HuntinGUS

Imissed a big 8 this year because I tried to shoot at him while sitting in my stand. I have killed numerous deer while sitting, but this time I was not in the correct position and my cam hit my boot upon release and my aarow missed low by no more than an inch.[]. I will now make sure I am in the standing position..........bent at the waist.......... every time.

I overhunter a stand.......... again. Boy that is a toughhabit to break.

I need a new safety harness.

I need to scout more areas...........

I learned that bow hunting from a ground blind is a blast! I will do that more next year.

I need to stand more and sit less.

mauser06

ive been pondering this for MONTHS now...i released my arrow 10-13 and been thinking about how i can improve things for NEXT year....

scent control was upto par as far as i know...even in 90 degree days...

got on my morning stands well before game time...and evening stands i was in well before "evening"

avoided overhunting stands...no more than once a week per area...

i called in some of my first ever deer...never tried before...boy that was awesome.

my shot sequence was there...i put legal antlers on his head and let my 1000s of practice shots this year become my second nature...didnt think about anchor points, leaving both eyes open, what pin to shoot, where to settle the pin etc...i hit full draw, he stoped, it felt "right" and i knew i hit my anchor points and was bent at the waist and KNEW he was on the 21yd trail and knew where i wanted to settle my pin...released and watched the arrow let the air out of him...

i put in the scouting time...i pulled my hair out studying ariels and topos for my state game lands at school...i been having trouble finding deer there, though i know they are there...seen my first buck while bowhunting there this season...and saw another deer that evening i am pretty certain was a cruising buck...

i watched the wind and weather...if it was bad for a stand, i didnt hunt it..


i KNOW theres room to improve...i just cant figure out what/where i need to improve...i was into bucks dang near every outting this season...saw more deer in the 2 weeks i hunted than i did all of last season...

i think ive came a LONG way in just a season...and killed my first buck with a bow. im by no means and expert...but, im learning, and thats what makes the difference...

for next year, MORE scouting, hopefully MORE properties, and hopefully bigger buck....

popeandyoungchaser

I did everything for the most part right this year. I maybe hunted a couple of stands too much but my scent control was good and my scouting was sound. I have had close calls with p&y bucks and the only reason i can come up with as to why i didn't harvest one is pure dumb luck!!![&:] The buck took the low trail when i was on the high one and stuff like that. Kinda sucks but thats why it is called huntin'!

sandilands

what did I do wrong........... I didn't get out as much a I would have liked. 4 days this as apposed to 30days in the past. Heck I only hunted with a bow and didn't see a single deer w/in range.

Roskoe

I had a pretty good year. Got busted twice at the tail end of a stalk by the swirling mountain winds. Once on elk and once on mule deer. Neither of these situations were really "avoidable". Wound up getting another chance on the same mulie buck a few days laterand got him the second time around.

Got caught twice during antelope season without my lazer rangefinder handy. I'm not going after these speedgoats again without this device hanging around my neck. I underestimated both shots.

I also learned that, as good as today's various scent management tools are, the old rule "if ya got the wind, yer fine; and if ya don't, yer busted" is still as true today as it was 100 years ago.

8pt~Bowhunter

I missed two deer.[&:]My arrow hit a tree branch...[:@]

Schultzy

I caught myself being to careless in the tree this year. I'm not sure why i was a clutz this year but i sure was. It almost costed me my P@Y buck i got this year. Next year I will have my stuff together alot better when it comes to that! The other thing is that my judgementwas way off this year(Actually the last 3 years or so) onscoring a buck when I seen him in the woods. I've been scoring most of the bucks way low. I won't shoot at a buck unless he is close to P@Y material.My own buck i got this year i didn't think was over 115 to120" net. Heck he greenscoredat 136" net. I've been letting bigger bucks then the buck Igot this year goby the last3 years or so thinking they were in the 120" range. Its not that I don't know how to measure a rack, i've been scoring and measuring racks for the last 20 years. Just a huge brain fart I guess when i'm up in a tree and looking down at these bucks the last few years, they just looked one size smaller then they actually are!That will not happen again! I hope notanyway!

PreacherTony

Atlas .... great thread ........ it's hard to believe I did it again, but a lesson that I learned AGAIN, was to always have bow in hand and not on the side of the tree .... I'm gonna get one of those bow hangers that put the bow right in front of me ... that cost me a decent buck

The other one is to hunt more from my climber ... more flexibility ...