise at 7:46 as Sunrise. Hmmm Maybe wrong
I don’t know about “most ethical” There are a lot of ethical hunters in these forums
I took up this sport 1 year ago because my 12 year old daughter asked me if she could go hunting with her friend. I said we could learn it together.
We learned everything together including all of the laws and safety.
This can b and has been e a very rewarding sport. It can also be dangerous if not played by the rules.
I’ve taken the approach that I won’t compromise any of the laws especially since this whole process of learning involves my daughter. She wasn’t there with me Saturday but I’m still learning and act like she is there with me

Ya know, funny thing is. I won’t speed while either of my daughters are in the car with me. I try to set an example there too. But alone in a car I think I’m Richard Petty

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

When it comes to times like that, I wouldnt pay much attention to them. If I can see it, its going down. I wouldnt take the shot if I could not cleary see it but if its visible, like I said. good luck the rest of the season!

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

Typically I hunt the woods where it is too dark to see till shooting time, so if I could see my pins, I am sure I wouldn't have resisted.

Sounds exiting either way though! Good for you!

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

Yes. It was exciting.
Actually Other than actually taking the deer I was satisfied with the hunt. Based on what happened, I feel I was successful at scouting the area, blind location and concealment, scent control, and actually drew on him to make sure I could see him through the peep.
So up until then I feel I was successful.

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

I lay a pocket watch right in front of me .Legal time is exactly that legal

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

I for one commend you on your character. A great example you are for your daughter and us all.

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

That was 15 or 16 minutes that seemd like an hour. I would look down at my watch and think "only a minute went by? are you kidiing me?"

Now that I think about it. My daughter can't take him during the youth hunt. It's doe only.
Guess I'll just have to go find him again huh?

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

it was close enough to legal time.just shot it.come on

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

oh 1 more thing never heard of someone checking there watch like you say you were when theres a buck that close to them.sorry but it sounds fishy

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

quite possibly to someone who does not care if it's legal to shoot or not it may sound fishy.
would you check your calander to see if it's openeing day or is the day before close enough for you.
I'm not going to say you are wrong, for you, if it's light enough and you want to shoot by all means do so.
I was in the blind since 5 am waiting for the time to pass so i could shoot. I had just looked again a few minutes prior to seeing the buck and it was 6:50. At that time I knew i still had close to a half an hour. when the buck showed up 5 minutes later i looked at it hoping time had flown by. I wasn't that lucky

RE: Saturday's bow hunt
 

Hoyt3,
Ya got me thinking there a bit. So I went on the US Navy Observatory website to look up the sunrise times. It was 7:46 that day for Huntington WV. I'm not sure but maybeother publications post different times.