Windwalker7

After rereading my post, I realize that alot of it pertains to hunting with a gun. But the basics are the same even with a bow.

davidmil

WEll, if I were in your woods looking it over I could probably help. If I could see exactly what you're doing I could probably help. But, that's not the case. Plots of land are all well and good, except it's not seeing the land and sign in person. We can look for bottlenecks, food etc etc , but that's only part of the picture. Becoming the hunter/ becoming the arrow is a learning process in most cases....especially if you're hunting public lands and all that. First you have to decide what's available. You do that with preseason glassing of fields etc. You'll see where the deer are(at that moment). Food sources change and patterns move. Don't blame us for your current lack of success. We're not given the benefit of what you can see to determine a tactic. So you missed. That just means some more practice from different heights and unknown distances.Maybe shorten shooting distances. I know it can be tough, but you just have to work through it. Beginners make the same mistakes(as do a lot of veterans). Most common: Too much movement. Not hunting the wind. Over hunting a stand site. Poor stand setup. You got to set up where deer will be while it's daylight. Rubs and scrapes are fine and dandy, but they just tell you there's a buck around. Frankly, with dozens of deer kills with the bow, it isn't going to happen with regularity sitting on scrapes and rubs. Scrapes and rubs tend to be at the fringes of a bucks area. He marks his territory in hopes a ready doe will come by and leave her sign. He doesn't HAVE to come back to a scrape. Rubs are usually haphazzard and they never come back to them unless it's got a scrape and a licking branch over it etc. Hunt the travel corridors before you waist a lot of time sitting on a rub. RUbs and scrapes around field edges are usually night time activity. My best advice to all new bowhunters is one thing. Before you get all wrapped up in "Shooter Bucks", "Management Bucks" and all that crap.... JUST SHOOT SOMETHING. Make it your goal to pick out the first deer with some body size(doe or buck) that wanders by and practice "calm myself, pick a spot, draw, pick a spot, does it look right, see the spot, see the arrow hit the spot and the deer should be dead". Limit your range. Success breeds more confidence than just slinging arrows beyond your range. Shoot a deer. Any damn deer. Get a couple of those under your belt and you can then decide if you're the BIG BUCK GUY. Settle down and I leave you with one last thought. "If it ain't working... change what you're doing".

Patience Grasshopper. After a few years it becomes old hat. I say now I can usually take one spin through a woods, especially if I have a map and can drive the perimeter first and leave with some stand sites in mind I'm sure I can kill "A" deer at. Finding THE deer takes some fine tuning. Go to a new woods and it takes a few days of hunting to figure out what's going on at that time. Bedding areas are the key and they come in all shapes and sizes. When you find a good one you'll know it. Just stay out of it. I've killed a lot of deer just walking in, scouting as I go, finding sign, climbing up and shooting a deer that day.

chgarza

Hey it happens.Pracits.Perfit pracits makes perfit.

BCGamer

Well kwaldeier, this is my second year in a row with the big skunkola too. So I can say I know how you feel. I am going out tomorrow morningto see if there is a buck out there with my name on it yet. The rut here on Vancouver Island, BC Canada is still on so hopefully I can out smart one. My hunting partner is quite sold on scent control products, so far he has had many successful hunts in the stand with a bow by using them. Have you tried them?

Good Luck dude, and remember "A bad day Hunting is better than a good day at work"!!

nybowhunter

In the 7 years that I have been bow hunting, I've gotten 1 buck and 1 doe. Patience and practice, practice, practice. Sounds like you need to learn how to judge distance. This year I startedshooting a practice arrow or 2 from my stand everytime I go out. Look at a different spot,judge the distance and shoot. I missed 4 bucks in one weekend last year from a stand I never hunted before and I never hunted so high up a tree. Because I didn't have a good feel for distance, I screwed up. We all learn lessons the hard way!

davidmil

I'd say you screwed up.[8D][8D] Anyone that can get 4 shots at deer with a bow in one weekend and only get 2 in 7 years should start over, take up golf or sewing. Obviously you're doing something more than getting too high. Something just not right with that??? And to think, you're giving advice on practice and patience? You got to admit, there's something more sinister here than that.

kwaldeier

i got the wildview .3 camera and got it set up today in what i hope is a good trail. i will wait til it snows to find a major trail by alot of rubs. do u guys leave ur cam out in the snow???is it good for it ? what r u suggestions