You must have a short season for archery. Ours here in Iowa goes from Oct.1st til Jan. 10th.

wellI had 7 seasons like that, from the start to whenI killed my 1st buck ever. last yr I didnt have any luck either, no deer would give me a good shot. Thats bowhunting!! Good luck with the rifle.

I gotta move, you guys gripe about coming up "empty handed" after being able to pass on 20 deer. If you even saw 20 deer this year around where I live, people would be looking at you with the dagger-eyed look of jealousy. Tell someone you passed on big buck in hopes of a bigger one, and you'll be losing friends fast!

I got back from Illinois last week after having a revelation. I had the opportunity to pass on at least 5 120 class bucks (outfitter has a 130" minimum) and one borderline shooter in just the first three days! And things on my end of the property were SLOW! That was just ridiculous.

So my question is: Since my wife won't agree to leave our family behind in favor of moving to where there are more deer than people in the woods, how do I get my in-laws convinced THEY need to move to the midwest?

Don't settle for less than what your goal is. That spike could grow up to be a wallhanger and you would have taken him out in hindsight. I don't have any trophy bucks yet but I have set mygoal as a 140-150" class deer to take. I want a really big one or none at all.The farm I hunt has a 130" minimum so I know there are big ones out there. I passed up a buck bigger than I have ever seen in the wild this year. Someone else shot him and he scored 133". It's OK though, I'm glad I didn't settle for him because I still have the rest of the season to hunt. If I come up MT handed, oh well. There's always next year and they'll be a year older. Here's the one I passed up. We called him Crab Claw.

I feel your pain. I have hunted harder this year than ever and most of my hunts have went poorly. I have seen alot of deer, but they were 50 yards away or would come in downwind and scent me. That was my season in a nutshell. I have a couple of days of bow season left here in Ohio that I will be able to hunt before shotgun season. I am actually looking forward to it a little where I won't be be hindered by distance and branches. We have a season that runs until January 31st for bow, but late season is really, really difficult. After gun season and the flood of orange, a great deal of the deer seem to go nocturnal.

However, regardless of the outcome, I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. I have had great hunts where I have seen 8-10 deer (although they were all out of range or tiny or downwind). I have seen more sunrises than the rest of my family combined. I have learned a great deal about the level of determination I have. I have learned even more about the animal that I chase and love. All in all, a super year.

My season is probably over too. Never shot an arrow. My last deer was in Nov 1999 and I don't let anything go by. I saw 2 Bucks(4 pointers) about 40 yards away. No shots.Also saw a doe. That was it.