Well, I got a buck this evening at 6:30. 35 yards, perfect high heart shot. He must have had zero blood pressure as there was almost no blood -- outside. The lack of blood trail scared me at first, but he only ran about 80 yards in a semi-circle, winding up within 40 yards of where I shot him.

Now I just have to process him - into jerky most likely - as it is too warm to age the meat. Gonna be a long night...

COngratulations! That's the way to start the season!

Wahooo!

Nice work Don. Congrats! Thats a nice lookin buck.

How many #'s of meat do ya figger?

Did you use your new tripod stand?

I spent the whole day at a Mountain Pine Beetle Symposium, if you can imagine that. Was a beautiful day here again too...indian summer continues.

Cheers bud,
Canuck

Thanks.

Now I can only shoot does... I LIKE eating does!

He's not that heavy by Ohio standards. I'd guess 180-200 on the hoof. I'm guessing he's a 3 year old. That'll probably yield 35 lbs of "jerkable" meat and 25 lbs or so of (very wet) hamburger.

Yep, shot him in the woods (not the cornfield) off the tripod stand. That stand is really nice and solid, and the seat does not squeak at all. I had to turn 180 to shoot him.

Used the 83# Allegiance with 514 grain BuffTuff arrows tipped with a SteelForce broadhead.


So, if you spend Saturday working, does that mean you can take Monday off and go kill something?

Thats a nice way to start the season.

Are you going to use the 80lbs bow for all your bow hunting?

Gerhard

Well done. You can have Monday off.

Go ahead kill 2

Jakkals,

I got the 80# bow early last year, then killed an elk with it in Sept. and a doe deer soon after. Somewhere on this forum I posted what happened after 14 hrs shivering in a deer stand late last winter - I couldn't draw the bow at all and missed an opportunity at a nice buck.

I think I will heed that lesson and switch back to my 70# FeatherMax bow for the late season. I grabbed the Allegiance for opening day as I was practiced up with it. It does HUM those 510 grain arrows quite nicely, and is quieter than my 8-year-old Mathews FeatherMax.

Jaco, I wish I could get another buck, but Ohio laws are strict- one buck per hunter per year. I do live in an urban area where I can take up to 6 does, though.

Nice going Don! At least you can still hunt, unlike when I lived in Ohio---one deer a year.
I have had it happen several times, could not draw the 82# bow in the morning. Went home and shot it for a while and that evening had no trouble. Have used heavy bows so long that when I turn them down a little I feel under bowed.

Congratulations!!! Now you're going to see that monster that you've always dreamed about. It never fails.

bfr,

Yep, I know what you mean. My FeatherMax at 73# now feels anemic. But I think it's plenty good medicine even for the monster that calgarychef correctly predicts will rut under my stand the rest of the Fall!

I killed a pile of deer with a 62# recurve and almost never had an arrow stick in a deer. Most went through so fast the deer never knew it was shot. Only problems were with bone. Funny how we get to like the stronger bows, but then bone doesn't matter anymore. Legs and shoulders are like they are not there anymore. Heavy arrows and bows rule!

i was out hunting this mourning saw about 30 tukeys and 8 deer but none of them worth shooting. young bucks and does.

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
Congratulations!!! Now you're going to see that monster that you've always dreamed about. It never fails.

What'd you mean? That looks like a monster to me! I'd like get one like that some time and if it weighs 180 lbs???? that's big!

Ditto on congrats, Don G.

quote:

Used the 83# Allegiance with 514 grain BuffTuff arrows tipped with a SteelForce broadhead.

Is that the same setup you used on the elk last year? Did you have to re-set your pins, or do you just adjust for different distances?

I am glad your new stand worked too! Nice when a plan comes together once in a while, eh?

Congrats again. 60lbs of delicious venison is a good start to the season....and thats a real nice buck in my neck of the woods.

Cheers bud,
Chris

quote:

Originally posted by bfrshooter:
I killed a pile of deer with a 62# recurve and almost never had an arrow stick in a deer. Most went through so fast the deer never knew it was shot. Only problems were with bone. Funny how we get to like the stronger bows, but then bone doesn't matter anymore. Legs and shoulders are like they are not there anymore. Heavy arrows and bows rule!

I shoot a 48 pounder. This one time that i missed... Well, okay one of the TIMES i missed....i found the arrow 75 yards away and the point was buried pretty deep in an oak tree. That told me my bow had enough power, but i just had to practice more. Then i did eventually shoot a doe, and the bow made a nice clean kill.

Plinker

I shot my 82 pounder today and the very top of my right shoulder is sore. Course I shot 30 or 40 shots. Can't shoot now for at least 2 days.
Your 48# compound most likely hits as hard as my old 62# recurve.
The problem with a real strong bow is you have to watch what you shoot at. I shot at a squirrel hugging a big grape vine and you guessed it, I hit the vine. Blew that 2419 into shrapnel and it took me half an hour to find the Judo point. Drive the broadhead into a tree or root, even after going through a deer and the arrow can't even be unscrewed from the tip.
I think I will shortly be turning down my bows, I am 69 and it takes longer to get used to them because I don't have the time to shoot all year.

Nice buck Don. You had better luck than I did. I had 2 does under my stand Sat morning, but it was still too dark out for me to get my pin on em. I had drawn for minutes trying, and eventually had to let it down. I really need to practice shooting in low light conditions.

gixxer,

Years ago I bought a single pin, swing adjustable TruGlo sight that has the best light-gathering capability of any sight I have ever seen before or since. I can see the pin when I lose the deer. No batteries or gimmicks needed - just a long fiber optic {5 yards?} wound around a clear plastic section of the 2 inch aperture.

I don't know if they still make it, but it is perfect for tree-stand hunting where it's legal to shoot 30 minutes before and 30 minutes after sunrise/sunset.

Yep, they still make it.

Canuck, It's the same arrow, but a lighter BH (125 gr rather than 185). I have yet to find a good, light adapter for the Grizzly BHs. The SteelForce BHs are plenty skookum for deer. I just adjusted the sight body vertically, and now the pins are 10 yards, 30 yards and 40 yards. I'll adjust the top pin down to 20 yards when I get a chance.

As to trophy quality - (and Canuck will tell you I don't pay much attention to horns), around here he'd be considered a "vanilla" 9 point. He is only about as wide as his ears, but has a little length to the tines. Of course, to me he is a nice one with a bow. I think maybe the nicest I've taken with a bow. I've had a couple of others about the same - but now I have a digital camera, so it's easy to post the pictures!

Nice job! Where I live that is a monster! I had a dumber than dumb three pt. (eastern) come thru twice last night, he was nervous as a whore in church. I let him go, we get 2 bucks here in MI anyway you can, it was much too early to think about sticking him. I am also a fan of heavy arrows. Great buck.

Congrats Don, Darn fine Buck!

Sounds like the new tripod did it's job.

I saw a bunch of does and that's it. My Sunday evening hunt got ruined by some redneck who decided to build a stand on the property line about prime time and turned his darn deer dogs out while doing so, I was poed to say the least.

Looks like it's going to be hot here all week so I'll probably hang it up until it cools a bit.

How are you making your jerky?

Tenderizing prior? What flavoring?

Reloader

Congratulations! Our first few days in CT have been lacking in deer and deer sign. Hopefully things will pick up as the weather cools down.

Nice one, Don, wish I saw bucks like that! I get to try on Saturday.

Hi Don. Congrats again on the buck. I've seen a couple of bucks in this same class this weekend as I mentioned in the email. You sure are putting the medicine on them with that setup!

I used to pull 80+ pounds right up till about 3 years ago, then decided that it was a bit much in our Ohio winters. I'm settled on 74# and have been happy with it.

I'm still waiting for Mr. BIG to come out and show himself.

Congrats again.

My jerky mix is an ad-hoc mix of spicy home-made season salt, just a dash of liquid hickory smoke, and Worcestershire sauce. I pepper it heavily using fresh coarse ground pepper when I lay it out on the rack.

My girls liked it better if I used Teriyaki instead of W, but I thought it too sweet.

I concur on the teriyaki, it will kill good jerky.

One puzzler is: Where is my arrow?

I heard it go whizzing off into the brush - there was a creek bottom behind the buck - so loud and long that at first I thought I might have shot over him.

I have been back twice and cannot find the arrow! It must have really whizzed through him.

I went camping this weekend with a bunch of friends on the farm where I shot this buck.

A whole passel of us went back to my stand to look for the arrow. A friend's wife found it sticking into a tree about 8 feet off the ground 100 yards downhill from the stand. I lasered the range to the buck while I was there: 45 yards from the stand. I guess the downhill factor made up for my ranging error! I had him estimated as 35 yards and used my 30 yard pin to make up for the downhill. So there was a good bit of luck involved in the shot!

The slope there is very steep by Ohio standards - dropping about 30 feet in 100 yards of slant range. The buck was on a slight ridge that ran slanting across the major slope, which let the arrow travel so far behind him. Still, that arrow must have been still really moving when it came out of him!

why does the bowtech website only list the Allegiance as 70 lb max limbs?

I really like an 80 lb bow, but Mathews is the same way... 70 max.

now I know you have an 80+ lb bow... special order?

I got it early last year. The 80# limbs were on the brochure, so I ordered it. They usually only have one "premier" bow in the list that goes over 70#.

But I'll bet you can still order an Allegiance at 80#.

My brother has an Allegiance that pulls 90 lbs.He wacks pretty good with it also.Shoots 2219's with either Steelforce 210's or Wentzel Woodsmans.

Bad to the bone.


I shoot a Hoyt Deviator at 83lbs.I also shoot 2219's.Last night I took a doe and took out her on-side leg and heart before exiting in front of the opposte shoulder.Stevy Wonder could have tracked her even though it was drizzling rain.I really advocate the heaviest bow one can handle well and a heavy arrow to boot.This set-up has served me well on everything from small cats to Cape Buffalo.

Don, congratulations that is one great start to the season.