Doc's Season =

S-10 asked == so I guess it's only fair to answer how my season was and was the crossbow worth it..

well let's answer the second one first .. I SURE HOPE SO...

I have to rely on the after Christmas archery season if I do not want this to be the first year in 25 I did not get a deer.... my 25 year streak for rifle season is already broken..

It's not that I did not see deer .. I saw deer almost every time out ... most being 18 in one afternoon hunt ... fewest was three... average was about 10 .... 40--45 total hours of hunting in rifle season...


Trouble was they were running more than usual... and I never saw one single deer walking/standing in the woods...

If I was posted = they ran by at full speed....

if I was stalking they waited until the last minute (not going to shoot a deer laying down)jumped up and ran off and never even stopped or slowed down...

I had been targeting the 8 and 10 pointers I have seen since early november.. they have been running with a group of two spikes and 6 antlerless. Saw them Monday Morning, Thursday evening entering a field close by but on the posted side where I can not shoot them... and Saturday morning I jumped them on the walk home to get ready for work and could not get a shot...


Lots of deer sightings for me and other I talked to .. just none for me that wanted to become ground meat by slowing down or standing still...


I'm trying to figure a plan for after Xmas with the crossbow on one of those bucks...

Not dissappointed at all.. after all .... it's deer hunting --- and all winning streaks must come to an end sooner or later ..

just not a shot I would find any "pride" in making..


I hunt for the fun and challenge..

shooting a deer bedded down resting/sleeping is just something I could not and would not do...


I don't need/want venison that bad !!!!!!!!!

ORIGINAL: S-10

hunt for the fun and challenge..

shooting a deer bedded down resting/sleeping is just something I could not and would not do...


I don't need/want venison that bad !!!!!!!!!

Lets see, you hunt for fun and challenge but won't shoot one laying down and won't/can't shoot one running. What do you do, wait until their head is in the feed barrel? To me, when tracking or still hunting the challenge is getting close enough to shoot them in their bed.

 
 
 
 
Bingo. Between a deer's nose and trying to stalk up on them quietly, there is plenty of challenge, esp. late in rifle season b/c how skiddish the deer are

If they dont fly, then yes. I dont have dogs to worry about. The one and only pheasant I shot this year was in the air. Hunting Ducks out of a canoe is more fun.
 
 
 
 

Couple points that might help.
 
1. You don't have to compensate for the arrow drop at 10 yards . As you know crossbows are much more powerful and still shoot pretty flat at 10 yrds.
 
2. If your crossbow is not sighted in properly you will miss at 10 yards..
 
3. If you are going to shoot from a tree stand with a new weapon you should probably practice in one at least once..
 
Might help you get some bone on the ground...
 
 

ORIGINAL: Dr. Trout

Do you guys shoot pheasants on the ground too ????

Must be in the way one is brought up and their sense of right and wrong.....

This from the guy that baits deer 9 months a year, defends shooting baby deer & bears and laying gut hooked fish on hot rocks for pictures

Get real Mr. Trout. Big difference between distasteful & illegal. You get your panties all wadded up when someone calls you out for doing distasteful, but legal things, but don't hesitate for a second about doing it to others. So which way do you want it?

lol somehow i love this thread..

but... not shooting a deer bedded? Isn't that beating them? You used your all mighty powerful knowledge and skill to not only out smart that whitetail with its keen sense of escaping. But, there again they do have a sixth sense of knowing your NOT an alarming threat with feed in your pocket. so i guess that wouldnt be much of a challenge walking up on bedded deer.. let me ask you this...if that big 10 point was bedded...i guess you wouldnt shoot it too..........

I got schooled hard this year by the big boys that live right by my house. Found two spots at the intersection of many trails, littered with rubs, on the margins between heavy brush and more open oak woods. I saw deer at both spots, and killed doe at both, but none of the big boys my neighbor across the yard (fiance's brother in law) got on the game cams. I've seen them out and moving at night, but during the day? Nope! I know they're not hitting the rubs by rifle season, but given how heavy the areas were used I thought they'd still be using those trails. Its frustrating, but I've got a goal for next year!

This from the guy that baits deer 9 months a year, defends shooting baby deer & bears

not sure where I have ever defended shooting fawns or cubs... they are legal game but I have always suggested trying to avoid shooting them... better double check you thinking ...

supplemental feeding for 9 months is not much different in my book than making a food plot and hunting in the general area come deer season.. I guess those would all be tame deer too and no challenge ???

gut hooked fish on hot rocks for pictures

Like you will ever be or have ever been anywhere near to see how I hook a fish or the temperature of the rock...

just one of those post to show us all what an arsehole is

Do you shoot turkeys on the ground?

another great question ????

#1 = I have no desire to kill a turkey, I like the ones in the meat department at the local grocery much more and turkey hunting interferes with fishing and archery ...
But if I did I would recognize the sport of turkey hunting means shooting them 99% of the time on the ground and not flushing and WOULD do so..

the sport of pheasant hunting I was taught was flushing birds and trying to shoot them in flight... I guess the sport has changed since I started...


oh BTW.. I do shoot rabbits while on the ground .. BUT.. again I was taught to shoot them running was the idea of the sport...running but not standing still ..... but maybe the younger folks do not do that either.. ??

And being proficient with ones weapon is a good place to start.

And I guess you have never misjudge distance or missed a shot.... BULL !!!

let me ask you this...if that big 10 point was bedded...i guess you wouldn't shoot it too..........

nope ... why would I change my beliefs... I can not see me telling a friend ...

"""Yeah he was bedded down and I blasted him .. he never knew what hit him.. ain't I something for doing that? That's him hanging on the wall over there.""


I'd wait until he got up.... just that simple === I AM NOT GOING TO SHOOT A DEER THAT IS LAYING DOWN... my Dad and Uncle would turn over in their graves if I did that....


I do not mean to be-little anyone that would shoot a bedded deer.. it's just not what I would do...and never will....

To me = deer hunting is not described as shooting bedded deer... but to each his own...

Who said they walked five miles and didn't see a single deer/

why would I even bother to post if it were a lie.... If I want to lie and keep the area to myself or be popular on this web-site ... I'd say I did not see a thing and it's all the PGC's fault !!!!

The strangest thing was === I never saw a single deer (only one by itself) in rifle season.. they were all multiplies from 3 in a group and up ... just like I said.. but keep in mind I also have said it was a STRANGE year. here... My clear creek hunting SUCKED... did not find any deer in 4 trips over there to the same areas I saw deer in mid-November ??

Did not see ANY hunters (in the woods) but all the deer I did see were either running for some reason or bedded.... not feeding or just walking around.. it's like they all got together on sat and sun and deicided to stay in bunchs and bed down during the daylight of rifle season this year ...

I have hunted this area since the 1960s and NEVER had such a strange year with the deer action...

FOR EXAMPLE == there was snow on the ground after the rains on Tuesday... If you have read my stuff you know about "my hemlocks" behind the house .. I have YET to see a deer track going in or coming out of those hemlocks since the first day when at least 8 came running thru.... it used to be a favorite spot for bedding when it snowed and eating some of the beechnuts from a couple of those type trees in there === NOT THIS YEAR ? no tracks anywhere around since it snowed ?? That one REALLY has me puzzled....


I have not figured out why it was the way it was and others who have hunted near here are saying much the same... groups , and bedded deer.... drives and stalking were the way to go this year around here...

"And I guess you have never misjudge distance or missed a shot.... BULL !!! "


Not ten yards, that's pretty basic...

Bings..
Congrats then ..

You should be so proud of yourself ..

you must be the BEST in your own eyes




but I know and have even read here that I am not the first nor last deer hunter to miss a 10 yard shot from a tree stand...

If you hunted rabbits that way in my area of 5 C you might kill a rapid once every 10 years. On average I see one rabbit every other year while deer hunting.

Doc, not to be smart but, the deer that go to your hemlocks might have you patterned. Same around here as far as sightings in season too. I saw about a dozen everyday I was out which was about ten of the days. Only exception was the last day,in which I only saw one doe and I pushed her out of the swamp. I could not shoot cuz I was dogging for everyone else since I had already filled my buck and doe tag. Needless to say the one guy with us could have shot but did not for fear of wasting a bullet.