JoeRE

The jury is still out w/ me too....My 'main' goals, helping my dad and younger borther connect (both bowhunting 1st timers) has not happened yet. I take that back, my brother made a clean kill on a doe, but no buck yet.....

For me personally, the season is mixed. The deer I took was a hawg, the biggest andquite likely oldest buck I have taken,but the only buck I saw the whole season till then...and I saw only a handful of does....or wildlife in general for that matter, which was depressing considering my expectations. The weather was poo also. Basically for 8.5 out of 9 hunts it was less than enjoyable. I went out with a camera last weekend and screwed up the opportunity to 'shoot' a couple of mature bucks...although with a bow it would have been interesting.

IAhuntr

Every year God gives me a chance to be in the woods hunting, I consider it a success. That being said, having a doe and a nice buck down already , with another archery doe tag in my pocket and a buck plus a doe tag ready for gun season, I feel it's going pretty darn good!

jonhall9

I would have to say that this has been the roughest season I have had in a few years in terms of bottom lines. I feel that I've progressed as a hunter, because I have managed, on sub-par public land, to consistently see deer within bow range nearly everytime I have hunted. That being said, things have not gone well beyond that. I've missed multiple deer due to deflections. The two I have connected with were marred by the fact that I gut-shot one. I did recover it, but the meat had spoiled due to the high temperatures in early season.

Succeeded in locating multiple bucks. However, didn't get the one I wanted into range. And then came muzzleloader, the end of any real chance to catch them in their regular patterns on public land. I hunted last week with my muzzleloader. Missed one not once, not twice, but three times on Monday night at 80, 60, and 40 yards respectively. Clearly my gun was off somehow, although I had checked the zero at the range a month earlier and it was fine. So, after re-sighting it in (it was off by a foot), I went out Wednesday morning, and proceeded to obliterate a doe's shoulder at 50 yards. I followed a tricky blood trail for two hundred yards before it petered out and a search for the body revealed nothing. Heavy blood at the beginning until it must have clotted up. Got major shoulder bones, with fragments up to two inches along the blood trail. Felt pretty sick after that one, I've never seen a deer hit in the shoulder with a 240 grain slug that didn't put it down sooner than that.

And to top it all off, went out with archery tackle last night and wasn't able to get a good shot off because of the deer heading directly towards my tree, refusing to turn broadside.

Oh well, there is plenty of late season left up north. Here's to hoping!

Jon

Schultzy

For me this season has been great! I shot myself a nicePope And Youngwhitetail and shot a nice bear bow hunting as well. Just being out in the woods is enough for me to have a succesfull season. Whenever i go out west to Montana elk hunting and come back emty handed the guys say to me, (That must suck, you go all that way and didn't get nothing!)If a get ananimal its a plus, if not, oh well!Just being out there and enjoying mother nature is a gift itself!

eman1200

1st year hunter here....success? Let's see...I tagged one doe and one buck, both of which 99.9% of the people on this site would have passed on (not entirely true, the buck was decent). Seen a bunch? not really, I did have a fun opportunity to pass on a 4 pointer (just enjoyed calling him in) and a few does but several times saw nothing and froze my arse off. However, was it a success? In so many ways it was the biggest success I'll ever have:

1) I got into a lifelong sport/hobby/way of life that most people will never know of.
2) I got to fuel an old friendship with someone that I had somewhat lost touch with. This guy is my hunting mentor and a damn good friend. I respect this guy to no end and can't even express the thanks I owe him for showing me the ropes. Most definitely the biggest success of the season (and going forward).
3) I got to put food in my freezer and feed lots of people delicious yummy venison, which always makes for a good time.
4) I continue to learn more and more every time I step into the woods, even before that, with or without a bow.
5) 3 words.....memories, memories, memories.

I probably could go on, but the bottom line is yes, this season is a complete and total success.

Oh, and #6) is the help and advice I got from a lot of guys on this site. Thanks to the guys who didn't ignore my "new hunter" beginner questions earlier on. Couldn't have done it without you too.

GregH

I've had a successful season so far, although it is one of the shortest ones I've ever had. I'm not done yet, but it's coming to an end pretty quick.

bloodcrick

Even though i did not trophy hunt this season and the buck sightings were at the worst ever due to EHD it was one of my best. gotta make the best of the situation sometimes.

ArcheryArchery
(myself)(my son)
1. spring gobbler 1. Doe
2. Doe 2. Buck
3. Buck3. he got his spring
4. Missed the coyote [:@] turkey but with a gun

burniegoeasily

Tagged out. Taken two does and a buck. If I can get a hold of my buddy down south, ill get to use my second buck tag. The county my land is in has a one buck limit. The hill country has a two buck limit, so I can tag one more there. I need to. Last year I only tagged three deer and ran out of meat by the first of the summer. We eat a lot of deer.

Ive alsotaken three hogs, but that doenst count much. Hogs are ever where in Texas. Once deer season is over, ill focuse more onthem. As of now, I take one at the end of the day when no deer have shown up.

Rick James

This years been good to me. I killed my first turkey with a bow, and broke the 20lb turkey mark (finally after 15+ turkeys) all in one hunt. I got my girlfriend into the woods with me and she enjoyed it. I got to spendanother seasonwith a great friend hunting both of our properties. I finally got Rob up to my place, and he managed to get a deer to boot. I also happened to kill my largest bow kill buck to date. Not too bad I would say.........

And just think, I still have 2x NY buck tags, 2x PA doe tags, and a NY doe tag as well. [8D] I will be out with the bang stick this weekend though in NY, and probably one Saturday in PA as well.......but will soon be at it in NY and PA for the late archery season and am really looking forward to it.

peakrut

If success means a deer, yes I have accomplish this.
If success means a buck, no I have not accomplished this.
Success on learning something this year, you better believe it.
Overall evaulation of this seasonthus far, a success.