mauser06

1.5 or 2.5yo 8pt 12-14" wide 15yds broadside, close leg forward at 0840. got to full draw when i realized my arrow wasnt on the rest. shooting a nap 1000 rest, i lay my bow across the front of my Summit Viper..arrow lays on the riser...to shoot, i gotta put it on the rest. it all happened quick...i never did...broadhead caught the riser and popped off the string. somehow didnt hit the ground. gave me another shot at probably 30...but i wont shoot unless its top pin or i KNOW the distance for sure...so he got to walk. cant kick myself hard enough.

saw a gray fox 100-150yds away on the same ridge in the evening.

buddy killed a nice little 7pt 300-400yds away on the next farm at 9am.


i will be back to get him....just gunna give him time to FORGET about what he saw never spooked...didnt blow, lift the tail, stomp his foot...started working left, infront of me at ~30 but decided to turn around and leave...knew something was fishy...saved his life thats for sure.

ccm352

I saw 4 bucks and 4 does.. One was a really nice 8 pointer but I was on the cell phone getting the report of a 6 pointer that ran by my buddy. I turned to look and there he was 15 yards broadside.. I was fooked.. I could only watch him walk away..

BTBowhunter

Took my 15 year old out in the evening. He was about to haul his bow up when a young 9 pointer, (probably 80-90") came right in to him and then came right past me at about 8 yards. Too bad he wasnt quite ready. It would have been a great first archery buck for him. the good news is that he didnt bust either one of us so maybe the kid will get another crack at him later.

PS My landowner saw the big boy again just a couple days ago mere yards from one of my stands.

BarnesX.308

Saw 8 does and a spike in Sullivan County. The spike was the only one that presented a good shot. The others were out of range. Coyotes were everywhere.

PABowhntr

Sorry for not posting more guys but things have been busy on my end for the last year or so. Two little boys and two or more jobs tends to keep things hectic.

I had a rather interesting opening morning. It went something like this.....

The alarm clock went off at 2 am. I proceeded to get out of bed, hit the shower and get the truck packed up in short order. My primary hunting spot is only ten minutes from my home at one of the local gamelands. At this point it is important to put the story into perspective....

Directly across the road from the gamelands that I hunt is a local game preserve, the Trexler/Lehigh County Game Preserve. The entire preserve covers well over 1100 acres of excellent habitat. The central range houses the Lehigh Valley Zoo (20 some acres) but the rest of the property is a mixture of rolling wooded hills and valleys with some agricultural fields mixed in.

This past year the county and the trustees of the preserve decided to open up the North Range section of the preservefor hunting...archery only for deer and turkey. Almost immediately following the public announcement some of the animal rights groups in the area began to dispute the decision and attempted to fight it in court. The case was thrown out a week or so ago however that should set the stage for my opening morning.

I rolled into the gameland parking area at 3:30 am to find five other cars parked along the road and five more cars parked in the parking area. One of the cars was my hunting companion. He had arrived at 2:50 am to already find two cars in the lot. We spoke briefly and then headed in to our stands. (A later conversation with a hunting buddy who rolled in at 4:30 am revealed 35 cars parked along the road that borders the far side of the north range).

My stand location is about 300 yards from the gameland parking area but only about 115 yards from the road that I drive in on. Directly downhill from my stand is the entrance to the North range of the game preserve. This entrance allows hunters to have access to the main parking area and thus the entire north range. However,hunters can park anywhere along the roads that provide the property boundary for the range and just walk right in (no fences). I counted 22 cars entering the North Range prior to 7 am. Most of them entered before 5 am.

Around 7 o'clock a few cars parked along the road next to the front entrance. The people that left the vehicles were not dressed in hunting garb but rather plain street clothes. Some were actually dressed in black though I paid little attention to it at the time. They began unloading flowers, wreaths and various signs from their vehicles. After setting up these "decorations" they began to stand around and chat at gate. They were far enough away so that I only caught brief bits of the conversation and I really wasn't paying much attention as I was actually there to hunt.

A little after 7:30 I heard a car pull up in front of the crowd and a brief, muffled conversation followed. The last words out of the driver's mouth were rather derogatory in nature before he pulled away. A short time later another car drove out of the preserve and stopped in front of the protestors. This car proceeded to spin its tires on top of the gravel stones before speeding down the road. No words were exchanged.

A little after 8 am another vehicle pulled up in front of the protestors and a gentleman exited the car. He was dressed in plain clothes and calmly walked around the vehicle to stand in front of the protestors. The next fifteen minutes that followed were filled with expletives that I dare not repeat here. However, it took the Game Commission to break up the exchange.

Every fifteen or twenty minutes or so afterwards a different vehicle would pull up and some angry words would follow.

At 9:30 am I decided to pack it in as I had not seen a deer all morning (nor had anyone else in my crew...we are guessing the moon played some part).

The afternoon hunt was less dramatic but much more rewarding as I took my oldest son ( 5 years old)out with me for the first time. We set up a ground blind at the edge of a previously productive field. Though we did not see anything I received a great deal of enjoyment out of having the opportunity to share a hunt with him. We left a bit early as dad forgot to pack enough snacks and a silent video game to keep him occupied..... We did get out last night again but that is a story for another time. Pictures to follow this evening.

I look forward to having the opportunity to hunt more this season includingsome excursions into the game preserve itself as there truly is the opportunity for some record book bucks in there. Once our small game and muzzleloader seasons open up in a few weeks the game preserve should be much more productive for archery as the gamelands will receive quite a bit of multi-season pressure.

Paddles

I can guarantee you PABowhntr there are some monsters in the preserve because I caught a couple on camera last year hangin around the fence at the one part. If my spot wouldn't be so good I would have been in there myself. GOOD LUCK!
PS: THE SECRET IS TO SHAKE A COFFEE CAN WITH PEBBLES IN IT THEY'LL COME RUNNING.TRUST ME I WITNESSED IT!

sproulman

i saw 2 doe under my stand in wmu2g at 9 am on sat,no bucks.i never kill a doe or fawn anymore...
went out at 4 pm to my stand, saw no deer but over 20 hunters..
i saw no deer killed on way home..

went for ride on sunday,no deer seen..
this was in clinton county.

crazedbowhunter

took friday off from school, hopefully it will be better than last saturday

Bionicrooster

Mauser06, get yourself a whisker biscuit and don't look back!

sproulman

i was out here in clinton county,in morning and evening...
morning i saw nothing and heavy fog,this was on stateforestland and area i have hunted for 45 years..

i then went to my privateland tonight,i saw 17 deer,6 bucks ,4 were running together..
my land borders stateforestland..
its like night/day hunting between two..

turkeys, oh my, i saw 50 on my land,i never knew that many were there as i dont go out that much to look...
i really hate hunting on my privateland and dont do it very often.....