robbcayman

I need encouragement right now, I'm just down. I checked four of my hunting spots all with cameras and there are plenty of big deer. It is just so frustrating to see a trophy walk by and not be able to take it. You guys are right though, it will feel so good when it happens with a bow. I didn't feel right grunting this early in the season, so I just had to sit and hope he came back, but he never did.

Any tips to bring them in closer on a deal like that?

Finch

You should have tried grunting him in. I owe a lot of my success to calling. We might be having a different coversation right now if you had tried. Thats why it's called hunting and not killing. Hang in there bud.

Rob/PA Bowyer

I agree, I've grunted deer from the first day to the last day. If you do it sparingly, you won't spook him. You didn't get a shot anyway so grunting wouldn't have hurt anything, again done sparingly and naturally.

Spoiler

Love it!

BowHuntingFool

Wow, your first hunt with a bow in hand, you have a 12 point at 60 yards and your bummed!! Welcome aboard, enjoy the ride! Good luck staying away, you just may be hooked!

Bradkoz

for people who cant bow hunt or cant bow hunt enough im glad to see them kill a deer with a gun but for me i just look at gun hunting like putting meat in the freezer, i hate being out there with it but enjoy going with people who enjoy doing it. i shot my oldest widest racked buck ever with a gun at 15yrds (i hunted with the bow durring gun season until this day) i proud of the deer but honestly not really happy that i shot it with the gun. once you get good with the bow it just doesnt feel like you did your best when you get them with the gun, i dont know but id rather shoot a 6pt with the bow then a record setting buck with the gun, maybe its just the orange army here in pa but shooting a huge one here in pa in rifle is usual just cause he was running out of places to hide and ran past you. i have a spot i see a few deer most days of archery but i take people in on the first three days of gun and i will see at least 30 deer within the first morning and usually same deer keep running back and forth, its feels like a joke shooting one this way when you know you can track one down and get him with the bow at 50yrds or less. just how i feel. keep at it and be mindful that being new youmay have a few misses before you get those nerves down enough to connect.

robbcayman

Thanks for all the advice guys. Next time I will try to grunt him in that was my mistake.

huntingson

robbcayman, Just because you didn't kill him doesn't mean you made a mistake of any kind. You have to have luck to kill a deer with a bow. Getting 60 yards from a mature buck is a feat on its own. Killing one is a near improbability. That is why it is so satisfying when it all actually comes together. You'll get there. Just know that you will have many more encounters like that than ones where you actually kill the buck. And after years and years, you will look back at those encounters just as fondly as the kills. That is what makes one a bowhunter in the end.

shed33

Its just part of it. Always will be. You have to decide for yourself if the prize is worth the price.

formula1

We have a saying: "Grandma can kill a buck with a gun!"

So, are you up for the challenge or not!!!

I ain't just saying this. I sat and looked at an 160 class buck last year in IL. 90 yards on the rangefinder is as close as he got. It would have been easy with a gun. I could have gotten frustrated, but I'm back looking for that buck again this year! There truly is nothing like bowhunting!