Vabowman

This my best bow kill, I don't know for sure how old he was, Im guessing 2.5-3.5 yrs old?? If that's mature then I have one with the bow. The rest of my bucks with the bow are 1-2.5 yrs old, some nice racks, but very young.

GMMAT

I have no problems believeing this. It'ssimilar to what we have here. Firearms season and the rut go hand in hand. I think that puts a hurtin on our mature deer population.

And.....NOBODY knows a man's woods like he does.

virginiashadow

I am 0/15. I have arrowed a 6 point, 2-7 pointers and an 8 pointer in the last 5 years of bowhunting. In the beginning years of my hunting, I had noone to teach me anything. I literally just read what I could, then put it into practice on the ground. I failed so many times. I have shot nub bucks through 2.5 year old 8 pointers, but never a "mature" buck. I have probably seen only 10 mature bucks in 15 years of hunting.

125py

i have been bow hunting for 11 years and have killed 8 3.5 yr olds and older with bow....and like you said i have passed up some mature bucks with bow also

i have deer hunted for 15 years and have killed 15 mauture 3.5 yr olds and older...total all weapons combined (Bow/shotgun/muzzleloader)

Vabowman

Shadow, keep going at it, it will come for you, I know you won't quit, just thought I d give you a pep real quick!!!

virginiashadow

Thanks Vabowman---the last mature buck I have seen was in November 2005..had a beautiful old 10 pointer standing not 35 yards from me, perfectly broadside. The only problem was that the winds were blowing upwards of 30mph...I didn't shoot my bow.

Cougar Mag

I'll have to give it more thought, been working too much overtime lately[&:]. In 32 years of bowhunting I've killed some mature bucks and a few didn't have the biggest racks. I have to admit that I have been skunked several times on bucks I encountered or worked hard on trying to get a shot. Of those, I missed shots at a couple or just didn't get my stand in the proper position to take a shot. Those near misses really hurt, especially when you may only get one opportunity.........oh the stories I could tell and I never forgot any of them. I'll get back when I figure everything up.

twildasin

I would have to say unsuccesful. I got 2 2.5 yr olds and 1 3.5 yr old the rest are scrubs!

Rick James

I've hunted deer for 17 years, and in that time killed 2x animals 3.5 years old. That's a pretty terrible number when looking at it that way. To be honest though, I've only tried to target mature animals for the last 7 seasons, and managed to do it 2 times out of those 7 seasons. I've also never hunted the same property for more than 3 seasons in a row, so when I finally start to get a place figured out I'm usually not able to access it anymore (with the exception of Vermont, where the hunting is so terrible I'll never go back).

In my opinion though, success rate on mature bucks alone really shows me little to nothing about someones abilities or skills as a hunter. There are too many things to consider when trying to determine the skills someone possesses to just look at a success rate. Sure that's a good point of criteria to look at, butit's the guys that can do it consistently year in and year out, on different properties,a variety of environments, with mixed amounts of pressure on those animals........that's the one I'm going to listen to when he speaks.

My best bud from highschool owns roughly 100 acres in Huntington County, PA. When his grandfather passed away, he inherited his "Pap's" treestand. In the first 5 years my buddy Justin sat in that stand, he killed 3 mature bucks. Does he know why those deer use that spot? Nope. Does he kill mature deer consistently? Yup. Can he do it elsewhere? Nope......like a fish out of water when he's not in that tree. [8D] Still one of my best buds to this day but his success rate has very little to do with his abilities as a hunter. He's got a great treestand though.......

Oneshot7

Killed 2
Lost 1
I have seen 12.
So roughlyI kill about one in every 4.