Bowhunting really taught me a lot about deer hunting, but i didn't get any with the bow. Just starting out and all, i had a snowballs chance in hell, but it was still fun. Bow season is still in till the end of Dec, but i'm not going anymore till next year. I'm going to look for good locations for tree stands in January when there's snow on and just observe what they're doing. Going to target practice and also try to get good at estimating distances over the summer.

Got two deer with my .243, and that was hard enough. I enjoyed every minute, but it took a lot of time. I would imagine that when you get more skilled, then the amount of time should decrease proportionately. I now have even more respect for archery hunters and my goal is to join you guys someday. Maybe next year.

Plinker

Bow hunting is a lot of fun. You spend more time in the woods and observe more deer behaviour. There is always something to surprise you, this year I had a weasel walk by the stand. I've never seen one in the wild before.
There is still good hunting in the late season you just have to change your huntnig style. My best experince is to be in between the bedding and the food the hour before dusk, expecially if its cold. Or if there is a long cold spell that lets up the whole after noon is good. I shot a buck a week ago friday, got in the woods at three, got my stand up and setled in by three thirty, and had my deer by four thirty. I wasn't being to picky about rack size sence shotgun season started the following morning.
Ive grown to love bow hunting so much I am thinking of filling my muzzle loader tag with the bow.
Good luck Jeremy

Congratulations on getting your buck, sounds like you made short work of it.

Interesting about seeing the weasel. I've not realy seen anything unusual as that. Had a wren come up and perch on me. Saw plenty of squirrels, and a couple of hawks and some wild turkeys. Squirrels don't seem to know what you are if you're motionless. But the turkeys weren't fooled. They were advancing, but something changed about their demeanor and they quietly took a 90 straight up the hill and out of sight.

Best of luck with muzzleloader.

Plinker

Was hunting over some spread corn (legal here) the other evening and had an opossum,a squirrel,two coons and a doe all under me at the same time.I love it when you get lots of activity.

Hey Peny,hows this for accuracy. A friend of mine took out a trouble making Mink this am with a head shot at about 10 yds. with his Hoyt. Right between the eyes! derf

Wow. That's some good shooting! Hey, at one time, those mink pelts were very valuable. Might be worth his time to skin it out.

Penny

I got blanked this year for the archery hunting.Had a nice bear right at the base of my stand but it heard me draw and I didn't get the shot.The same bear came in two days later from behind me,I had to look thru the base of my stand to see him and it didn't afford me a shot again.

I've only been bow hunting now for 5 seasons and my first season was the best.I killed a bull moose and a white tail within an hour of each other in the last week of the moose season.The second year I killed another bull moose on the first day of the season,then I was skunked for the next.Could have taken a couple of yearlings and doe's but I won't kill a doe in sept that has fawns with her.

You see some pretty interesting stuff in the stand.This year I was attacked by a hawk,good thing I was wearing a harness.I've had pine martins climb into my stand while I'm in it,twice now!

Plinker,I know alot of people who hunt bears with the sharp sticks,and ain't any of em been chewed on yet .And they do climb.A friend of mine shot a gorgous blonde bear this spring.After he let the air out of him the bear climbed the tree right beside his stand.The bear got to eye level with my friend and that's where it died and fell out of the tree.

Just an opinion, but looking for bowstand locations from sign in January might not be the best method.

Heck get out and hunt a little each day during this cold weather . . . never know you may still take one this year!

Taking time is WHY many of the folks I know hunt. Time spent in the woods or on the water are the bonus we all receive for the rest of the things we have to put up with in life!

All just a bunch of opinions of course andyou know about opinions.

Plinker, one of our mods from BO went to Saskatchewan last spring just for the purpose of taking a Black Bear with his bow and he did.
Also my buddy did skin out the mink last night and refroze it till he can figure out exactly what he wants to do with it. I suggested he give it to his wife as a DIY mink stole but he said he is enough trouble with her at the moment so I then suggested that he use it for a quiver cover! derf

I know what you're saying, TC, but i overhunted in bow season which seemed to make the deer turn nocturnal when rifle season came in. Now i'm giving them a little break till second 3-day antlerless comes in next week.

Still been going in the woods, but only in mid afternoon. I cleaned them out a nice spring, made them a mineral lick, and put up a feeder.

The other day i saw 5 turkeys, all male with beards. Then a little farther, there was several of what seemed to be hens, but couldn't get a good look at them. We don't have a season on them here this fall. Maybe they'll be legal in the spring.


Plinker

Blue norther--I heard about your buddy. A bare blond told a guy she was game--and he shot her. Ooooppss I see you said a blond bear and you are a new member--WELCOME ABOARD.

Pplinker--The deer becoming nocturnal probably has more to do with the moon than your hunting pressure. Turkeys run in groups--the toms band together and the hens and poults. During mating season they are individualistic--toms bitter enemies for a short while.

Plinker, squirrels won't pay any attention to you while in a tree even if you move a little. In fact I hunt them with my .22 pistol from my ladder stand. Sitting on the ground will seem like the woods is empty but when in a stand I watched 35 squirrels go through my fence one evening. What is really funny is when in my stand on a large tree, the tree shakes when a squirrel climbs it. I can't believe such a small animal can shake a big tree.
My wooden ladder stand seemed like home to coons this last season. They used it for a toilet and it had to be scraped off and washed, stuff was 8" deep and my safety belt was under all of it.