Lessons

[dedgeez]

Since the 2010 season has come and gone (for the most part) I thought this would be a good time to reflect on "things that you learned this year". It can be something new, something old, But something that maybe the rest of us can learn from or use, or perhaps just get a good laugh out of.

1. I learned that, although hiding, Murphy is always lurking in the deer woods. (rough year)
2. Take the first good shot opportunity you get. If you hold out for a better one it may never happen.
3. trespassing is becoming a major issue
4. when someone offers to drag your deer out, you always let them

 

[EVIL X]

Never stand up to ready yourself for a shot on a buck of a lifetime, without watching where all the does the big boy is following are watching.....

They busted me big time to say the least

 

[THA4]

I am not smarter than a deer.... kinda hurts to admit, but I was taught that lesson in a big way!

 

[IowaChiro]

You can never have enough shooting lanes cut, found that out the hard way....had a booner at 40 yds...could get my 40 yd pin on him..but not without my 20 yd pin being in the tree...

 

[SEIowaDeerslayer]

1.) Trim shooting lanes out past 25 yards, cost me a shot at a giant TWICE this year
2.) Don't follow moon phases

 

[180class]

Deer are just deer. They shouldn't be idolized,put up on a pedestal or take priority over other things. Remember the important things in life and focus on them. Family, friends, faith....

 

[Daver]

Deer are just deer. They shouldn't be idolized,put up on a pedestal or take priority over other things. Remember the important things in life and focus on them. Family, friends, faith....

I like the way you think!

 

[SaskGuy]

Deer are just deer. They shouldn't be idolized,put up on a pedestal or take priority over other things. Remember the important things in life and focus on them.

Great advice... I'm currently amidst a transformation in life...your words ring true to the life change I have been making.

 

[Elitebowhunter]

You can never have enough shooting lanes cut, found that out the hard way....had a booner at 40 yds...could get my 40 yd pin on him..but not without my 20 yd pin being in the tree...

Worst mistake I think a bow hunter can make is shooting through brush at a buck...However I did the exact same thing this year...lesson learned

 

[BJohnson]

1. First yr I ran any cams this year. I studied certain bucks I wanted to shoot for recognition purposes. Unfortunately, I did not pay enough attention to those I did not want to shoot. I will be studying BOTH shooters and ones that need another year more intensely so I can help myself resist temptations.

2. Don't think you have to kill a buck for it to be a successful season. Remember how it felt to harvest a buck that should have been passed. Stick to your harvest goals and know that many seasoned archers eat tags each and every season. It's the pursuit that's important, not the harvest.

3. Another first for me this year was food plots. Food plot work is a great way to pass the time during off-season. My kids had fun gettin out and messing around during that time.

4. Hunt bedding areas longer than travel corridors. Bucks get there LATE in the morning till mid-day.

5. Opening weekend can be good. One of my best sightings took place on Oct. 3rd.

6. Generous landowner(s) are invaluable.

 

[IowaChiro]

Worst mistake I think a bow hunter can make is shooting through brush at a buck...However I did the exact same thing this year...lesson learned

I didn't even let it fly...just watched..cussing myself..hoping he'd turn and come through an open gane under my tree. The next day the tree got trimmed...big time.

 

[longtail55]

Worst mistake I think a bow hunter can make is shooting through brush at a buck...However I did the exact same thing this year...lesson learned

I also learned my lesson with this. I was very lucky and ended up harvesting the deer but only by the grace of god

 

[SCOFFIN]

Public Land deer are Way, Way, Way smarter than private land deer. This was my first year bow hunting on great private ground that gets little pressure after hunting 8 years on public ground. Rattling and grunting really do work after all!!!

I think I already knew this fact, but didn't get to prove it until this year.

Oh, also, I'll second the clearing shooting lanes. Missed out on laying one into a dandy 8 mid rut and have been kicking myself ever since for not clearing all the way to that fence..

 

[AZHunter]

1. Brush in the ground blind the first time you set it up before you ever hunt out of it.

2. "Shoot-through mesh" is an oxymoron.

3. Make sure your peep sight is not inadvertantly twisted BEFORE you draw back on a deer.

4. Buck fever and a subsequent miss from The Fever can happen with any species, including a 100 lb hog.

 

[turkeyriver]

Something I observed in 2009 and implemented this year with good results- hunt a little earlier. At least in the places I hunt, Oct. 28- Nov. 4 had much better buck movement than Nov.5-12. When lockdown hits, and it seemed like it hit earlier the last couple years, you might as well go fishing.

 

[bigbukfevr]

i love this post. for me this was a miserably tough year clear up until the end.
1. dont piss and moan about not getting to hunt very much of the season after you shoot a typical of a lifetime on oct 17th, as i never saw a shooter from a treestand until jan 2nd.
2. hang stands for stupid rare winds such as southeast and such cause when you dont have them you WILL need them.
3. dont wait till the last day of season to harvest does cause it probably wont happen.

 

[bowtech150]

1. In season scouting is just as important as the other scouting times.
2. Passing smaller bucks will pay off for you eventually.
3. Take a kid to the outdoors and let them enjoy what you do.
4. Day in and day out you go home empty but thats ok, look what you had in front of you the whole time thats why you do what you do.
5. Big bucks dont always live in the best pieces of timber.
6. Shoot a doe they taste just as good as a buck.

 

[Liv4Rut]

1. Be careful when cutting tree branches with pole saws Nice 3inch long and 3/4 inch deep cut to prove that.

2. After a person has been warned 3 times that if that DOG comes down and chases deer in our timber again it's dead, SHOOT IT. That pretty much sums up the first 3 days of my vacation. Dang dogs, too good looking to shoot.

3. Blackhorn 209 will pit your stainless muzzleloader barrel.

4. Find a few spots closer to home for those before / after work hunts.

 

[SEIowaDeerslayer]

1. Be careful when cutting tree branches with pole saws Nice 3inch long and 3/4 inch deep cut to prove that.

2. After a person has been warned 3 times that if that DOG comes down and chases deer in our timber again it's dead, SHOOT IT. That pretty much sums up the first 3 days of my vacation. Dang dogs, too good looking to shoot.

3. Blackhorn 209 will pit your stainless muzzleloader barrel.

4. Find a few spots closer to home for those before / after work hunts.

#2...our neighbor's dog didn't have the same outcome.

#3...hey now!!!! I love blackhorn 209....

Agree with your other 2...

 

[shedhunter93]

Don't put him on the wall before you get ready for the shot no matter how good the shot is... Cost me my first bow buck/kill and wounding him worst feeling ever...