Learned a ton today
 

Today, went out at 3 30 didnt see anything till 4 40 when the squirrels started goin nuts. I wait and about 10 minutes later a black cat runs about 40 yards from me and goes in a bean and corn fence line. Its out there for about 30 minutes then it come in the woods. I asked the guy if i was hunting with if i could shoot it, on the walkie talkie. he says no and it goes over by him. 5 minutes pass and i look over at him and he is standing up. i look at where he is lookin and i see a white rack. i stand up and keep watching. he shoots and i hear a loud crack and the buck takes off towards me. It stops 10 yards in front of me and looks back at him. I pull back when the buck looks at me. I look through my peep sight which was twisted and i see brown so i let it go.The deer takes off and i can barely wait to get out of the stand. I get down and look and nothing is on the arrow and the guy i was with didnt find anything on his arrow but his arrow was broke. This is my 1st time in 3 years of bowhunting getting a shot and my 1st shot had to be on the biggest buck i have ever seen while hunting.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

So what did you learn?

RE: Learned a ton today
 

????? Am i the only one confused??

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Why shoot a cat? It might be someones pet. Are walkie talkies legal in your neck of the woods. What did you learn? Oh, I almost forgot, nice shooting to the both of you.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

learned not to shoot at things because u never know when the big boy is gonna come out. also that u dont have to shoot something to be a successful hunt. i am so pumped even tho i missed. this is only my 3rd shot in 4 years of hunting with a bow and a gun.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Well Sounds like you guys need to go to the target range! I didn't think walkie talkies were legal anywhere. And why would you shoot a cat? At 4:40 in the heat of the hunt?

RE: Learned a ton today
 

So...

You watched your friend take a shot at a deer.

You don't know whether he hit it or not.

And when it runs to you, you take a shot at it too?

Who would have claimed the deer if you'd both hit it?

RE: Learned a ton today
 

The part that bothered me was "saw brown and let it go". There is a lot of brown on a deer.

Walkie talkies illegal? Where is this? I never heard of that.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

IDK the people i was with gave the walkie talkie to me. and the brown i say was where all the hair meets at the chest of the deer. everyone seems to be rippin on me :(

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Its not that they're illegal tohave, but you can't hunt with them on.

Like you can't get on the radio and say "Ok, Bob, you've got deer coming your way, get ready."

RE: Learned a ton today
 

we were only 40 yards apart and i only used it to ask him that. i'm not gonna stand up and yell at him so thats what i did. i dont know if its illegal.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

As far as I know it's not illegal to use walkie talkies here. We don't use them for that, though, just to communicate if someone has a deer down. We don't hunt that close together.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

OOOOH give it a break guy's ,the guy learned that you don't shoot at anything other than deer while your hunting deer ,is this so hard for you's to understand .Have you's just been lurking on the outside waiting for a reason to jump on someone .Sure seem's that way .
As for the shooting part of it ,it appear's that they both missed ,this happen's to all of us ,at least he owned up to it ,he'll get it right .
What make's us think that we're all perfect .

nubo

RE: Learned a ton today
 

You know, I'm thinking they are illegal here, but I really don't know because we don't use them for those reasons. We use them to simply let each other know how our hunt is going and so we don't get bored out of our minds. LOL

As for people rippin' you, I see you are new to the forum, so it will take you a while to learn the ropes here, but usually if you say something like, "I saw brown, and let it go", you're gonna get a bad response. And, I don't use a peep site personally, but isn't it a slight problem if it's twisted? And you *still* shot at the deer? How would you have felt if you would have wounded it badly, not lethally, but to the point where it's life was never going to be the same? I try not to "rip" newer posters on here so as not to scare them away, because truth be told, there is a ton of information and education on this site for hunters of ALL experience levels!

It's just that with this post, it almost sounded to me (and I am guessing to other readers as well) that you really don't have a genuine respect for the game you are hunting. I would say 98% of the posters here have a heartfelt respect for anything they are hunting and do their best to make sure they harvest their game in the most ethical way possible.

Nerves get the best of all of us at some point, especially when it is the first deer we are shooting at, but we are obligated as hunters to take the time and think through the situation before we execute any actions. If you look down your peep site, and it is twisted, let your bow down and let the deer walk. There are other deer out there, and patience is a huge part of hunting, you WILL get another chance at another deer at some point, so why take the chance of wounding a deer that you will not be able to recover?

I would suggest reading a little more before from the veteran posters here and gathering all the useful information you can. And if you are worried about getting ripped, then take a few minutes to think through what you are going to post. We are all very passionate about our sport, and we don't take things lightly if they involve ignorance teamed with hunting.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Couple things in your post are really distressing...but everyone already pointed them out.

Dont shoot pets...[:@]

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Okay, that sounded a little harsh, I agree with Nubo, we all make mistakes, and we ALL have missed deer. I just missed a bruiser myself on Thursday... I guess what I was trying to say is just gain all the knowledge you can from others and from experiences just like you posted. Learn from your mistakes, practice every opportunity you have, it will eventually pay off.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

2way radios are legal and illegal depending how you use them here in PA. You can use them to communicate with one another however you cannot use them to aid in the kill of an animal.

You can use them to say, "hey, how you making out, seeing anything?" But you cannot use them to say, "hey, one's coming your way."

Really it's a silly law because, how about cell phones? Are they any different?

RE: Learned a ton today
 

something else i thought was wierd after we both got down and checked our arrows we heard shots from what sounded like a shotgun in the direction the deer ran. There was 2 shots and after both shots there was a thwack like the person hit what they were shooting at. It isnt shotgun season and there is no ponds lakes etc for goose hunters to be shooting at so we think that someone was illegally shooting at the deer.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Could be the case, but it's water under the bridge now, take what you have learned and run with it.

As for the pet issue, the only things I will shoot at other than deer are possums, groundhogs and coyotes. If it's close to PTDT (prime time deer time) I won't even do that.Lots of people let their cats out to "play", it's one of those things that give hunters a bad rap... and that's not cool.

Glad you made the right decision not to shoot Kitty.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Exactly! Buck Hunting girl

Believe me I've learned ton's from this site and YES you have to be sure of what your saying or your gonna get it from other member's .
But my real point here is that instead of bashing a guy ,at least give him the tool's to correct his mistake's ,you can be diplomatic about his mistake's and help him ,Bashing doesn't help anyone and the one's that do the bashing without giving the proper advice to go with it are just plain wrong in my book's .

nubo

RE: Learned a ton today
 

I was just playing with the kid a bit. I hope you get another shot at that buck. Make sure you know where you are aiming though.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

it was the 1st buck i've had a shot at and everything happened SOOOOOOO fast. i forgot everything that i practice i didnt even have time to shake. once the cat came i thought everything was over and i was frustrated thats y i wanted to shoot it and there isnt any houses within a mile. plus i got eager with me only shootingat 1 deerin 4 years.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Just be patient ,it will happen ,but alway's focus on where you want to hit the animal ,brown just won't cut it ,there's alot a brown on a deer as Buck Hunting girl has mentioned .Draw ,focus and release ,it's just that simple . And don't even consider shooting another animal such as a cat or ground hogg or what ever while hunting deer in a stand ,That big buck just might be right behind you as you've found out . So you learnewd something and that's a start.

nubo

RE: Learned a ton today
 

You made a poor shot, it happens to most people especially when starting out. Most just don't admit it thats all. With time spent out hunting you will gain more hunting experience, your shooting ability will also improve. You can also pickup alot of information right here from very experienced hunters and shooters. We have bow shop owners and techs, string makers and professional shooters here. Most will gladly answer questions without climbing up on a pulpit and preaching. Stick around. ( oh and don't smoke the kittys ).

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Like everyone else said, everyone misses a shot every once in awhile. I just missed one the other day and theres nothin i can do about it except get back out there and try again. Theres really no way to practice for the real thing no matter how good of a shooter you are. You'll never get the sameadrenalin rushwhen youre takin aim at a target. The only real practice is to just get out there and do it.

Personally i will not shoot the cats around my house.Afew years back, the man that lived down the street moved and of coarse the cats stayed. They werewere verymean and would get into everything. I guess he just had a few that would roam around the neighborhood and then they had a litter every year. There had to be almost 20+ cats runnin around. And yes, if one of them came under my stand, i would have shot it. But now the only cats i see are fairly tame and theres only about 3.

Be careful what you say on the walkie talkies. I live in PA so it is legal to talk on them while hunting. I shot a6 point and was jokin around w/ my dad, tellin him it was a b&c buck. Well someone had a scanner and came out to look at my "monster buck". Boy were they surprised lol.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

wow

RE: Learned a ton today
 

The 2ways are legal here in WI for general talking AND to alert other members of your party of game. They can NOT be used nor any other electronic or amplified device to call to someone to get them to come tag a deer in a party hunting situation.(party hunting is legal during the firearms seasons here.)
As far as the new poster's issues....we've ALL made mistakes at some point in our careers, and as the topic states....he LEARNED from it.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

I just want to know, Now do you consider that Black Cat, GOOD or BAD luck?

RE: Learned a ton today
 

The law here in Arkansas is the same as in PA. You can have and use the walkie's, but it is illegal to use them to aid in the taking of game. You are right in saying that you cannot tell someone else that a deer is moving their way, or headed in a certain direction, or anything of that nature.

And as far as the post goes, I think the owner is young, and he might have a bit of trouble conveying his thoughts completly. But I do believe he knows he made some mistakes, and it might take a little time to sink in.

But I do hope you think about the whole sequence of what happened, and learn from it. I especially hope that youlearn to not just shoot at brown, and to never take a shot if your equipment is messed up.

Good luck to you,

Be safe

God Bless

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Because the game warden told me to shoot any cat I come across in the woods. They are very destructive predators, especially on quail populations.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Walkies are legal in Ms you just can't help someone hunt in anyway. For instance on drives you couldn't tell someone something was coming their way.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

I saw brown so I let go? What kind of BS is that? I hope you were generalizing and you really had a good sight picture and not just brown filling your peep!

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Nubo:

ONLY shoot at deer while deer hunting???? Are you kidding me?? People come on here ALL THE TIME and tell us about turkeys they kill from a treestand while deer hunting......and everybody gives them the big high-five for their feat. I'm not condemning another man's right to hunt turkeys from a treestand....NOR amd I diminishing his accomplishment........but it's simply taboo around here. I've seen turkeys from my stand EVERY TIME I hunt the woods beside my home......SIXTY-FIVE, last Thanksgiving mroning.....and all within 34 yds......MANY inside 10yds.

I shot my '06 buck on 9/30. I was JUST getting to the ground.......and I look to my right and see.......a BLACK CAT moving through the woods. I thought..."OH NO". No problems, though.....and I would NEVER shoot anyone's pet while in my tree stand. PERIOD.

jeff

RE: Learned a ton today
 

THANKSGIVING ARCHERY HUNT AND DINNER @ SBGOBBLERS HOUSE THIS YEAR. EVERYBODY BRING YOUR BOW AND APPITITE......LOL

65? Man I would see 25 or so in a herd , flock, whatever you call it, on my old lease, and I thought w had it good..... WOW.

Hey SB, what was your address again?

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Well I didn't mean to be rippin on the guy! I made some Bad shots in my time. The Saw Brown an let it godeal got to me!! But just the other day I was telling a story about the doe I killed and I said I let'er fly. Some guys said stuff about that.I haven't been in the sport very long. So I geuss if there is any rippin to be done I need to leave it to the veterans. Because while they rip on you they can give you useful information! Good Luck for the rest of the season. And listen to these guys they know what they are talkin' about. You can learn alot here. Don't listen to the people like me!! That just tell you what you did wrong but not how to fix it.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

I'm from PA.

lol

Jeff

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Sounds to me like you need to practice shooting your bow from your stand. Or use another similar raised platform. I use my house. It has three different levels, so I can become pretty well acquainted with shooting my bow from different elevations.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

SB Gobbler!

I don't expect other's to have the same belief's as I do .Here in Ontario we don't have a fall turkey hunt ,maybe if we did might think different .
But if Whitetail is what your hunting ,you need to be quiet and patient till your shot arises ,you may get away with it ,you may not .
But if you look at the thread's that guy's are collecting praises ,check to see if my name's among them NOT LIKELY.
This is just my opinion ,I don't expect other's to have the same and it's their perogative .
I know all too well just how quiet and sneeky a whitetail can be as you should know as well ,this is why i wouldn't shoot at another animal while hunting whitetail

nubo

RE: Learned a ton today
 

Well I believe if you get a shot at LEGAL game even if you are hunting deer and it is not a deer, then its okay to shoot as long as you are completely legal. Around here in MS, if I am deer hunting and a predator comes out, I am taking a shot especially if it is a hog. But I am not putting anyone down for their opinion not to take other game.

RE: Learned a ton today
 

I think your missing my point ,I'm just saying that if I'm hunting deer ,I don't like to be shooting at other animal's .I just find that you have a good chance of ruining your hunt .I'm not saying it's wrong if you have more than 1 season running at the same time ,and if your legal that's fine to because your hunting more than 1 species .

nubo